"There are no strings on me." - Ultron
With the trailer breaking Iron Man 3's viewing record on YouTube, Marvel's latest offering certainly knows how to build up the hype. A sequel to 2012's Avengers Assemble, one of the highest grossing films of all time, Age of Ultron reunites everyone's favourite superhero team to once again protect world. All the main cast from the previous film are back, and the trailer promises incredible action and just as much spectacle as its predecessor. After deliberately avoiding all the hype, I finally got round to seeing the film yesterday, and can honestly say that Age of Ultron satisfies both as an entertaining film, and as a sequel to one of the most highly anticipated films in recent years.
So what's new? Well right from the start, we are treated to what we come to expect from a Marvel film, with a fantastic action sequence involving all the Avengers. Wasting no time in reintroducing the team with a big action set piece is certainly a plus. Not only that, the action throughout the film is overall more impressive than Avengers Assemble, with a variety of chase sequences, one on one battles, and of course the big finale involving every character. With so much action, Age of Ultron could very easily have been crushed under its own weight, but thankfully there is plenty of focus on what I feel is the biggest improvement over the first film: the development of the characters.
What Age of Ultron gets really right is the emotional investment I had with pretty much all the characters. To start, each member of the Avengers, with the exception of possibly Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), all had their own agenda and went through changes as the story progressed. The primary focus of character development is certainly the growing attraction between the characters of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). There is plenty of screen time devoted to their interactions with one another, and we see how the events of the film have an effect on thier decision to be together or not. Alongside this, we have Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) also getting far more development than he did in the previous film, with a portion of the film taking place at a safehouse where we meet his family. Hawkeye, for me, was certainly the least developed of the Avengers team in the last film. But now he is no longer under the influence of evil, we can get to know his personality better and see how being a member of the team impacts on the ones he cares about. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is very much as we've come to expect from his portrayal in the previous films: arrogant, egotistic, but with a good heart (or, in his case, a shiny blue one). However, his decisions in this film have the most impact on all the characters, with him wanting to create the ultimate peacekeeping program known as Ultron (James Spader).
Ultron is the films' primary antagonist. He serves as the Avengers' greatest challenge, as not only does he want to destroy them, he is conflicted as to how exactly he is supposed to carry out his mission of protecting humanity. This inner conflict is what makes Ultron another example of how this sequel improves on Avengers Assemble. Loki, while being memorable for his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston, is far less interesting than Ultron. Loki, like so many villains before him, simply wanted to take over the world, whereas Ultron's immature mind combined with having so much knowledge of the world implanted in his brain makes for a more three dimensional villain. James Spader gives a captivating performance, made all the more impressive by Ultron being portrayed through motion-capture and CGI. Ultron is supported by two other antagonists in the guise of twins Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Like with the Avengers, both characters are developed and go through changes, with their initial agenda being a personal vendetta against Tony Stark, whose military weapons were responsible for the death of their parents. Like Ultron, this makes the twins more than just antagonists. I was able to sympathise with them, and therefore care about them, none of which was present in the previous film's villains.
Overall, Age of Ultron is a massive improvement over Avengers Assemble. It takes the concept of an entertaining superhero blockbuster and gives it plenty of soul. This is a film that goes beyond its supposed limitations of an action film, by providing the audience with plenty to think about and, above all, characters we care about.
Pros:
+ Plenty of action, well paced with the drama.
+ Dedication to developing the characters.
+ Solid acting throughout, particularly the antagonists.
+ Fantastic special effects.
Cons:
- Slightly overlong, scenes of the Avenger's hallucinations could have been cut down.
- The ending seemed rushed, and too similar to Avengers Assemble.
- Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) character is only there to do exactly what he did in the last film, getting the team together again.
What Age of Ultron gets really right is the emotional investment I had with pretty much all the characters. To start, each member of the Avengers, with the exception of possibly Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth), all had their own agenda and went through changes as the story progressed. The primary focus of character development is certainly the growing attraction between the characters of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). There is plenty of screen time devoted to their interactions with one another, and we see how the events of the film have an effect on thier decision to be together or not. Alongside this, we have Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) also getting far more development than he did in the previous film, with a portion of the film taking place at a safehouse where we meet his family. Hawkeye, for me, was certainly the least developed of the Avengers team in the last film. But now he is no longer under the influence of evil, we can get to know his personality better and see how being a member of the team impacts on the ones he cares about. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is very much as we've come to expect from his portrayal in the previous films: arrogant, egotistic, but with a good heart (or, in his case, a shiny blue one). However, his decisions in this film have the most impact on all the characters, with him wanting to create the ultimate peacekeeping program known as Ultron (James Spader).
Ultron is the films' primary antagonist. He serves as the Avengers' greatest challenge, as not only does he want to destroy them, he is conflicted as to how exactly he is supposed to carry out his mission of protecting humanity. This inner conflict is what makes Ultron another example of how this sequel improves on Avengers Assemble. Loki, while being memorable for his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston, is far less interesting than Ultron. Loki, like so many villains before him, simply wanted to take over the world, whereas Ultron's immature mind combined with having so much knowledge of the world implanted in his brain makes for a more three dimensional villain. James Spader gives a captivating performance, made all the more impressive by Ultron being portrayed through motion-capture and CGI. Ultron is supported by two other antagonists in the guise of twins Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Like with the Avengers, both characters are developed and go through changes, with their initial agenda being a personal vendetta against Tony Stark, whose military weapons were responsible for the death of their parents. Like Ultron, this makes the twins more than just antagonists. I was able to sympathise with them, and therefore care about them, none of which was present in the previous film's villains.Overall, Age of Ultron is a massive improvement over Avengers Assemble. It takes the concept of an entertaining superhero blockbuster and gives it plenty of soul. This is a film that goes beyond its supposed limitations of an action film, by providing the audience with plenty to think about and, above all, characters we care about.
Pros:
+ Plenty of action, well paced with the drama.
+ Dedication to developing the characters.
+ Solid acting throughout, particularly the antagonists.
+ Fantastic special effects.
Cons:
- Slightly overlong, scenes of the Avenger's hallucinations could have been cut down.
- The ending seemed rushed, and too similar to Avengers Assemble.
- Nick Fury's (Samuel L. Jackson) character is only there to do exactly what he did in the last film, getting the team together again.
