Holy Crapola, Batman! This is over-stuffed stuff. Batman is not in here, of course, but it’s chock full of other superheroes – Iron-Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, the Hulk, and others including Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. And then there are the bad guys…Baron von Strucker, the voice of Ultron, and hordes of nameless metal robots…all whirling and running and fighting and blowing things up and struggling to have the absolute coolest effects and fully destroy someplace in Eastern Europe and from there, the world. No one comes to see this movie for the plot; it has one just to keep all the explosions from happening at once. But can anyone other than a true fan-boy really tell the difference between this movie and all the other similar ones? If several scenes from all the effects-heavy movies of the summer were randomly cut together, would the result make as much sense as any of them? Would anyone care? Are we being entertained or simply pummeled into believing we must be — because our brains are numb from having images sprayed at us through a fire hose until everything ends with a cryptic scene from the sequel?
The movie begins with furious action and ramps up from there until the effects get more intense and the plot gets more incredible. We get backstories and side stories, flash backs and flash forwards, slow motion and speeded up sequences. A new metal is discovered, mystical stones have magical properties. Some characters switch sides and new ones are created. The Avengers are falling apart…oh wait, they’re getting back together. When we aren’t circling the globe – lost, dazed, and confused – we’re watching the devastation of an entire city as a big airship pulls up to see if it might be of assistance. Meanwhile, up in the sky, our superheroes are making one last-ditch effort for truth and justice and huge box office profits. It all just keeps going and going and going…until the screen goes black and we’re left with just three questions: Are all the battles finally over? Did anyone win? And: Wouldn’t less have been more than enough?
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 