Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Though 2012's The Avengers was not the first shot fired from Marvel Studios' ambitious arsenal of comic book adaptations, it refined and superseded the template set by 2008's Iron Man. The Avengers was neither campy like the superhero movies of the late 20th century, nor was it a brooding meditation like Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. The Avengers worked in much the same manner as any of the great Howard Hawks' films: comedy, drama, and action were synchronised bedfellows, and even the most minor characters were never caricatures. Much of the credit belongs to writer-director Joss Whedon, who knows a thing or two about bringing together seemingly disparate personalities in the service of the greater good.
Avengers: Age of Ultron has some fairly straightforward goals: match the quality of its predecessor (tick), sow the seeds for the imminent Civil War (tick), and unleash more of what made The Avengers the third highest grossing film of all time (tick, tick, and tick). The latter means more humour-tinged action, of which is aplenty. Before the opening credits roll, Whedon plunges us into the action as our all-star team battle Hydra soldiers in the snowy mountains of some fictional Eastern European country. There's Tony Stark as Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) whizzing past Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) as they speed past the soldiers. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) flies into frame, wielding his trusty hammer. There's Captain America (Chris Evans) on his motorbike, dragging a soldier along only to fling him onto his comrades. Last, but most definitely not least, our favourite rage monster, The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) stomps in, dispensing with the baddies as if they were toy soldiers. Whedon captures the entire team in a freeze frame and, Marvel fan or mere moviegoer, there is not enough willpower in the known world to resist the giddiness that arises at seeing the Avengers assembled.
The plot proper concerns Ultron (perfectly voiced by James Spader), an artificially intelligent creation designed by Stark after he experiences a hallucination of the world's end. Stark's good intentions don't translate - what was meant to be a global peacekeeping initiative manifests into something extreme and dangerous. Ultron believes the only way to save humankind is to do away with it altogether and replace the species with another, more evolved race. Ultron proves a formidable opponent, not only because he has two genetically enhanced humans - twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch - at his beck and call, but because his very existence is a source of division between Stark and Captain America, who is disturbed less by Stark playing God than Stark keeping the rest of the team in the dark about it.
Wanda's ability to induce haunting visions catches our often infallible heroes at their most vulnerable. That fragility, so often shunted to the sidelines, is front and center here. It complicates the nascent romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner. It reminds us that these superheroes are not only fighting to protect the world, they're fighting to protect their own. Arguably the least interesting of the team in the first film, Hawkeye aka Clint Barton is more fleshed out here, revealed as a man who has a wife (Linda Cardellini) and kids. He also gets one of the best lines in the film: "The city is flying. We're fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense."
Though this film's mood is decidedly more somber, Whedon does not skimp on the laughs. Sometimes they emanate from Hemsworth's priceless reaction shots: the cockiness that slacks into genuine worry when Cap almost moves Thor's mighty hammer, the laugh of relief when Cap doesn't, the confusion and recovery after Vision (Paul Bettany, at last more than the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. and proving an intriguing addition to the mix) commits an act that gives everyone pause. Other times it's from the constant macho posturing: Stark and Thor competing over who has the better partner, War Machine (Don Cheadle) trying to impress the big boys with tales of his adventures, everyone teasing Cap about his aversion to bad language.
All the actors are in fine fettle and it is enjoyable to see secondary characters like War Machine and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) pop up, even if only for a few minutes. Of the new additions, Johnson has the hardest time of it. He makes a solid showing but his Quicksilver pales in comparison to Evan Peters' version, who was the undisputed delight of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Johnson also has the misfortune of sharing most of his scenes with Olsen, who easily commands attention even when she's out of focus. Ruffalo once again emerges as the MVP, though this time it is as Bruce Banner who is this film's heart and soul.
Not that the Hulk is kept out of action. His tussle with the Hulkbuster, in which he not only gets pummeled with the speed of a jackhammer but barreled down the floors of a still-in-construction building, is an absolute high point. The climactic showdown between Ultron's army and the Avengers is almost too much of a good thing. Every inch of every frame vibrates with adrenaline; there is such an excess of action that it nearly becomes impossible to take it all in. Yet amidst the frenzy and the near ridiculous level of destruction, Whedon and the crackerjack cast never lets us forget that being a superhero comes with deep and frequently irreversible consequences.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Directed by: Joss Whedon
Written by: Joss Whedon; based on The Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgaard, Claudia Kim, Thomas Kretschmann, Julie Delpy, Linda Cardellini, Andy Serkis
