Review of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) by Thequietgamer — 30 Apr 2015

Age of Ultron is pure, bombastic superhero fun. If you are expecting the next big evolution in Marvel's superhero movies you may be left disappointed. Whedon brings us simply more of the Avengers. Only this time the action has been cranked up significantly. It really doesn't do much to build up or change it's world. It mainly serves as another entry meant to entertain while hinting at even bigger things to come.

This isn't entirely a bad thing. The results are very fun. Plenty of references to and inclusions of material from the comics that built this universe are in place to make Marvel fans happy. While the almost non-stop action can get exhausting at times it is no less entertaining. Probably though where the movie stumbles the most is that there isn't any real tension.

Ultron is a compelling villain and played incredibly well by James Spader. He has an incredible personality that ultimately isn't used well enough to make him stand out. Despite all of his witty lines and incredible potential his role isn't anything more than what we've already come to see from other Marvel movie villains. His generic destroy humanity goal basically just serves as a way to give the Avengers a lot of cannon fodder to bash through. I enjoyed seeing Ultron onscreen and he does have a few cool moments that elevate him above generic Marvel movie villain, but his motives and methods are basically the same. It's not hard to see that there's so much more that could have been done with him.

The majority of the story itself is the generic heroes have to save the day stuff we got with the last Avengers, but there are moments where it all tries to do something a little more. It does a lot to build up tension between the heroes (an obvious setup for Civil War). Their motives are tested and reasoning questioned. Although it all works out in the end and they team up to beat the villain once again it's not hard to see how some of these wounds of mistrust won't heal all the way and lead to some conflict down the road.

They pack a lot into this movie. A significant portion of which builds up the future of the MCU. Some more minor additions like the inclusions of new superheroes and looks into some the more minor characters (Hawkeye) lives are appreciated and fun. Most of this little stuff pays off in big ways, especially in the humor department. These characters have formed real relationships. Their friendships often lead to some playful teasing that's hilarious. Humor extends to other aspects of the film as well. The humor is appreciated even among all of the chaos.

One thing that doesn't really work out is the relationship between Banner and Black Widow. Outside of Ruffalo's charming awkwardness and goofiness around Natasha the relationship doesn't actually feel like a real thing. The characters interact, but you never pick up any sort of romantic vibe. I can say that it doesn't feel forced, but that's because it doesn't feel like it actually exists.

As always with these superhero movies the fiction is stretched due to a reliance on elements and possibilities that don't exist in the real world. Age of Ultron does a great job at keeping these things understandable. At least until talk of infinity stones pops up and they create android life. I'm still not really sure what happened with that.

Age of Ultron is a superhero extravaganza. It's roughly two-and-a-half hour running time is packed full of action and excitement. It might not hit all of the right notes with it's story or do anything particularly new, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still a blast. If you enjoy Marvel movies you'll enjoy this. It brings your favorite, incredibly well cast superheroes back to thing big screen in order to do some crazy cool stuff.

I give "Avengers: Age of Ultron" an 8.5/10.