Joss Whedon described this film as "smaller. More personal. More painful. The next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what worked the first time. A theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself." - I couldn't agree with this more
I walked into The Avengers Age of Ultron with extremely high expectations and it was safe say l was not disappointed in the slightest. It easily fulfilled all my expectations and then some. Ever since l first watched Doll House I have considered Joss Whedon a genius at what he does and in this film he struck the perfect balance between his sprawling and ever expanding cast and weaving a story that ends in a jaw dropping finale. Marvel's always done a great job of making its superhero movies about the title characters more than the villains. This movie actually tops the first in scope and drama and that's due, in no small part, to a superb villain and our amazing hero’s.
The first movie was all about
bringing The Avengers together whereas this instalment is about tearing that
team apart. The villain is Ultron (voiced by the superb James Spader) which
thanks to the writers (Joss Whedon and Co) becomes a Symbol of Irony. After all it is
Tony Stark, his A.I. Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany) and, somewhat, Bruce
Banner’s idea to create an A. I. to protect mankind, sending The Avengers into
early retirement. This is how Ultron is created and unfortunately he takes the
idea of making The Avengers obsolete literally and is determined to rid the
world of them. He believes the only way for mankind to survive is for it be
annihilated so it has the chance to evolve.
All the cast from the first
Avengers movie reprise their roles. Scarlett Johanson shines as the Black Widow
and was given a substantially bigger part, along with Mark Ruffalo’s character
the Hulk. Mark has always been my favourite actor for portraying the Hulk/Bruce
Banner and in this 2nd installment his acting pulls at the heartstrings. I will
admit there are a few places where my eyes welled up. Robert Downy Jr. playing
Tony Stark/ Iron Man is perfect, as always, showing his desire for scientific
knowledge and using it to somewhat play god.
Captain America is, as always,
a well-spoken and perfect
gentleman and does not agree with Stark’s plan for A.I. to protect our world
which shows throughout the film. I found Hawkeye’s character development was
the best of the group, Jeremy Renner portraying his struggle perfectly.
The high-profile additions are of
course Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen),
a pair of tightly-knit eastern European siblings with powers of speed and mind
control respectively. Besides Ultron, the brother-and-sister pair become the biggest threat to the Avengers. In particular Scarlet Witch’s psychic powers which she uses on Captain America, Black Widow and Thor to trigger memories of their past causing them to face their personal demons.
We also finally see Paul Bettany on the screen as becomes Vison, another A.I. made, once again by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner
using Jarvis, to help them defeat Ultron. Of all the new comers l found
Elizabeth Olsen was the most interesting to watch. She gave a powerful
performance, and surprisingly her accent didn't falter once - I will be
interested to see a lot more of her and character.
The Music by one of my
favourites, Danny Elfman, beautifully blends pieces of the original score
throughout the movie, using it in places where it makes the action scenes seem
larger than life. One battle scene in particular which has all the Avengers
fighting is shot brilliantly. The camera work is clear and each character is
given camera time. Add the music to this and it truly was a jaw dropping scene.
The action in this one has been dialed up but doesn't stretch on too long,
instead having breaks in between unlike the first film where l felt the action
scenes were a little too long in places.
All in all l walked out of this
movie with a great big smile on face. It’s not very often that the second Installment in a movie series out shines the first but Avengers Age of Utron
manages it on every level and l can’t wait to see it again! But then again this
is Marvel and they always seem to deliver the goods!
