"Avengers: Age of Ultron" Review

Note: Whilst it is my policy to not leak spoilers in a review for a movie, I must include some from Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier in order to properly explain context and reactions to this film. But rest assured, there will be no spoilers from Avengers: Age of Ultron.

My affinity for The Avengers is about as much of a secret as Barry Bonds' steroid usage. The first movie was a huge leap forward in the world of Superhero films. It was an unprecedented move for movies to have such a connected and cohesive universe. The way that Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon brought together all of Marvel's heavy hitters into one film and gave them such a beautiful interplay was groundbreaking. Thusly, my expectations for Avengers: Age of Ultron could likely be found on the top of the Empire State Building. So did the sequel reach 102 stories?

Set after the events of Marvel's Phase 2 films, the Avengers are once again teamed up to retrieve Loki's scepter from the hands of Hydra. But Tony Stark and Bruce Banner have come up with another  plan in order to prevent the events of the first film from ever coming to pass again. An artificial intelligence named Ultron. But (as so often happens) Ultron isn't too keen on being a puppet and turns on the team. Now the Avengers must save the world from the threat they themselves caused whilst also dealing with two new enhanced humans: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. 

In the films that followed The Avengers, we found our heroes in various situations in which we wondered why they couldn't just call the others for help. I think that is most likely the largest failing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Where was Captain America when Tony Stark's house was being blown into the water and the President was kidnapped? Where was Iron Man when Dark Elves came to London to cause havoc for Thor? Where was EVERYONE ELSE when S.H.I.E.L.D. was taken down by the infiltration of Hydra? Where were Hulk and Hawkeye period? While the first batch of films worked on teasing The Avengers, the second batch has left them without one another or an explantion as to where they are. It wasn't a major issue when they were setting up the heroes in their origins, but in a post Avengers world where they all know about one another, it raises more than a few eyebrows. And Avengers: Age of Ultron makes little to no account for any of these questions.  My biggest issue is that at the end of Iron Man 3, Tony Stark blew up all of his suits, took the shrapnel out of his chest, and said that he didn't need any of the technology to be Iron Man. Yet in the very opening of this film, he's in a suit again being a hero. No explanation of what happened or why he changed his mind. What the hell?

The parts involving Nick Fury feel rather extraneous to the story itself, and doesn't seem to accomplish much else besides giving Samuel L. Jackson an opportunity to knock a film off of his Marvel contract. Whereas he seemed to move the story forward in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, his part in this film carries about as much weight as it did in Iron Man 2. Just a pep talk and a reminder that he is still in the world. 

(Most issues in the film have to do with specific items and are quite spoilery, so I won't go into them here. I will do something separate on the show with multiple warnings.)

Despite minor failings in making the universe seamless, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a strong piece if not as good as the first film. The story arches a global scale, and certainly has a sense of impending doom. But it still feels a little smaller, more organized and much more intimate than it did the first time around. We really get a stronger understanding of who these characters are. 

 The development of Ultron as a villain is a far cry from the evil A.I.'s of the past where all it took was a calm voice telling you "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." James Spader's soothing magical machinations create a robot full of life and schemes that you don't mind the monologuing. It isn't a cartoon, it's a vibrant force of evil which mistakes it's own intentions as well. 

The normal players all function in a manner similar to the way they have in the past with a few notes. Robert Downey Jr. made more of an effort to show Tony Stark's humanity in Iron Man 3, even if the PTSD from the first Avengers movie made him seem a little less free-spirited. That same feeling returns in this film but mixed with the Tony Stark we have all come to know and love, and the way that it comes across makes it more believable that he would take the position he does in the future...

It's hard for me to really pick a standout because there were 2. Jeremy Renner and Paul Bettany. Renner's Hawkeye gets an opportunity to really shine and prove that he deserves to be here. And Paul Bettany brings something delicate yet strong into play that the film really needed.

Avengers: Age of Ultron succeeds as a film in it's own right, but never reaches the standards the first film set. That being said, i'm still enormously excited to see what comes in it's wake. I recommend taking the family at the end of this sentence.

B