Marvel has always been a much-loved source of entertainment and enjoyment for me. The way that they have been able to interweave so many storylines and plots is something I find really incredible. I have never been a giant fan of comics, my adoration of the Marvel Universe is based solely on the cinematic accomplishments, rather than how true these have stayed to the original comics.
So it was still with high hopes and high expectations that I took my seat in the theater and impatiently waited for the commercials to end. “Age of Ultron,” the sequel to the 2012 “The Avengers,” spins its web from Tony Stark’s project to build peacekeeping robots with an advanced artificial intelligence. The problems start when the AI system goes awry and target Jarvis, Stark’s personal computer system, and then turns its attention to the rest of the world.
When the movie finally began, the first thing that popped into my head was, “Wow, please don’t tell me this is what the graphics will be like the entire movie.” However, it may have just been a side effect of the crazy stunts and rather over-the-top moves taking place in the snowy white forest near some Eastern European Hydra base the movie decided to open with. The poor green-screening thankfully became a much better after a few minutes, stayeing that way for the rest of the movie.
“Age of Ultron” brought more character development and backstory to the table than any other Marvel movie previously. We finally got to see Black Widow’s dark past and meet Hawkeye’s wife and two kids. For an action movie, the family ties and character histories that were brought to life provided a great balance to the flashy battle sequences.
This Avengers also contained a new romantic subplot that I never saw coming, between Black Widow and Bruce Banner. The couple felt slightly dropped into the movie, since little relationship development occurred between them in the first Avengers. I, like many others, saw the possible relationship forming between Hawkeye and Black Widow, but Banner? Where did that come from? It isn’t that they don’t work well together, I’m not sure why I never thought of the possibility myself, it just seemed like it was sprung upon the audience.
I did love the addition of new characters, Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch in particular. The other thing that hit me about “Age of Ultron” was that the main characters fought in a much more unified manner and provided better support for one another than we saw in the first Avengers.
The movie is jam packed with content. From the slew of sassy one-liners, including my favorite comment about Catholic rabbits which came from Director Fury to scene after scene of information and action, this movie is bursting at its seams.
Overall, I thought that “Avengers: Age of Ultron” was quite the well-rounded cinematic masterpiece, and I really appreciated the balance the movie maintained between action, subplots, romance and character development.
For those who watch action movies mainly for well-choreographed fights, viewed through a refreshing assortment of different camera angles there for the hodgepodge team of super heroes, the movie is a home run. For the viewers that look for an action flick with some more complicated subplots with a good intermixing of characters, “Age of Ultron” has that too.