Large consensus felt that the movie did not make a significant impact compared to its first movie but was it truly bad? Does it really deserve a mere "mehhh" in its entirety?
Being the crazy Marvel Fan I am, I will try as much to put as little bias in this review and shed some light as to what I think about the film. To begin (SPOILER ALERT), I shall give a summary of the film's plot.
cSo after a whole bunch of movies showing our Main Heroes (Iron Man, Thor and Captain America) doing their own thing. Each of the movies lead to the the Avengers uniting once more. The movie begins with the team shutting the last remnant stronghold of HYDRA to obtain Scepter that was given to LOKI by Thanos.
In the battle where the Avengers are assaulting Hydra, we are made aware that the world has changed quite a bit, there are growing presence of enhanced humans that the Avengers know and have dealt before. Upon acquiring the scepter, Tony Stark discovers with Dr. Banner that the scepter contains a Mind Construct that could be the final key to initiate the Ultron Program which was intended to protect the Earth from an Alien Invasion. Consequentially, The Ultron AI is created but does not turn out the way Stark and Banner foresees it to be. Ultron enters the physical world and is bent on causing the extinction of the Human Race as he sees that the only way to protect the human race is for them to evolve or die. He recruits Hydra's greatest enhanced humans (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver aka The Twins) to aid in his plans of stopping the Avengers.
The Avengers assemble to fight with Ultron and the Twins but are beaten promptly as Scarlet Witch manipulate their minds with visions of fear. It rattles the team and makes them disunited. Subsequently, Ultron uses the "cradle" to create what he deems as a perfect physical form in which he aims to upload his conscience into. The Twins realize Ultron's plan for human extinction and turn on him. The Rag Tack Avengers come back to stop Ultron from fully uploading his conscience into the body inside the cradle. Upon taking the cradle from Ultron, Stark decided to upload JARVIS conscience which he discovers was fighting Ultron online. Captain America and the Twins opposes this but after the Avengers tussle, Vision is born from the cradle. The Avengers are uncertain of his loyalties until Vision is able to lift Thor's hammer.
Ultimately, we see uncover Ultron's plan to lift the city of Sokovia and send it crashing down like an asteroid, plunging the human race into extinction. The Avengers with the addition of Vision and the Twins make their final showdown in stopping Ultron and wins. The whole film serves as a prelude to many things that each hero must answer for on their own. Scarlet Witch's vision that she had given to each of the hero serves as foreshadowing for what they must discover in their own movies.
And that, boys and girls is the summary of what is the basic plot of the show.
Having seen the show a number of times and hearing as to the various critics of the shows, I have come up with a few good and bad points.
For starters, I shall start on the bad points of the show:
1. Got a Little Draggy at some points:
Fans and non-fans alike highlighted that there were some parts that got a little draggy and I ahve to admit that that was true. There were moments in the show where you realize that the pace of the film slowed to a stuttering speed which could have made weary audiences dozing off. One of which was Hawkeye's safehouse scene. I can understand that Joss Whedon wanted to add more depth to Hawkeye's character but it was something that really got quite draggy for a bit. Pacing was a little lacking compared to the first Avengers.
2. Ultron. WHY YOU NO BADASS?
There were many fans who felt that Ultron's cavalier and candid demeanor made him less sinister than he was suppose to be. His occasional humor added to him being less scary than many of the Marvel fans know him to be. Furthermore, with all the powers of being Ultron, a supremely powerful A.I, he was not very smart in wrecking more CHAOS. Aside from attempting to hack nuclear codes, he could have disrupt many network functions that could have brought the World tp its knees. (Loki's wet dreams if he were ruler of Earth) Or should we just presume that JARVIS got the whole cyber highway protected and if a battered JARVIS could do that, that makes Ultron look even crappier as a Villain.
3. Bad Russian Accents from the Twins
This doesn't even need elaboration. It was just cringe-worthy and cheesy to hear the generic Russian Accent coming out of Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
4. Scarlet Witch Costume Reveal for her as one of the new Avengers was weird.
During the end scene where the new Avengers' Team was revealed, Scarlet Witch looked more like a teen popper singer than a hero ready to fight some bad guys. The well permed hairdo and swanky costume just made me feel a lil weird.
5. Old Tricks don't always get the same response
There were several scenes that you could identify that were very similar to the first Avenger film. And while it still give a wow factor, it didn't cause as great an impact as the first show, but that's an issue all sequels struggle with.
However, despite these pertinent factors that made the show less than legendary, the sequel was still a good sequel. Joss Whedon did not pull a Matrix Revolution on this movie and there are great factor that makes this film score a distinction. Here are the Good points about the film
1. Took everything good in the original Avenger and use it again.
This was kind of a double edge sword but you got to give it to Joss Whedon for taking everything that's right and putting it in. Many of the Humorous scenes were based on critics and fans that pointed out that were funny about each of the characters/heroes. Furthermore, the battle sequences were still pretty epic. I guess there is quite some worth in the "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" phrase in this show.
2. Death of a Hero!
At least for now. I guess we have all been taking pokes at Marvel for resurrecting every damn hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but with the death of Quicksilver in protecting Hawkeye. This would be Marvel's first time in killing off a hero. I am quite sure it is also an indirect flip of a bird to FOX as Quicksilver is also related to the X-Men. By giving Quicksilver a death. it could perhaps leave less room for FOX to develop on the character.
3. More depth in Characters that the audiences are less familiar with
While some may disagree, I feel it was great to focus more on the characters that did not have a solo film. The focus on Hawkeye and his relevancy in the team was a realistic one and it was something that needed to be dug into. The Black Widow and Hulk romance got a lil awkward at times but it still did give audiences more insight on Bruce Banner's and Natasha Romanov's character.
4. Hulkbuster vs The Hulk
Enough said. Fans wanted it. Non-fans loved it. The Veronica Protocol beats the House Party Protocol anytime.
5. Vision
We have seen him as Jarvis. it is great to see Paul Bettany rise up as Vision. I like the way how Vision is fascinated with humanity. I like that even though he agrees with Ultron that the humans are flawed and are most certainly doomed that there is beauty in their failings and that he is proud to be with them despite not being Human himself.
6. Great Humor
While being over-marketed, the "Lifting Thor's Hammer" scene was a real wise-cracker. Hawkeye lines gave me a great laugh too. Especially the part where he wanted to aim an arrow at Quicksilver while saying "Noone would know..." And these are but one of the many lines that brought life to the film.
All in all, it is a great show. it ain't the first, but I honestly feel that it isn't one of those sequels that should not have been made. Could they have done it better? Perhaps. But I feel that the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe has matured quite a bit with this Phase Two Avengers and while it may not have killed 2015 box office. It's in a strong number two and I am confident that Marvel as a whole is going in the right direction.
And the movie also serves as an influence to consumers to get Marvel Franchised Products.
Speaking of which, below are the HOT TOYS Avengers: Age of Ultron lineup so far. Of which, I am getting Ultron, Hulkbuster and probably Vision. (Updated: Hot Toys have also released the Iron Legion and War Machine figures)
These stuff are real blood suckers.. but I guess I can't help it. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has unleashed the old Marvel Fan Boy I was. For all you Hot Toys collectors out there, Do you think they would be releasing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch characters for the Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie?
And other than that, do leave a comment on what is your take on the movie?
Till then, toodle loo!
