Avengers In, Avengers Out, Avengers In Again: The Avengers: Age Of Ultron Barely Reaches Average!

The Good: Performances are fine, Generally good direction
The Bad: Unrelenting effects sequences/splintered cast makes for a strangely underdeveloped couple of hours.
The Basics: With The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Joss Whedon has a rare stumble into mediocrity that advances the Marvel Cinematic Universe into a particularly unthrilling direction.


I have been worried lately that I will never again fall in love with a new work of art. I listen to a lot of music, watch and review a lot of television and movies and I try to experience food on multiple levels when I am introduced to new culinary delights. Having critical standards has led to a number of conversations around my house between my wife and I. She has voiced a concern that my idea of a "perfect film" is virtually unattainable and when I spend a significant amount of time after a viewing trying to find something wrong with a movie just to not give it a perfect ten, I am actually delivering a contrived rating that works to deny perfection, as opposed to celebrate it.

With The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, I fear no such contrivance. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron was easily the film I was most unabashedly excited about seeing this year, so it was the one I was also at the greatest risk of rating high based on prejudice in favor of the film. The irony for me is that X-Men: Days Of Future Past (reviewed here!) last year came with so much less hype and delivered such a vastly superior film that I was not genuinely prepared for how mediocre The Avengers: Age Of Ultron actually was.

To his credit, Joss Whedon had a herculean task at hand when he penned and directed The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is a sequel to Whedon's The Avengers (reviewed here!) and the marketing department at Marvel Entertainment/Disney has worked overtime to leak its forthcoming schedule of Marvel films. Joss Whedon had to try to top a superhero team origin story that brought together disparate heroes and made them into a group that could fight a single villain and his incredible army. Where do you go after that?

The problem Whedon faced conceptually within the narrative of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was that he had one film to introduce and defeat a new villain that could hold his own in the imagination of the viewer with Loki (the adversary from The Avengers), while servicing a sprawling cast of established heroes and making that work within the confines of the stories told since The Avengers. From a studio, practical moviemaking point of view, Whedon had to wrestle with reorganizing characters so the franchise could survive if significant actors decided to leave when their contracts came up and that meant adding new cast members to the mix. With all those pressures upon him, Whedon had to write an entertaining super hero story that could entertain and set up the next, known, installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That's a lot of balls in the air for anyone and the only real hope for the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes in the promises made outside the actual film The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Writer/Director Joss Whedon has promised that The Avengers: Age Of Ultron will have a slew of deleted scenes and unseen footage when it drops on Blu-Ray. One has to hope that there will be a director's cut because as it is, The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is something of a mess.

At the core of my issue with watching The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is the fact that so much of it felt like it had been done before that I kept waiting for the movie to begin, to get engaging, to thrill me, to show me something new, to surprise me, to . . . well, you get the picture; I just kept repeating and rephrasing things without actually saying anything fundamentally new. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron feels a lot like that. In fact, were one to do a double-feature, one suspects that if one dozed off at any point in the Chitauri attack on New York City in The Avengers and awoke at virtually any point in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, they would feel like they were in the same movie.

The Avengers: Age Of Ultron goes from one sprawling, fast-paced, CG-encrusted action sequence to another to another to another with breaks that are surprisingly uninteresting. Much of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is like watching The Avengers blended with outtakes or b-roll footage from Iron Man 3 (reviewed here!). It is chaotic, warlike, easy to lose track of and takes a long time to get through before it gets to anything truly good. And in the quiet, character-building moments, The Avengers: Age Of Ultron focuses on the least-impressive Avenger, belabors the set-up to Captain America: Civil War and entirely jerks the audience around. We'll come back to that.

What is it about? The Avengers: Age Of Ultron follows in the wake of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (reviewed here!) with The Avengers - Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk - working to clean-up the problems left in the world from the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. In Sokovia, they hit upon the motherload: Baron Strucker and Dr. List have a laboratory where they have the scepter Loki used, along with corpses of Chitauri vessels and two powerful (for lack of a better term) metahumans. When the Avengers break in to put an end to the H.Y.D.R.A. lab, the twins Pietro (who has superspeed, much like The Flash) and Wanda Maximoff (who is not actually magical, but has the ability to influence neurons in the brain to make people see things and has telekinetic powers over matter and energy) escape. As the battle for the H.Y.D.R.A. base is winding down, Wanda returns and uses her powers on Tony Stark, who sees a nightmarish image of the Earth under attack by legions of the creature/ships that attacked New York City with the Chitauri.

Their mission successful and the scepter recovered, the Avengers return to New York City and Avengers Tower where they plan to put the problems that have been lingering behind them. The recovery of the scepter will allow Thor to return it to Asgard and remove the lingering influence of Loki from Earth, the destruction of Strucker's organization and lab effectively decimates S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biggest enemy (which removes a big psychic burden from Captain America). Only Tony Stark is not over-the-moon thrilled about the campaign. While studying the scepter, Stark realizes that the glowing piece at its tip is not a brainwashing device, but rather a complex program or neural network, comparable to (but vastly more complex and alien than) Jarvis (Stark's A.I.). He pitches an idea to Dr. Bruce Banner; they can use the alien a.i. in their mothballed planetary defense project, Ultron. Bypassing the rest of the group, Stark and Banner activate the alien intelligence and then go off to a party celebrating the victory of the Avengers over the Earth's enemies. While they party, the alien a.i. kills Jarvis and takes control of the Avengers's robotic army (a collection of flight suits much like those in Iron Man 3, which are now serviced through Avengers Headquarters).

After the main party, the a.i. reveals itself as Ultron by attacking the Avengers using the Avengers robots. Calling for human evolution through the extinction of the Avengers, Ultron disappears into every computer on earth when his robotic body is compromised, but in the attack, his forces make off with the scepter. Needless to say, the other Avengers are pissed at Stark and Banner (especially Thor, who now has to try to find and recover the scepter yet again!) and they soon become terrified that Ultron will break into computers that have nuclear launch codes and obliterate the Earth. Ultron makes a new body and heads with the Maximoff twins (who want nothing more than revenge upon Tony Stark for the death of their family) to the African nation of Wakanda. There, Ultron acquires Vibranium he needs for his nefarious plan and when the Avengers track him down, they are set upon by Wanda and Pietro. Wanda influences Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk before she is stopped by Hawkeye. Shaken, the team retreats to a safe house where they try to figure out what UItron wants and how to stop him. Their brainstorming leads them to Dr. Helen Cho's skin-growth machine where Ultron is attempting to create the entity that will be the downfall of the Avengers. But in the process, Wanda sees Ultron's plan and his idea of peace comes through an extinction-level event and she (and her brother) are forced to choose sides in the battle for the fate of the planet.

Writing out the plot for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron actually makes the movie sound really interesting and engaging. On screen, it didn't seem as awesome, though (much like the way some of the plots to Star Trek: Enterprise sound pretty good, but then when one turns on the show and the characters start talking, the dialogue and acting are so bad, it doesn't matter what is going on, the show is virtually unwatchable the way it tries to tell the story). The film opens with a big battle, montage/regroup/party, post-party battle, characters argue, Wakanda battle, moody safe house scene, extended climactic battle. It's a lot of fighting. And, try as he might, Joss Whedon and the special effects department don't have a lot they can do that hasn't been mined by The Avengers and Iron Man 3 (Whedon had a real disadvantage in that Ultron's robot army is basically made up of shiny silver Iron Man-style suits).

So, it comes down to character. Tony Stark gets one or two quips (they've been in the trailers), Bruce Banner is predictably conflicted, and Nick Fury pops up for a dramatic speech just at the right time. But Ultron never pops - he's General Grievous from Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!) meets any generic Decepticon. Ultron is the real shock; he's such a monolithic villain. Even James Spader voicing him cannot make him seem less generic and, therefore, entirely un-frightening. Will The Avengers unite to find a way to stop Ultron? Gosh, I hope so. Come to think of it, if they just crashed the world's power grid long enough for every computer in the world to actually shut down, wouldn't that have stopped him?! The point being, it would be a surprise if the Avengers couldn't stop Ultron more than any real revelation that they can.

Of the new characters, that leaves Wanda, Pietro, Vision, and Laura. Wanda and Pietro are motivated by a sense of revenge that is adequately explained in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. It's not so satisfactorily explained to make viewers feel satisfied when Pietro doesn't kill Tony Stark in the film's first twelve minutes. Seriously; Pietro stands, watching the completely vulnerable Tony Stark take possession of the scepter when all he had to do was run over at super-speeds, kill his family's mortal enemy . . . movie over. Vision is engaging to watch, but is just about as generic as Ultron. And Laura . . .

. . . Laura gives Joss Whedon an excuse to keep Hawkeye in the mix in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Hawkeye is, as the film openly acknowledges, an archer in a team that includes a super soldier, a demigod, a trained assassin, a raging lab experiment, and an armored weapon equivalent to a small army. So, Hawkeye is given a sudden, abrupt, backstory and when the Avengers arrive at Laura's safe house, it humanizes the archer and gives the viewer an emotional root. And Whedon uses all the momentum with Hawkeye to set up one of his famous reversals and it would be truly nitpicky to say that doesn't work. Whedon pulls off his final-act reversal with Hawkeye and that is one of the few treats of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Of the big three (Thor, Iron Man and Captain America), The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is unfortunately fractured. One has to guess that a number of the scenes Whedon could put back into the film center around Thor and his large chunk of time away from The Avengers entering the mysterious pool and leading to the resolution that brings him back. Thor sits out a surprising and significant chunk of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. That gives Tony Stark and Steve Rogers a lot of time on screen to disagree. Rogers is, reasonably, pissed because Tony Stark does in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron exactly what Pierce did in Captain America: The Winter Soldier; he tried to anticipate world problems and stop them before they ever occur. Stark's characterization here makes sense: he is reeling from fear that Earth cannot protect itself and he doesn't want to debate with the team the merits of having a global defense system. When it goes wrong, Rogers climbs off his high horse to yell at him and Stark yells back. But the conflict between Stark and Rogers never quite boils up to the level where it would create a credible schism to result in Captain America: Civil War. In fact, while the conflict between Stark and Rogers is essential for that, Whedon takes a big crap on the writer who has to create that film with where he leaves Stark. And while Rogers moralizes, he's essentially the same guy we've been seeing. This time, he's already so disillusioned from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions in The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he doesn't seem particularly surprised when one of his teammates screws him (and humanity) over.

The other big character arc in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is just a colossal mindfuck for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After finally figuring out how to make The Hulk interesting and truly work, The Avengers: Age Of Ultron belabors a romantic relationship between Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow). Mortgaging the chemistry Romanoff and Rogers developed throughout Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers: Age Of Ultron teases a "will they or won't they" through most of the film. The result is particularly unsatisfying, if for no other reason than that Joss Whedon (who is both incredibly intelligent and remarkably personable, at least in interviews!) perpetrates the stereotype that incredibly smart people are emotional idiots. Bruce Banner can be absolutely brilliant, but to offset that, he can't have enough emotional maturity to face his demons, ask for help, or accept the compassion and love of someone who fits him surprisingly well.

The acting in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is good. But, that's it. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is not bursting with big emotional scenes that allow the actors to actually do much in the way of stretching. In fact, newcomer (to the franchise) Elizabeth Olsen is given the character with the biggest emotional journey. Wanda transitions from angry to triumphant (her smile at seeing Tony Stark shaken after she mojos him is wonderful) to horrified when she realizes Ultron's plan is embodied well by Olsen's performance. Olsen has good emotional range for her eyes, posture and body language to sell the conflicted emotional states of Wanda well. Sadly, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is not given as much in the way of big moments to make Pietro pop.

So, Joss Whedon had a tough task with The Avengers: Age Of Ultron and the fact that he has already said there is much more to the movie than viewers will see in the theaters virtually guarantees a time when he admits that the theater version is not the film he intended to make. The Avengers: Age Of Ultron contains noticeable narrative gaps, some troubling gaffes and a "ho-hum this is *supposed to be* adventure" feel to it that makes one wonder if more will actually be better when the longer version is eventually revealed.

5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Avenge This! The Nick Fury Mighty Muggs Figure Lives Up . . . As Much As Any In The Line!

The Good: Costume looks good, Decent accessories, Undeniably the Sam Jackson version of Nick Fury
The Bad: Giant head, Heavy, Light on detailing.
The Basics: The Nick Fury Mighty Muggs figure is hard to screw up and is one of the more obvious The Avengers Mighty Muggs figures.


For those who might not follow my regular toy reviews, I am not a huge fan of the Hasbro Mighty Muggs toy line. I come from a school of thought that appreciates fidelity to the subject of the toys and statues I collect as opposed to a stylized version of the characters. As a result, the entire Mighty Muggs toy line leaves me somewhat miffed; the toys are ridiculous, animated-looking caricatures of the subjects of the toys. Even so, as a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Samuel L. Jackson, I was actually pretty psyched to see the Nick Fury Mighty Muggs figure from The Avengers!

Mighty Muggs toys look like they might be plush as they feature animated versions of recognizable The Avengers characters. However, the cartoon-like heads atop disproportionately smaller bodies simply revealed that the heads and toys were solid, like ceramic (they are, in fact, made of a super-hard, heavy plastic). This is as true of the Nick Fury as it is of other Mighty Muggs figures.

For those unfamiliar with Nick Fury, he appeared in a more action-oriented role in The Avengers (reviewed here!) when the S.H.I.E.L.D. base he was stationed at was attacked by Loki. The black-coated super-spy is presented as a very basic Mighty Muggs figure that is generally recognizable . . . largely because the character is very simple.

The Mighty Muggs Nick Fury figure is all right, largely because the character was very simple.

Basics

Nick Fury is a human spy throughout almost all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and now Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The figure stands 7" tall. Nick Fury is dressed in a black coat and pants that is iconic for the character in the movies. Basically, the outfit is painted solidly onto the puffy body of the toy. There are no additional costume details on the toy, save the painted-on belt and boots.

This toy is a poor sculpt which looks like an oversized, fattened up LEGO figure and the Mighty Muggs figure has a solid body that has two puffy legs. The hands are open slightly and this allows Nick Fury to hold his ridiculously oversized pistols. Nick Fury’s face is recognizable as Samuel L. Jackson . . . from a distorted, animated perspective. The face has the eye patch that is iconic for Nick Fury. As with virtually all of the Mighty Muggs, the facial details are only painted on, not molded onto the face of the figure.

Accessories

Nick Fury, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. that he is, comes with two accessories, his pistols. The two one and a half inch long choking hazards fit into either of Nick Fury's hands. These are monolithically molded black guns which look entirely like what they are supposed to, without any subtlety or real detailing. That makes the accessories match the quality of the figure.

Playability

The Mighty Muggs toy line was designed for no good reason I can find, perhaps just because someone realized that the Marvel Cinematic Universe was ripe for merchandise exploitation. Those same fans have a ton of good toy and statue options that are better than Mighty Muggs. This heavy toy can be harmful to children and is more intended as a display statue.

Nick Fury comes with only three points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints. He has joints at the shoulders and neck. The elbows do not extend, so all arm posing is straight-armed. To be fair, the figure does stand up.

Collectibility

The Nick Fury figure is part of the Mighty Muggs The Avengers collection, which no one I know would ever spend money on, save on severe clearance. The value of these is already declining because it was drastically overproduced in relation to customer demand.

Overview

Despite how ridiculous the Mighty Muggs figures are in general, Nick Fury is actually one of the better ones because he looks pretty much like character and actor upon whom he was based. Even so, there is little to recommend the toy.

For other Mighty Muggs and distorted form toys, please check out my reviews of:
Mola Ram Indiana Jones Mighty Muggs
Han Solo Mighty Muggs
Darth Vader Star Wars Angry Birds Plush

5/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Reduction Through Expansion: Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Underwhelms!

The Good: Moments of character, Good special effects, Continuity, Moments of acting
The Bad: Disturbingly reductive over the course of the season, Very few impressive lines, performances, or character moments
The Basics: In its first season, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. loses its originality and goes instead toward an interpretation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that reduces the entire concept to a troublingly simple concept.


Coming into last year’s television season, there was no show I was looking forward to as much as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. As a fan of the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (reviewed here!), the idea of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. was an instantly intriguing one to me. Given that Agent Phil Coulson – one of the most consistent representations of the superspy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films – was killed in The Avengers (reviewed here!), when Clark Gregg was cast as Coulson for Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., it only raised my level of intrigue for the television show. And the mystery of how Coulson was resurrected is one of the first big mysteries explored and solved in the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Fortunately, the answer is neither the obvious one for fans of Marvel comic books, nor does it exist within the first season without consequences: just as the viewer learns how Coulson was returned from the dead, the show’s long-running adversary is revealed and needs to make use of the same technology!

Unfortunately, even as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. works to fit itself into the second phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it undermines the whole franchise in a truly disappointing way. While the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. has strong tie-ins to Iron Man 3 (reviewed here!), Thor: The Dark World (reviewed here!) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (reviewed here!), in reacting to the climactic events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. reduces the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a surprisingly dull dialectic. While the first half of the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is very much a “villain of the week” show that feels largely episodic, when the series comes together in the wake of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it turns out that all the villains are tied together under the banner of the villainous organization exposed in that film. The viewers of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. are left with one hero, one villain (in essence) and that does not bode well for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. begins by working very hard to fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe by setting the small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents against superhumans, corrupt industrialists and aliens from the godlike realms explored in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But as the season progresses, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. turns into a very typical spy drama show, much like Alias (reviewed here!). Unfortunately for Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., when the show makes a turn toward the spy drama, it sacrifices most of the supernatural/comic book-based charm that it began with. The result is a troublingly mundane version of the conspiracy thriller television show and, for a series touted as Joss Whedon’s latest return to television, a letdown at that.

The first season opens in the wake of the Chitari attack on New York City where a man has begun to exhibit superhuman abilities. That man, Mike Peterson, draws the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret United States-based spy organization designed to protect humanity from superhuman, otherworldly, and over-the-top technological threats. The team is led by Agent Phil Coulson, who is hunting Peterson at the same time as he and his team encounter Skye, a woman who is part of the terrorist organization Rising Tide. When Coulson – along with his straightlaced assistant Grant Ward, his old friend and confidant Melinda May (who flies the S.H.I.E.L.D. super-plane known as The Bus), and his technical team made up of Leo Fitz and Simmons – captures Skye, he enlists Skye to join his team. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. team continues to encounter agents who have been compromised, mysterious particles and mad scientists, Coulson and his team start to open themselves to Skye. As Skye starts to use S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to discover her own origins, Coulson starts to dig deeper into how he was resurrected and both secrets seem to be linked to the reclusive and mysterious head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury.

Following an attack by an Asgardian prisoner, the Agents, who have begun hunting a mysterious villain called the Clairvoyant (who always seems to be a step ahead of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and is assembling an organization surprisingly similar to S.H.I.E.L.D., stocked with less-reputable individuals), the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. find themselves under constant attack. As the Agents close in on the Clairvoyant, they find themselves beset by Mike Peterson, who has been altered into a killer cyborg now known as Deathlok, and threats from within S.H.I.E.L.D. that threaten to tear apart the entire spy organization.

As a spy show, reversals are necessary and expected in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Even so, many of the reversals in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. are unfortunately predictable and some make very little sense. As Skye and Ward move toward having a relationship, the Agents encounter a powerful artifact from Asgaard and, in the process, a relationship between Ward and May is formed instead. That reversal becomes one of the most problematic of the series, as May supposedly bonds with Ward over his dark side . . . without seeing just how dark his undertones actually are. But that type of relationship reversal is pretty common in Joss Whedon works. Sadly, that is one of the few ways that Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is like other Joss Whedon productions.

Many of the other reversals are far less audacious or interesting. There are quick reversals, like characters leaping out of airplanes or shootouts, but the big reversals tend to come with a sense of predictability or a ho-hum quality to them. By the time Coulson discovers the nature of his resurrection, the truth is somewhat unimpressive compared to the theories that preceded the revelation. When a mole within the core characters is exposed, the reaction is much more of a “finally, THAT character is interesting” as opposed to an “oh my god, oh my god, how could they?!” As well, many of the episodes feature final moments that either directly influence the beginning of the next episode or they have a scene that reveals that the apparently sealed fate of the Villain Of The Week is less permanent than viewers might have thought. Unfortunately, fans of comic books, science fiction or spy thrillers are likely to see those reversals coming about a mile away. Similarly, when it appears that the Clairvoyant has been tracked down, that the first major “Clairvoyant” is just a red herring is utterly unsurprising.

The show oscillates between mundane and bordering on being what one might hope as a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unfortunately, the first season lacks a spark of consistently fast-paced and witty dialogue consistent with other Joss Whedon productions. Most of the characters are also less interesting than Whedonverse characters, so viewers might find themselves wondering why Joss Whedon actually decided to executive produce Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. under his Mutant Enemy banner.

Beyond that, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is unfortunately reductive of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the Marvel Comic Book Universe, there are many villains (some of which cannot be used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to conflicting license agreements with competing studios): H.Y.D.R.A., A.I.M., Dr. Doom, The Hand, Oscorp, etc. If the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. does anything well, it is reduce the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a much more simple dialectic. A.I.M., it appears, was virtually crushed in Iron Man 3 and all of the villains presented in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. are now, it appears, subcontracting for the Clairvoyant who is working for one of the other organizations (I’m not going to spoil it in a review of the entire season as it is a long arc within the season!). Ultimately, this leaves the viewer with the sense that there truly is only one real villainous organization left on Earth after the attacks from the Chitari, Dark Elves, and A.I.M. each failed!

To better understand the show, it helps to know who the characters are. In the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., the essential characters are:

Agent Phil Coulson – Resurrected after The Avengers, he believes that he was just seriously wounded and had an amazing vacation in Tahiti. But soon, irregularities begin to make him question whether or not that is the truth. As Coulson tries to find answers into his own past, he learns that Skye, a young cyberterrorist he has taken into the team, has a mysterious past of her own. He relies upon May to connect with his team and give him a root to his past. He leads the team fairly and has a couple of fun zingers throughout the season,

Agent Melinda May – A martial arts expert and Coulson’s oldest friend, she was resistant to joining Coulson in the field again. As an expert pilot, she drives The Bus on most of the missions and she provides essential backup. During a mission that puts her in touch with an Asgardian spear, she taps into her dark side and, as a result, finds herself enamored with Ward and willing to develop a romantic relationship with him,

Agent Grant Ward – A by-the-book operative who takes Skye under his wing when she joins the team. He gets involved with May after they encounter the Asgardian spear that leaves him in touch with his dark past as a bully. He is duped by the seductive Lorelei, which destroys his relationship with May, though he finds some peace in returning to the side of his original mentor at S.H.I.E.L.D. when John Garrett teams up with Coulson’s team for a mission,

Fitz – A brilliant young scientist, he makes most of the gadgets for the S.H.I.E.L.D. team. He idolizes Ward and tries to impress him whenever they are in the field together. He has a passion for Simmons,

Jemma Simmons – The other technical expert in Coulson’s team, she is a little younger than Fitz and she is willing to sacrifice herself in order to keep the team safe on multiple occasions. She is a medical expert and becomes fascinated with the technology used to resurrect Coulson, so much so that she risks her career to acquire the serum when Skye is mortally wounded. She develops an attraction for Agent Tripp, Garrett’s right-hand man and is oblivious to Fitz’s attraction to her,

Skye – An orphaned woman who has become a cyberterrorist for the mysterious organization Rising Tide, she intrigues Coulson and he reaches out to make her a part of his team when the two cross paths over Mike Peterson and the Centipede Project. Despite betraying the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in early encounters, Ward takes her under his wing and soon she is being trained to be a full-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Throughout the season, she hunts for clues to the identity of her parents and the S.H.I.E.L.D. link to the orphanage she was placed at as a child, but her search is put on hold when S.H.I.E.L.D. is attacked from within,

Mike Peterson – He is a father who displays extraordinary abilities after the attack on New York City. Unfortunately, after being altered by Project Centipede to be a supersoldier with Extremis, he becomes a target of the Clairvoyant, who uses Raina to alter him further. Manipulated by Raina, he is transformed into a cyborg controlled by the Clairvoyant to be used as a tool . . . called Deathlok,

Raina – The Woman In The Flower Dress, she is a true believer working for the Clairvoyant. She is an unethical scientist who wants to help develop supersoldiers and other advanced technologies without the restraints of government or corporate interests,

Quinn – A wealthy adversary who funds Raina’s research and helps to advance the Clairvoyant’s agenda, he becomes the target of Coulson’s team’s efforts to track the Clairvoyant, though he proves himself to be remarkably resilient and resourceful,

And The Clairvoyant – After a few encounters with Quinn, Raina, and their experiments, Coulson’s team discovers they are working for someone else . . . the mysterious Clairvoyant. The Clairvoyant seems to know where and when Coulson’s S.H.I.E.L.D. team will be, but he becomes obsessed with Coulson and how Coulson was resurrected . . . in order to use that technology for himself!

Throughout the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., the performances are generally consistent and most of the performers are given at least one moment to truly explore some emotional depth or range for their character, the two who are given the most work to give layered performances are Clark Gregg and Ming-Na Wen. Gregg plays Coulson and his performance evolves throughout the first season from being stiff, almost robotic, to loose and charismatic. Through his body language, he embodies a man who is loosening up from the stiffness of death and that actually works well. Gregg does more than provide fish-out-of-water type comedy like he did in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Instead, he becomes a conflicted and tormented character as he digs into the truth surrounding his vacation in Tahiti.

Ming-Na Wen plays Melinda May and she comes across initially as a monolithic badass whose sole purpose is to drive the Bus. But May heads out into the field and she soon becomes a sounding board for Coulson. Ming-Na Wen is amazing at embodying compassion with her eyes and by loosening the tight façade her character usually keeps raised. Throughout the season, Ming-Na Wen is given some of the best opportunities to present real emotional range, in addition to getting through an inordinate amount of technobabble while still keeping her character interesting and realistic.

Unfortunately, much of the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. wastes time and attention on Skye. That puts an acting burden on Chloe Bennet. Bennet has classically Hollywood good looks and, unfortunately, acting abilities that seem to hinge more on her ability to open her eyes wide and look interested when other people are talking. Skye is not a particularly interesting character and Bennet does not bring anything distinctive to the role, so the added attention to her character acts as a drag on the first season.

The first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. is erratic and lacks charm. Charm is something Joss Whedon-produced shows usually have going for them at the very least, so the absence of consistently witty dialogue and characters with genuine quirks (outside the dialogue between Fitz and Simmons in every other episode) makes the show a tougher sell to those who are not already invested in or interested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For a better understanding of the components of the first season, please visit my reviews of each of the episodes in the first season episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. at:
“Pilot”
“0-8-4”
“The Asset”
"Eye Spy"
“Girl In The Flower Dress”
“FZZT”
“The Hub”
“The Well”
“Repairs”
“The Bridge”
“The Magical Place”
“Seeds”
“T.R.A.C.K.S.”
“T.A.H.I.T.I.”
“Yes Men”
“End Of The Beginning”
"Turn, Turn, Turn"
“Providence”
“The Only Light In The Darkness”
“Nothing Personal”
“Ragtag”
“The Beginning Of The End”

4.5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Finish Cinematic, Anticlimactic, “The Beginning Of The End” Completes The First Season Of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

The Good: Moments of character, A few fun moments of banter, Good special effects
The Bad: Very predictable plot
The Basics: With “The Beginning Of The End,” Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first season finishes in a way that reminds viewers of the charm and form of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . . . though it does not end the season in a truly powerful or exceptional way.


Season finales have a special place for me (and most television viewers). A good season finale makes one beg for the end of summer because it sets up the next season in such a compelling way that viewers want to rewatch everything in the season that preceded it just to hold themselves over for what comes next. Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. completed its first season with “The Beginning Of The End” and one of the key issues the series has to address is how to keep the spy thriller show interesting in a Marvel Cinematic Universe that has become far less magical or interesting over the course of the prior twenty-one episodes. Sadly, “The Beginning Of The End” is an end and it is the logical finishing point for the first season’s big Clairvoyant/Deathlok arc, but more than being something that begs viewers to watch more, like Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Best Of Both Worlds” (reviewed here!), the episode has an anticlimactic quality that finishes storylines and ends with intrigue, but low, much like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Tears Of The Prophets” (reviewed here!). Like most season finales, “The Beginning Of The End” works to tie up the loose ends of the season while seeding some elements for the next season, but unlike many science fiction or spy thriller shows, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. steers away from a cliffhanger with the episode.

Picking up where “Ragtag” (reviewed here!) left off, the two conflicting teams are moving toward a conflict led by their respective leaders. The Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. are two members down and the Agents Of H.Y.D.R.A. are finding themselves wondering about the mental state of their leader. The obvious foil sets up a finale that raises the stakes for both Coulson and Garrett. There is an interesting aspect to the writing of “The Beginning Of The End” which is that as Coulson becomes more of an authoritative, true, leader of his S.H.I.E.L.D. team who is able to make the hard decisions, Nick Fury pops out of his self-imposed retirement to illustrate the opposite. Given Fury’s place at the climax of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (reviewed here!), Nick Fury going into hiding was always going to require some sacrifice and his unwillingness to make the sacrifice that such a tactical move required undermines Nick Fury’s badass nature some.

Cybertek launches an attack on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. using a team they are controlling. Surviving only through May’s use of the Asgardian spear, Coulson’s team manages to escape. Garrett’s H.Y.D.R.A. cell is put on edge when Garrett begins to react to the serum he was given to save his life. As Quinn and Raina question how they can raise an army of supersoldiers given that Garrett used all of the serum. Ward agrees to follow Garrett anywhere, but he questions if H.Y.D.R.A. is the organization they should be changing the world with. When Coulson finds that Fitz and Simmons managed to tag The Bus, the team is dismayed that the pair has fallen out of contact. As Coulson’s team heads toward Mexico to intercept Garrett’s H.Y.D.R.A. team, Fitz and Simmons realize they are likely to die at the bottom of the ocean unrescued. As Quinn tries to impress the U.S. military with an attempt to sell the Centipede-based supersoldier technology, Coulson’s team attacks the Mexico facility.

With John Garrett losing control of his sanity, Raina and Quinn flee the Mexico facility with the gravitonium. Skye and May reprogram Cybertek’s supersoldiers to help Coulson find Garrett’s location. With Ward heading off to kill Skye, Fitz prepares to sacrifice himself for Simmons in a desperate escape attempt from the escape pod at the bottom of the ocean. But after he finally reveals his love for her, the hatch is blown and the two are put in even more jeopardy. As the situation at Cybertek reaches a climax, Skye communicates through Deathlok to try to defeat Garrett and May confronts Ward for a cathartic asskicking.

“The Beginning Of The End” is a somewhat erratic episode that ends well, but without a strong climax. In fact, the episode feels like it is the end of a Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie . . . complete with foreshadowing events of the next film through seemingly pointless tangents. The episode also has some good banter, a cool promotion, and moments that work to undermine the impact of prior episodes (which would be impossible to discuss without spoiling the episode). Nick Fury’s part in the episode does more than undermine his unflinchingly efficient and cool character (though it fleshes him out with more of a heart than he has revealed before), but it does raise some plot/character questions that are inexplicable (namely Fitz’s absence after the hatch is blown).

In “The Beginning Of The End,” Ward is a lot more conflicted than in prior episodes. The question of how much he is invested in H.Y.D.R.A. is almost immediately addressed and it seems that he is more loyal to Garrett than H.Y.D.R.A. That Ward would shoot S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the head without being a true believer in H.Y.D.R.A. (or anything, really) makes one question how well-defined the character is. It also makes him less interesting. A villain is good when they have a strong motivation and Ward has made the journey from white bread to weakwilled lackey over the course of the first season. In “The Beginning Of The End,” Ward ends up as May’s chew toy and there is something cathartic to watching May beat the crap out of him, if for no other reason than he seems underwhelming enough to deserve it.

At the other end of the spectrum is Garrett, who becomes much more interesting . . . before he turns into a stereotypical over-the-top action movie/comic book villain. There were a few moments where Garrett’s “vision” into the universe seems like it might hint at or foreshadow something from Guardians Of The Galaxy, but Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. does not go there, unfortunately. Sadly, Garrett becomes a ridiculous, crazed, maniac who is utterly generic. That said, his resurrecting abilities lead to one of the episode’s high points and gives Coulson a great line.

Coulson makes a very spy-like decision to leave Fitz and Simmons. That decision makes him a great leader and Clark Gregg carries his scenes exceptionally well. The arc that Coulson has gone through in the first season climaxes well in “The Beginning Of The End.” Coulson finally gets his answers in a face-to-face with Nick Fury and Clark Gregg and Samuel L. Jackson have some great on-screen chemistry in their scenes together in the episode. The direction of the arc between Coulson and Fury makes for a satisfying end to the season, even if it is not the most exciting (in terms of tone) turn that the season could take.

Ultimately, “The Beginning Of The End” does not present any catastrophic shifts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.; the season neatly ties up the Clairvoyant’s arc and elevates the importance of Coulson, but otherwise it is a largely unremarkable end to the first season. The big character moments are not followed up on (especially between Fitz and Simmons, as well as any emotional resonance for Ward’s character after Cybertek is infiltrated) and the plot events are more predictable than they are surprising.

For other season finales, please visit my reviews of:
“Becoming, Parts 1 & 2” - Buffy The Vampire Slayer
“Cicely” - Northern Exposure
“Hope And Fear” - Star Trek: Voyager

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

6.5/10

For other television and movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Gamechanger Or Natural Continuation? Captain America: The Winter Soldier Is Average Spy Flick.

The Good: Decent plot progression, Good acting, Good continuity
The Bad: Formulaic/predictable, Clogged with characters who fail to develop
The Basics: In the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe outing, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America and Black Widow team up to uncover a lingering H.Y.D.R.A. conspiracy within the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D.


When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there were few components of the larger mythos that I cared less about than Captain America. While some might have enjoyed it, I found Captain America: The First Avenger (reviewed here!) to be a painfully average superhero film. In fact, the only movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One (reviewed here!) movies that I have watched less than Captain America are the Hulk films. However, as I have gotten into the Marvel television series Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season One is reviewed here!), I figured I had to avail myself of the opportunity to screen Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Despite the sense of disillusionment felt by Steve Rogers (Captain America) in the latter half of The Avengers, Rogers represents the only member of the team who was firmly a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Thus, as one who is invested in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., how Captain America: The Winter Soldier might impact the television series was one of the key reasons I watched the movie.

And unless there is a severe fracture within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems impossible for Captain America: The Winter Soldier to not have significant ripples throughout Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The hype for Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been that this is the Marvel Universe film to redefine the expectations of the Marvel superhero film. But, if one is expecting a lot of action, decent banter, and impressive special effects, then Captain America: The Winter Soldier is more par for the course, as opposed to truly redefining the genre. To its credit, though, Captain America: The Winter Soldier does tell a different style of story fairly well. The comparisons between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and James Bond films is not an inapt analogy, but relying on some of the conceits of the spy thriller does makes Captain America: The Winter Soldier more predictable than audacious.

Steve Rogers, out for his usual jog, passes by a man who is in the military. They meet and Samuel Wilson introduces himself to Steve as a debriefing specialist before Natasha Romanov arrives with a mission for Steve. Donning a new Captain America outfit, Steve Rogers joins Romanov on a mission to rescue S.H.I.E.L.D. hostages. While Rogers and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are busy rescuing the hostages, Romanov downloads information from the computers to a USB drive. Learning of her alternative mission, Rogers is angered and takes his anger to Director Fury. Nick Fury reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. has come up with an algorithm to determine threats against the world and to eliminate those threats pre-emptively, a new fleet of S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers are being built and will soon be launched for the top secret Project Insight.

But Rogers’s distrust of Nick Fury and his frustration over the way S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing business (through fear, as opposed to promoting freedom) is shortlived when Nick Fury survives one assassination attempt only to apparently be killed while delivering the USB drive to Steve Rogers. In the ensuing fight, Captain America chases down a cyborg who is as fast and strong as he is. The cyborg is revealed, by Romanov, to be The Winter Soldier, an agent she has run into before. Facing threats from the World Security Council’s Alexander Pierce and agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. who are working for H.Y.D.R.A. (whatwith H.Y.D.R.A.’s head scientist, Arnim Zola being kept alive as an artificial consciousness that Rogers and Romanov discover in a S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker at Steve’s old training ground), Captain America, Black Widow and the Falcon (Samuel Wilson utilizing a top secret prototype jetpack) team up to prevent the launch of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers. But stopping Project Insight’s first big coordinated attack pits Captain America against one of his former allies and teammates as the Winter Soldier is revealed to be someone from Steve Rogers’s past who was brainwashed by H.Y.D.R.A.!

More than any of the Marvel Universe films, save The Avengers, to date, Captain America: The Winter Soldier feels like an ensemble piece. As if realizing that there’s not much to do with Captain America outside the temporal non-sequitors (Steve Rogers is a 1940s man living in modern times after having been frozen for decades), Captain America: The Winter Soldier seems to want to get away from focusing on the protagonist as often as possible. Instead, they fill up a cast of characters for Rogers to play off of and react to. The result is a movie that might have Steve Rogers or Captain America in virtually every scene, but the interesting stuff going on has to do with Natasha Romanov (Black Widow), Nick Fury, Sam Wilson (The Falcon), and the film’s antagonist, the Winter Soldier.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is structured in a very familiar way for anyone who has ever seen a spy thriller. Fortunately, unlike most James Bond films, the first mission actually has a big impact on the rest of the film (the teaser missions in James Bond movies seldom relate to the main plot). The MacGuffin in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the USB drive and it fuels much of the plot and the big character reversals (in addition to becoming a source of the movie’s longest exposition, which is delivered much the way a Bond villain outlines their full plan before Bond puts a wrench in their operation). But, scenes like the museum scene, where Steve Rogers visits the Captain America Museum, serve as the foreshadowing needed to play out the reveal of The Winter Soldier. The brainwashed character was utterly forgettable (at least to non-Captain America fans) in the first movie, so the trip to the Museum helps remind viewers (or inform viewers coming into Captain America: The Winter Soldier cold) who the Winter Soldier was before his brainwashing.

The problem is, bending the formula does not make the formula better. Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes on the heels of Thor: The Dark World (reviewed here!) where giant alien ships cut a swath of destruction through a city and The Avengers where the menace of a single helicarrier crash was treated as a big deal. So, when Captain America: The Winter Soldier has a city menaced and three helicarriers that have to be brought down, it feels a bit familiar. Near the film’s climax, one almost expects the James Bond theme to be playing the way the final step in foiling the plot comes down to Steve Rogers and a tight situation. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely might have written something different from other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, but they pretty much hit all the obvious notes for a modern spy thriller.

What separates spy thrillers these days, then, are the quality of the effects, the quality of the characters and the investment the viewer has in the level of the conspiracy detailed/uncovered by the protagonist. Captain America: The Winter Soldier uses minimal computer generated effects and that does help make the film feel grounded in the real world, instead of in the fantastic. It is clear, while watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier that viewers are watching the same universe as Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The effects keep the movie grounded and most of the fight sequences move along well to be entertaining, at the very least.

But the characters in Captain America: The Winter Soldier are not extraordinary in any real way. Steve Rogers has had two years to wrestle with the events of The Avengers, so his sense of normalcy makes sense . . . but it is not particularly psychically satisfying to watch. Steve Rogers is portrayed more as a veteran drawn back into the military life than a superhero who was flung decades into the future where he encountered aliens, wormholes, and discovered that the good guys weren’t as good as he remembered. In fact, Rogers’s big arc in The Avengers is virtually identical to his arc in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so it’s hard to say that he grew or developed. Moreover, his tie to The Winter Soldier seems more forced because the character who is resurrected for the role was not at all a major one in the first film. Hayley Atwell suffers the worst special effects disaster of the film; her make-up makes her arguably the hottest 90 year-old character to ever grace the big screen and Peggy Carter’s age is a tough sell.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has the biggest role for Nick Fury to date, but it’s a tough sell for how he relates to Steve Rogers. When last we saw Rogers and Fury, Captain America was disillusioned by learning that S.H.I.E.L.D. had continued H.Y.D.R.A.’s research. Now, Rogers learns of a similarly sinister plot and he chooses to continue to trust Nick Fury . . . for no particular reason. The return of Natasha Romanov and her increased screentime would be wonderful and refreshing if the character was given something new to do as well. But here, Scarlett Johansson once again flips around, kicks ass and provides some decent banter. She is, as Romanov, pretty much the archetypal Bond Girl (or, to be fair, a deuteragonist like Octopussy). Alexander Pierce would be a compelling adversary if the Mission: Impossible franchise had not already done a top-down villain or we had met the character before and actually had any trust for him to begin with.

Anthony Mackie is decent as Wilson, but the role is treated very much like a convenient sidekick (though his role is largely in the last act, he is well-seeded early in the movie). Mackie has the screen presence to sell Wilson as a credible analyst and member of the military, but the role of Sam Wilson and the Falcon is hardly given enough depth to make a Falcon-based film a realistic spin-off at this point (though it could be cool). In fact, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the use of the Falcon feels like a cheap way to get around Steve Rogers calling Iron Man. The Falcon is the second string hero who is available on hand, so why call up the guy who has pretty-much-the-same-but-better tech who you’ve worked with before? Captain America: The Winter Soldier does not really answer that question in a satisfying way, but it is impossible to blame Mackie for any of the issues with Falcon or his place in the story.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not the gamechanger that viewers were promised. For sure, things happen and unless there is no real coordination between the parts of the brand, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be forced to deal with the consequences of the film in a way that they did not actually have to after Thor: The Dark World. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe has never been primarily about S.H.I.E.L.D. or the organizations like H.Y.D.R.A.; the movies are about the heroes and villains, individuals first and foremost. Will the Marvel spy community ever be the same after Captain America: The Winter Soldier? Possibly not; but most people don’t tune in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the espionage and inter-office politics: they want to see compelling battles performed by larger-than-life heroes. Captain America: The Winter Soldier does not deliver that. It is so packed with secondary characters who are working to set up the reversal and explain the plot machinations (like how H.Y.D.R.A. survived after the 1940s and remains active now and how The Winter Soldier looks pretty much like he does in the museum display images), that Captain America is more along for the ride than motivating the plot.

Ultimately, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is not likely to kick off Summer Blockbuster Season early; instead, it will entertain and hold over fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe until they inevitably risk their dollars on Guardians Of The Galaxy. Masterpiece? No. Bad? Not by a long shot. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is marginally better than Captain America: The First Avenger, but it dresses up its averageness well.

For other works with Anthony Mackie, please check out my reviews of:
Runner Runner
Pain & Gain
Man On A Ledge
The Adjustment Bureau
The Hurt Locker
Half Nelson
Million Dollar Baby

5.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Classic Comedy Worth Checking Out: Coming To America Endures!

The Good: Humor, Acting, Characters
The Bad: Very predictable plot structure
The Basics: Coming To America is a distinctly American comedy film that goes a long way to proving that Eddie Murphy has genuine talent as a comedic actor!


There are any number of actors who have IMDB pages that they should be embarrassed by; actors who clearly did projects that were to make a paycheck long after whatever talent initially got them recognized had caused them to fall out of favor in the collective conscious. Eddie Murphy no longer is a box office draw the way he was in the 1980s, but he has a history of taking risks with some of his film choices. One of the big films that illustrated Murphy’s talents as an actor – beyond simple sketch comedy characters – was Coming To America.

While it might be commonplace now in Eddie Murphy films (and arguably, its overuse is one of the reasons his films have fallen out of favor with audiences), Coming To America features Eddie Murphy in multiple roles using prosthetics and entirely different voices/demeanors. In addition to playing the protagonist, Prince Akeem, Eddie Murphy plays three background characters, most of whom are cleverly disguised through wigs, costumes and Murphy acting with his voice. In many ways, Coming To America is a collaborative work for Murphy as co-star Arsenio Hall plays four roles as well, the most recognizable of which is Akeem’s best friend and right hand man, Semmi. Murphy and Hall give impressive performances throughout Coming To America and are arguably the reason the sometimes predictable comedy has endured as an American classic for the past twenty-five years.

Prince Akeem is a pampered member of the royal family of Zamunda who, on his 21rst birthday, is introduced to the woman he is betrothed to. Sensitive and kind (and much more progressive than his father, the king Jaffe Joffer), Akeem tries to draw out his bride to be, but discovers that she has been raised and trained only to be thoroughly agreeable and desirable to him. Rejecting tradition, Akeem decides to go to Queens (New York) to find a woman who he might actually love and who might love him for his personality instead of being promised to him.

With his faithful friend and sparring partner Semmi, Akeem goes to Queens. There he allows the New Yorkers to steal most of his possessions as he assumes the mantle of a common man. At a beauty contest, he sees Lisa (who is not a contestant) and meets her father, Cleo McDowell. Cleo runs a fast food restaurant based off of, but competing with, McDonald’s and he gives Akeem a job there. While working doing menial labor at McDowell’s, Akeem watches how Lisa is treated by her boyfriend, Darryl. Trying to keep up the cover of a pauper, Akeem is thrilled that Lisa gets to know and appreciate him as a man, as opposed to a prince, even as Semmi rejects the approach which forces him to work below his station.

Coming To America is both hilarious and smart. For those who grew up in the 1990s or since, the image of the angry, gangster black American man has become the cultural image that those of us who grew up from the 1960s to 80s are pretty uncomfortable with; Coming To America features characters who are enlightened, articulate, and sensitive. Yes, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, and writers David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein singlehandedly destroy the image and hype of the gangster image in Coming To America. Prince Akeem is smart, sensitive and anything but the misogynist that rap culture tries to perpetrate black people as.

The performances in Coming To America are homogenously good. Eddie Murphy is funny and the topical humor – New Yorkers constantly yelling “fuck you!” on the street – is perfect embodiment of the times.

Despite having a very predictable and familiar plot - Coming To America is just about a man who wants to be loved for who he is, who finds and falls for pretty much the first available, smart, beautiful woman who shows him affection for something other than his title – the film is smart, funny and endures very well. The performances and lines make the movie; the characters are charming or, appropriately, menacing and it’s fun to see people like Samuel L. Jackson pop up in early cameo roles. Ultimately, Coming To America leaves very little to be said about it; the simple story is kept fresh by wonderful lines and acting that make it an enduring, worthwhile, movie.

For other works with prominent black actors from Coming To America, please visit my reviews of:
The West Wing (John Amos)
A Family Thing (James Earl Jones)
Igor (Arsenio Hall)

7.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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1980s Remake Weekend Begins With Robocop!

The Good: Good use of cast, Entertaining, Moments of character
The Bad: Slow build-up, Erratic
The Basics: The remake of Robocop clumsily balances business interests, the story of a deeply traumatized character, a political minefield, and a police conspiracy story.


When it comes to genre movie franchises, there are very few that I am not open to at least exploring. In the case of the Robocop franchise, I was too young when it was originally released to see it in theaters. Given that the press at the time was focused on how the movie was originally given an X rating (they still had X back then!) for violence, there was no way my parents would let me see it. Somehow, in the intervening years, I never picked up Robocop and watched it. In fact, I prejudged the franchise as subsequent sequels diluted the concept and intensity of the original and earned a PG-13 rating. I felt it was likely that the Robocop franchise was a sell-out franchise and I just never bought into trying it. Now, however, Robocop has been remade, much like Total Recall (reviewed here!) was a year and a half ago.

Robocop benefits from the success of Iron Man (reviewed here!), but it is hard to believe it will launch a franchise anywhere near as successful. While Robocop does not rely upon its special effects to sell itself, the film’s premise bears a strong resemblance to Iron Man, though the protagonist in this remake lacks the charisma to make the viewer care about his struggle as much. Given that I have not yet seen the original Robocop, I can offer no comparative analysis between the remake and the original. That said, given how the special effects are cutting edge in this film, it is hard not to imagine the premise is better executed in visual terms in this rendition of Robocop. While some of the effects are just showboating, the actual design of the protagonist is pretty cool and the digital robots fit into the real environment seamlessly.

Opening on a segment from The Novak Element wherein the Department Of Defense reveals it is using robot soldiers in conjunction with minimal human support. The broadcast is cut short when Iranian suicide bombers in Tehran bomb the robots working the peacekeeping mission there. In Detroit, the police department has a gunrunning bust go horribly wrong. While trying to get to the big fish gangster, Alex Murphy’s partner is shot and he becomes obsessed with getting to the people who wounded him. OmniCorp, the makers of the robot soldiers, is based in Detroit and when Senator Dreyfuss effectively blocks the use of robot soldiers in the United States, the CEO of OmniCorp gets the idea to create a new type of robotic soldier that keeps the human brain intact. When Alex Murphy is the victim of a car bombing at his home, he becomes the perfect test subject for OmniCorp. Murphy’s wife Clara reluctantly turns Alex over to Doctor Norton, who makes Alex into a cyborg.

When Alex regains consciousness, he is justifiably freaked out. After Norton shows Alex just how little of his organic body remains within the suit, Alex slowly adapts to his life as a cyborg. Despite the OmniCorps’ black ops weaponer’s objections, Sellars has Norton develop and refine the robotic armor in which Alex is encased. While Alex wants to see Vallon – the gangster who shot his partner and who likely planted the car bomb – brought to justice, returning to his life and the police force takes a lot of adjustment. After defeating Mattox in a test scenario, Alex is allowed to visit his wife and son. As Alex is trotted out as the ultimate crime fighting machine, he adapts to life on the streets and works to find his humanity while bringing Vallon and his network down.

In addition to a surprisingly long build-up to an actual plot (the first half of Robocop truly is the establishment of the cyborg. The concept of the film is simple enough, but what separates it from the usual action-drama is the philosophical element presented throughout it. When the human component of the suit becomes overwhelmed at the data involved in scanning a crowd, Norton cuts Alex’s influence. How much control the company has over Alex becomes a serious issue as the lone robotic cop on Detroit’s streets takes matters into his own hands. The rights of Alex are subject to some debate as Clara takes issue with how OmniCorp uses Alex and how he acts in front of their son. Sellars sees Alex as property, Pat Novak champions the project, but Senator Dreyfus and Norton have their doubts.

What is unfortunately lacking from the political subplot of Robocop is a sense of real astuteness for Constitutional law. The creation of robotic soldiers to patrol within the United States would be a violation of posse comitatus, which is not addressed in Robocop. Moreover, the level of surveillance necessary to make the cyborg practical and functional is a huge violation of civil liberties. Senator Dreyfuss is treated more like a punchline and a buffoon because he never effectively counters the notion that United States citizens do not want to live in an occupied, authoritarian-driven society like Tehran is characterized as in the opening sequence. Moreover, the lack of understanding for how the Robocop would violate Separation Of Powers (he becomes judge, jury, and executioner over the course of the film) and that undermines the moments of sophistication the film possesses.

The emotional conflict of Alex Murphy as a cyborg is generally well-presented. While OmniCorp monitors Alex, they witness him leaving his mission to try to bring comfort to his son. Traumatized by reliving the accident that created him, Alex begins to act erratically and that gives Robocop a greater sense of realism on the character front.

The plot of Robocop is split between a moody, philosophical, character piece and an unfortunately typical and obvious action-adventure conspiracy story. While the media thread is carried throughout the film well, Pat Novak is almost a parody of the character and the influence such news media people possess.

What Jose Padilha deserves a lot of credit for is the way he uses the cast in Robocop. Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton spend most of Robocop unrecognizable (as the actors who play them) in the roles of Norton and Sellars, respectively. Oldman, Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson (Pat Novak) and Jackie Earle Haley (Mattox) brilliantly embody supporting characters that flesh out the world of Robocop,a Detroit where a robotic cop could be a reality.

Robocop’s cast is led by Joel Kinnaman, who plays Alex. Kinnaman deals with the action sequences just fine, but he lacks the on-screen charisma to make the viewer care at all about Alex Murphy. His performance is utterly unmemorable and given how well the (usually) recognizable cast members perform wonderfully, it accents his listless portrayal of the human character (especially) before his transformation.

Ultimately, Robocop has its moments, but it is surprisingly uncertain of what kind of movie it wants to be and opts for a level of complication most comparable to reality. While that usually is admirable, in the case of Robocop, it makes an action movie tedious and a philosophical character study into a ridiculous puff piece.

For other remake and reboot films, please check out my reviews of:
Friday The Thirteenth
Star Trek
Les Miserables

5.5/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Mace Windu Mighty Mugg: Because Samuel L. Jackson IS An Action Figure Subject!

The Good: Costume looks good, Decent accessory, Undeniably Mace Windu
The Bad: Giant head, Heavy, Light on detailing.
The Basics: The Mace Windu Mighty Muggs figure is one of the better, more basic Star Wars Mighty Muggs figures, even if it’s a crappy style toy!


With the hubbub over a reporter mistaking Samuel L. Jackson for Laurence Fishburne still trending, I figured it was a good time to review a toy featuring one of Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic characters. Jackson is the subject of dozens (if not hundreds) of action figures, statues, and other merchandise, while (to date) Laurence Fishburne’s most merchandised role is probably Morpheus from The Matrix. Fishburne is not represented in plastic or plaster (or other collectible-making materials) nearly as much as Samuel L. Jackson. Easily the most merchandised role of Mr. Jackson’s career so far was the Star Wars prequel trilogy where Jackson played Mace Windu. One of the worst Mace Windu toys (though still recognizable as the character) is the Mace Windu Mighty Mugg toy.

Mighty Muggs toys look like they might be plush as they feature animated versions of recognizable Star Wars characters. However, the cartoon-like heads atop disproportionately smaller bodies simply revealed that the heads and toys were solid, like ceramic (they are, in fact, made of a super-hard, heavy plastic). This is as true of the Mace Windu as it is of other Mighty Muggs figures.

For those unfamiliar with Mace Windu, he appeared originally in The Phantom Menace (reviewed here!) as one of the members of the Jedi Council. His inactivity evaporated in Attack Of The Clones and, like most of the Jedi, he met his end in Revenge Of The Sith, where he lost his hand and his life to the newly minted Darth Vader while trying to dispense some justice on Emperor Palpatine. He is one of the Jedi Masters who is prominently featured in The Clone Wars as well.

The Mighty Muggs Mace Windu figure is all right, largely because the character was very simple and was featured (in much worse forms) in the original Cartoon Network Clone Wars series (and toy line!).

Basics

Mace Windu is a human Jedi, seen on Coruscant, Naboo and Genosis in the prequel Trilogy. The figure stands 7" tall. Mace Windu is dressed in a tan tunic that is iconic of the Jedi and is painted solidly onto the puffy body of the toy. There are no additional costume details on the toy, save the painted-on belt and boots.

This toy is a poor sculpt which looks like an oversized, fattened up LEGO figure and the Mighty Muggs figure has a solid body that has two puffy legs. The hands are open slightly and this allows Mace Windu to hold his ridiculous plastic lightsaber. Mace Windu’s face is recognizable as Samuel L. Jackson . . . from a distorted, animated perspective. As with virtually all of the Mighty Muggs, the facial details are only painted on, not molded onto the face of the figure.

Accessories

Mace Windu, Jedi Master as he is, comes with one accessory, his lightsaber. The three inch long choking hazard fits in Mace Windu's right hand. This is a monolithically molded silver and translucent purple cylinder which looks vaguely like a lightsaber and is colored distinctly to be Mace Windu’s weapon.

Playability

The Mighty Muggs toy line was designed for no good reason I can find, perhaps just because someone realized Star Wars fans would buy almost anything (which, given how many waves of Star Wars Mighty Muggs figures there were, seemed to be a good assumption!). This heavy toy can be harmful to children and is more intended as a display statue.

Mace Windu comes with only three points of articulation, all of which are simple swivel joints. He has joints at the shoulders and neck. The elbows do not extend, so all arm posing is straight-armed. To be fair, the figure does stand up.

Collectibility

The Mace Windu is part of the Mighty Muggs Star Wars collection, which no one I know would ever spend money on, save on severe clearance. The value of these is already declining because it was drastically overproduced in relation to customer demand.

Overview

Despite how ridiculous the Mighty Muggs figures are in general, Mace Windu is actually one of the better ones because he looks pretty much like character and actor upon whom he was based. There’s no mistaking Mace Windu for Laurence Fishburne, so even Samuel L. Jackson can be happy with this ridiculous toy/statue.

For other Star Wars Mighty Muggs toys, please check out my reviews of:
Han Solo
Imperial Guard
Plo Koon
Qui-Gon Jinn
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Younger)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Older)
C-3PO
Luke Skywalker
Hoth Luke Skywalker
Grand Moff Tarkin
Bespin Luke Skywalker

5/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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