Avengers: Age of Ultron Review
It’s been a few years since Joss Whedon announced that he would be returning to write and direct the sequel to his blockbuster hit, Marvel’s The Avengers. The Internet was overjoyed by the fact that Whedon would return and soon the hype train started rolling before filming even began. But with any hyped movie comes with it a lot of pressure. Does Joss Whedon crumble underneath all the pressure or does he rise up to the challenge once again?
Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is bigger, bolder and more action-packed than the original. Unfortunately, it’s also disjointed, feels rushed and is packed with an overabundance of storylines. Yet despite all that the film is still one hell of a ride.
Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron follows Tony Stark as he creates an artificial A.I. named Ultron in order to keep the world safe. Things don’t go as planned as Ultron believes that in order to protect humanity, he must wipe out all of humanity. It is up to the Avengers to stop Ultron and protect the world before he annihilates humanity.
Joss Whedon delivered a big time with the success of The Avengers, but with Avengers: Age of Ultron, it seems as if the the strain of juggling multiple characters has finally taken its toll. Joss Whedon excels at writing witty dialogue, but the only problem is that we don’t get much of that in the film. The film is crammed with so many storylines that there’s little room for Whedon’s trademark dialogue. Joss is trying to do way too much in one movie, even with that 141 minute running time. Don’t worry though, his one-liners and humor is definitely still in the film.
The loss of dialogue though makes up for it through the sheer magnitude of the action sequences. Right from the get go, you hit the ground running in a cool “James Bondian” style cold opening. The action set pieces are bigger and certainly more ambitious than its predecessor.
What Whedon got right though is the examination of the inner demons of each character. The psychological exploration of the characters gives more depth to the characters that otherwise never would’ve been explored. In addition, these inner demons are a great way to position each character when their Phase 3 films come around. It’s a very smart, chess-like move for Feige and Whedon.
Other than that, there isn’t much character development that takes place between “the big three,” likely saving that for their own solo films. This, however, gives the supporting characters a chance to shine, especially Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. Widow, Hawkeye and Hulk have their own emotional moments in the film to show that they’re not just there as side characters, they’re there to complete the team. Even the newest characters, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Ultron and Vision, are able to distinguish themselves from the rest of the cast. Olsen and Taylor-Johnson are excellent as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver and Bettany is an absolute scene-stealer as Vision.
Unfortunately, Ultron is the fearsome and intimidating villain that the trailers portray him to be. Ultron cracks jokes and, at times, acts like a petulant child. However, it’s this portrayal that makes James Spader such a perfect casting decision. Spader delivers such a rich and complex voice to Ultron, it’s just the right voice for a condescending maniac.
Overall, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t as fun as the first film. What made the first film work was that the film was simple enough to let the characters shine. The problem here is that the overabundance of storylines and the addition of new characters gives the film a disjointed feeling. However, the lovable characters, Whedon’s humor and the spectacular action makes Avengers: Age of Ultron a worthy kick-off to the 2015 summer movie season.
Rating: 4/5 Atoms
