With recent – widely varying – reviews on Avengers: Age of
Ultron by Fr. Mike Schmitz and Fr. Robert Barron, given the amount of
conversations many of us had about it here at St. John’s Catholic Newman
Center, I decided it was time for me to weigh in. The only thing about Fr. Mike's review (here)
is that I can't wholeheartedly say, "I thought it was great." I really enjoyed it overall, and there were a
number of things about it I absolutely loved.
Overall, I give it 4 (out of 5) stars and rank it as my 3rd favorite
Marvel movie (after The Avengers and Captain America: Winter Soldier). And I think Fr. Mike has the
right idea in that first of all these movies should be fun, and secondarily,
they can be thought-provoking in how elements of reality are symbolized. Although, I would add that I do caution against under-thinking
our entertainment; even if folks like me might be guilty of over-thinking it,
it is far more dangerous to under-think it and completely miss that we are being
fed lies that are effecting us in more ways than we often like to admit. Well, let the over-thinking begin - and this
is the point where I say WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
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| The opening night group pic with students from the Newman Center. |
There are at least three strong strikes against this movie
that prevent me from loving it wholeheartedly: 1) Steve Rogers was not
portrayed as a good man, worthy of respect, to the degree that he usually is,
but as being more aloof and out of touch with reality, and eventually making
little compromises in his integrity (this was bound to happen eventually, but
it doesn't prevent me from hating it when it does - we need more good, moral
examples to inspire us in movies, and when they show up, we should respect them
and be challenged by them, not laugh at them).
2) Much of the humor (though not all) was raunchy,
inappropriate, and sometimes directed against Christianity (they managed to
keep the first one fairly clear of this, despite its presence in some of their
other movies, like the Iron Man movies and Guardians of the Galaxy).
And lastly 3) the elements of Nietzchian philosophy
seemingly proposed by the Vision and his role in the story, particularly in
contrast with Stark and Ultron. For this
insight, I am grateful for the article by Fr. Barron (here). He helped me put my finger on what it was
that wasn't sitting right with me about the Vision, and his insights are
important and noteworthy.
HOWEVER, I find his overall analysis of the movie to be a
bit narrow and over-simplified (even frustratingly so). One of the gifts of (director) Joss Whedon is
to use the dynamic of each diverse character in the ensemble to offer different
perspectives on themes of human life and society. You should not look to a Whedon movie/show
(or I would add to any good story)
expecting that any one character has all the answers or is responsible for
spoon-feeding us the message we are supposed to take from it. I’m pretty confident that's not how Whedon
operates, and I'm thankful for that.
That's what makes some of his works so interesting and well-crafted, and
this is very true of Age of Ultron.
There are more interesting themes at work in this movie that
are clearly intentional and important to his vision for the movie, before the Vision even comes into the picture (no pun intended). Which leads me to WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT THIS
MOVIE: beginning strictly from the perspective of a fan, one of the things I most
wanted to see in this movie was some depth and characterization for Hawkeye, in
a way that would also explain why we haven't seen or heard from him since the
first Avengers movie. Whedon pulled that
off in a way that far exceeded my expectations.
The sequence toward the middle of the movie, which I will call
"Hawkeye's Safehouse," looks to me to be the centerpiece of the
movie; it becomes this beautiful collision point of each character's views on
what "home" is, on how they understand the sense of belonging,
purpose, and mission that they are striving for. In this way, it becomes a point of reflection
on the purpose of human existence in a deeper way than any Marvel movie
to-date. Furthermore, these are
struggles that consistently underlie each character's motivations throughout
the movie, and are woven throughout from beginning to end. This is what I love about this movie.
Furthermore, I think even Fr. Barron's interpretation of the
Vision himself finds its best response in the words of the Vision himself: "I
don't think it's quite that simple."
While the "beyond good and evil" perspective that Barron warns
against is seriously problematic and deceptive (and might be in Whedon's
intentions and may or may not indicate where they go with it in the future),
there is something very true about the notion that it's not always so simple as
"Are you on our side?". We
must understand the difference between good and evil and be firm in our
rejection of evil. But as Christians, we do ourselves a serious disservice when
we lose sight of the messiness and fragility of the human condition, the
complexity of our intentions, and the subtlety of evil. It is true, in the context of this movie, that
it's not as simple as "here are the good guys and here are the bad
guys" ... and that's one of the reasons I think it reflects reality so
well. We all are made good, but broken,
and we act out of that brokenness, sometimes... and sometimes we really mess
things up. Nonetheless, God offers us
mercy, as well as the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, grow in grace and
reset our hearts upon His saving mission, because we still have a part in it. This is what the Sacrament of Reconciliation
is for, because God loves us and made us to be His saints. Thank God for that.
It reminds me of Hawkeye’s words to Wanda
Maximoff. We all may face times when
everything has gone downhill very quickly, nothing makes sense and people we
care about are hurting and all we can think is “This is my fault.” But, at the end of the day (thanks to God’s
mercy and grace, in reality), we have a choice.
We can succumb to our fear and shame, and remain inside as the evil,
which we contributed to, assails those we love.
Or we can step out the door, and take up the mission of setting thing
right (the mission of redemption accomplished by our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, in which we are called to take part, by virtue of our communion with
Him). So, as Hawkeye said, “You can stay
in here if you want… but, as soon as you step out that door you’re” … a
disciple of Jesus Christ and an agent of the Victory of His Resurrection. Step out.
Let His Mercy show you who you are, so you can be the heroes this world
needs.
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Update: In repeat viewings, I have seen more value in the portrayal of Steve Rogers in this movie, which causes me to like the portrayal more and be less disappointed than I was when I wrote this review. Although, I still think that his portrayal in each of the other movies is better than it is in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Furthermore, further thought, discussion and repeat viewings have also caused me to become even more convinced that the notion that the Vision is simply a mouthpiece for Nietzchianism is an over-simplification. Also, congratulations to Bishop Robert Barron on his episcopal consecration and appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, since this review was written. This is, indeed, a great gift to the Church, especially in Los Angeles.
Previous Thoughts on the Avengers
Previous Thoughts on the Avengers
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