Released: May 2015
Director: Joss Whedon
Run Time: 141 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Distributor: Disney/Marvel Studios
Cast:
Robert Downey, Jr.: Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Evans: Steve Rogers/Captain America
Chris Hemsworth: Thor
Scarlett Johannson: Natasha Romonov/Black Widow
Jeremy Renner: Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Mark Ruffalo: Bruce Banner/The Hulk
James Spader: Ultron
Elizabeth Olsen: Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Aaron Taylor-Johnson: Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
Samuel L. Jackson: Nick Fury
Don Cheadle: James Rhodes/War Machine
Paul Bettany: Jarvis/Vision
Back in 2008 when the first Iron Man movie was released, there was a nifty little after-the-credits sequence in which Tony Stark had a small chat with Colonel Nick Fury about “The Avengers Initiative.” When people saw that, they knew what was coming, but before The Avengers could assemble, we would get movies about Captain America and Thor first. We got a Hulk movie around the same time Iron Man came out so that was dealt with. Iron Man got the first sequel before The Avengers hit the screen. When The Avengers finally hit theaters, it hit with the force of Thor’s hammer. It was astounding. Nobody had ever seen an ensemble superhero movie before. It was massive. There was a lot of action, great visual effects and it was really fast-paced with an interesting story. Yeah, alien invasion, but with superheroes! How could you go wrong? You couldn’t. Because we had movies with Iron Man, The Hulk and Thor, we really didn’t need to get into background information on the characters for this movie. Most of the characters were established, with the exception of Hawkeye and maybe Black Widow. It really laid the ground for the next phase of Marvel movies known as the MCU or Marvel Cinematic Universe. After The Avengers had landed, we got sequels to Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. We also got a new movie called Guardians of the Galaxy, which ties in loosely with the other movies, but the franchise will become more significant in the future. On May 1st of this year, we got our first sequel to The Avengers. How does it fare against the rest of the movies that came before? Oh, boy….this is going to hurt me more than anything.
The film opens with a bang somewhere in Eastern Europe where our group of heroes are taking on Hydra, the group of terrorists that managed to infiltrate and destroy S.H.I.E.L.D from the inside out. They’re targeting a specific castle in the region because Hydra managed to get their hands on the scepter that Loki had used during the Battle of New York in the previous film. Little do they realize that Hydra has a secret weapon, twins who have unique abilities. One twin, Pietro, is ultra-fast. The other twin, Wanda, has telekinetic and telepathic powers. After much destruction, Tony Stark retrieves the scepter but encounters Wanda who shows him his own fears and that eventually leads to Stark returning to a discarded program involving the use of artificial intelligence called Ultron. The project was to use A.I to help protect the world from extra-terrestrial threats. Unfortunately, Ultron sees humanity as the ultimate threat. After seeing the likes of Terminator and The Matrix, a movie centered around people fighting machines doesn’t feel new. Ultron’s been a part of the comic book scene since the 1960s and is one of The Avengers’ chief villains. Since Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War have been announced, the story in Avengers: Age of Ultron is nothing more than a setup for the next few movies. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that all these different stories intersect and how each movie is connected. The whole thing feels like its building up to something huge, and it doesn’t quite get there.
Joss Whedon definitely knows how to structure an action film and the action in Avengers: Age of Ultron is amazing. It’s absolutely fantastic. Obviously, there are big explosions, gun play and plenty of smashing to go around. The opening of the film is one of the most action-packed scenes that I’ve seen in a major blockbuster. That’s how you start an action film. It also doesn’t really let up. Yeah, there are some slow moments for character development, but it’s mostly just run-and-gun. I love it. The acting is superb, with all the main superheroes returning from the previous film. There is an interesting addition: Quicksilver. Quicksilver has the benefit of appearing in not just one Marvel film, but two. The first that he appeared in was X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Age of Ultron. They’re played by different actors and have different motivations, but it was quite interesting to see. The main villain, Ultron, is voiced by the criminally underrated James Spader. Yeah, he’s definitely threatening, but he’s also amusing at the same time as he gets some of the film’s best lines. That’s also one of the biggest issues I have with the film: The humor. I’m not saying that Avengers: Age of Ultron needs to be dark and gritty like The Dark Knight, but it seems like in every major situation, jokes are tossed around even when things are deathly serious. It’s a distraction. One of my issues with the previous Avengers was with Hawkeye. Here, he’s given a whole lot more to do and is the emotional anchor of the team, and it’s really refreshing to see Jeremy Renner really flex his acting muscles here. Robert Downey, Jr is always reliable as Stark, Chris Evans is still amazing as Captain America, and Mark Ruffalo simply inhabits his role of Bruce Banner. The movie still has it’s amazing ensemble.
Sadly, there are quite a few things that really don’t work. The relationship between Banner and Black Widow doesn’t feel natural. It seems forced, and the way she gets the Hulk to calm down is…..well, let’s just say it’s suggestive. The addition of additional superheroes really gives the film a bloated feel. I mean, it’s cool to see Vision as part of the team. He’s played by Paul Bettany, who does a good job, but he just feels like a fifth wheel. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have much larger role, though, so that’s good. There are elements in Age of Ultron that are clearly setting up for Civil War. There’s a sequence that takes place in a cave that seems out of place. Apparently there were issues between Joss Whedon and Marvel about what to include in this movie. It shows, because some of the film doesn’t feel entirely fleshed out. Ultron’s motives for wiping out humanity seem pretty generic to me. He’s a visually interesting character that just doesn’t feel like a major threat. Again, this goes back to whole humanity vs. machines deal that has been done to death. Avengers: Age of Ultron just doesn’t feel like it’s trying anything new. I’m not going to say I hate the movie, I don’t. But I am severely disappointed that this was the end result. Maybe it’s because my expectations were so freaking high after the last movie, that anything less than what the previous Avengers delivered was going to be disappointing. Maybe that’s the case, and maybe I need to see it again. First impressions are often the most important, and my first impression of Avengers: Age of Ultron was not really a good one. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, I will be picking it up on Blu-Ray when it’s available, but it really feels like a major step backwards for Whedon and company. Rumor is that this movie is going to be Joss Whedon’s last entry into the Marvel universe. I don’t know how credible that is, but it might be a good thing. It’s a fluke that the first film turned out as well as it did. Age of Ultron just doesn’t live up to the previous film are any of the others in the MCU. My final verdict is a 7/10. I’m really hoping that Captain America: Civil War, and Infinity War will be off the charts. It’s what they are building towards.