In my house, hanging on my wall, is a poster from the 2012 film, The Avengers. I'm actually a much bigger X-Men fan, but I bought this poster for it's significant value. Growing up as a reader of comic books I was looked at as a geek or spaz. Superheroes were uncool during my childhood unless it was Batman, Ninja Turtles, or Power Rangers. But as the years went on more movies based on comic books came out, and then The Avengers broke box office records and set the bar for shared cinematic universes that every movie studio is now trying to copy. We comic book readers are no longer outcasts; we are trailblazers.
God of Geeks, Joss Whedon, has returned to direct a sequel to his 2012 hit, but when you make a colossal movie like The Avengers it's an even bigger task to make a follow-up than can hold up. I knew I had to see this film twice before I could accurately say if it was better than the original.
This time around Earth's Mightiest Heroes take on Ultron; the artificial intelligence Tony Stark created in hopes of being the Avengers substitute police force for the world. After becoming self-aware Ultron, voiced by James Spader, realizes that the only way humanity can be saved is by sacrificing the billions of weak humans on the planet first. Aiding him is the genetically modified Maximoff twins, Wanda and Pietro, who are brought in to shake up the Avengers confidence in each other. The team must find a way to break their hexes if they're going to save the world from extinction.
I will admit, during the first viewing of this film I found it a little lackluster. It wasn't until the end of the film when the Avengers, along with their new comrades, started fighting that I got really excited. That scene was like a big Marvel crossover event come to life. But before that, I kept thinking how Ultron wasn't the maniacal menace he is in the comics, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch weren't as fleshed out as I hoped, and there was too much set-up for future films.
Before my second viewing of the film I realized something. No matter what, I would never think this film was better than The Avengers. The first film was a cinematic monument in film history. In it, I saw the Avengers come together for the first time on screen, something I never thought I'd see, and it was awesome. And nothing will ever compare to it.
With that in mind, I watch the Avengers: Age of Ultron a second time and tried to appreciate it for what it was, and no compare it to the previous film, or ask if it could beat Captain America: The Winter Soldier as my favorite Marvel Studio film. This is not the comic book Ultron. He was made by Tony Stark, not Hank Pym, which means those quirky and egotistical bits of Stark's personality fit into this Ultron. The Maximoff's weren't as well rounded as I hoped, and their Russian accents still weren't good the second time around, but in a film with lots of characters they served their purpose; especially Quicksilver. X-Men: Days of Future Past brought a phenomenal Quicksilver to life, so the only logical thing to do was make MCU's Quicksilver a sacrificial lamp that hopefully will serve as a stepping stone for Wanda's character evolution.
The Avengers seemed to be more comfortable with each other in this film as well, which made the combat banter that much better. The actors have also been together for a while now so their chemistry showed on screen and was quite entertaining. Every time Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr had a conversation it seemed like it was set-up for Captain America: Civil War and Thor leaving just after the team had suffered a major defeat seemed odd, but then we would not have gotten more knowledge about the infinity stones for the next Avengers film, and Vision's importance would have been nullified. And I loved how Vision was presented in this film; great job Paul Bettany! So while I'm still not sure about the way Whedon and company went about setting up future films to come I couldn't have thought of a better way to do it, so I'll let it slide.
I hear talks about how this movie didn't have depth to it, but let's look at The Avengers people. We've all put that film on a pedestal, but yet it doesn't come close to The Godfather or Schindler's List as far as Best Picture worthy. Sequels to beloved films are always judged to harshly in my opinion.
My final gripe about Avengers: Age of Ultron was stripped away after a conversation with my wife. I was baffled that they didn't explain why Tony Stark become Iron Man again after quitting in Iron Man 3(and as I type this I realize I have not read the Age of Ultron prelude comic that may explain it). But my wife said to me, "I never saw Iron Man 3 so I never knew he quit." And that is the beauty of the MCU. If a person just wants to watch The Avengers films, or Captain America films, they won't be lost. Someone can watch The Avengers then Avengers: Age of Ultron right after and just be fine. Sure if you watched the four films in between you get more out of it, but it's not a necessity. What happens in the Thor films has no affect on what happens in the Iron Man films; you can enjoy them both separately.
While I am sad to see Whedon leaves this franchise I think it's for the best given his recent public comments. I believe there are a lot of deleted scenes that have more character development, and I can't wait to see them on the blu-ray, or maybe a 4-hour directors cut. The Russo Brothers, who did such a terrific job on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, are now taking over with Infinity War parts I & II, as well as the next Captain America film. My only hope is they make Captain America: Civil War the mature film Winter Soldier was and then continue to make the Avengers films the kind of movies the whole family can enjoy like Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man 3(which was my least favorite Marvel film so far).
So after seeing this film twice now I see that it is a good movie that has something everyone can enjoy so long as you stop trying to compare it to the first film. Lightening only strikes once kids, unless you're carrying a hammer. I loved seeing the new characters added to the MCU, Hawkeye getting his due, and the new Avengers team assemble at the end. Yes, I said the "A" word. Because it now bugs me that Cap didn't get too.
RATING: B
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