Avengers: Age Of Ultron Jamie Keenan May 2015

Age of Ultron is the culmination of years of connecting movies in the Marvel

universe. It is billed as the landmark conclusion to this phase of the MCU. Joss Whedon delivers an action packed, lightning fast experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the full duration. Despite a couple of hiccups along the

way and too much emphasis on what is coming next this movie is certainly worth the price of admission.

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THE AVENGERS

AGE OF ULTRON

Avengers: Age Of Ultron Jamie Keenan May 2015

Firstly I noticed they've added another handful of new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Vision being the ultimate Deus Ex Machina. Designed literally to be able to defeat Ultron and to add more cosmic elements to the series The Vision just managed to pull more time away from the characters that needed it. Even the way he was created felt weird. Stark managed to prove that two wrongs do make a right I suppose. For a movie with a potentially interesting Artificial Intelligence theme our characters never seemed to learn anything from their mistakes. I know Stark is a big headed character but it felt really weird and forced to have him attempt to create another AI to try to combat the rampant one he had made earlier. The Vision could prove to be very exciting in the future but I just didn't care for him here. Age of Ultron kept focusing too much on the next movie and all these new Avengers were rushed because of it.

That leads directly into the other two major additions. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Again I didn't find them very exciting and they never really had their big revelatory moments. They start as villains working for Hydra with fair reasons to hate the Avengers. However working for Ultron felt a bit weird and they quickly change their mind. I just didn't know what they were really doing here. Their defection was never really addressed. They just set aside their hatred for Stark and join the Avengers. Perhaps if Marvel owned the rights to their father, Magneto, we could have given them a greater purpose. Unfortunately I never felt like they were very important and I don't really see a future for them. They merely seemed to build on the old "Stark is a monster" notion that we've seen before. The problem with these characters is they could have been cut from the movie and nobody would notice. They just didn't matter.

I'd also argue that Scarlet Witch's nightmares were unnecessary and wasted valuable time in such a crowded movie. Thor's was building his next movie. Iron Mans retreaded his last movie. Captain Americas was very upsetting but it was never addressed again. If they cut these and replaced them with more Ultron it would have made far more sense. This is an Avengers movie. All logic told us that this spectacle is impossible. It can to be amazing now, stop focusing on what you have planned in another few years. Thanos should be cool but that doesn't mean Ultron should be a stopgap.

Ultron was a major weakness of this movie. Unfortunately he joins the growing list of boring Marvel movie villains. His story and reasoning just felt so rushed. He never had time to settle and establish

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Avengers: Age Of Ultron Jamie Keenan May 2015

himself. It felt as though he had a lot more to him that had been cut from the final edit to be honest. Realistically I can't understand why he was evil. Did he get access to every corner of the Internet and decide his goal of protecting humanity would be completed by protecting us from ourselves? Or was it something to do with the infinity gem? Like Guardians of the Galaxy's Ronan, he felt evil for the sake of being evil. The Avengers need a worthy foe to fight but that doesn't mean they have to be lifeless and cast aside. Loki was so brilliant in the last instalment because he was given plenty of time to develop. Ultron just never got going in this movie and a few well timed jokes doesn't make a good character.

I've mentioned my problems with how forward looking this movie turned out. This doesn't just apply to set up for Infinity War. The Hulkbuster scene felt out of place here in particular. As an action piece it was as enjoyable as all the others

but I felt like the movie could have focused its limited time elsewhere. At first all I could think of was how many Hulkbuster toys they are going to sell but I also realised that that whole scene is going to be the crux of Civil War. Couple that with Thors little journey and his vision which I understood as him finally realising the truth of the Infinity Gems and/or preparing for Ragnarok and you start to see a lot of padding. I felt like Marvel are too distracted by what is coming in the future and the movie just got a bit too padded with foreshadowing. Little hints are fine but dedicating so much to the future is crippling to the flow of storytelling. Even the Vision felt like a necessary addition to have him be a crux of Infinity War.

Likely one of the biggest surprises that I walked away with was the fantastic Clint Barton. Hawkeye, while moving away from where I wanted him to go, was undoubtedly brilliant. He was given the kind of characterisation and grounding that he really lacked in Avengers Assemble. He was funny and endearing throughout and is the source of my favourite moment in the movie. I'm glad he got more time to shine here. I hope we see more of him in the future as I've experienced some Black Widow fatigue recently and I see him taking up a similar role as her in some other heroes title movies.

The action was as fantastic as expected. The scope of it is incredible and its shot very well. It never disappointed in this regard. If there are low points outside this aspect, the action does everything it can to make you forget those flaws. I'm not sure if it ever hit the heights of the Manhattan Incident but I loved that they expanded upon the teamwork that the team is capable of in the comics. Thor

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Avengers: Age Of Ultron Jamie Keenan May 2015

hitting Caps shield for a shock wave is a good example. I just find that very satisfying. Perhaps it was the fact that nobody expected the original movie to work that I find it hard to match that final battle but this often felt too close to the first one without expanding and building. The Chitauri and Ultrons army were basically the same foe in many respects. It's not a huge problem but I'd like the dynamics of the battles to feel fresher in the future.

The humour was expanded upon and it kept a nice tone throughout. I like that they've crafted a world we all take very seriously but are still very aware of how silly it gets, it's a ton of fun. Age of Ultron was never far from its next joke and it kept things from getting too bogged down in Infinity Gems and prophecies. Joss Whedons ability to add human touches to both superhuman characters and an Artificial Intelligence is really critical to glazing that extra charm over the whole film. I really feel that that personality is what separates a Whedon Marvel movie from all others.

Despite all my grievances there is still something special about seeing these people together. A scene in the tower just blew me away at the sheer number of major characters walking around. It shouldn't be possible but here it is in front of me. A kind of childlike wonder washes over me during scenes like these. I think we need to appreciate the sheer bloat of characters an Avengers movie has to have. It's a difficult balance and there are going to be a couple of characters who lose out in the fray. There are going to be undeveloped plot threads. This isn't necessarily justifying it though. These are valid complaints but the sheer spectacle of this movie just makes it hard to even notice the flaws while you're sitting in the cinema.

Age of Ultron is far from perfect but it still offers us a grand adventure that awes us with incredible visuals and fun characters. This movie is the culmination of so many

years of releases. It's insane that it even exists and despite its flaws it is definitely worth a watch.

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