I've got no strings on me....Avengers age of Ultron

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!