IMDb Rating: 8/10
*Caution: Spoilers Ahead
First of all, I used a picture of Black Widow for this
review because it always seems like she is left out of some promotional
materials, while the four main men who all have their own movie franchises are
always included. Hawkeye seems to be left out too, but who cares about Hawkeye,
right? I’m kidding! But seriously, when is Black Widow going to get her own
movie?
I’ll admit, when the first footage of The Avengers came out, I was skeptical. Could it actually work to
bring several franchises together to create the ultimate team up? It just
seemed like a fanboy drool fest and not something that would be quality
filmmaking. Thankfully, I was wrong, and The
Avengers had me believing in superhero movies again.
A little bit of my skepticism resurfaced for the sequel,
however, and had me asking questions like: Can the magical chemistry between
characters be replicated in Age of Ultron?
Will Disney’s monopoly on all things amazing somehow taint Marvel? It turns out
that Joss Whedon can replicate a good thing, and I didn’t think this film was
any better or any worse than it’s predecessor.
Maybe I would have a stronger opinion if I watched it a
second time. The story was jam-packed, and I felt like a missed a lot. (It
might have to do with the fact that I’m an old lady trapped in a 22-year-old’s
body and can’t stay up past 10pm and my showing was at 9:45). If I had a second
viewing, I might be able to pick out a few plot holes or other flaws. Overall,
though, I thought they did a great job and it was absolutely fine, especially
as the second movie in a trilogy.
No one could have pulled off the role of Ultron as well as
James Spader. His voice alone is terrifying and the character’s animation was phenomenal.
He was so human while being not-human, and it was a very chilling effect. The
visual effects in general I would give an A+. Two new characters were also
introduced, genetically enhanced (ahem, mutants) twins Quicksilver and Scarlet
Witch. Days of Future Past
Quicksilver > Age of Ultron
Quicksilver. Sorry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I had no problem with your character,
but that slow-mo scene from Days of
Future Past is hard to top. (*Spoiler) His character was starting to grow
on me, right up until they killed him off.
Scarlet Witch, however, was freaking awesome. I thought her
powers were so cool, and her surprising pep talk from Hawkeye gave her the
courage to make a kick butt entrance into the fight and become a physical force
to be reckoned with, not just a mental one. I’m glad they decided not to kill
her off and hopefully they will keep her on for future installments. It was
nice overall to see more female characters in this very male-driven franchise.
I think this passed the Bechdel Test, which the first Avengers film did
not.
I wasn't really a fan of the Bruce/Natasha relationship. It
seemed kind of forced, like they were trying to shove a romantic subplot into
the puzzle. It's annoying that it's assumed if she's part of an all-men team,
she's bound to fall in love with one of them. Once again the female character
is defined by her romantic choices. At least she is defined by so many other
things so I can forgive it. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the
hallucination montage brought on by Scarlet Witch’s manipulation of the
Avengers’ minds. We got to see a glimpse into Natasha’s mysterious past, which
I absolutely loved and now crave more of. SERIOUSLY WE NEED A BLACK WIDOW
MOVIE!!! Mr. Whedon, can’t you make this happen?
And so the film ends with the Avengers unassembled once more.
Hawkeye goes back to live with his wife Velma Laura for a while. Thor
leaves again to do some Asgard stuff. Tony is off to be Tony. Bruce is probably
meditating on Dagobah or somewhere. And Cap and Natasha are left to train new
recruits.
There are so many other things I could discuss (Iron Man’s
faceoff with Hulk, the return of the helicarrier!, Paul Bettany’s awesome
transformation from Jarvis into Vision) but I think I’ve said enough. This
movie was certainly imaginative and entertaining, but I wasn't really blown
away either. I will be looking forward to the Infinity War and all the other
Marvel universe stories in between.
