'Age of Ultron' proves why robots are blockbusters' best villains

To say that "Avengers: Age of Ultron" arrives in theaters this weekend with a bang would be putting it entirely too low on the volume dial. And while director Joss Whedon, who also helmed Marvel's previous team-up movie, "The Avengers," brings his signature talky, sensitive approach to the costumed heroes, the film's use of robots to pump up the action is part of a larger trend: pumping the action while limiting the human casualties.

Robots in action movies have many roles. When it comes to artificial intelligence, both big action blockbusters and smaller indie movies are trying to grapple with the queasy question of how our creations might come to regard us. As Sonny Bunch explained last week in a Washington Post piece about Alex Garland's "Ex Machina," the closer we get to strong AI, the more concerned we get with the idea that robots can think for themselves will decide that the wisest path forward will be to destroy us.

"Spike Jonze's 'Her' ... presented what may be the best-case scenario for true artificial intelligence: a self-aware, sentient program that can think and improve itself, that can carry on thousands of conversations at once and yearn for more. And that best-case scenario is that it will simply leave us alone," Bunch explained. "That it will grow up, decide humanity is beneath it and leave us be, just as we choose to leave the random ant pile in the woods alone. Sure, that might cause some heartbreak. But it's better for Joaquin Phoenix to be sad for a bit than for a race of super-intelligent AI to decide that it's time for them to requisition our planet."

Robots are also useful enemies for action movies in ways that go beyond big ideas. "Age of Ultron" makes use of both a terrifyingly smart robot - Ultron himself - and what are, effectively, drones, smaller robots that act as extensions of Ultron's body. Ultron is the focus, thanks go James Spader's sexy, unnerving voice performance in the role, but his legions matter, too. They're the latest entrants in a long-running blockbuster conversation about the danger from and corrupting influence of unmanned killer robots that includes "Star Trek Into Darkness," "Man of Steel," "Pacific Rim" and Marvel's "Iron Man 3."

These movies raise the prospect of robots gone mindlessly rogue, but they're also an insurance policy against changes in the moviegoing public's tastes. By arguing that drones and drone-like machines can't do what humans can do, that they risk killing innocent civilians, that they corrupt Starfleet's commitment to justice, or even that they get in the way of Superman's ability to operate independently, these movies are arguing that people are still vitally important, even in an age of mechanical reproduction.

"In debating the use of drones while squaring off against brilliant inventors, genocidal generals, and genetically enhanced criminals, superheroes aren't just intervening in a conversation about the moral use of American power," I wrote in a 2013 piece about the sudden spike in drone-themed blockbusters. "They're fighting for their own jobs."

And, as the accompanying video explains, they're also trying to balance the competing demands of viewers and the Motion Picture Association of America's Classification & Ratings Administration. There are plenty of smart, intellectual reasons to pit men against machines. But ultimately, they're a practical solution to the problem of an audience that wants to see something get punched as hard as possible without having to watch it bleed.