Review of Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) by James Z — 09 Apr 2018

Entertaining sequel that does a lot of things better than the original but also some things worse. Joss Whedon crafts another character-driven action film with some of the best scenes once again being when the characters are just talking to each other (the ones at the party & the farm are standouts).

Unfortunately, this film seems over-stuffed with characters & plot, with some distracting setups for future films. Where the original "Avengers" was a brilliant conclusion to the 'Phase 1' films with any setup for future films coming naturally out of the plot, 'Age of Ultron' has some that seem forced into (the Thor dream sequence is particularly distracting).

Also, there is a left-field romance that doesn't quite work. Thankfully, there are improvements on the original, such as Hawkeye being fleshed out (his back story makes you care about him like never before) & the action remains top-notch (in a nice touch from the original, the Avengers are once again shown caring about civilians casualties & taking steps to prevent them, something Michael Bay & Zack Snyder can learn from).

The cast is excellent, with banter between them being the highlights (you could watch these actors argue over Thor's hammer or Cap's aversion to foul language all day) with the new additions holding up well.

The standout is Ultron, who through combination of James Spader's excellent voice & performance acting along with some brilliant visual effects, Marvel has crafted one of their best villains yet, with the right combination of snarkiness, menace & even sympathy (there are moments you will actually feel sorry for him).

Overall, while not better than the original or even the best Marvel film (that's still "Guardians of the Galaxy"), this is still an extremely satisfying film that will have fans walking away happy.