This was the movie that topped my most anticipated movies of 2015. So, needless to say, I was very excited to see this movie and it had a lot to live up to in my mind. After years of character development and preparation, Marvel Studios finally united their heroes together in 2012 with "Avengers Assemble," leading to one brilliant result. However, that only put even more pressure on director Joss Whedon to recreate the magic with this sequel. And did he do that? Well, Marvel haven't made any massive missteps thus far (except maybe Iron Man 3's Mandarin twist) and I'm happy to say that they have managed to continue their streak.
At this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio do not need to sell their central characters like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, to us anymore. The characters return here with the enjoyable interactions and teamwork that we have come to love over the 7 years since Nick Fury appeared in Tony Stark's living room to ask about the Avengers Initiative. However, some characters were still suffering, like Hawkeye, the butt of many jokes after the Avengers, which mainly focused on his lack of powers. This is something that director Whedon has fixed in the sequel with Hawkeye especially getting some excellent character development that has made people actually make people realise that Hawkeye is actually....interesting. At this point, it's mainly about selling the new players in the team, meaning Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and the Vision. Vision is the character who appears least in the film, and it's difficult to talk about him without diving into spoiler territory, but I can say that you want more of the character at the end. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are much more prominent. To sum up their abilities, "he's fast and she's weird," and they both get some great character moments, especially Scarlet Witch. Played by Elizabeth Olsen, this character allows the audience to see how the world views the Avengers as bringers of destruction rather than just heroes. However, as I said in my Daredevil review, a superhero movie is only as good as its villain and Marvel have not been so lucky in this area. Malekith, Whiplash, and the aforementioned Mandarin are all examples of weak villains, with Loki and Kingpin being the only stand out candidates. However, Ultron has, surprisingly, joined this group. James Spader's performance as the psychopathic AI-controlled robot brings an excellent blend of insanity and wit, cracking jokes about breaking omelettes when confronted by the whole team of Avengers.
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| The Avengers return, with some great humour injected into scenes like these. |
It's come to be expected that Marvel will at least deliver a strong story in their movies and television shows, and they have done it again with their latest project. After an attempt to start up a global peace-keeping program goes wrong, Tony Stark creates Ultron, an artificial intelligence designed to keep peace in the world, something he aims to do through the extinction of humanity. The pacing in this movie is excellent, with it not taking the Avengers half an hour to assemble this time. However, that does not mean that there are no weak sections, including Thor's visit to a magic cave, only to have one character know more about what's going on with regards the overarching plot of this universe. An odd love story between Hulk and Black Widow is also shoehorned into the movie which, although not terrible, only annoyed me due to the lack of build-up to this aspect in earlier movies.
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| James Spader plays the intimidating android, Ultron. |
As a summer blockbuster movie, a great deal of people will be coming to this movie for the action, and in particular the highly publicised Iron Man/Hulk brawl with Iron Man sporting the fan favourite Hulkbuster armour. None of the effects were ever questioned in the trailers, and I'm happy to say that they look incredible in action. This was particularly crucial in this movie as the main villain was entirely visual effects. Ultron and, when in action, the Hulkbuster armour move very realistically and Ultron actually moving his mouth when he speaks unlike the typical robot is just the icing on top. It all just adds up to the usual final battle sequence with all of the Avengers, which, as per usual, is an absolute treat to watch.
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| The much anticipated Hulkbuster fight lives up to fan expectations. |
After the brilliance of the original Avengers movie, it was always going to be difficult for Marvel to recreate that magic of seeing the heroes together in the sequel. But, for the most part, they have succeeded. I do not regret placing this movie at the top of my most anticipated movies of the year list in any way.With a stellar cast, spectacular action and one of the few interesting villains in the Marvel Universe, I highly recommend watching "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" as a general moviegoer or as a comic book fan.
Pros
- Character development for existing characters (especially Hawkeye)
- Excellent visual effects
- A compelling plot and villain
- The usual Marvel humour mixed in with a darker tone
Cons
- Weak filler sections, like Thor's cave trip
- Lack of preparation for the Hulk/Widow romance
Original Release Date: April 22nd, 2015
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, James Spader, Paul Bettany
