Among avid cinema enthusiasts, commonly known as “geeks,” it is often believed that, save for The Empire Strikes Back (1980), sequels are never as effective as their predecessors. Though Avengers: Age of Ultron is in many aspects a thoroughly enjoyable movie, it indeed follows the movie tradition of not quite living up to the hype that the original created.
Released in May 2015, Age of Ultron needed to successfully continue the Avengers saga while also setting the stage for future films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Given its release date, this film was very much a sort of “bridge” to the 2016 hit, Captain America: Civil War, and more importantly, this year’s mega-hit, Avengers: Infinity War.
My principal concern with Age of Ultron is that it does not stand concretely on its known; more simply put, it is not enough of an independent entity. Fans wait months, if not years, for the next Avengers films, and Marvel Studios is well aware of this. With its nearly $460 million and over $1 billion gross totals domestically and worldwide, respectively, Age of Ultron clearly capitalized on its loyal audience. However, as evidenced here, the fact that a film carries the Avengers brand does not guarantee it is a masterpiece or chef d’oeuvre.
Tony Star/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) all return in wholly respectable performances for each of the aforementioned actors. New additions Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor -Johnson) also shine in their first MCU stints.
Director Josh Whedon, returning from 2012’s original The Avengers, lends Age of Ultron a degree of originality by humanizing his heroes. Viewers discover that Hawkeye is married and has a family, and Whedon lends the team an unforeseen vulnerability.
In the end, however, something feels forced. A brewing romance between Banner and Romanoff attempts to portray the pair as outcasts for the sake of emotional development. However, the interactions between characters are not as natural and seamless here as in the original, in which they all first met. In Age of Ultron, the Avengers are a cohesive unit, and they throw a party. Humorous one-liners and jokes are aplenty, and while they do serve their purpose well, they are almost too frequent, and sometimes out of place.
The film’s action set pieces are the most captivating. A highway chase in South Korea involving Cap and Black Widow is among the episode’s most entertaining scenes. The final battle against sentient robot, Ultron, who replicates himself numerous times to form his own army, is also exciting and action-packed. The battle, as well as the creation of Ultron himself, are straight out of Marvel comic books. Each hero receives his or her elegant costume upgrade, and the production and set design are excellent. The film’s special effects are also technically sound and extremely on-point – I never believed that a floating city could be made to look realistic! Thus, as purely a comic-book movie, Age of Ultron is fairly satisfying.
Though it is by no means a poor movie, Age of Ultron has too many moving parts, and when I saw it in theaters, I felt that, for fans such myself, it was not completely worth the painstaking wait. The fantastic Downey-Evans-Hemsworth trio could save any movie, and Age of Ultron greatly benefits from their performances. As evidenced by its box office showing, the film is entirely marketable thanks to the Avengers name. Unfortunately, from a story and plot standpoint, Age of Ultron is not sufficiently captivating, prompting me to dub it underwhelming, and ultimately, as in the above title, “mediocre.”
Final rating:
2.5 out of 4 stars
Image Credits (in order of appearance):
1.)https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/04/how_avengers_age_of_ultron_set.html
2.) https://comicbook.com/2014/10/23/avengers-age-of-ultron-first-teaser-poster-released/
4.) https://www.codeproject.com/Questions/458976/How-can-I-apply-the-half-star-rating-control-with
I strongly agree with everything you have said. It’s always disappointing to have such high expectations for sequels to only find out upon their release, that it’s either more of the same-old, same-old plot and character drama, or that their just isn’t enough progression. But I will say that the Marvel producers never fail to include those one line punches. Even though they might be included too frequently, I love them. Personally, I see them as cheesy jokes reflecting the mediocre plot of the movie (well, I love good jokes too).
While I definitely enjoy Marvel movies as a fun way to waste a few hours on a weekend, this review totally captures the less-than-perfect aspects of a lot of superhero movies. Huge budgets lead to top-quality special effects and A-list names but never seem to translate into really compelling cinema. With billions at stake, studios don’t take risks, and so a lot of Marvel movies end up like Age of Ultron: just fine. There’s a great analysis of how Marvel uses music in its movies and how empty and forgettable the music is, even if it fits the movie, in a textbook-about-sound-design kind of way. I feel this says a lot about Marvel movies as a whole. Link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs
I 100% agree with your take on Age of Ultron. While I thought the movie was okay when I saw it, I have never felt the desire to go back and rewatch it, in part because it simply doesn’t add much to the MCU as a whole. It felt almost like the movie equivalent of a “filler episode”- nice to look at, sure, but without too much substance. That being said, it was enjoyable enough, even if there are definitely better Marvel movies out there.