This summer’s most anticipated movie hits theaters this week and as always I was there to provide you a fan-level preview. So, does Avengers – Age of Ultron live up to the lofty standard of it’s predecessor, or does it suffer from sequelitis? Read on to find out.
“I think you’re confusing peace with quiet.”
Ultron, the titular villain in Marvel’s Avengers – Age of Ultron says this line to the assembled Avengers early in the film and it serves as an apropos description of the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Our story begins with the Avengers assaulting Baron von Strucker’s HYDRA compound in the fictional eastern European country of Sokovia to retrieve Loki’s scepter. How HYDRA and von Strucker got the scepter is never fully explained (likely due to the collapse of SHIELD in Captain America – The Winter Soldier) but he’s been using it for human experimentation, ultimately creating The Twins, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver).
From there we get to see Captain America being the Star Spangled Man (including a running joke about the team’s use of profanity), Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. doing Tony Stark/Robert Downey Jr. things (Robert Downey Jr. basically is Tony Stark at this point, or vice versa), Hulk smashing with Mark Ruffalo looking like a sad puppy afterwards, Thor looking like an actual god, Black Widow getting some character development, and Hawkeye serving as the team’s “everyman” look at the Avengers.
Clocking in at just shy of two and a half hours, Age of Ultron is Marvel’s longest and most ambitious movie yet. The main plot and subplots all begin and end nicely, with the exception of one danging plot thread that will lead in to Marvel’s Phase 3 movies.
Age of Ultron is a surprisingly tight film, with nary a minute wasted. It’s clear that some of the explanation of certain scenes got left on the cutting room floor, but things flow together fairly nicely. Thor’s subplot is especially notable as needing more development, but it’s not terribly distracting from the final project. The Bruce Banner-Black Widow romance subplot seems a little forced and unnecessary, but ultimately gets resolved later on in the film. Hawkeye gets a surprising amount of character development after being Loki’s flying monkey in the first Avengers, and reinforces his role as the team’s Everyman. The seeds for Captain America – Civil War are planted between Captain America and Iron Man, even if they end the film as friends and allies.
The new additions to the team, The Twins, played ably by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen, do a great job of bringing their characters to life. It’ll be good to see more of them beyond “He’s fast and she’s weird.” characterization shown here.
The big reveal is Paul Bettany as The Vision, who is sure to become everyone’s new favorite Avenger. After serving as the voice of Tony Stark’s AI JARVIS in the Iron Man films, he finally appears in the flesh and absolutely steals every scene he’s in. His scenes with Ultron are particularly memorable.
Speaking of Ultron, James Spader does a great job bringing the robotic menace to life. He’s more than just a robot gone haywire; he has genuine motivation and is given a good character arc. He’s a little too snarky, but Spader makes him sufficiently menacing.
The visual effects are on par with the rest of the MCU, but the general opinion is that the Hulk looked better in the previous film. He definitely has a bit of that glossy CGI feel to him. The action scenes are well done, and the film is well edited. The soundtrack is good if unremarkable, incorporating elements from previous entries in the MCU.
Age of Ultron is a great entry into Marvel’s ongoing saga, as good as the first. It doesn’t quite hit the lofty bar set by Captain America – The Winter Soldier or Iron Man, but it still captures the magic of having Marvel’s heavy hitters on screen together. If you’ve enjoyed the Marvel movies thus far, you’ll enjoy this one. If you’re on the fence, go for it anyway. If you hate the Marvel movies, this one won’t change your mind.
Be sure to stay for the mid-credits stinger, but don’t stay to the end unless you REALLY like credits, as there’s no end-credits stinger for this one.
