"THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" (2015) Review
"THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" (2015) Review
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, which first began back in 2008, edged closer to the completion of its second phase with the release of "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON". This second film featured the return of the team of superheroes that saved Earth from an alien invasion in the 2012 film, "THE AVENGERS".
In reality, the movie began with the "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D." Season Two episode, (2.19) "The Dirty Half Dozen", in which Phil Coulson and his team managed to infiltrate a HYDRA base led by one Doctor List and discover the location of the secret base of the evil organization in the fictional country of Sokovia. "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" opened with the Avengers in Slovakia, attacking the HYDRA base. Despite Clint Barton aka Hawkeye's injury and the team's encounter with HYDRA's new superhumans, Sokovia natives Pietro and Wanda Maximoff aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; the Avengers prevail by arresting HYDRA leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and obtaining the Chitauri Scepter used by Loki in the 2012 movie. However, Tony Stark aka Iron Man has an encounter with the telepathic Wanda Maximoff that leaves him with visions of the entire Avengers team dead (except him).
Upon the team's return to Tony's Manhattan penthouse, which is being used as their headquarters; he asks fellow Avenger Thor Odinson if he could examine the scepter before the latter can deliver it to Asgard. Thor acquiesces and both Tony and Bruce Banner aka the Hulk discover one of the Infinity stones (Mind Stone) within the scepter. They also discover that the stone has an artificial intelligence. Tony decides to use the stone complete his idea of an "ULTRON" global defense program - an artificial intelligence that controls robotic armor to protect Earth from future danger. Unfortunately the ULTRON program becomes sentient. He believes that he must eradicate humanity in order to save Earth. So ULTRON eliminates Stark's A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., and attacks the Avengers at their headquarters. ULTRON escapes with the scepter and uses the resources at Strucker's Sokovia base to upgrade his rudimentary body and build an army of robot drones. After killing Strucker, ULTRON recruits the Maximoffs, who hold Stark responsible for their parents' deaths by his weapons. Once the Avengers learn what Tony and Bruce had created, they set off to track down ULTRON and prevent the latter from carrying out his agenda for the destruction of humanity.
I might as well put my cards on the table. "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" is not as good as its 2012 predecessor. I fear that writer-director Joss Whedon may have gotten a little sloppy with the execution of his story. The first problem I had with the movie is its use of the HYDRA organization. Since 2014's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER revealed that HYDRA leader Baron von Stucker was in possession of the Chitauri scepter, it is obvious that Whedon used HYDRA for the Avengers - especially Tony Stark - to get their hands on it and the Mind Stone. More importantly, he wanted to use the Mind Stone for the creation of both ULTRON and the newest Avenger team member, Vision. But after the movie's opening action sequence, Stucker was captured by the Avengers and later killed by ULTRON, making his appearance in the film a complete waste of time. In fact, it seems as if the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been hellbent upon the misuse of HYDRA since Season Two of "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.". Personally, I wish that producer Kevin Fiege had allowed the HYDRA/Chitauri scepter plot line to be used for the third Captain America film and allowed both ULTRON and Vision to be created without the Mind stone. And why on earth did Whedon allowed the Mind stone to contain artificial intelligence? Was this an attempt by him to remove a possible supernatural or spiritual aspect of the Infinity Stones, due to some lack of religious beliefs?
What other problems I had with the movie? Honestly, I found the action sequences in the movie rather over-the-top. I was not that impressed by sequence featuring the Avengers' attack upon the HYDRA Sokovia base and their final showdown against ULTRON in the same location. And if I must be brutally honest, I was especially put off by the fight between Iron Man and an enraged Hulk (courtesy of Scarlet Witch's mind games) in Johannesburg. Speaking of the movie's final action sequence, I was not particularly fond it. Okay, I disliked it. I hated the methods ULTRON used to finally destroy humanity. What did he do? ULTRON used vibranium from the old HYDRA base to build a machine that would lift a large part of Sokovia's capital city skyward and crash it into the ground in order to cause global extinction. And I had to sit inside that movie theater and watch the Avengers battle robots and ULTRON in a city that was rising in the air. There was a point in which I found the whole thing simply fucking ridiculous. Speaking of robots . . . the sight of ULTRON's killer droids brought back memories of the Sentinels from 2014's "X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST", a movie that is not high on my list of favorite Marvel flicks. And there was the vision that Thor had received from the Scarlet Witch. One, how on earth did a human managed to force an image upon an Asgardian? Especially one as powerful as Thor? Two, was this vision supposed to be of Wanda's creation . . . or a genuine vision of the future? I do not recall the Scarlet Witch possessing the talent of precognition. And why was Thor's dream or vision edited in such a choppy manner? It is a miracle that I managed to understand it in the end.
The movie also featured the death of a major character in the film. Whedon claimed he wanted to reveal the emotional impact of war. Personally, I think he wanted to rectify his decision to resurrect the Phil Coulson character for "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.", who had originally been killed off in "THE AVENGERS". And frankly, I found it unnecessary. The MCU could have saved a character death for the third "AVENGERS" film. Speaking of characterizations, I was not particularly thrilled by Whedon's handling of some of the minor characters. As I had earlier pointed out, I thought he had mishandled the HYDRA story line that began in "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.". Which meant he also mishandled both the Baron von Stucker and Dr. List characters and wasted the time of actors Thomas Kretschmann and Henry Goodman. I was really looking forward to watching Kretschman's portrayal of the HYDRA leader. And what the hell did Whedon to do the James Rhodes aka War Machine character? Poor Don Cheadle! Whedon turned his character into a one-note joke, as Rhodey continuously recalled the time he saved the President's life in "IRON MAN 3". Even though he helped the Avengers save Sokovia's citizens in the final battle, Whedon still decided to make Rhodey a "machismo" joke. Only Cheadle's skillful comic acting skill made Anthony Mackie made two brief appearances as Sam Wilson aka the Falcon - during the victory party at Stark Towers and in the final scene in which he had joined the Avengers at their new headquarters in upstate New York. That is all. Perhaps he was filming another movie at the time. Who knows? But Whedon really wasted his role in this film. Another wasted performance came from Cobie Smulders, whose appearance and relevance as Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed to be shrinking with each film. As for Stellan Skarsgård's performance as Dr. Erik Selvig, it appearance seemed to be a case of "now you see him . . . now you don't". At least Idris Elba's Hemidall managed to have a stronger impact on the story, due to his appearance in Thor's vision. And Hayley Atwell's appearance as Peggy Carter in Steve Roger's vision had a strong impact on his psyche.
It is a good thing that I actually managed to enjoy "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" very much . . . despite its flaws. Fortunately, the movie possessed a lot more flaws than virtues. The ensemble created for the film seemed strong as ever . . . especially in the sequence featuring the Avengers' victory party at Stark Towers. Although I was not that enamored of the ULTRON storyline idea, I must admit that overall, Joss Whedon managed to make it work. Whedon did an excellent job of connecting the dots between the HYDRA base attack, one of the Infinity stones and the creations of both ULTRON and Vision. And the two characters that served as the connections to these different aspects of the plot were Tony Stark and Thor. I never understood why Nick Fury sent the Avengers after Baron von Strucker and HYDRA. There were plenty of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still around who could have done the job. But it made sense that Thor would want to retrieve the Chitauri scepter, since it contained one of the Infinity stones. And knowing Tony's penchant for curiosity, it made sense that he would want to examine the scepter. Whedon even managed to create connections between Tony and the Maximoff twins - Wanda and Pietro. Missiles created by Stark Industries were responsible for their parents' deaths.
It was a relief to see that Whedon did not shortchange the major characters. Although previous MCU movies have shown some of Tony Stark's more unpleasant traits, he really came close to being very unlikable in this film. This was especially obvious in the scene in which Tony refused to acknowledge his mistake in creating ULTRON. Robert Downey Jr. did a great job in conveying Tony's ugly side and at the same time, still maintain the character's "hero" status. I feel that "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" also conveyed a good deal of Bruce Banner's ugly nature as well . . . and I am referring to those scenes in which he did not morph into Hulk mode. Mark Ruffalo gave a sweet performance as a Bruce who seemed to be developing feelings for former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow. But there were moments when Bruce did not seem that likable. Some have cited that one moment in which he threatened to harm Wanda Maximoff. I can think of two other moments. He seemed incapable of understanding Natasha's own personal demons during one conversation between them . . . to the point that he eventually ran off, making their potential romance all about him. "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" finally verified that Natasha had been trained in the Soviets' Red Room Academy, the same organization that Leviathan agent "Dottie Underwood" had been trained in the ABC series, "AGENT CARTER". Natasha's visions, along with her conversation with Bruce, made it clear that her training had left scars on her psyche. Scarlett Johansson performance certainly made this clear . . . especially in the scene in which she revealed Natasha's demons in a conversation with Bruce. It was a truly superb moment in an otherwise first-rate performance by Johansson.
Jeremy Renner had more ample time to shine as former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and expert marksman, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye. Not only did we see Renner interact with the cast a lot more, but audiences were allowed an in-depth look into his personal life as a happily married man and father. In many ways, Renner's down-to-earth performance as Barton served as the film's emotional backbone. One would think that role should have belonged to Chris Evans' Steve Rogers aka Captain America. However, I got the feeling that Steve was still reeling from the aftermath of the events from "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" and his continuing grief over the loss of Peggy Carter, as shown in Steve's heartbreaking vision of a possible date with Peggy at a 1940s nightclub. It is amazing how much Evans has made the Captain America role his own after three films. Hell, he made it his own back in the 2011 film. Chris Hemsworth's role as Thor did not strike me as "major" in compare to the other members of the Avengers team. Without the presence of Thor's half-brother Loki, I got the feeling that Whedon did not really know what to do with him . . . other than help create Vision. But Hemsworth's performance was my favorite in the film. That man has such a superb comic timing. And he providing some of the film's funniest moments, including that hair-raising moment in which Steve nearly lifted his hammer, Mjolnir. Samuel L. Jackson gave a very interesting performance as former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. He seemed rather introspective . . . almost weary. At first, I wondered if Jackson had become tired of the role. But he had made clear his desire to continue portraying Fury beyond his current contract. I suspect that Jackson was conveying the toll of Fury's worldwide search for HYDRA bases and agents and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s downfall.
James Spader gave one hell of a performance as the voice for the artificial intelligence being, ULTRON. Spader gave one of those memorable voice performances that I believe I will never forget. Since ULTRON is Tony Stark's creation, it seemed as if Spader was portraying Stark's personality . . . but with his own particular twist. It was an interesting and brilliant performance to watch . . . or hear. "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" proved to be the first role in which I have seen actor Aaron Johnson-Taylor portrayed an extroverted character - namely Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver. And being the first-rate actor I have always believed he was, Johnson-Taylor did an excellent job in conveying Pietro's impulsive nature, protectiveness toward his twin sister and cockiness - especially in his interactions with Clint Barton. In fact, his ability as a speedster seemed to correlate well with his personality. And who portrayed his twin sister? None other than Elizabeth Olsen, who portrayed his wife in the 2014 blockbuster, "GODZILLA". Man, the irony! And she gave an equally superb performance as the more serious, yet emotional Wanda Maximoff, who possessed the talents of telepathy and telekinesis. Paul Bettany, who had served as the voice of Tony Stark's artificial intelligence program, J.A.R.V.I.S., acquired a new role in the MCU. He is now portraying Vision, an organic-based android who eventually became a member of the Avengers. Bettany gave a very skillful, yet ethereal performance. His Vision struck me as a quiet, naive being, with a surprising penchant for wise and occasionally sardonic barbs. The movie also featured solid supporting performances from Linda Cardellini, Claudia Kim, Idris Elba, Andy Serkis and Julie Delpy.
What else can I say about "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON"? Well, nothing really. The movie's special effects and musical score by Hans Zimmer did not exactly blow my mind. Come to think of it, Ben Davis' cinematography failed to impress me, as well . . . even if I found his work competent. But I thought it lacked the sharp and colorful beauty of the 2012 movie. In fact, I would go as far to say that "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON" is not as good as "THE AVENGERS". But . . . it did continue the Marvel Cinematic Universe's main narrative. And this continuation was marked by Josh Brolin's appearance as Thanos in the movie's first post-credit scene. "AGE OF ULTRON" may not have been perfect or even near perfect. But I thought it was still a first-rate film.
