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Avengers: Age of Ultron Review
I went to Avengers: Age of Ultron with tempered expectations. The seemingly endless trailers and clips made me feel as though I’d seen all the best action scenes and heard all the best one liners already, and the fact Marvel’s latest hasn’t been as well received by critics as its predecessor, or last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America The Winter Soldier for that matter, had me worried. After finally seeing the Avengers assemble for the second time last night I can honestly say I had a blast, and I’m frankly baffled by the number of negative reviews Marvel’s latest spectacle has received. Sure, it’s flawed, but no more than the first Avengers. In fact, I’d say Age of Ultron is a much more solid movie, and although nothing can beat the sheer joy of seeing our hero’s team up for the first time, I found it more entertaining overall.
I won’t go into too much plot detail, if you’ve seen any of the bazillion trailers I think you have a fair idea what our heroes are up against this time around. In a nutshell, with the help of his new BFF Bruce Banner, Tony Stark creates an advanced A.I to protect the world from otherworldly threats (such as a certain blue space tyrant comic book readers jizz over and non comic readers shrug over). Ironically, the A.I he creates turns into the greatest threat the world has ever faced.
As voiced by James Spader, Ultron aka Iron Spader is the most charismatic villain the Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced since Loki (some would say the only charismatic villain they’ve produced since, though those people obviously haven’t seen Vincent D’onofrio’s inspired turn as Kingpin on Netflix’s Daredevil). When he first appears in physical form, literally crashing our heroes' party in the puppet like body of a half constructed battle droid; he is as creepy and sinister as the trailers promised, spewing vitriol and singing the chilling rendition of I've Got No Strings we hear in the trailer.
If there’s one complaint I have it’s that Ultron never again comes across as menacing as he is here, mostly because he’s too damn funny. Taking after his father Tony, everything he says is a witty one liner, and Spader delivers these lines with relish. Ultron’s face is surprisingly articulated for a robot, capturing every eye roll and look of exasperation on James Spader’s face. It’s a hilarious show stealing turn, but as a result he’s never all that scary or intimidating.
Ultron isn’t the only villain this time around, as he has minions in the form of twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (at least initially, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to reveal they later switch sides as this was all given away in the trailers. Less is more Marvel!). Quicksilver is pretty much wasted here (in case you were wondering The Days of Future Past iteration of the character wins hands down) but Scarlet Witch is an interesting addition. In fact, at the beginning she’s much more of a threat to our group than Ultron, who would no doubt have been defeated in the first forty minutes without Scarlet Witch and her magic mind-fuckery on his side. She’s an intriguing character and it’ll be interesting to see what they do with her in Civil War next year, but in future I really hope they’re able to better define her abilities. Her powers are all over the place, the red wafty plasma stuff she conjures seemingly has a hundred and one different uses. I know this was also an issue with the character in the comics, but I’m hoping they can at least give us an idea of what her limitations are.
Another new addition to the party is Ultron and Stark’s love child The Vision. Paul Bettany finally gets to put on a silly suit and play with the cool kids, having voiced A.I butler JARVIS since the first Iron Man. Fans of the character might be disappointed at how little screen time The Vision gets, but it’s a great introduction to a character I’m sure is destined to become a fan favourite.
Speaking of fan favourites, I bet you never thought Hawkeye would be in contention. In much the same way The Hulk was the star of the first film, Hawkeye is the star here. I’m not kidding. It seems Whedon has finally cracked the character, here exploring what it means to be a mortal hero among gods; an Avenger who’s only super power is being pretty handy with a bow and arrow. He gets some of the best hero moments, story beats and one- liners, and since he doesn’t spend most of the movie as one of Loki’s staff bitches, we finally get to know the guy, and it turns out he’s actually pretty cool.
Hawkeye isn’t the only character who gets far more to do this time around. Whedon may have packed in even more super powered heroes, but because our A Team are already assembled we get to explore their team dynamic for an entire movie for the first time. The only characters who get short shrift are the newbies, but this film is just an introduction to these guys and we’ll have plenty of time to get to know them between Civil War next year, the Infinity War films, and any Marvel property they might pop up in in-between.
When it comes to spectacle Age of Ultron outdoes its predecessor in every way. The pre-credit sequence is a sight to behold (I’m convinced this is Whedon’s way of flipping the bird at all those who claim he can’t direct action scenes). It really is jaw dropping stuff, up there with the greatest action scenes ever put on film, and the closest thing I’ve seen to the panels of a comic book action set piece come to life. It’s a breathtaking opening that sets the bar incredibly high, so much so that the much anticipated Hulk Vs Hulk Buster fight almost feels like a letdown in comparison. Almost. Don’t worry, the smack down of the century is as explosive and thrilling as you’d imagine, but after seeing a good chunk of the fight in the trailers and clips and following that brilliant opening sequence, meeting our expectations was never going to be quite enough, it was going to have to transcend them, and it doesn’t quite do that. It’s awesome, but not transcendently awesome.
Age of Ultron is a worthy sequel to one of the most entertaining films ever made. It’s not quite as thrilling as seeing our heroes assemble for the first time, nor is it as fresh as Guardians or as dramatic as The Winter Soldier, but it’s just as entertaining. This is the biggest film Marvel has ever made and the fact that Whedon was able to raise the stakes, the spectacle, and the number of Avengers while at the same time retaining a sense of humour and giving each character time to shine is truly remarkable. Whedon deserves a long break, and although his creative input in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be sorely missed, I’m glad he’s once again free to create something original. After directing one (soon to be two) of the highest grossing films of all time, he now has the clout to make any of his dreams a reality, but I expect we'll be seeing some of his smaller, less blockbustery dreams hit our screens before he tackles anything on this scale again. (Unless, of course, someone hands him a script where the first line reads "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...)
Oh, one last thing. If you can, save some money and go see it in 2-D, the 3-D conversion might be even worse than the first Avengers.
Don’t miss our first ever podcast this week where we will be discussing Age of Ultron, or do if you haven’t seen the movie yet because it’s going to be spoilerific.
What did you guys think? Let us know what you thought of Marvel’s biggest ever movie in the talkbacks below.
Written by Richard O Connell |
Written by Richard O Connell |