It was never going to match the magic of the first, but Marvel and Joss Whedon's Age of Ultron is one hell of a fun ride!
Following on from the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Avengers are working together to try and destroy the remnants of HYDRA, the Nazi organisation that had grown within SHIELD like a parasite ever since the Second World War. When the Earth's mightiest heroes stumble across a familiar power source, Tony Stark uses it to complete the Ultron programme, which was intended to be a global peace keeping force, giving the team some much needed respite. However, when Ultron gains consciousness, he decides that human beings are the problem, going on a quest to wipe out humanity, and of course it is down to the Avengers to save the world once again.
Marvel is comparable to an unstoppable juggernaut of a studio at the moment, with everything in terms of artistic decisions paying off. With already such an illustrious mythos established with the 10 prior MCU films, it always seems like Marvel has more to offer. Indeed they do, with films slated all the way through to 2019. In that Age of Ultron has a lot of seeds to plant for future films including the 2 part Infinity War spectacle, Civil War, Ragnarok and a solo outing for Black Panther. With so much to do in only 2 hours and 20 minutes, Age of Ultron's fast pace never relents. While it could've become rushed and complicated, it doesn't. It sows all the seeds of future films whilst still being a solid second outing for the Avengers.
The best thing about this film for sure is the team. During the first few minutes of the film, we are treated to an outrageously over-the-top action sequence which illustrates the team dynamic. You get the sense that the 6 of them have immense experience in working together, something the first Avengers could not show for obvious reasons. The rest of the film's action sequences are all filmed excellently, filled to the brim with colourful special effects, a familiar sounding yet invigorating score and some slick camera work.
The humour, as you would expect, is typically on point. There are some stand-out comedic moments within the film, Marvel's staple, with one scene which involves the Avengers trying to lift Thor's hammer at a party being the funniest of the entire film. The film is marketed to be "dark", which is slightly misleading. While there are some "dark" moments of emotional bleakness presented via flashbacks, there is a lot of humour in this film, even through it's titular villain.
James Spader's work as Ultron is one of the film's standouts. I don't think I have ever been more pleasantly surprised with a villain than I have with Ultron. Had he just been dark and menacing, like Malekith from Thor: The Dark World or Ronan from Guardians, he wouldn't have been interesting. But he has a personality, and a wicked sense of humour which shouldn't have worked yet did and did so well. Also, you understood his motivation for what he was doing. You'd never condone the mass genocide of the human race, but you could see his viewpoint, and he thought he was doing the right thing. He's very funny which I enjoyed watching, but he was also menacing on some occasions, striking that perfect balance.
The film is excellent at giving characters their time to shine but also does a great job at character development, particularly for the characters who haven't been able to have their own solo outing since The Avengers. Black Widow just keeps on getting better film by film, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk is equally brilliant as he was in the first and Hawkeye becomes a great character. I'm being serious. Its the interaction and relationship between familiar characters and small moments which make you say "that's why I love so and so" which is a huge success on Age of Ultron's part.
New to the Avengers roster are twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch along with Paul Bettany's Vision. I think the twins are the best example of showing how the film got character motivation spot on as you initially get why they would side with Ultron, but also why they make a switch during the latter stages of the second act. As for the Vision, he completely steals the show. I'm very excited for how they use him in future films. That's all I'll say for now.
There is only one post credits scene, but it's one of the best they've ever done.
I will post a spoiler-filled review within a week or so explaining some other things which I loved about the film which would've bordered into spoiler territory, as well as a few little nit-picks I have with the film's overall edit (things that were left on the cutting room floor). In all honesty, I loved Age of Ultron. It was pleasantly surprising in a lot of ways and developed the characters and the over-arching plot the MCU films have been doing ever since the start. It's not quite the first, but it's a damn good attempt and an incredibly fun film to watch in theatres:
Rating - A
Thanks for reading,
Matt
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