Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

The first Avengers movie was a behemoth and the first of its kind. Never before had characters from four separate successful franchises come together to make one epic mega-movie. It went on to be it own success and to set the stage for phase two of Marvel Studios’ movie slate. We’ve finally arrived at the sequel to Marvel’s biggest film. Let’s see if they’ll be able to match its greatness.

The Story

I thought the story here was serviceable. It was pretty on-par with the first movie, but its lacking that excitement from being the first movie of its kind. I liked more than I disliked, but I’ll get to the bad stuff.

I thought the way things were set up was too much like the first movie. The Avengers fought an innumerable army of disposable henchmen just like the last one. Even in Ironman 3 there was an army of extremis soldiers. Thor had an army of Dark Elves in his last movie. I don’t know if there’s another way to do things other than our heroes fighting an army of whatever, but I’d like to see the studios try. That aspect of the movies is starting to get a little repetitive.

I did like things like the way the Vision was created, the way Ultron came to be. I even liked the Twin’s backstory and motivations for following Ultron. I thought it was peculiar given the ending of Captain America 2 that they brought S.H.I.E.L.D. back in full force, but I’m glad that they did. The filmmakers even made Hawkeye a more interesting and relatable character, which is a feat in itself.

The Characters

You should already now I’m a big fan of the big four. Nothing’s change here. Ironman, Captain America, Hulk and Thor are all still spot-on. This time around we have new-comers like Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. I loved the Vision and Scarlet Witch. I think it was a great choice to use the actor who played Jarvis for this role too. Surprisingly, when compared to Fox’s version of Quicksilver, this one it just average and doesn’t have any scenes close to the one in Days of Future Past.

I did enjoy the main villain Ultron for the most part. What I didn’t like about him was how human they made him sound and act. I think he would have been much more intimidating with some sort of effect added to his voice and a lot less emotion. I just wanted him to feel more robotic.

The Action

The action here was top notch. Director Joss Wheedon did a great job of balancing the amount of screen time each character received. All of them got their moments to show off what they were capable of. I particularly enjoyed the Ironman/Hulkbuster vs. The Hulk fight. That’s a moment I was looking forward to since I first realized that all these movies were sharing the same cinematic universe. Even the opening sequence that showed all of the team already in action. They wasted no time getting down to business and it really paid off. Great execution Marvel!

The Verdict

If you enjoy action movies, I’m not sure how you could go without seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron. A full, bigger, more experienced Avengers team is back in action on the big screen. Although I lived the character, my only minor gripes are with Ultron and his henchmen robots. You should see this one ASAP.

Rating

Heroic

9