In 2012, Marvel solidified its cinematic universe after four years of build up with the record breaking and world dominating superhero crossover film "The Avengers". It's three years later and after a few years of building up to it, the heroes assemble again, leaving many to wonder if lightning can strike twice. For some, it may not, but to me and a good majority, it certainly has.
There's going to be a lot of comparison between the first film and its sequel, so I'll get that out of the way, starting with the action. I found it just as exciting as the first one, especially when you have all the characters on one screen together. If there's one thing I would have liked more of though, it would have been more combo moves between the team members. Cap and Thor do this quite a bit in the film, along with one between Cap and Widow and another with Iron Man and Scarlet Witch, but other than that, not much. I wouldn't have even minded if they reused the Cap/Iron Man combo used from the first one; you know, the one they copied from the Ultimate Alliance 2 game?
While action's the main draw, let's not forget that the heart lies with its characters. Like the first film, all of the characters make their presence felt and have purpose to be there (though I do wish Falcon was part of the final battle with Rhodey). And as for the interaction, I found it a lot deeper this time around. The most prominent of the film is between Bruce Banner/Hulk and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, or as I've given them the couple ship name, "Brutasha". We learn a lot more about Widow's backstory, and it's actually quite heartbreaking, and it really shows how similar her and Bruce are. They could both be considered monsters seeking redemption.
I do however wish that we could have seen what Scarlet Witch did to cause Bruce to Hulk out and go on a rampage. Everyone else had a nightmare vision shown, why not Hulk? Personally, I think it might be due to the recent revelation that Hulk's solo film rights are still with Universal Studios, possibly preventing the use of Hulk related characters like Betty Ross. It does seem that compared to the other Marvel films, "Incredible Hulk" is the least referenced to in later films. I do remain hopeful though that like Sony with Spider-Man, Marvel can make a deal with Universal to make a new Hulk solo film for Phase Four.
With a lot of characters, once you've seen them so much, you pretty much know you're guaranteed great performances from them. Evans, RDJ, Hemsworth, etc. They've all proven how much they embody the characters they play. However, there's one Avenger who many feel that despite some badass moments, kind of got the short straw in the first film: Clint Barton/Hawkeye. He definitely gets a bigger spotlight in the new film with a backstory that I feel that not only more than makes up for his smaller screentime in the first film, but also makes this interpretation of Hawkeye to be my favorite. He also gets points for being married to Linda Cardelinni. Lastly, there's one line he gives during the climax about how ridiculous it is that he's fighting an army of robots on a floating city and all he has is a bow and arrow. He pretty much channels those who feel he's a useless part of the Avengers, but he still does what he can to help people, even if he's outmatched by the threat.
This brings us to the new characters of the film, starting with Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, better known as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (though not stated as such in the film). They start out as adversaries to the Avengers, working for HYDRA and later Ultron, but the truth is that they're not really evil. Through a backstory that has to do with Tony's life pre-Iron Man, we see that they only seek justice for what they've lost. When they realize what Ultron really plans, they seek to set things right (Hmm, I just realized that a big part of being an Avenger seems to be seeking redemption). They're both great characters in the film, but I think I liked Quicksilver a little more.
Another comparison that's going to arise from this film is going to be between this film's interpretation of Quicksilver, and the one shown last year in "X-Men: Days of Future Past". For those that don't know, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are in a gray area that allows their rights to be used by both Marvel and Fox's X-Men franchise, due to being Magneto's children and long-stay members of the Avengers in the comics. In the MCU though, Magneto can't be their father and the twins can't even be called mutants (though it's not explicitly stated if their powers are due to experiments by HYDRA or if they're really Inhumans whose powers were unlocked; I guess that's something we'll find out later). Anyway, while X-Men's Quicksilver was entertaining to watch and had arguably the best scene of the film, I found Marvel's Quicksilver to be the better of the two. There's a lot more to his character and I really enjoyed the aura that comes off him as he runs. And while I enjoyed X-Men's Quicksilver's use of his powers, it leaves many feeling that he's overpowered and wonder why they didn't bring him along for the rest of the film when he's was super helpful. When it comes to Marvel's Quicksilver though, while he has great power, you don't get the sense that he can take down Ultron by himself; it's a team movie, which means everyone should feel useful, even if one character dwarfs one or the others in power.
There's a lot of speculation that Fox added Quicksilver to the last X-Men movie in a way to mess with Marvel, especially considering his scenes were the last to be shot and Juggernaut was originally considered to be used for the Magneto prison break. One has to wonder though if Marvel's retaliated by killing off their own Quicksilver in the new film. Then again, this is a Joss Whedon movie, which means someone important has to die, like Coulson did in the first one, so Quicksilver's death was probably planned beforehand. I will say that like Coulson before him, Quicksilver certainly goes out in a heroic fashion. Whether this will be a death that actually lasts is another question, which if it does would certainly be a first for a major character in the MCU.
This brings me to the film's title character: Ultron. As soon as he steps on screen, his presence is definitely felt. Every time he's on screen, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He's just so entertaining to watch, which is why I consider him to be the new best villain of the MCU (Sorry Loki). I will say though that I was initially surprised at how more human and informal Ultron seemed to speak compared to what I expected. Then I considered this: this version of Ultron was created by Tony Stark, not Hank Pym like most other versions. Between the two, Stark is a lot more social than Pym, and I think that shows through in his Ultron.
Then there's the other side of the Artificial Intelligence coin in this movie: Vision. Just like Ultron, once he makes his appearance, I was immediately drawn to him. There's also the fact that it's JARVIS downloaded into the body, and even though he's totally mobile now, he's still the same old JARVIS, even giving some lip to Tony in a hilarious moment. Going back to my coin analogy, there's good interaction between Ultron and Vision that shows how opposite they are, but also similar. Despite Ultron creating Vision's body, both are visions of Tony Stark. One represents death and only sees the flaws in humans; the other for life and potential in them.
Seriously, big props to Paul Bettany and James Spader for bringing these seemingly emotionless automatons to life.
I'm going to admit that I was disappointed a little bit only for the fact that it didn't set things up for the future like it would, like Rhodey dying, Superhuman Registration/Civil War and Ragnarok set up, and Hulk getting shot into space for Guardians 2. But as it sets in though, I've realized that it actually does help set up for next year's Civil War, but very subtly. Think about it. Two cities were heavily damaged from battle and one was lifted off the Earth itself and destroyed in midair. It's a summer blockbuster, so ending on a triumphant note makes sense. However, there will definitely be consequences that will be explored in Civil War, and it appears that the tipping point for the Registration Act, which in the comics was the explosion in Stamford caused by the villain Nitro that killed over 600 people including 60 children, will be in that film itself.
As for the mid-credits scene, I'm going to say that it didn't leave the same impact as the first film with Thanos' debut. This time around, sure it does move things forward a little, but I was expecting more. I guess fans should be happy though that Thanos finally got out of his chair.
But as we move toward Infinity War, I really hope that with all the heroes we're going to get, that they're not just going up against Thanos. In "Avengers", they fought a bunch of faceless aliens. In "Age of Ultron", they fought a bunch of faceless robots. I don't want "Infinity War" to be just another alien invasion, this time led by Thanos. What would help differentiate this from the other Avengers films? By Thanos bringing with him his henchmen from the recent "Infinity" storyline: THE BLACK ORDER.
Overall, despite my predictions of the film setting up future events unfullfilled, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" brings everything we loved in the first film and so much more, which in turn makes it my new favorite MCU film (though I'm betting Civil War may take the crown next year; definitely helps to have Spidey in the mix now, even if it won't be Andrew Garfield).
RATING: 10/10
MY MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE FILM RANKINGS:
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. The Avengers
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Iron Man 3
6. Thor
7. Captain America: The First Avenger
8. Iron Man
9. The Incredible Hulk
10. Iron Man 2
11. Thor: The Dark World
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