By Susan Granger
Good News: If you’re looking for POW! BAM! SMASH! cartoonish action, you get your money’s worth with “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
Bad News: Juggling a kaleidoscope of superheroes, as Tony Stark/Iron Man says, “It’s long – Eugene O’Neill long.”
You’d better know your “Avengers” franchise history because this new installment begins mid-mission, as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Bruce Banner/the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) battle a battalion of H.Y.D.R.A. bad guys to capture Loki’s scepter with its powerful Infinity Stone.
What’s Ultron? A sparkly computer program, concocted as a global protection system by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. What emerges, instead, is a rogue, red-eyed, megalomaniacal A.I. colossus, drolly voiced by James Spader, mockingly humming Pinocchio’s “No Strings” anthem as a menacing mantra and viewing humans as the world’s biggest threat.
In the battle-riddled, Eastern European country of Slovenia, there’s subplot introducing ‘gifted’ twins: Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) who become elusive Quicksilver and mind-manipulating Scarlet Witch. Appearing mid-way, an angelic android, Vision (Paul Bettany), synthesizes the consciousness of Tony Stark’s devoted helpmate J.A.R.V.I. S.
Writer/director Joss Whedon punctuates the FX-driven mayhem with an ongoing flirtation between Black Widow and Bruce Banner, along with dream-like flashbacks showing the character conflict of each squad member confronting his/her flaws and/or failings.
There are glib quips, like Hawkeye’s pregnant wife’s earnest, “You know, I totally support your avenging…” and campy, irreverent humor when various Avengers try to lift Thor’s hammer.
For an exhausting 2½ hours, it’s repetitive sound and fury – yes, I mean cranky Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), plus Anthony Mackie’s Falcon. And there’s a hint of what’s to come during closing credits.
When Joss Whedon introduced this enormous Marvel assemblage to the press, he confessed, “I’m really tired of it.” Was he joking? I doubt it.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is a spectacularly overstuffed 6 – with more spectacle than substance.
In contrast, Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller “Ex Machina” is the most intriguing movie I’ve seen so far this year.
Geeky 24 year-old computer programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a company ‘contest,’ entitling him to spend a week at the remote Alaska estate of his legendary boss, the brilliant-but-elusive billionaire Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).
Arriving by helicopter at the mountain retreat, Caleb makes his way into Bateman’s modernist, minimalist glass-and-steel compound; it’s a high-tech research facility, much of which is subterranean.
An exercise/fitness fanatic, alcoholic Nathan tries to put him at ease, but Caleb is astounded by the Jackson Pollock paintings and other fine art, along with Kyoto (Sonoya Mizuno), a beautiful, silent servant.
Caleb’s even more awestruck when he learns the purpose of his visit. He’s to take part in a Turing Test, named for British artificial intelligence guru Alan Turing. Nathan has created what he believes is a sentient robot, named Ava (Alicia Vikander).
Over the next few days, Caleb interacts with Ava, politely posing questions and evaluating her responses. As their sessions grow more and more ominous, the flirtatious, free-thinking android adapts to this stranger, slyly and seductively establishing the roots of friendship and, perhaps, more.
That’s all you need to know. Revealing more would ruin the surprises and dilute the suspense.
Novelist-turned-screenwriter Alex Garland (“28 Days Later,” “Sunshine”) makes an auspicious directing debut in this chilling exploration of the human psyche – in a style eerily reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick.
FYI: Seen in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Domhnall Gleeson is the son of Irish actor Brendan Gleeson; he’s starring in George Lucas’ upcoming “Star Wars.” Oscar Isaac is best known for “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “A Most Violent Year,” while Swedish actress Alicia Vikander is an ex-ballerina, last seen in “Anna Karenina,” and “A Royal Affair.”
On the Granger Gauge, “Ex Machina” is an intense, mind-melding 9, derived from the Greek phrase “Deus ex machina,” or “god from the machine,” referring to a problem-solving plot device.
It’s not surprising that most actors yearn to become directors, and Russell Crowe (“Gladiator,” “Master and Commander”) had the clout to get financing for “The Water Diviner.”
Australian farmer Joshua Connor (Crowe) lost three sons during W.W. I’s Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. After his grieving wife commits suicide four years later, he embarks on a tortured quest to find his sons’ remains in Turkey and bring them back to be buried beside her in ‘hallowed’ ground.
Connor’s a “water diviner”: he’s got a knack for finding underground water using dowsing rods. With that mystical ability, he’s sure he can locate his fallen sons amid thousands of unmarked graves.
Arriving in Istanbul, he’s befriended by the son of a Turkish widow (Olga Kurylenko), who finds Connor attractive but her brutish brother-in-law is persistently trying to make her his second wife.
Admiring his persistence, an Australian official (Jai Courtney) and two Turkish officer (Yilmaz Erdogan, Cem Yilmaz) help him, despite an on-going war with the Greeks that Connor doesn’t understand.
The implausible, often incoherent screenplay explains little of Turkey’s feudal history, making continuity confusing. The inclusion of a romantic subplot never evokes the viewer’s emotions, except anti-war sentiment when Connor bitterly notes, “I filled their heads with nonsense – God and King and country.”
Characterized by abrupt action beats, Crowe’s muddled direction lacks pacing; flashbacks of the Gallipoli bloodbath get tedious. Wearing an Indiana Jones fedora, Crowe injects several chases – through the Turkish marketplace and galloping on horseback through the countryside.
On the Granger Gauge, “The Water Diviner” is a poignant, somber 6, quenching your thirst for Crowe.
( Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
