Given how overwhelmingly successful The Avengers was, it was only natural that a sequel would be made. Joss Whedon returned to direct the sequel, though there were a few hurdles along the way. For one, Robert Downey Jr’s contract with Marvel was expiring, having signed a 4-picture-deal that ended after Iron Man 3. Luckily, they managed to renegotiate his contract, and Downey returned with much of the original cast returning as well. Not only would this introduce new characters to the series, but it would also lay the groundwork for future films. Also, with a budget of $365 million, it set a record for being the second most expensive film ever made. Whedon looked to sequels like The Empire Strikes Back and Godfather Part II for inspiration, making it bigger and darker. After three years of development, 2015 saw the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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Rating
The film opens with The Avengers raiding a HYDRA base Sokovia to retrieve the mind control staff Loki wielded. Once they’ve retrieved it, Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Banner (Mark Ruffalo) discover an artificial intelligence living inside the staff. They decide to use it as the base of their “Ultron” program, which would be a global defense network. Unfortunately, Ultron becomes sentient, nearly wipes out JARVIS, and spread his mind across the globe to achieve peace through destruction. With a new form, Ultron (James Spader) recruits Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) for his plan. With Pietro’s superspeed and Wanda’s telekinesis, they manage to disband the Avengers, but soon learn of Ultron’s true intention: extinction. The Maximoffs helps The Avengers retrieve an artificial body Ultron had to create Vision (Paul Bettany) using JARVIS’ programming. With their new comrades, The Avengers must stop Ultron from wiping out humanity.
While The Avengers was tons of fun and a big Hollywood blockbuster done right, this one is a step down. When the action gets going, there is fun to be had, but it lacks the same punch as the original. The returning cast all do their jobs well, and there is some decent character development going on. Probably the biggest surprise here is just how amazing the villain is, largely thanks to James Spader’s performance. His charisma and chilling voice make for a very sinister and memorable villain, one of the MCU’s best yet. Unfortunately, the rest of the film falls slightly flat, though it’s not a completely worthless film. After the first 30-40 minutes, the film comes to a near dead halt with almost nothing substantial happening. Newcomers Johnson and Olsen do a decent job as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, though they’re not given much development.
Also, Whedon’s direction is fine, but watching this gives one the impression that he’s gotten tired by this point. With an almost two-and-a-half hour runtime and so much excess, it feels slightly overblown and needed to be dialed back. Given the budget, you can see the money on screen, but sometimes less is more, and that’s the case here. There’s some interesting character moments when Scarlet Witch manipulates the minds of The Avengers, but much of it is setup. So many moments here are devoted to setting up future movies rather than just being a good standalone movie. That said, the movie does pick up in the third act, with all The Avengers teaming up to fight Ultron. That’s the best way to sum this up: a largely underwhelming experience with some fun moments. Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron has decent qualities, but is somewhat disappointing compared to the first.
