When I went to see the first Avengers movie three years ago, I was a senior in high school just a few short weeks from graduation. I had never seen Captain America or Thor, only the two Iron Man movies.
Basically, I saw the first Avengers with a very different mindset than I went to see Age of Ultron this past weekend. Since 2012, I’ve kept much more up-to-date with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and paid more attention to the details integrating all the films. They all inevitably get compared to each other, resulting in arguments about which of the films is the best. While Age of Ultron is great, and a worthy successor to the first Avengers, it’s certainly not the best of the MCU.
One plot point a lot of people have been abuzz, or angry, about is the new romance between Bruce and Natasha. This is perhaps the strangest addition to me, as it seems to come out of nowhere. It’s just okay. Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson make due and have some nice scenes together, but it’s still weird. As far as I can recall they’ve never been built up as having any chemistry, or even being that close. The buildup to the romance in Age of Ultron amounts to Natasha saying “by the way, I like you” at the beginning of the movie and it just goes from there. It’s handled clumsily, and I hope it can be redeemed in future movies.
The upshot to the romance is that we finally get more Natasha. Even though a lot of it is in a romantic context, it still leads to some nice moments and insight to her character. In fact, we get a lot of interesting character moments courtesy of visions invoked by newcomer Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff. These visions provide an inside look into most of the main characters’ fears and memories. Though these scenes are not particularly long and only take up a brief part of the movie, it’s still nice to have them at all.
There’s also a lot more Hawkeye in this movie, including an intimate look into his personal life. He even gets some more funny quips (“I’ve done the whole mind control thing before. Not a fan”).
However, I was left wondering why in the world Falcon/Sam Wilson wasn’t in this movie for more than two minutes. Last year’s Winter Soldier seemed to promise more of him as an Avenger, which I had been looking forward to.
I guess it’s an understandable cut, as there’s quite a few new characters in this film. The two biggest additions are Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who you may remember from The Winter Soldier’s mid-credit scene. Both are great and add a lot to the group dynamic, Scarlet Witch in particular. Her telekinetic powers mix interestingly with the other Avengers, and her character arc in Age of Ultron is sure to have relevant consequences in future MCU films.
Also new to the party is Vision, a weird android created as a counterpoint to Ultron. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time, as she shows up pretty late in the movie, but he already works well with the rest of the team. His scenes are just as badass and humorous as the other characters’.
Ultron himself is a bizarre delight to watch. He’s an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark who essentially decides humanity needs to “evolve.” He hopes to achieve this by killing everyone. And he’s voiced by James Spader, who couldn’t be more perfect for the part. Ultron pontificates like a freshman in college who just took his first philosophy class, whichsounds annoying, but adds a slightly darker tone to the film and foils nicely to the lighter comedic moments. He even gets a few good quips in himself.
This is certainly a darker movie than its predecessor. Ultron isn’t just burdened with glorious purpose like Loki was – he’s much more upfront about wanting to kill everyone. But it still maintains a fun, comic book-y tone. There’s great one-liners and running jokes sprinkled throughout. The scene where the Avengers try to pick up Thor’s hammer is a definite highlight. And, like its predecessor, it flows really well. It’s two and half hours long, but feels like half that.
Overall, Age of Ultron is really good. But I can’t help but feel that last year’s Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were better installments to the franchise. That said, the future of the MCU is bright. Ant-Man is just on the horizon, and the next two Avengers movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who directed the excellent Winter Soldier movie. Despite some missteps here, I still have high hopes for the future.
4 out of 5 stars
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Joel Wallick is currently pursuing a degree in film studies at Bowling Green State University with a minor in creative writing. He has been gaming since early childhood, beginning with Pokemon Silver. Follow him on Twitter @SuperNerdJoel.
Check out Joel’s other reviews, like Hand of Fate in Gaming and Amazing Spider-Man 2 in TV & Film.
