The summer blockbuster season kicked off with Avengers: Age of Ultron, the long awaited sequel to the 2012 movie The Avengers, and was a great start for this summers slew of movies.
The movie has its returning cast of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, with the introduction of three newcomers: Quick Silver, Scarlet Witch and Vision. However, there is also the introduction of a new villain, a self aware artificial intelligence named Ultron played by James Spader.
Overall the movie is a great action-packed thrill ride, but it contains many flaws throughout the film.
The original run time was supposed to be a total of three hours and thirty minutes, instead of its two hour and twenty minute run time.
“We didn’t want it to feel overstuffed” said director Joss Whedon. These cuts lead to even more problems throughout the film. The film felt like Whedon tried to fit too much exposition for future films into one plot, making many parts seem rushed, pointless and random. This randomness also lead to the main villain, Ultron, having a confusing back story and a lack of appearance in general. However, the scenes he did appear in made up for his little screen time.
Another main issue with the movie was the forced romance with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner a.k.a Hulk. Many of the more lackluster parts of the film were the scenes where there was some sort of romantic conversation; overall the scenes felt awkward and pointless.
But despite these flaws Avengers: Age of Ultron still had some redeeming features.
The character development of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye made him seem more human than in the first movie and made him into a better character overall. His interaction with other characters and introduction to a more emotional side of himhelps set his character as a true Avenger. Another good quality of the film is the non stop action and comedy that is present throughout the film. A prime example of this is the running joke that Chris Evan’s Captain America doesn’t like foul language. There is still a serious tone but it wouldn’t be a marvel movie without an occasional wise crack from one of the character.
The movie is great, filled with action and amazing acting from the cast. If you want to have a fun time at the movies than I highly recommend you go see Avengers: age of Ultron.