Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

In 2012, Marvel Studios dropped the event film to end all event films with The Avengers. Marvel had been building up to the release of The Avengers for almost a decade with origin stories of all the main characters, which in turn built up an enormous excitement level for the release of Marvel's cornerstone film. The first on-screen team up of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and other lesser Marvel heroes miraculously ended up living up to the hype as The Avengers was one of the most entertaining, amusing and  well-executed superhero movies of all-time. Three years later, the even more hotly anticipated sequel Age of Ultron has arrived. While Age of Ultron is a surefire bet to satisfy most fans of the Marvel universe, it can't avoid feeling seriously underwhelming in the shadow of its predecessor.

While it's unreasonable to expect the filmmakers to top the quality of the original, I expected a much better effort than this for the sequel to a landmark comic book film. Age of Ultron is basically the original film with a weaker villain, far less memorable action scenes and unnecessary subplots galore. The fact that this film is just a vastly inferior retread of the original is incredibly frustrating. Marvel films aren't exactly the benchmark for innovation in Hollywood, but I expected someone as creative and gifted as writer/director Joss Whedon to create something that doesn't feel as stale as this.

The vibe of familiarity that runs through Age of Ultron would be forgivable if the film was thoroughly entertaining, but it just isn't. There was a number of times- especially during the middle of the film- where I was nodding off in the theater. Whedon's script spends way too much time introducing but not really developing an abundance of new subplots and characters, and it becomes really exhausting. The incoherent and overly cluttered narrative is particularly baffling because Whedon did such a great job of balancing all of the characters in the first installment. In Age of Ultron, he seems to have forgotten how to achieve that balance. This film goes so overboard with character introductions, relationships and hints at future films in the Marvel universe that the film often becomes an overwhelming exercise in comic book excess instead of the fun, engaging blockbuster it should be. The drawn-out narrative also means the number of action sequences- which are the clear primary attraction in a film like this- are kept to a relatively small number. I have no issue with a superhero film not having an abundance of action scenes, but if you don't counteract that lack of action with a coherent and interesting story, the film is not going to be a booming success.

For all of the shortcomings with the script, Whedon steps up the comedic elements to the next level and its the main reason Age of Ultron is able to stay afloat. The humor is much more natural this time around and a majority of the one-liners and gags work beautifully. Not only are the jokes sharper, the cast is more comfortable delivering them. Robert Downey Jr. has been fantastic with comedic delivery since the first Iron Man film, but Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner are now in the ballpark of Downey's level of comedic precision. Comedy in a superhero film is always a risky proposition, but Age of Ultron does it exceptionally well and it goes a long way in saving this movie from crashing and burning.

While the action is kept to a relative minimum for a Marvel film, there are still a couple of nice sequences along the way. The opening scene in a wooded Hydra fortress and the climatic battle with Ultron, which takes place on a flying city, are simply captivating to watch. These battles are absolutely massive in scope with dozens of people fighting at once, but Whedon is able to capture all the havoc being wreaked with some well-done quick-cut shots that match the chaotic nature of the scene. All of my bitching may lead you to believe the contrary, but Age of Ultron really isn't a bad movie. There's some great action scenes, a lot of laughs and the main cast is as good as ever, it's just way too pedestrian and disjointed to be anything noteworthy in the increasingly large stable of Marvel Studios films.

3/5 Stars