The Vision saves the day for Alex Yarde as Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) churns on.
Spoilers ahead!
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Avengers: Age of Ultron is a solid second movie of a trilogy; it raises the stakes and sets the table for the third (and fourth) film. It doesn’t stand on its own as a film like The Avengers. I didn’t fall in love like I did with Guardians Of The Galaxy. Truth be told it’s The Avengers bigger, louder, less suave younger brother that I suspect has been juicing and is living in the basement. But, when it’s good it shines brilliantly and in its few quieter moments gives hints of true art.
Age Of Ultron is best enjoyed after watching this seasons Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as the connective tissue between the series and this film is as vital as last season’s AOS was to Captain America: The Winter Solider. It’s all connected brilliantly; both long time comic book fans and recent fans of the MCU will suck the marrow from the bones of this glorious Easter egg -filled monstrosity upon repeated viewing. It opens Bond style – mid mission as THETA (S.H.I.E.L.D code for the “A” Team) mops up the last HYDRA stronghold in fictional Sokovia, encounters experimental twins Pietro & Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Elizabeth Olsen) and reclaim Loki’s lost scepter. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), under the influence of Wanda, decides to use the found HYDRA Tech & Loki’s scepter in his quest to protect the world from another invasion by completing the ULTRON robotic peacekeeping force. Needless to say this, plan goes sideways as hilariously nefarious, scenery chewing CGI baddie ULTRON (James Spader) crashes the post-mission after party celebration at Avengers Tower and escapes with the scepter.
This leads to subsequent globe trotting hi-jinx, snappy “scooby gang” patter & mini expositions of over half a dozen characters punctuated by balls to the wall comic book set pieces. Most notably, Hulk vs. Hulkbuster in Downtown Johannesburg is the treat you were expecting! It’s all impressively doled out like a banquet waiter hustling at a rich Bridezilla’s wedding reception by Director Joss Whedon, burdened with glorious purpose to set up Avengers: Infinity War 1&2. I suspect Joss has a six-hour cut of Age Of Ultron somewhere because it feels somewhat stitched together. Clint Barton (Jeremy Rainier) gets a meaty character-defining boost I won’t spoil for you while the team licks their wounds being global persona non grata after Wanda’s head games & breaking Johannesburg. The much maligned lovebirds Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) & Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) are a complicated couple, but the relationship is a plot device. My only beef is Natasha’s reveal of her forced sterilization by The Red Room (an assassin boarding school) to Bruce, “Who’s the monster now?” she says. From a filmmaker whose career was made out of the über feminist icon Buffy, that line struck a sour note with me. For the record, infertility isn’t “monstrous”.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) still plays it straight and shades of Civil War are brewing. He’s the heart of the team, wisely doesn’t trust Stark and (my apologies to Man Of Steel fans) could mentor young Clark on how to be Superman. Mission critical in Captain America’s mind was the impact their fighting would have on civilians. Period. Full stop. The film belabored the point so much I was convinced this was another MOS “disaster porn” dig. To be fair, it helps to have civilian authority that can handle mass evacuation and or casualties by enhanced individuals like S.H.I.E.L.D to back your play. And people who actually FLEE from danger unlike Metropolitans. A freeway fight a la Matrix Reloaded atop a semi and Wanda lassoing a runaway bullet train while speedster Pietro whisks potential victims out of the way in the center of Seoul was another standout set piece. That particular jaunt ends with Black Widow annoyingly being captured by Ultron (I guess to have someone to monologue to in his lair?) But not before deftly aiding Hawkeye piloting the Quinjet acquire “The Cradle”, a sarcophagus containing Ultron’s perfect form. Thor (Chris Helmsworth). being proactive during the teams self imposed exile, enlists the aid of Dr. Selwig and has a “vison” in a magical hotub (you’re welcome ladies, or gents) that foretells the creation of my favorite character in the film.
The Vision (Paul Bettany) is transcendent as the synthesoid “son” of Ultron. The character I had the strongest doubts they could pull off is truly a joy to behold. He’s the love letter to the comic faithful that the original Iron Man and Blade were in MCU infancy 11 films ago. I’m sure Whedon suffered inevitable studio pressure for changes but Whedon stuck to his guns and got The Vision right! The Vision is so wonderfully realized once he was “born” I missed him whenever he was off screen. During the appropriately bombastic third act’s now-famous birds eye view of our team’s shoulder to shoulder (Wild Bunch homage) overrun by Ultron’s minions, it was The Vision my eyes searched for. The scenes he shared with Wanda (his future spouse if Marvel Gods be good) bear a hint of their possible future together. The Visions’ demeanor was as adult, sober and “Kirbyian” as his character deserved, polar opposite of the teenage rage-fueled fear and hubris of Spaders’ Ultron. It was fitting that when they met for the last time on an impressionist painted grassy hilltop outside a devastated Sokovia the dialogue exchange between creation and creator was pitch perfect.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron is a big, fat, geek wedding feast. But, out of that vainglorious chaos a sublime creation sprang forth in Bettany’s artful interpretation of The Vision, and for that I was truly grateful to dig into!
Avengers Age Of Ultron Now Showing
Rated PG-13
All Art~Marvel Entertainment/Fathead
Nice review!
As for the choppiness, it sounds like Marvel interfered a lot this time around.
I think it was the forced sterilisation that was monstrous…
Great review! I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron twice, once in IMAX 3D and once just IMAX, and I have to say, as much as I enjoyed it the first time, I had a lot of the same feelings about it being “choppy.” When I watched it the second time I (mostly) didn’t feel that way–it was subtle, but there was a pattern of big fight, rest/introspection, big fight, rest/introspection that I didn’t catch the first time around, and noticing it really made me enjoy the movie more–though I know the original version was 3 1/2 hours long, and I’m… Read more »