Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

I finally got to watch Age of Ultron and man was it ever worth the wait.

Over a year of hype later and it was all worth it. But that's not saying that the movie is without it's flaws of course and we'll go through them soon. Don't fret though, this movie continues to show just how on point Marvel Studios has been with their productions as of late, with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Age of Ultron is the second ensemble film from Marvel Studios that continues the adventures of our beloved Avengers. We have Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye all on the big screen once again to kick ass and save the world. Only this time, instead of fending off invading alien forces in New York City, the team is trying to stop a psychotic, sentient A.I. named Ultron from wiping humanity off the face of the Earth.

Taken from the comic book story of the same name, Age of Ultron promised to bring over the top action, comic book humor and good old fashioned fan service for long time comic fans and newcomers alike.

You could put this on a two-page spread in a comic book and it would work flawlessly

 Immediately, the film starts off with an action sequence that quickly shows off some subtle hints about the team since we've last seen them together in Avengers 1. We can see that they've spent some time working together as a team as they're much more organized than before. We also get to see Black Widow use a 'calming technique' to help Hulk relax and turn back into Bruce Banner. We're also shown that the team has been looking for Loki's Scepter ever since the end of Captain America 2.

Personally, the opening sequence was definitely one of the best Marvel has done. The specific scene where the team flies out together in one epic shot felt like it was ripped directly from the pages of a comic book. It was essentially seeing an entire two page spread come to life on the big screen. Another thing that the first sequence does great is that it doesn't take it's sweet time to establish plot. We're introduced to the motivations for certain actions that will drive the film forward without it feeling unnatural or forced.

Throughout the entire film, we're constantly going back and forth between dialogue, story heavy scenes to action packed brawls like the Hulkbuster vs Hulk scene (Which, by the way, was probably one of the most amazing action sequences Marvel has ever put out). Characters who got shafted in previous films manage to get extra screen time for some well deserved development.

MORE PLEASE

The two characters that I can think off immediately are Hawkeye and Black Widow. Despite being in several Marvel movies, Black Widow finally gets some much needed character development by exploring her past and her basic origins of becoming one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Hawkeye on the other hand get's back story and more love in terms of dialogue. He's witty, honorable and loyal to his team. He's also a family man now thanks to Nick Fury keeping that information secret. In general, it was about time both these characters got more love and they both come out better for it. In fact, Hawkeyes character was also one that was accurate to his comic counterpart where he talks to himself from time to time (humorously) and even knows that he's an under powered team mate. It's refreshing to see this, especially on the big screen.

Ultron proves you don't have to constantly be threatening and intimidating to be a villain

In terms of antagonists, the titular character Ultron does not disappoint but he's also not what I expected either. Immediately, James Spader shows that his voice was an absolutely perfect fit for Ultron. At the same time, we're also given a mcuh more 'human' Ultron than anticipated. For a rogue A.I. that was accidently created by Tony Stark as a global peacekeeping measure, he seems awfully human in mannerisms. However, this sin't a huge problem when you consider the idea that Ultron is meant to be the part of Tony Stark that wants to protect the world at any cost. Once we realize this, Ultron becomes a little more sinister as he's meant to be the darker side of Stark come to life. As such, Ultron manages to stay faithful to his comic origins in a sense and even becomes one of the greatest threats to the Avengers thus far. Granted, his humor and snarky attitude was a little strange at first, especially when we're given a super threatening and chilling introduction to his character, but since he does have a bit of Tony Stark in him, it works.

I wish we got more scenes like this where it's basically Avengers FRIENDS style

Newcomers like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (played by Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor Johnson respectively) don't disappoint and even become big players in the Marvel cinematic universe. Though Quicksilver's acting left something to be desired, his overall relationship with his twin sister was definitely done well and manages to save the character.

The Maximoff twins are welcomed new characters

However, despite the well rounded cast (thus far) there are a couple of gripes I had with how they handled certain characters. Thor, for one, did not get any screen time whatsoever, so parts of his story were left confusing and unexplained. This is unfortunate because I know Joss Whedon had plans of having Thor's scenes expanded upon but were ultimately cut from the final version of the film. The Black Widow and Hulk relationship also left something to be desired. While it sort of works in the end, it came out of nowhere and sort of change the character dynamic that Black Widow has had over the years. Why would she suddenly fall in love with The Hulk? Why would she go against how she's been trained and raised to become emotionally attached to something? Her character has been explained in the movie to be sterilized because having any emotional attachment to anything would compromise her missions, her state of mind, etc. Sure, perhaps it's to show that she's changed throughout her time in The Avengers and perhaps the relationship between Hulk and Black Widow developed off screen, but it felt incredibly strange. I often found myself thinking "but why?" most of the time.


Lastly, I want to talk about certain teases that the movie had for comic fans. We've had plenty of set up for Captain America 3: Civil War, Thor 3: Ragnarok, and the Infinity War movies. Thor, being the only Avenger who has extended knowledge about the Infinity Stones makes the dynamic much more interesting, as the Earthbound heroes have no idea what these stones are and what they can do. We have the Tony Stark, Vision and Ultron dynamic that was incredibly interesting in that Vision and Ultron came from Starks personality, indicting that his intentions for world peace are always good, but he'll do whatever it takes to make it happen. This, personally, seems like a great set up for Civil War and will perhaps have Captain America and Iron Man duke it out over what's right and what's wrong. How far the Civil War movie will remain accurate to the comic book event has yet to be seen, but so far, throughout Age of Ultron, we've had plenty of internal conflict between Cap and Iron Man that a fight for ideals is surely going to take place. Overall, the teasing in Age of Ultron has me incredibly excited to see where the Marvel cinematic universe is heading. With a new team of Avengers on the big screen, we have the potential for more stories and ultimately keep things fresh and unpredictable, even for comic fans like me!

New Avengers, Assemble!

Overall, I'd say Age of Ultron was well worth the hype. Amazing action sequences, great character development and some fantastic fan service for everyone to enjoy. I eagerly await for Ant-Man, Civil War and every other Marvel movie to come out in the future. Things just keep getting better and better and don't have any sign of stopping anytime soon. Age of Ultron does have it's flaws here and there and stop it from becoming the ultimate Avengers ensemble movie, but it's not enough to bring it down to mediocrity either. Look forward to more Marvel in the coming years!

Verdict: 4.5/5