Jasonic's Favorites: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Hello, and good evening, Internet!
The success of The Avengers inevitably led to this one and, when it came out, it certainly continued my love for the MCU saga in a meaningful way!
Released in 2015 (10 years ago -- can you believe it?!), Avengers: Age of Ultron was a highly anticipated sequel in both the MCU as a whole and to the highly successful pop culture phenomenon, The Avengers, that preceded it. With all the hype and buildup surrounding this second movie and the building up of the MCU over several years prior to it, everyone believed that Age of Ultron would take the MCU to new heights in more ways than one. Critical and box office reception at the time wasn't quite as high as the first film for a number of reasons, but the film still did favorably well and was exceptional in the eyes of many. This can probably be chalked up to a few factors including people's expectations for the movie, the inclusion of numerous returning and new characters filling the runtime, and last decade's increase of Internet speculators and their theories leading people to believe that the film and its saga will play out a specific way that ultimately didn't happen. This affected many film franchises like Star Wars around this time -- mainly the Sequel Trilogy -- and it certainly wasn't unheard of in both DC and Marvel nerd culture -- be it comics, movies, games, etc. Thankfully, there hasn't been an MCU project that I'm aware of that has had fans all up in arms acting toxic toward each other and the creators like in Star Wars and other fandoms where it's bad though people definitely had their fair share of takes on how this movie held up for them. Me, personally, I never minded this movie for its intention and execution; in hindsight, it is the least effective of the four Avengers movies we have so far so I completely understand why it might seem underwhelming to some even at the time of release. Regardless, I like my Avengers and am pleased to have fully revisited this film now ten years after its original release. While I do believe it deserves praise in a lot of areas and the story threads it set up for the long-running MCU, the question I always ask when reviewing my movies remains the same for this one: does it deserve any of the criticisms people had at the time or even nowadays? To find out, let's take a trip back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, equip or superhero equipment, blast our way into battle with Hydra, AND do some cool group shots to find out what makes or breaks Avengers: Age of Ultron as both a sequel part of a larger saga and as a movie on its own.
*SPOILERS* (though it's been 10 years, so no one cares anymore)
The movie takes place at least 3 years after The Avengers (and about a year after Captain America: The Winter Soldier); in it, Hydra commanded by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) is in possession of Loki's scepter from the first movie and has used its hidden power to grant powers to the Maximoff twins, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), known as "The Enhanced". The Avengers lead an attack on a Hydra base near the European nation of Sokovia to apprehend Strucker and retrieve Loki's scepter. While retrieving it, Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is covertly hit with Wanda's magic causing him to see a vision, which he fears is the future where he failed the Avengers because he didn't do more to protect the world. Upon their return to Avengers Tower, Tony conducts research on the scepter with Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), discovering an AI within the scepter's gem, which they utilize to complete Tony's "Ultron" global defense program, which he dubs "peace in our time". Unbeknownst to Stark and the others, Ultron (voiced by James Spader) becomes sentient and self-aware, overloading himself with information on humanity to a point where he becomes disgusted and eliminates Stark's AI J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Bettany) from the Internet. After a party where many of the Avengers' friends and allies attend and play games with Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor Odinson (Chris Hemmsworth), Ultron reveals himself through a sentient Iron Legion drone, saying to have "killed" J.A.R.V.I.S. as he attacks the Avengers throughout the facility, escaping with Loki's scepter. The Avengers soon figure out J.A.R.V.I.S.'s fate and track Ultron to Wakanda where arms dealer, Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), has hold of vibranium, a substance of which Ultron needs to enact his plan, using the Maximoff twins to do his bidding. Despite the Avengers' interference, Wanda manages to compromise the team by mind controlling them with their own visions of what they fear most as well as what they desire. This especially comes to a head when Wanda messes with Banner's mind, unleashing the Hulk on the Wakandan city of Johannesburg in a blind rage. Tony then unleashes the Hulk Buster armor to subdue the Hulk, eventually doing so as news breaks out of the destruction; with the team forced to lay low, they resign to the safehouse of Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and his family where many of them rethink their strategy as well as their idea of what life should look like. With Banner and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) testing the possibility of a relationship and Stark plus Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) at odds about what the world should look like, the team's dynamic is tested as Ultron threatens to tear them apart along with the world in a global extinction event.
With the plot being the next big checkpoint of the MCU -- specifically the big crossover event of Phase 2 -- a lot was at play here for better or for worse depending who you ask. You have the already established team of the MCU Avengers consisting of the main players and support -- including Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Colbie Smulders) -- alongside the temporary new Hydra antagonists, the Maximoff twins, and Ultron. On top of that, the plot details and characters associated with Wakanda are established, Thor figures out what the Infinity Stones are, and J.A.R.V.I.S.'s consciousness is eventually reformed and supplanted into the Vision who becomes an important player in later films. This is a lot to establish for a sequel to the first film as well as setup for the MCU going forward and for many it runs the risk of becoming yet another overstuffed superhero sequel that tries too hard to establish more of the foreseeable future. So what do I think of it? Unlike Sony's previous attempt at establishing a Spider-Man Cinematic Universe in two films with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice doing the same with the DCEU a year after this, this second movie in the Avengers series at least had several other films backing it -- ten others to be exact -- and was doing its best with the pre-established film lineup done by the executives at Marvel Studios to push things forward. Early takes on this movie believe that Ultron should have been established in an earlier film and survived this one in order to give him better presence, which makes sense given the character's long standing comic appearances, but I wouldn't fault it for that necessarily. He establishes himself enough as a manipulative internal threat well enough that making him unique to this film -- with an alternate universe appearance later on in What If...? mind you -- made for a unique catalyst to stuff happening later down the line in films like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. To say the least, this film left an impact on the MCU as a whole even it ran the risk of feeling overstuffed for some, but I didn't mind it much; the impact of rewatching it so many years later, honestly, made things much more emotional. For fans of the Infinity Saga, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about; with the hindsight of what became of Wanda later down the line in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it's suffice to say that I properly felt the fact that Quicksilver died in this movie. Despite this being the only time Aaron Taylor-Johnson played the role, knowing what dark places Wanda went to as a result of this as well as the many deaths she experienced throughout her life would understandably push someone like her over the edge. And her parents as a child plus her brother as a young adult were only the beginning.
As with most Marvel movies, the acting ranges from great to stellar. Robert Downey Jr. is what carries this movie like usual for the first three phases of the MCU; in addition to his character's actions being the driving force of this movie, RDJ carries the usual Tony Stark charisma, playing himself in a way that makes the character his own. His snark regarding his actions is at an all-time high with how desperate and overcompetent he is trying to protect the world with something like Ultron -- which ultimately turns against him -- and he continues to play off other characters well. Chris Evans's Captain America doesn't have as much of an impact on this movie as a character, but his acting remains stellar and grounded, continuing to give us some of the best lines with his reaction to stuff like the "language" running gag that the other members pick on him for ("That's not going away any time soon," he says). Chris Hemsworth also continues to give us an exceptional Thor with his brash personality while also giving us a more investigative and introspective side to his character; this was pre-Taika Waititi Thor from Ragnarok onward so he remains rather serious while still giving us an entertaining performance. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk is perhaps the best we have ever seen him in both forms because of the fact that Hulk has a rather somber, regretful side toward his monstrous form and actions; this especially shows when Banner is lamenting how many Hydra victims he sent to Hel in the opening battle sequence and especially when Scarlet Witch manipulates him into Hulking out and rampaging through the African city. With the latter being the first time that Banner loses control in a civilian populated area, it's especially potent in terms of emotion and CGI mocap acting from Ruffalo as he looks around right before Iron Man's Hulk-Buster armor knocks him out. As someone who was mostly a side character in the first film, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow certainly gets more material here as far as acting and character; we are shown more of Black Widow's past as far as her assassin training in the Red Room and it's clear based on her conflicting emotions in the flashbacks as well as her discussion about it with Banner that she laments what happened to her -- she also has nice chemistry with Ruffalo as they navigate their budding feelings for one another. Hawkeye's side story with his family and dynamic with Quicksilver gives Jeremy Renner more material and emotion to work with and I am especially fond of how he is given more agency in countering Scarlet Witch's mind control attempt on him -- and that makes it clear that the writers didn't want to repeat any plot beats from the first film. Newcomers Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen are excellent as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch respectively with Taylor-Johnson having that cocky speedster attitude that makes him fun to watch and his running scenes are aided well by the fact that they opted to film him running outdoors instead of on a green screen. Despite this unfortunately being his only project in the MCU, Elizabeth Olsen was given a fantastic start to her MCU tenure with this film; she's quirky, vulnerable, prone to emotion and outbursts and her choice of outfits make her visuals much more family appropriate compared to the comics. The many side characters such as Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury and Colbie Smulders' Maria Hill do well as one would expect, but where this movie does things differently is the android body and voice acting. James Spader's voice for Ultron is a much more comedic take on the robot -- something expected from a Tony Stark-made version of him -- and while he's not my choice for Ultron's voice and demeanor, he does a great job with his calm, compelling tone and facial/motion capture allowing him to feel less robotic and more like a disturbed AI. This is also the first Marvel movie where Paul Bettany gets to graduate from purely a voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. to full on body acting with cosmetics as Vision. Sure, Vision comes in toward the end as the heroes' trump card, but the little he's given shows that he's essentially the Marvel version of Superman; he may not be human, but he grapples with the understanding of what it means to be so and Bettany's sophisticated, contemplative tone of voice and demeanor help the character shine here and in his later appearances.
In my opinion, this movie shines best with the amount of action it has as well as upping the ante with its action setpieces. The opening battle sequence is a great follow up to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the sense of Hydra still being out there and really brings a great job of bringing the heroes together for the first time since the last movie. Sure, there are reasons for them teaming up that are explained in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, but regardless of context, it is a well done opening from the action to the team dynamics and the new group shot they have of jumping after converging during the battle. There are numerous other action scenes by comparison to the first one, the one after this one involving the Avengers not suited up when Ultron decides to crash their after party... party; I am a fan of when certain superheroes are caught without their suit(s), which shows that there are moments where they can come unprepared, and as much as it happens with Spider-Man, I think it's neat that they decided to follow it with the whole team of Avengers. The fight with Ultron and the twins in the dried up shipyard outside of Johannesburg wasn't the most stellar, though the following battle between Iron Man in his Hulk-Buster armor and the out of control Hulk is the most awesome and hype part of the movie. Hulk, for one, is the most unstable hero on the team so it makes sense that Iron Man would prepare something like the Hulk-Buster armor as a contingency for in case something like it would happen -- if you know the meme, it's because Tony learns from his mistakes. On top of that, the stellar action throughout the city shows Iron Man being the conscious one in making his decisions to ensure no one gets hurt while also playing around and evoking his signature humor in trying to put Hulk under -- case and point, when he rapidly and repeatedly punches Hulk while saying, "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep...". I was so hype when seeing this in the theater ten years ago and I was again upon my recent rewatch. Hero on hero fights are what make crossover events really awesome and the fact that this movie, the first one, and Captain America: Civil War do them so well is saying something about how they cared to make the story more dynamic than just simply the heroes all working together in a straight shot to the end. After an awesome fight like that, it was honestly hard to top it in the following skirmishes and climax with Ultron and his robot army, but I am especially a fan of all the Avengers and their new allies teaming up all of them against all of Ultron as Ultron himself put it. The continuous panning shot of them blowing through the robots is one of the most awesome moments of all the present heroes working together in the movies pre-Endgame and while the rest of the climax following that fight has slower falling action, it works well for the emotional payoff with Quicksilver's death. So while the film has been interpreted as "one big action scene" before, I do believe they did a great job in making a lot of the action scenes bigger and better.
While I could talk about the music, I don't know this soundtrack apart from the iconic Avengers theme reprise nor do I know it as well as other Marvel movies like Spider-Man. What I do believe is an underrated portion of the movie though is the plot elements from and callbacks to the previous movie; not only is Loki's scepter the whole plot device and the reason the movie happens, something I didn't remember was Ultron deliberately using Loki's mind control shtick on Dr. Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) to do his bidding. This was a nice reminder of the scepter's abilities without retreading any plot threads involving the scepter's capabilities or mind control in general. In regards to that last part, I did mention how the movie deliberately didn't allow Hawkeye to be mind controlled by Scarlet Witch not just to give Hawkeye a joke moment, but as a fun cheeky nod to how he knows it all too well and that it "ain't fun" according to him. I might even call the vision that Tony has of Earth being overrun by Chatari and the Avengers all dying because of him a continuation of his PTSD episodes resulting from the wormhole, which was showcased heavily in Iron Man 3 through Tony's anxiety attacks. It was nice little character continuity that the directors really cared about following. In regards to Iron Man's role during the final battle, I couldn't help, but notice that the whole plan to commence the battle began the same way as the first movie with Iron Man confronting the villain with a little banter before the action began. It wasn't as stand out of a scene as Tony's confrontation with Loki, but I couldn't help noticing the parallel to the first movie with the added flavor of Tony being the catalyst behind the villain this time around, making it feel a bit more personal for him. The final battle also expands on the group shot formula with the aforementioned pan around the Avengers fighting as well as all of them standing together as Thor calls out to Ultron, "Is that the best you can do?!" The callbacks don't stop there though; the battle in the church ending with Iron Man, Thor, and Vision all combining their energy beams to weaken the main Ultron before the robot speaks up only to get smacked away by Hulk was clearly intended to be a reference to Hulk's famously hilarious scene of throwing Loki around. It parallels it in the sense that he interrupted the villain before he could get his say in things and while it may not be as funny or famous as the Loki scene, it hits the right notes to be enough of an epic reference to the first film. It helps that these first two Avengers movies were Joss Whedon and I knew full well in the retroactive sense that he could do an ensemble movie -- I learned way later that he helped write my childhood movie, Toy Story. That said, I believe that Age of Ultron is underrated despite not being quite as strong as the films that came before or after.
With that said, Avengers: Age of Ultron may not have been received quite as well upon release, but I believe it stands well enough with the test of time we have been through since. It manages to set up more of the MCU going forward, continue the emotional beats of each character as well as plant the seeds for more for years to come, the actors continue to deliver great performances, the action and action setpieces up the ante in a lot of ways, and the amount of callbacks and references to the first film and other films is astounding. Back when we first knew it, this may have been considered The Empire Strikes Back of the MCU -- a title I believe is now claimed by Infinity War -- but even without it being the middle of the Avengers' saga, I still think it works as a good middle act for the overall MCU. It plants the seeds for Phase 3 just as well as some of the other phases and storylines going forward and I do believe it's worth a rewatch like I did the other night to do this review. If we didn't have the other masterful setups of the previous MCU movies, I doubt it would have done as decently well as it ultimately did. All that said, does it deserve any real criticism? Some things aren't as good as others, I'll admit, but I don't understand any hate it might get. In the end, I give it a B- and recommend it to anybody watching through the MCU/Avengers saga as well as fans of the comics storyline looking for some good material.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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