It’s been a long three years since the last The Avengers came out and since then we had Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy to tide us over. Now the long awaited epic second installment has been released and the people rose up and in one voice said… meh. Age of Ultron wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I’ve come to expect from the Marvel universe. But wait, there’s more to this story. Here’s my review. Remember folks, my reviews are spoiler free unless otherwise stated. I do assume you have watched all the previous movies, so fair warning on that part. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, read on without fear.
I saw this movie opening day in a packed theater with a group of my closest friends. We were all very excited and were prepared to like the movie which as some of you may know, is something I try not to do. I want to go into a movie with an open mind no matter how great or terrible the previews may have looked. But I broke my rule with this one because Marvel has been on a roll lately. What I was expecting to see is a movie that was flashy, fun to watch, full of spectacular effects, all coupled with a engaging and spectacular plot. I got most of that.
The visuals were impressive, as always. My only issue was that in the opening scene there were a few times where Peter Jackson must have taken over because a few of the CG jobs looked half assed. But after the opening scene that less than stellar CG went the way of the dodo and the rest was exactly what I expected. The movies climax, which I won’t give details about due to my no spoilers promise, was especially impressive as was the fight scene between the Hulk and the Hulk Buster. One of the biggest complaints I hear about blockbusters is that they’re all flash with no substance and to that I say Flash is DC, stupid! Okay, that was bad. I’m sorry.
Back to the movie. Avengers: Age of Ultron did have substance, but it was kind of like the leftovers from a gourmet meal. What you have is really good but it doesn’t quite live up to what it was or even what you want it to be. The movie was fun, I laughed quite a bit, I was never ever bored, but at the same time I was left wanting. Age of Ultron clocks in at two hours and twenty-one minutes and I think they should have gone for the full three hours and fleshed the story out more. It had the same formula as the last one, which I wouldn’t have minded if there was more to it.
I really wanted more character development. We all know this movie was leading up to Captain America: Civil War and anyone who is even mildly familiar with the Marvel universe knows that this was one of their biggest and most popular story arcs. Civil War involves so many different characters that it’s ridiculous to expect EVERY character to get some development, but let’s at least give it to the ones who matter the most in the story. There were quite a few parts where my knowledge of the Marvel cannon was taken for granted and I’m not just talking about those fun little jokes these movies have had for “true believers.” It’s hard to explain this point without spoilers but I’ll try my best. Something happens to one of the characters and instead of seeing how it affects them or how they cope with it, we’re simply told how their feeling and whats going on in their mind. There are very few scenes where we get to see this character deal with it.
Hawkeye did play a bigger part which was nice and even made a few jokes at his own expense which made me howl with laughter. The one thing this movie seemed to do for him was solidify his part in the group and prove to me why he’s even there. With the fall of Shield in Captain America: The Winter Solder, Hawkeye and Black Widow aren’t needed as far as Shield goes anymore so Age of Ultron had to show us what their roles are outside of Shield. Black Widow got a bigger role too, which I liked. I was only mildly aware of her as a character before she was introduced in the movies so it was good to see more of her as a person instead of a super spy killing machine.
I know, I usually talk about the acting, but don’t you already know what to expect? The only new faces are Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Godzilla) as Quicksilver, Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Oldboy the american version) as Scarlet Witch, and James Spader (Stargate, Blacklist) as the voice of Ultron. There’s one more new person but I won’t say who it is just in case you haven’t looked at the IMDB page or didn’t keep up with the gossip. Anywho, about the new people… they were very fun to watch. There was no hint of Kick-Ass in Quicksilver and his accent wasn’t bad. I think there was only one time where I heard it slip a bit. Same goes for Olsen, she had a couple good emotional scenes and was able to make it all very believable and not campy in the slightest. James Spader, however, was the runaway star of one liners. He was just a voice and yet his delivery made this CG robot the most unique and complex character in the movie.
It was just brought to my attention that Joss Whedon had come under fire for a sexist portrayal of Black Widow. I don’t want to get on a soapbox here but let me just say this. If any of those mouth breathing plebeians had actually paid attention to the movie, they’d have seen that Black Widow isn’t some weak damsel in distress, she’s just as strong as ever. It’s just that she doesn’t play a huge part in this movie. Not as big a one as she played in part one. I don’t think Joss Whedon knows how to write a weak woman. He did create Buffy after all. Okay, let’s wrap this up.
All in all this was a good movie but it just fell short of great. It’s a fun action movie with all the characters we’ve come to know and love and it even had some new ones to endear us too. I really do think that after Avengers: Infinity War part 1 comes out, we’ll look back on this one and realize that it did suffer from middle movie syndrome. Like I said, it wasn’t bad but it could have been better. Avengers Age of Ultron tried to do too much in too little time and also had a big order to fill. Not only did it have to tell the story of Ultron and The Avengers, but it had to help build momentum for Captain America: Civil War. Even though this movie isn’t getting the highest score from me, I still think every fan of Marvel or anyone who is even remotely interested in it, should go see it in theaters. This is one of those movies where it pays to watch it on the big screen with a soda and red vines. Go and enjoy the movie, but just don’t expect to be blown away.
Avengers: Age of Ultron gets a 8 out of 10