Avengers : Age Of Ultron

 AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON

Director : Joss Whedon

Year : 2015

Genre : Superhero 

Rating : *****

 

Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye once again join forces for 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron', Joss Whedons colossal sequel to his 2012 monster hit 'Avengers Assemble' and the finale to Marvels Cinematic Universe (MCU) Phase 2. In the film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) inadvertently create a homicidal AI named Ultron (voiced by James Spader) and it is up to the Avengers to stop him enacting his evil plans. But will the many personal differences within the group get in the way or can the team mend it's broken alliance? Believe me, I am paraphrasing the plot of 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' here - it is a lot more complicated than that. But by going into too much detail would be spoiling things and it would not be fair of me to ruin a film as anticipated as as good as this.

Made for a quarter of a billion dollars and utilizing over 300 visual effects, 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' is by far Marvels most ambitious movie yet and director Whedon really goes to town on some mind-blowing fight scenes and very well choreographed action set pieces. In fact, the film begins with a fight scene and ends with a fight scene with about six or seven other fight scenes sandwiched in between! There's no doubt that 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' isn't exactly high brow cinema as I'm sure the readers of the stuffy The Telegraph and The Guardian will surely tell you. But while the movie is indeed an action-filled spectacular, Whedon also designates a surprising amount of time to develop some characters who didn't exactly get their due credit in 'Avengers : Assemble'. A burgeoning romance between Banner and Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) lends the movie a great deal of heart while Jeremy Renners' Hawkeye is given much more of a back story and personality making him, for now at least, my favourite Avenger. 

As well as expanding his already known roster of characters, Whedon also adds a bunch of new protagonists and antagonists who help to add to the drama and the gigantic scope of the film. Leading the pack is the malevolent Ultron, marvelously voiced by James Spader who injects his robotic counterpart with a sly wit and dark sense of humour making for one of Marvels most memorable and threatening antagonists yet. There are reports that Spader was greeted with a round of applause on set after his performance and watching 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' it is clear to see (or hear) why. Alongside Ultron, we have the lightning fast Quicksilver and the telekinetic Scarlet Witch played by Aaron Taylor - Johnson and Elizabeth Olson respectively as well as the long awaited Vision played by the always watchable Paul Bettany who finally gets to put flesh on his JARVIS character. Not to mention a supporting cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgaard, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Julie Delpy, Andy Serkis and many, many others.

But of course, the eponymous Avengers are the stars of the show and every single one is given a distinct personality and unique set of values. Robert Downey Jr. as always steals the show as the charismatic but egotistical Stark/Iron Man but special credit also goes out to Mark Ruffalo who manages to bring a lot of depth and empathy to the tormented and troubled Bruce Banner.

With great characters, a brilliantly wry script, eye-popping special effects and a memorable villain, 'Avengers : Age Of Ultron' is everything I could have hoped for and so much more. Yes like every other critic in the world, I am starting to tire of the constant wave of comic book movies that seems to dominate the multiplexes across the Summer months but if they are going to be as consistently entertaining and as thrilling as this, then I am sure I can put up with a few more yet.