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Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015
The Avengers are back, this time dealing with a sentient artificial intelligence called Ultron (James Spader) who is accidentally unleashed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). They must also reckon with a pair of twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who have powers granted them by human experimentation and bear a grudge against the Avengers.
My feelings on the Marvel films are pretty well established at this point. I like some things about them, while overall finding the whole "universe" thing overwhelming and the runtimes chronically about 30-45 minutes too long. Despite having some mixed feelings about certain elements of it, I actually enjoyed this one overall.
I'm not sure what the general consensus is on this one, but it definitely had a lot of the elements that I most enjoy in a film of this type and scope. Generally speaking the action scenes were to the point and easy to follow. The opening and closing battles were too long for my taste, but all of the action in between was fine. I particularly liked how many sequences were staged in smaller spaces, like the showdown at Stark's house. It kept the action from feeling too sprawling.
I also liked the character arcs at play. While I thought he could have been better developed, I liked the idea of Ultron and his twisted views on how to bring about peace. While I also thought that the twins were a tad underdeveloped, they brought an interesting dynamic to the film as their relationship with Ultron evolved through the story. I also liked the way that we see some of the fractures in the Avengers in terms of their philosophies on what it means to do their work. Using Wanda's powers to illuminate their fears was a nice way to give each character a small personal crisis to deal with.
At this point, all of the actors are very comfortable in their roles, and they are all fine. I enjoyed the addition of Wanda and Pietro, as well as the character of Vision (Paul Bettany). The supporting cast is also their usual reliable selves, like Cobie Smulders and Linda Cardellini.
But like so many of the Marvel films, this one goes on and on. I didn't feel the length as badly as in some of the other films, but still was very aware of it. I knew that the final showdown would feel bloated. Again, not as bad as some of the others, but I really start to glaze over once things have been being smashed for like 10 minutes. I will say, however, that I thought this final battle had some of the best actual stakes in terms of real consequences and character dynamics.
I also had mixed feelings about the writing. Every time the movie would get me on its side, it would do something. Oh, this banter between the group is kind of fun! Oop! Tony Stark just made a joke about being able to legally rape women. Awesome. Hey, this fight scene is kind of fun. Oop! The Hulk just face-planted into Black Widow's cleavage. Hilarious. (Sidenote: this film was so cleavage obsessed. Just looking right down shirts the whole time.)
While my feelings on the film are generally positive, I can't score it much higher than most of the other Marvel films I've seen, despite it feeling like a notch above them. I would say, though, that this is one of the only ones I could actually imagine rewatching.
Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015
The Avengers are back, this time dealing with a sentient artificial intelligence called Ultron (James Spader) who is accidentally unleashed by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). They must also reckon with a pair of twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who have powers granted them by human experimentation and bear a grudge against the Avengers.
My feelings on the Marvel films are pretty well established at this point. I like some things about them, while overall finding the whole "universe" thing overwhelming and the runtimes chronically about 30-45 minutes too long. Despite having some mixed feelings about certain elements of it, I actually enjoyed this one overall.
I'm not sure what the general consensus is on this one, but it definitely had a lot of the elements that I most enjoy in a film of this type and scope. Generally speaking the action scenes were to the point and easy to follow. The opening and closing battles were too long for my taste, but all of the action in between was fine. I particularly liked how many sequences were staged in smaller spaces, like the showdown at Stark's house. It kept the action from feeling too sprawling.
I also liked the character arcs at play. While I thought he could have been better developed, I liked the idea of Ultron and his twisted views on how to bring about peace. While I also thought that the twins were a tad underdeveloped, they brought an interesting dynamic to the film as their relationship with Ultron evolved through the story. I also liked the way that we see some of the fractures in the Avengers in terms of their philosophies on what it means to do their work. Using Wanda's powers to illuminate their fears was a nice way to give each character a small personal crisis to deal with.
At this point, all of the actors are very comfortable in their roles, and they are all fine. I enjoyed the addition of Wanda and Pietro, as well as the character of Vision (Paul Bettany). The supporting cast is also their usual reliable selves, like Cobie Smulders and Linda Cardellini.
But like so many of the Marvel films, this one goes on and on. I didn't feel the length as badly as in some of the other films, but still was very aware of it. I knew that the final showdown would feel bloated. Again, not as bad as some of the others, but I really start to glaze over once things have been being smashed for like 10 minutes. I will say, however, that I thought this final battle had some of the best actual stakes in terms of real consequences and character dynamics.
I also had mixed feelings about the writing. Every time the movie would get me on its side, it would do something. Oh, this banter between the group is kind of fun! Oop! Tony Stark just made a joke about being able to legally rape women. Awesome. Hey, this fight scene is kind of fun. Oop! The Hulk just face-planted into Black Widow's cleavage. Hilarious. (Sidenote: this film was so cleavage obsessed. Just looking right down shirts the whole time.)
While my feelings on the film are generally positive, I can't score it much higher than most of the other Marvel films I've seen, despite it feeling like a notch above them. I would say, though, that this is one of the only ones I could actually imagine rewatching.