Ah, The Avengers; the glue that holds the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU) together. Marvel Studios took a risk creating such a connecting franchise, but it’s paid off both critically and financially, with the MCU ranking as the highest-grossing franchise in the world. Now after three years of waiting, plus 4 in-between films, the much anticipated sequel has finally arrived; yet the question remains, does it hold up? As of now, if I were to make a scale of my favorite to least favorite MCU films (with The Avengers/Iron Man on top, and Thor: Dark World/Iron Man 2 at the bottom), Avengers: Age of Ultron would find itself in the middle. It’s definitely good, perhaps even very good; director Joss Whedon maintains the core ingredients to an effective MCU film: a solid amount of action sequences, balanced alongside unique character interactions/developments and a healthy dose of witty comedy. Yet, yet there’s something off with Age of Ultron which prevents it from achieving the same impact its predecessor has. Whether it’s the film’s darker atmosphere (both cinematic and plot-wise), or how similar the story follows the first’s structure, Avengers: Age of Ultron falls flat in areas it shouldn't.
The Avengers have come together once more, to battle a Hydra force which…seems a considerably lesser threat than the foes in Winter Soldier, making it somewhat overkill here. We've got Tony Stark as Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers as Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor as…Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner and his other green half (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton as Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). In defeating Hydra, the Avengers recover Loki’s scepter which contains one of the infinity stones; Stark persuades Banner to secretly help create a global defense program using the stone’s power. The program named Ultron, is a horrific success; creating an artificial intelligence (voiced and motion captured by James Spader) which believes it must destroy humanity to protect Earth. The Avengers are thrown right back into another world-threatening conflict, this time fighting foes they themselves created.
Right off the bat, its clear Whedon has responded to The Avenger’s major “criticism” of lacking consistent action. I've never had, nor noticed such a problem with the first film, yet Age of Ultron takes no chances with drawing similar criticisms, explosively opening with the entire Avengers team storming a Hydra outpost; the scene is filled with action, lasers, explosions, all forms of motorized vehicles, and the Hulk (who as one might expect, is smashing stuff). The film’s halfway point treats its viewers to a large-scale battle between Iron Man (in his Hulkbuster armor) and a mentally confused Hulk; I’m not sure if Hulk fans will be pleased or pissed with the outcome, but even they will appreciate the fight’s epic level, which could easily be the final fight for any of the singular MCU films (as a side note, during their fight Iron Man tries to remove the destructive Hulk away from the city, a tactic a certain Man of Steel may want to learn for his next film).
If I were to choose a MCU film’s most successful qualities, I’d pick its action scenes, characters and humor. The latter can often be took for granted, yet without it the MCU films would be feeble shells of their actual selves. Any superhero film can now have cool CGI battles, but without well balanced comedic relief (key word being well balanced) may become unwelcoming especially if trying to be “dark and edgy”. Such grimness can create viewer apathy towards the film’s plot and characters (though there are exceptions, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy). Age of Ultron has a consistent amount of humor from both its heroes and villains; in the opening scene, Stark mocks Rogers’ reprimand on using bad language (becoming a running gag throughout the film), while our Hydra leader gives his men a ruthless speech about never surrendering, before immediately telling his right-hand man he’s going to surrender. After the battle, the Avengers hold a festive party, hanging out as casual friends while playing games such as trying to lift Thor’s hammer (offering a priceless scene where Rogers gives Thor a near-heart attack by budging it slightly). It’s a wonderful sight viewing “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” have such casual, down-to-Earth moments, giving the film a much needed heart in contrast to its explosive action scenes.
In The Avengers, Mark Ruffalo stole the hero spotlight with his delightfully, unique performance as Bruce Banner; this time around it’s Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye who outshines among the Avenger cast members. As is the Avengers series’ major strength, minor characters are given satisfying amounts of time for character development; Age of Ultron takes Hawkeye and turns him from a unique, yet underdeveloped extra hand to a fleshed-out Avenger. There’s development into Barton’s personal life, while strengthening his role as the MCU's backbone for the rest of the Avengers, saving their hides on multiple occasions. He even gives a big damn speech in one scene, which ends up being one of the best speeches in the entire MCU, mixing hilarious comedy with surprising inspiration. Hawkeye delivers a surprising amount of comedic relief, having some of the best jokes in the film and even some witty jabs at himself; “the city is floating, there are robots everywhere, and I’m using a bow…nothing makes sense!”
From viewing the trailers, I had doubts about Age of Ultron’s title villain, getting a “Malekith/Ronan bland villain” vibe from the machine…boy was I satisfyingly wrong. Ultron is a diabolically entertaining villain, being the best aspect in the entire movie. Such praise has entirely too do with Ultron’s actor James Spader, who was an ideal choice for the role. Spader makes the sentient machine feel actually sentient, alive, and human; I love how nonchalant he plays Ultron, making its destructive ways seem surprisingly rational. Ultron has a very philosophical side to his god-complex; it can’t tell the difference between destroying and saving mankind, yet explains its rationale in a way which makes such actions seem understandable. Some of its lines and actions should be full-on hammy (it sings Pinocchio for Pete’s sake), yet instead come across as logical and at times effectively creepy. SPOILERS BEGIN: Ultron can be both cruel and compassionate at once; look at the way it deals with the Maximoff twins (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen): in previous MCU films, underlings are simply means to an end, here Ultron shows human-like empathy towards their troubled past, vowing to help them rid the world of evil. Of course Ultron's version of wiping out evil differs from the twins, yet when they understandably turn against the machine, it can’t comprehend why (to Ultron, destroying humanity is the same as destroying evil). Twice during the film Ultron begs the twins to rejoin, “please, don’t do this”; such pleading isn’t your typical “we can rule the galaxy together” villainous speech, but a being trying to comprehend such “irrational behavior” of two humans it thought shared a similar agenda. SPOILERS END
The comedy from Ultron is dark and deliciously funny. When a black-arms dealer makes the mistake of comparing Ultron to Stark, the machine becomes frustratingly puzzled at the comparison, angrily tearing off the man’s arm, then apologizing as if it poured hot tea on him, “aw, I’m sorry. I’m sure it’ll be alright; I just get so frustrated when people compare me to such an imbecile”. When the Avengers show up and ask what it’s planning, Ultron sarcastically remarks “I’m glad you asked, because this is the part where I tell you my entire plan”. SPOILERS BEGIN: The final speech between Ultron and Vision (Paul Bettany) is a beautiful scene, having two super beings casually discuss the futility of mankind from two different yet understandable angles (having a similar, though far less bleak, vibe to the final conversation between Ozmandias and Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen). Ultron is a fantastic villain, one which I’m honestly sad they killed off as there seemed further potential for the character; yet who knows, maybe they’ll bring it back as they did with Agent Coulson. SPOILERS END
Sadly I've saved the worst of the film for last, as with all the positives Age of Ultron gives, there are some notable flaws. The most distracting issue is the film’s cinematic bleakness. While The Avengers was a bright and colorful film, Age of Ultron seems to purposely dull its color schemes, similar to what was done in Man of Steel. I suspect such decision was to give the film a darker and grittier atmosphere; if so then it was a really poor decision. The MCU is not a Dark Knight/Watchmen universe, as it thrives on comedy, adventure and lighthearted characters; giving the film a bleaker look negatively contrasts with the plot and characters, becoming unnecessarily distracting throughout the viewing. Why Joss Whedon chose such atmospheric direction is beyond me, perhaps because Age of Ultron has a darker plot than the first, which I found a cheap ploy to get more viewers by offering a “more mature” story (though fortunately it’s nowhere near The Amazing Spider-Man/Man of Steel levels of angst).
Another prime issue is how similar the plot sticks to the first Avengers. Stop me if you've heard this before: there’s a major threat, Avengers are assembled, Avengers quarrel over differences (partially due to villain manipulation), several of the Avengers fight one another, Avengers settle their differences, there’s a large scale battle against main villain, a semi-important character dies, the Avengers win, they all part ways. The same summary can be used interchangeably with both Avenger films, making Age of Ultron feel somewhat stale, particularly during the final battle. The finale is different of course: there’s more Avengers, the location is new, Ultron is the main villain; yet much of it remains the same: there’s an army of faceless minions, The Avengers are protecting/evacuating civilians from harm, Hulk smashes the main villain, it looks hopeless but they save the day in the last minute. I wish Whedon had changed it up, added some unexpected curve balls; after all this is THE BIG AVENGERS, the granddaddy setup franchise of the MCU, where they can take risks, where they should take risks. The biggest venture in to new territory is with J.A.R.V.I.S and while it’s a cool change, there could have been a lot more done.
