Review: Marvel Universe Live! Age of Heroes

The thing about Marvel Universe Live! Age of Heroes and probably any Marvel Universe Live! shows is that it is EPIC. Everything about it is epic, the action, the lights, the music. Every move is calculated to be as big and impactful as possible, dialogue is refined down to it’s simplest, clearest form so that the audience can focus on the athleticism and action of the actors. I’m probably going to say the word “action” a lot in this review, if I had to summarize this entire event down to one word it would be action, or fun. If I had to summarize this entire event down to two words they would be action and fun.

I had six tickets to Marvel Universe Live, four for my family and two for my in-laws. However, grampy had to drop out at the last minute so I offered the ticket to a good friend of my mine with zero explanations of what the show is or what she was coming to. I just said Marvel Universe and she was yeah, ok. This is important to the review, I promise.

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First, my kids loved it. They said it was “unbelievably great” and with wide-eyed sincerity that “everyone should see it.” That doesn’t mean they didn’t have their criticism, they are kids with extensive superhero knowledge and concrete ideas about what the Marvel Universe is. Most of their criticism was more about who they’d like to see more and that the Loki was the main bad guy (again). They also wanted more Hulk — but, I mean, everyone wants more Hulk. It was actually hard to get a lot of clear reviews from my kids, every conversation ended in the minutia of different super heroes’ powers, who was actually a better fighter, who they would have liked to have seen in different places, why characters not even in this play would make cool team-ups. Let’s just say they were inspired by what they saw. And that they loved it, like already thinking about next year’s show.

But back to this show though — my friend who came along, an adult women, was completely and kind of joyfully surprised by it. She said it brought her back to the feeling of being a kid at Disneyland, that this kind of lightness and silliness and action, transported her to that big-eyed joy feeling of Disneyland. And honestly, it is pretty amazing, the fight scenes are so much fun to watch — the choreography is as obvious as the pre-recorded dialogue, but that doesn’t matter at all. It’s just fun. When I went to the pre-show press event, they told me the story was better this year, that they had added to it and I could see in their eyes that they really were excited for us to see. And they did it, they added a lot and in some exciting ways (fire dancing and aerial ribbon dancers — stuff that awed everyone and left the entire crowds mouths agape).

Basically, kids go nuts, adults laugh and are as much enthralled by the work of it as the kids are by the imagination of it. It’s fun, it’s loud, and bright and busy but it’s still a lot of fun.

Some things to be prepared for:

  • People are selling things everywhere. Toys, food, treats, masks, etc — I suggest coming in with a plan so your kids know what they get and don’t get.
  • If you or your kids are sensitive to loud sounds and music or bright lights sometimes flashing lights, this might not be the show for you. We have noise cancelling earphones that are helpful, sunglasses might be good too if light sensitivity is your thing.
  • They drive motorcycles around and the scent can be strong in one scene in particular. Its cool to watch but know that if you’re sensitive to exhaust, it might bother you.
  • Lastly, if you go  — adults, give in to it. Go on the ride, let yourself enjoy the show. The athleticism is super impressive, the set is great and really well done, the complexity of all the action and the flying around and all of it, it’s impressive. Allow yourself to be impressed.

 

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There are two more shows today (Saturday, September 23) at 3 pm and 7 pm and two shows tomorrow (Sunday, September 24) at 1 pm and 5 pm. Find tickets here.

Want to read about my pre-show press trip and see images and videos from that? Click here.

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