Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

     Since 2008, the Marvel cinematic universe has pretty much taken over the film industry. The 11 movies have made over seven billion dollars, making it the second highest grossing film series only behind the "Harry Potter" franchise. Along with Nolan's "Batman" series, the Marvel movies really helped kick start the superhero movie craze; and of all the superhero movies, Marvel has consistently done it right. "Iron Man," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," and "Guardians of the Galaxy" are easily among the best comic book movies. But of all the Marvel movies "The Avengers" was the biggest, and arguably best, in the series. Released in 2012, it received surprising critical acclaim and ended up becoming the third highest grossing film of all time. Several Marvel movies have come out since then, many of which were great, but there was something about "The Avengers" that was special. So after three years we finally get a sequel and the question on everybody's mind, "how does it stack up?" 

     Since the fall of S.H.E.I.L.D in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," the Avengers have been teaming up to take out any Hydra bases that are left in the hopes of finding Loki's lost staff. They track it down to a compound in Easter Europe where the scientists there had been working on human experimentation as well as advanced robotics. After taking the base and retrieving the staff the Avengers had back to New York to celibate, at the same time Tony Stark and Bruce Banner study the staff. Upon further inspection they find something within the jewel on the staff, some sort of intelligence. They can't really explain it, but they decide to use it as a basis for an artificial intelligence called Ultron. In theory Ultron would control several Iron Man suits that would help keep the earth safe from any sort of alien invasion. Stark and Banner decide to keep this project secret believing the other members of the team wouldn't approve; but after days of testing they come up with nothing, and Thor plans on taking the staff back to Asgard the next day. That night they threw a party and invite all of their friends; afterwards they are just hanging out, when all of a sudden they are interrupted. Somehow Ultron has come alive, and believes that to save the world he has to destroy the Avengers. So he attacks the group and steals the staff. Once it’s all over the Avengers assemble and realize what they have to do, destroy Ultron before he can destroy everything they love. 

     To be honest I was worried going into this movie, the first film was so great and I had trouble imaging this one topping it. Whether it is better or not will come down to personal opinion, but I can safely say this movie is still awesome. One thing the Marvel movies have done perfectly would be the casting. All of the character cast up to this point have been great, and the same is said about the new charterers who bring a lot to the film. Everyone gives a really solid performance, and the actors have great chemistry together. Like the first film, the writing from Joss Whedon is spot on. It is funny when it needs to be and is emotional when it has to be. The dialog is snappy and smart and always entertaining. Whedon did a great job both writing and directing, and I'm sad to see that he's not going to be directing the next "Avengers" film. One thing that "Age of Ultron" did better than just about every other Marvel film would be the villain. Ultron might just be the best bad guy we've seen in any of the movies. He's menacing, badass, witty, and has surprising depth. And James Spader did an outstanding job voicing him. Like the previous film, this movie does action right. The action sequences are huge and always entertaining. The opening and closing fights are outstanding, and the Hulk facing off against Iron Man in the Hulk Buster suit will put a big smile on your face. It helps that the movie has great CGI, and the CGI characters like Ultron and the Hulk look awesome I think what this movie does best though is that it knows what it is and it does it perfectly. "Age of Ultron" does exactly what a great summer blockbuster should do. While it is a great popcorn flick, it does bring something more to the table. You really care about these characters and want to see them succeed. Simply put, this is some of the most fun you will have at the theater this year. Now let’s be honest, the film is not perfect. One thing it struggles with is its own ambition; it tries to do too much in a short period of time. So much stuff happens in this movie that I feel like I need to see it again to understand everything. There were several parts and characters that were just kind of glossed over because you can only put so much in two hours. The movie also takes a while to really get going. During the opening action scene you are certainly entertained, but you've seen it all before. It takes a while for it to get really exciting and compelling. But of everything the film does suffer from one major flaw, and that is that it's not its predecessor. What made "The Avengers" so great was that it was surprisingly great. Having all the characters in one movie looked like it was going to be a "to many cooks in the kitchen" situation. Yet it somehow pulled it off. With "Age of Ultron" we didn't have that surprise since we had seen it before. The movie just doesn't have the magic the first one had. But even with that being said, it’s still awesome. There are several different types of movies, and I don't mean different genres; you have pleasant surprises like "Kingsman: The Secret Service," independent tour-de-force's like "Ex Machina," and then you have over the top summer blockbusters like "Avengers: Age of Ultron." And that is perfectly fine. Not every movie has to be like "Ex Machina," sometimes you just want a movie you can have fun with; and "Age of Ultron" is that movie. From start to finish I had a blast with this movie, it is exactly what I was hoping it would be. I wouldn't say it's the best Marvel movie, but I'd say it's in the top five. So if you're looking to go see a fun movie with some friends, you can't go wrong with this one. And if "Age of Ultron" does anything right, it's that it will get you excited for the next phase of Marvel movies. 

Pros: Perfect casting, solid performances, great chemistry between characters, well written dialog, very funny, surprisingly emotional at times, new characters bring a lot to the film, one of the best villains in the series, awesome action scenes, great CGI, fantastic directing from Joss Whedon, exactly what a summer blockbuster should be like, gets you excited for the next phase of Marvel movies.

Cons: Almost tries to do too much, takes a while to get really exciting, doesn't have the magic the first film did.

4/5 Stars