Avengers Age of Ultron Review

Avengers Age of Ultron (2015)

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Elisabeth Olsen, James Spader (voice of Ultron) etc.

Of course, of all the 4 Avengers films that have been released so far,  Age of Ultron is certainly one that gets lost in the incredibly entertaining debut of the first Avengers, not to mention the 10-11 year culmination of the Infinity Saga in the massive action thrill ride of  Infinity War and the emotional finish line epic that was Endgame.  It's not that Age of Ultron is bad, it's just such a major disappointment after Marvel's the Avengers did such an unprecedented job of making the superhero ensemble film work but brought to a whole new level of grandiose storytelling and mesmerizing action that we really couldn't get enough of what we had just witnessed for the first time in 2012. Maybe it was the pressure of Age of Ultron leaving up to the immense hype and success of its predecessor but the movie as a whole just feels...."off". O_o  Which is unfortunate as well as bizarre considering Kevin Feige is once again overseeing the franchise with Joss Whedon returning for directing and writing duties after his remarkably refreshing work during the first film.  It's no secret that Joss Whedon is more than capable of making a tremendous film.  Even Serenity, the boldly climatic end of the too short live Firefly, managed to be a cinematic epilogue of what the series could have been if it continued to progress in its already inventive quality.  Whedon expressed his discontent with moving forward with anymore Avengers films as he found his second outing with the iconic team a bit too daunting to handle.

Apparently, the cast of characters he had to work with became all too much for him; making him leave his directing/writing duties behind for the Russo Brothers to take up for the third and fourth films. And he was right to feel that way as Avengers Age of Ultron has far too much to do even with its over 2 hour long runtime.  Not only do you get the feeling that there are too many characters for the film to handle at times but the story moves at such a lightspeed pace that we never really have enough time to breath with the core 6 Avengers from the first film; let alone the new additions to the team we get here.  Whedon sure makes up for it with some of the finest action sequences of the MCU once again, not only during that amazing team vs army of robots fight with each Avenger letting lose with their individual set of skills as they defend the core within the city of Sokovia but another ripped from the comics moment when we see the Avengers triumphantly reunite during an attack on a H.Y.D.R.A. facility where once again, all 6 pose in battle for a split second before the shot continues to show how awesome the team is working as unit since the last time. :)  You can still tell Whedon is completely in love with these characters, whether they are interacting during battle or just hanging out at Avengers Tower where we get to see has been impressively upgraded from the ruins of Stark Tower to a highly secured and fully staffed building to assist the team with special personal.  And honestly, it's great to see the team hanging around as well as future Avengers like War Machine and the Falcon making cameos throughout to show the roster of the team on the verge of potentially growing as well as the hilarious moment of each Avenger trying to lift Thor's hammer to his utter delight.  Those moments are great but it would have been great to have more of them before all hell broke loose again.

I say that because the birth of Ultron is so.....poorly handled! Suddenly, after Tony gets horrifying vision, thanks to one of our new Avenger to be, he wants to created some artificial intelligence based off the Loki's septer to help them stop threats before they happen??? O_o  Ummm has Tony not learn from his previous experiences, not to mention what happened to cause S.H.E.I.L.D. to compromised and non-existent now???  It just makes Tony seem so thoughtless and arrogant but NOT in a charming way this time.  Banner is of course reluctant but ultimately helps him begin building Ultron, a highly advanced AI that will protect and guard each corner of the Earth.  Needless to say, the plan backfires and the AI known as Ultron becomes a sentient being who believes instead of protecting the world that the only way to save it is global extinction but needing the Avengers out of his way to do so first.  Like I said, Tony's sudden urge to create Ultron and without consulting the team first seemed like a dumb way to cause further conflict.  Now the Avengers are back to not trusting each other, especially Tony who did this without their knowledge and now has put the entire planet at risk.  But once again, this all feels so rushed and because so, Ultron comes off like an afterthought to future threats than the main threat of the film.  There is a particular sub-plot with Thor that feels so random and unrealistically tacked on when that time could have been  used for more development of the characters, stories, not to mention Ultron himself.  As much as I love James Spader, he isn't given much to work with as the one of the most infamous foes of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  And its not because of Ultron's motives or his speeches about why he feels the Avengers stand in the way of the world really being saved and changing, it's the very out of touch humor given to his character that just throws the whole film in a loop sometimes.

It's really hard to take Ultron seriously when between actually coming off somewhat intimidating, he suddenly becomes a mechanical joke; spitting out one liners and acting a bit too goofy even when he's angry.  I know this was because of Tony building him; making Ultron have more charisma and human qualities but it just makes him out to be a rather laughable villain throughout.  Ultron in the comics and recent cartoons centered on the Avengers has been far more cold and calculating, with this cynical persona he takes on by seeing the Avengers as well as the world inferior to him.  But here, even his CGI form feels a bit too cartoony and animated; making him feel all too silly and unintentionally hilarious to look at most of the time.  If that wasn't bad enough, the birth of Ultron's own creation, Vision, comes off once again like Tony being so dumb and rash; leading to yet another scene of the team clashing for the sake of conflict. -_-  That being said, Vision is a technical marvel (sorry! :P) to behold onscreen and I'm glad the writers gave the role rightfully to Paul Bettany, who has been the voice of Jarvis so far in several MCU films as Ironman's personal AI assistant. His birth is gorgeous visually as well as the make-up/prosethics work done to make him so identical to his comic counterpart.  He immediately steals the show from the rest of the team; especially during that shocking, laugh out loud scene where he shows he is in fact "worthy" to be an Avenger and not their enemy.  LOL Also, I love the inclusion of the mind stone as it is revealed in this film and becomes the ultimate power source for Vision to use.

But going back to things that didn't work so well is the introduction of the Maximoff twins that were teased at the end of the Winter Soldier.  Pietro and Wanda in this film barely have much to work with besides being pones at first for Ultron against the Avengers before becoming members of the team reluctantly when they discover Ultron's master plan includes world ending genocide of the human race.  Sure, we get some backstory on who they are and how they became science experiments of the H.Y.D.R.A. when it came to the mind stone that gave them their powers but we don't get much personality from them end toward the end when they begin to  loosen during the finale battle.  I'd say Elisabeth Olsen, young sister of the Olsen twins, does her best with Wanda, especially when she is given the role of mind warping the team during a mission that even leads to an action packed, tho brainless fight between the Hulk and the Hulkbuster finally in the flesh.  "Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!" is hilarious all things considered! LOL  But still feel bad for Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro, who outside of his now iconic line "You didn't see that coming" doesn't get much to do.  It's all because of the numerous characters onscreen that Whedon needed to juggle and clearly dropping it in some serious areas.  Let's just say the dynamic which the twins could have been awesome as well as their stunning display of powers but Wanda will be the only Maximoff moving forward in the story here unfortunately.  Then again, Fox's X-men version of the character was superior to the MCU'S version in everyway so....not much of a loss there. 0_0

Also, what is up with these random new character dynamics within the team that were never hinted on and just come out of nowhere.  Not only Tony wanting to build Ultron out of nowhere but Natasha seemingly falling for Bruce!??? Yeah, suddenly she goes from fearing the Hulk within Bruce Banner to now wanting to share a life with him outside of their duties as an Avenger.  And I get what Whedon was trying to do with making Natasha more vulnerable by seeing Bruce as the closest teammate to identifying with given her own backstory given the Red Room.  But still some foreshadowing would have worked or at least have it develop in this film in some kind of natural way.  Also, now Natasha can calm the Hulk down post-battle??? Just something she can now do all of a sudden in the second film when didn't Banner have control last film since he's "always angry". Oh boy! O_o The other Avengers like I said don't get much development at all...if any! I guess Hawkeye does surprisingly as we learn more about his life outside of his duties including his wife and kids at a safe house the Avengers use while figuring out their next move after Ultron bet them during their second fight with him. Like I said, just random! Tony and Steve pretty much clash as usual in term of ideologies on how the world should be saved/protected as well as Nick Fury stopping by for some fatherly like advice on Tony's latest project wrong.  It's always nice seeing Samuel L. Jackson being the father figure of the team he created as well as Maria Hill becoming a constant ally of the team.  I guess Cap and Iroman's constant animosity even as friends, especially here, was the precusor to "Civil War" but I would have loved to have seen more individual development from the two of the three leading men of the Avengers.  Thor is practically all but absent during the second act because of some side mission after the vision Wanda gave him.  Once again so random and there's just some mystical well he  can just bath in to get visions or make sense of his visions??? Why not quickly go back to Asgard and find answers there??? Sure it would have been a distraction from the main story but would have made more sense than visiting Professor Selvig, in a thankless cameo by Stellan Skarsgard for seemingly no reason. -_-

At the end of the day, Age of Ultron is severely flawed, feeling more like a remainder that the overall plot with the infinity stones is moving instead of another awesome Avengers adventure that feels like an essential entry in the franchise. A LOT happens here within 2 hours or so but doesn't feel grounded enough or given much depth like the first film.  We introduced to new Avengers while other members are sent to parts unknown, the Avengers now know the infinity stones are a priority but has Tony learned from his obsession with technological advancements in international security??? Natasha seems to have longing feelings of Bruce even tho it seems he has none for her in attempts to protect her from the monster inside him! Thor goes off to Asgard for more answers about the infinity stones when that's what he should have done earlier. The team has a new base of operations as some members take some time off while Cap and Black Widow assemble a new team of Avengers??? Clint definitely quit and Vision is the finest asset on the team by managing to finish off Ultron with the mind stone.  But as a whole, things just feels rushed and sort of incomplete.  Sure this is just part of the overall story but it'S sad when "Civil War" turned out to be the far superior Avengers film than this one when it was suppose to be also a sequel to the Cap's solo story.  I guess the Russo brothers really had it in them to direct a large cast of characters unlike Joss' stumbling to make sense of Kevin Feige's vision for the second film for the team.  It's definitely worth viewing in the grand scheme of things for the MCU and has its moments, but not the summer blockbuster that'll leave you wanting more like the first.

"Now facing off against the diabolical AI ready to rid the world of the Avengers as well as the world itself, Age of Ultron does a lot while not doing much to keep audiences of this beloved global successful franchise invested in the story being presented here.  There isn't enough character development, conflicts springs seemingly out of nowhere to get things from point A to point B without much reason for it.  The performances by the main cast and newest Avengers characters are solid if Ultron himself proves to be a lackluster villain following Loki.  There are side plots and flashback visions only there to set up more stories down the road than really develop the Avengers as a team or as individuals.  But those action sequences still are state of art productions with some genuinely unforeseen stomach hurting humor in some scenes.  It's just a bit of perplexing mess of too much going on and not enough substantial exception as a whole with Ultron's desire to build a better world feeling inconsequential to Thanos' being the biggest bad ever seen during the mid credit scene once again setting up his official arrival."

Final Film Score: D+