So I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron…

OH MY GOD! Watching this movie was so much fun. It completely lived up to the hype and while I don’t think it’s better than the first Avengers movie; it’s still a really fun and well-made superhero movie. I’m going to watch it again as soon as I can.

Okay basic plot: remember the plot of iRobot? You don’t? Well, don’t worry, Joss Whedon will remind you of it. Only, instead of white, blue-eyed robots, there’s Ultron and instead of Will Smith there’s The Avengers!

There’s so many good things in this movie that I don’t know where to start. Okay first, let’s talk about probably my favourite thing in this movie – James Spader as Ultron. Now the whole, artificial intelligence becomes self aware and realises humanity’s extinction is the best thing for Earth, isn’t new but the personality in Ultron is. He is so funny, a lot funnier than I thought he would be. His character is a pin-point representation of what would happen if Tony Stark ever became a villain – he’s witty, arrogant and a bit of a diva. He’s a really strong, powerful villain but at the same time he’s incredibly fragile. He wants peace but he also desperately wants to be loved and praised. In many ways he’s like a child, a 7-foot child who wants to destroy humanity.

The best acting in this movie is definitely done by James Spader, I know this sounds strange since Ultron is just CGI and special effects but the personality and emotion that Spader builds into the character is amazing. The only problem I had with Ultron, is the problem I have with all artificial intelligence villains: they all want peace and the most logical route to achieving this is to eliminate the threat to peace – human beings. This motivation just makes them less interesting characters for me. The way Ultron was written – with his wit and nonchalance – he was as close to human as you can get; it would have been amazing to see him want to destroy The Avengers for sport or to show his superiority. By making him a misguided peacekeeper (as all artificial intelligence usually is in movies) you make him an anti-hero instead of a truly villainous bad guy. I want to see a villain that’s pure evil – someone who uses the skin of dead babies to make his sandals – hopefully Thanos will answer this call.

The action in this movie is absolutely off-the-charts! Everyone in this movie kicks ass, everyone gets a chance to show off their skills. I love how over-the-top the action is at times, these people are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and they do the impossible and it’s unbelievably entertaining to watch. But, as with everything in this movie, humour plays a huge role. There are tons of one-liners, inside jokes and ribbing. Much like in the first movie, for every gasp of excitement there’s a laugh to offset the tension. This really helps keep the movie light and helps keep it from getting bogged down in the seriousness of some of its more sombre plot elements.

On that note, this movie is pretty dark at times. There’s a lot of introspective questions posed to The Avengers, not only as a team; but also as individuals. Questions of legacy, right and wrong and the realisation that, even though you have these amazing powers, you have limits and some of these limits can only be broken through with the help of others.

Speaking of others, I love how much screen time and focus this movie paid to Hawkeye. I know that in the movies he hasn’t been a lot of people’s favourite Avenger but I think he’s a badass. I think the cartoons and comics have done a better job representing his full range of skills and before the movies, he was my favourite character in The Avengers. I’m a huge fan of superheroes, without powers, who stand up to those with incredible power.

There’s a million things I loved about this movie and it’s a really great watch but I don’t think I’ll end up liking it as much as the first Avengers movie. I think Age of Ultron is a better movie but it didn’t have the shock value of the first one. Going into the first movie, no one knew what to expect really.  It was shocking actually how well Joss Whedon managed to balance all the characters, provide amazing humour and deliver great action all at once. I mean, that scene where The Avengers are standing in a circle and the camera pans around them is one of the best scenes in the history of comic book films. Whedon managed not only to satisfy casual movie-goers but also hardcore fanboys because he pushed the bar so much. This movie is amazing but it doesn’t push the bar, it doesn’t take that next big step that changes the genre.

The only real problems I had with this movie  is that 1. There are a few too many characters, almost everyone from every Marvel movie before this is in this, but I guess this might have been a forced move because fans were constantly complaining about why certain heroes such as Warmachine weren’t called in when villains threatened America etc etc. 2. The movie feels a little bit slow at times, it’s well –paced but because there’s so many characters, the plot becomes congested to fit all their stories in.

Look this movie is an entertaining watch, there’s a cute love story; there’s action; there are superheroes kicking ass and that’s more than enough reason to make a trip to the cinema.  Amazing but lacking that master stroke 8/10