I don't know what Joss Whedon's psychoanalyst would make of this, but The Avengers: Age of Ultron has an awful lot of choking in it. Here's a video compilation of all of the wind-pipe crushing moments released so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhzpCe0o_AI That was cut together by ComicBook.com and I wish they hadn't repeated the footage so much, but the idea comes across clearly. I suppose it's a very threatening move, and many of these sequences are about threat. At over times they're about one character subduing the other - in the case of the Ultronbot hanging onto Captain America, it actually seems to be about giving Black Widow time to get under the truck and throw Cap's shield back to him, the physical equivalent of some useless monologuing by the villain before crumpling the good guy into a ball. A choke also directs our attention to the face of the victim, whether in close up or not, which at a very basic level keeps character in the action sequences. Another Age of Ultron supercut that would be quite easy to pull together from the trailers alone would be shots of Captain America's shield in the hands of others, though that's less likely to trouble the Freudians in the audience. The Avengers: Age of Ultron is in UK cinemas from April 23rd and on US screens from May 1st. Can't wait.
Brendon Connelly has been a film writer since the early 90s, with time on the staff of Orbit Magazine, Slashfilm, Bleeding Cool, Den of Geek and many more. He's a long time teacher of film studies and practical filmmaking classes, and has directed music videos, commercials, short films and more. His favourite film is Terry Gilliam's Brazil, his favourite food is pancakes or crepes, and he tries to live his life by the teachings of Kermit the Frog.
