Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Mini-Review — The Analytic Critic
Avengers: Age of Ultron receives far more flak than it deserves. A dark take on the characters of the MCU with consequences that continue into later films? It is definitely superior to the previous Avengers film. How so? Let’s take a look.
WRITING:
Age of Ultron begins with the Avengers reacquiring the tesseract cube. Tony’s given a vision by the Scarlet Witch — a powerful mind-altering being — influencing him to build the next level of A.I. with the help of Bruce Banner.
Unfortunately, the A.I. takes Stark’s desire for peace a little too far, leading to the homicidal Ultron, who desires an end to the life on earth so that life can blossom the way evolution intended. In order to defeat Ultron, the Avengers have to assemble once again.
Ultron’s homicidal goal to reestablish the world is incredibly dark in tone, a positive departure from the first Avengers film. The pacing is monumentally better, full of moral character dilemmas and fun action sequences. While character development is far from even, it is much more evenly distributed this time around and dialogue isn’t on-the-nose.
Additionally, the stakes are much higher and have dire consequences on the future films in the MCU, which can’t be said for the first Avengers film. The story itself is just better all around. If I could describe Age of Ultron in one word, it would be balanced. While the plot isn’t exactly original, the film itself is actually competent.
There are a couple of major flaws. One is the awful attempt at humour — there’s probably one funny joke in Age of Ultron. Joss Whedon usually delivers comedy gold, but not in either Avengers film.
The other issue is a failed romance subplot between Black Widow and the Hulk. The romance sparks out of nowehere and progresses much too quickly.
CAST:
Most of the cast return in Age of Ultron, though I wouldn’t say anyone’s particularly improved. RDJ and Mark Ruffalo have a lot of cast chemistry this time around, each able to play off one another with an intriguing rapport. Ruffalo’s chemistry with Scarlett Johansson, however, is absolutely abysmal. This is mainly due to Johansson’s monotoned delivery of all of her lines; their relationship is just unbelievable.
Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Paul Bettany all do a solid job with the material. Hemsworth has learned a lot from Thor: The Dark World, discarding the Shakespearean delivery of his lines. Likewise, Evans has been a great actor since his MCU debut, and Bettany actually brings fitting cyborg-like gestures to his previously emotionless voice-over role.
Also returning are Jeremy Renner and Don Cheadle with mediocre performances as Hawkeye and War Machine. Neither are that intriguing to watch.
Newcomers Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson bring some of the most shockingly strong performances to the film. I enjoyed their chemistry a lot, and Olsen has a scene towards the end that’s downright spectacular.
That said, the best performance belongs to James Spader as Ultron. Spader’s gestures and vocal tone vary from one scene to another. The man is an absolutely fantastic and robust actor capable of captivating an audience with a single line.
PRODUCTION:
Age of Ultron had a huge budget and it really shows: the CGI and special effects are magnificent to behold. Joss Whedon’s film direction has also noticeablyimproved with a few risky long shots, which honestly just imrpoves the visuals that much more.
Makeup and lighting are both excellent, helping to immerse the viewer into the world of the Avengers. Bettany has extensive makeup on, for example, and it just works. The costumes are also about a hundred steps up from the lousy ones in the original film.
Additionally, the stakes are much higher and have dire consequences on the future films in the MCU, which can’t be said for the first Avengers film.
One small criticism I have is with the soundtrack. It’s very well-composed, though a lot less pronounced than in the first Avengers film. This takes away from the epic feel of Age of Ultron a bit.
SUMMARY:
As you can see, Age of Ultron receives a lot more negative criticism than it should. It is a mostly balanced film with a more interesting story than its predecessor. I definitely recommend it.
Avengers: Age of Ultron gets a 7 out of 10.
