Avengers: Age of Ultron is the latest film from the Marvel Comic Book Universe. It was written and directed by Joss Whedon, who also did the same for the first Avengers movie. The bulk of the review is spoiler-free, but some discussion of the events is necessary. There will be a break in the review before those details are revealed, but notice will be given, first.
After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers have been on a quest to recover special items that were lost – weapons, devices, and artifacts. Amongst those are the relic called the Chitauri Scepter, which was the device Loki used in the first Avengers movie to summon the Chitauri to Earth. They have traced it to be in the possession of a man known as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, in the nation of Sokovia. The movie starts with the raid on his castle, with all of the Avengers in on the attack. Some things occur that interfere with their complete success, but they manage to escape with the scepter, mostly unscathed, and angering the nation of Sokovia in the process.
The raid is (mostly) successful, and the intention is to return the scepter to Asgard, Thor’s home, where it can be properly protected from falling into the wrong hands. However, before that happens, Tony Stark and Doctor Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) examine it, and unintentionally unlock something they shouldn’t have. And with that, the fun begins. They realize they must contain what has been created before it gets out of control.
There’s a lot that happens in this movie. Many subplots are revealed, as is some of the backstory of a character or two. In most movies, this would have been eliminated as unnecessary, but here, time is devoted to a bit of exposition. I suspect that some of the material that was not actually shown may end up as extras on the release to home video. What is shown, however, explains some of the Avengers’ motivations and drives, and is important to the story. There is a lot of humorous banter throughout the movie.
The runtime of the film is 141 minutes, so be prepared. It has been released in 3D and traditional 2D. While I did not see the 3D version, I do not feel it is necessary to pay to see that version. Highly recommended if you are a fan of comic book films, as this one follows along with the first Avengers movie in its quality.
As with other Marvel movies, there is a short clip in the middle of the credits, however, in breaking with tradition, there isn’t one at the end of them.
Regardless, it’s a good action movie, with a touch too much shaky camera action.
Spoilers follow, so you may stop reading if you do not want to be spoiled.
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
This is spoiler space
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
Spoilers below, you were warned!
I am left feeling a slight letdown now that I’ve seen it, but perhaps that’s from all the media exposure this film has received in the last few months, but I don’t know. Maybe it fell flat in some ways, mimicing the underlying concept of the need to evolve: The Avengers really don’t seem to have changed all that much nor have they felt the need to. Hard to say, but maybe I’m just overanalyzing it.
Oh yes, and Whedon broke a movie trope – In war films, the guy who shows us a picture of his best girl/wife and family has to die. It’s a rule. That didn’t happen with Hawkeye!
One thing I noticed was that for some characters, the Avengers would use their actual names instead of their superhero names. For example, they’d call Black Widow Nat, Natasha, or Romanov, or Iron Man as Stark, or Tony. Other characters, like Captain America, Hawkeye, and Thor, would be called Cap, Hawk, or Thor. I can almost understand why, but I wonder if this familiarity, or lack thereof, indicates the rift amongst the team, and how they will choose sides in the expected Civil War story, which is rumored to be the topic of the next movie.
James Spader is the voice of Ultron, and his vocal delivery has the deliberately slow cadence of Raymond Reddington from The Blacklist. It took me a while to get past that.
One thing that gets me about computer/A.I. personalities is how they seem to be unique, and there are no such things as backups, so that once something’s gone, it’s gone. I never understood why. In this film, there are two – Jarvis and Ultron. Jarvis is unique, but Ultron seems to be able to transfer to multiple bodies. Why not just duplicate ‘himself’ and remove the need?