Film Review: The Avengers - Age of Ultron (2015).

This is probably one of the film reviews I've been so excited to post all year since I am such a Marvel fan. Hopefully you enjoy reading this and love the film too!

So I saw this film the day it came out (23rd of April) and absolutely loved it. It was full of action, heart racing moments and good old superhero goodness.

The Background

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is the sequel to 2012's The Avengers and it was directed and written by Joss Whedon once again. It features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Ironman), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton/Hawkeye) and two new characters, brother and sister; Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Also James Spader voiced Ultron and Paul Bettany who voices Stark's A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S also voiced The Vision. 

In this, they team up together to defeat Ultron who is technological enemy that Stark and Banner accidentally create after finding an artificial intelligence located within Loki's scepter from the first film. They use it to try and create Stark's 'Ultron' global defense program which inevitably goes wrong as Ultron gains self-control and is hell-bent on bringing "peace" to Earth by ridding it of all human life.

My Thoughts

This was indescribable! It literally kicks off and doesn't hold off introducing the avengers all at once as they battle in a forest against a terrorist group that is affiliated with Hydra who were discovered in Captain America 2. It is a spectacular introduction and you're instantly on the edge of your seat.

Whedon yet again indulges us in a good old fashioned superhero film and saturates it with subplots, cameos, character conflicts and the cramming of each character's own individual storyline. This goes swimmingly for Whedon as he writes and directs this so well that for two and half hours you're back and forth between characters while also centring on Ultron's plan of destruction but also getting to know two new characters. It doesn't fall apart at all and seems to be all glued together by the avengers' chemistry and tension with each other.

Speaking of the two new characters, we had a glimpse of the orphans Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past but in this film they really shine - especially Olsen. They're brother and sister and become sidekicks for Ultron. Quicksilver uses super speed to quite literally pull the carpet from under the avengers' feet and Scarlet Witch uses her mind control abilities to mess with the avengers' heads which is how Stark comes to his plan of building Ultron as she shows him an illusion of a possible future where he betrays all of his friends and destroys them.

Of course I have a few criticisms but they're only small and easily surpassed by the thrilling action and subplots. There are few cheesy moments which drag out a few scenes unnecessarily especially between Black Widow and Bruce Banner as a surprising romance springs up between them which I am very unsure about. It did change my mind a little because I've never really been a fan of Scarlett's acting but she was better in this one and you see more into Black Widow's story. Also I didn't really like how quick they built and introduced Ultron because it didn't really stretch out enough tension, it just felt a little bit rushed. However Spader really induces fear as Ultron and plays him well. 

However the rest of the film surpasses all of this as it was action packed and absolutely fantastic. We even got to see more of Clint/Hawkeye's character development and we found out more of his background which blew us all away in the cinema. It was a nice touch as he was mind controlled for most of the first film although he proved important in the fight. Another character I've been impressed with is Captain America. His character development has been very significant, he is central to the team and really keeps up the morale despite all of the criticisms from his own solo films especially the first one.

It all seems a bit chaotic and mad but it systemically works well and the final confrontation seems a little familiar to the first one but Whedon writes it well and has you gasping and cheering right to the end.

Trailer

Have you seen it? What did you think?

Thankyou for reading.

Laura.