MOVIE REVIEW | Avengers: Age of Ultron

AVENGERS TWO WAS.... pretty good!

After the wake of the first Avengers's success, we've had an absolute flood of superhero movies showing up in the theatres. It's not going to slow down either, now with Justice League coming up and even more Marvel films. I'm sure you'll get a healthy dose of comic book adaptations to last you a while!

So how did this sequel stack up to its predecessor? I went in feeling it would be hard for them to pull off something equally as entertaining as the first Avengers when they're adding so many more characters this time around. And yes, I count Hawkeye as one of those new characters since he got completely left behind last time around. I'm happy to say that this film devotes a lot of screentime developing Hawkeye's character so that we end up caring about him a little more.

Some other characters were Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, who are Russian twins initially against the Avengers but eventually join them to fight against Ultron. Overall these two characters were alright, but obviously we don't care about them as much when their backstory takes up a few minutes here when we've had years to get to know the other Avengers. Also I'm just not a fan of the fast guy powers of Quicksilver, so I wasn't too interested in him. Scarlet Witch had a little more development, and I liked the savage nature of her powers but not so much her Buffy the Vampire Slayer gothic look. (I guess that makes sense if it'd Joss Whedon, though!)

Ultron was pretty cool, and an interesting shift from the more emotion-driven Loki. He was suave and philosophical... I'd like to go on a dinner date with him so long as I'd come out alive. Did I feel the threat though? Not really. It felt sort of like he was there just to provide plot and Tony Stark's character development. He was entertaining to watch though, and the CG was really well done I thought.

One criticism I have with this movie is what they did with Black Widow. She had some technical upgrades because I guess she needed to be a little more special to play with the other boys, but her getup wasn't what I liked about her to begin with. Remember those scenes at the beginning of the last Avengers? When she's in an interrogation and then kicks ass? Yeah. When she outsmarts Loki? Yeah! I don't like Black Widow because she can fight or calm down the Hulk, I like her because she smart! I don't recall a time in this movie, at least not one that sticks in my mind like those other scenes do, where she used her spy skills to get ahead. I found the focus with her was entirely on her relationship with Bruce Banner. How disappointing.

And that scene where she calls herself a monster for what happened to her in the Red Room? No thanks. They missed an opportunity for inclusion there for other women who can't conceive and I would have liked to have seen Bruce Banner do something other than stare blankly at her. And she get's kidnapped and imprisoned? Bruce Banner saving her? I was waiting for her to bust out on her own!

Maybe I'm being harsh on her character, but when female characters are so limited in these movies, the spotlight and pressure needs to be on them so that they improve. Otherwise they never will...

I want to end on something positive because that's how I roll. I really liked what they did with Tony Stark. I thought the scene with the Hulk Crusher was pretty cool and shows the relationship between the Hulk and the Avengers really well.

I also feel like they're setting up Tony Stark to retire or something. He screwed up pretty bad in this movie with the creation of Ultron and it seems like while he learned a lesson, I think he'd still end up doing it again. Some might think that limits his development, but I don't believe that humans learn from their mistakes after only one time. Stark's a man of science, and I don't think a setback would keep him from experimenting again because that's not science.

In all, I would recommend this movie if you've invested in the past movies. It's enjoyable to watch, but it's obvious that there will be holes in future movies if you don't see this one first.