Time: 141 Minutes
Age Rating: M
Cast:
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
Chris Evans as Steve Rodgers/Captain America
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlett Witch
Paul Bettany as Jarvis/Vision
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig
James Spader as Ultron
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Director: Joss Whedon

Along with The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron was another MCU movie I was interested in revisiting. Even back in 2015, I was one of the few people who actually considered the sequel to be a step up over the previous movie, and as the years went on, it had the reputation of being the worst Avengers movie. Still, after revisiting 2012’s The Avengers and finding that to just be an above average movie, I wanted to know how I’d find its follow up today. I definitely like it less than I did before, but I still consider it superior to its predecessor.

In the first Avengers, I found the character dynamics to be very subpar, largely consisting of characters either constantly quipping or getting into forced arguments with each other. The sequel handles this aspect far better, as the movie begins with these 6 main characters being an established team, their chemistry and interactions feel natural, and you get the impression that they have worked together for quite a while now. You can definitely still tell that it’s from the same writer, but it is definitely a notable improvement. Additionally, the character work is better. All the Avengers get moments to shine, the movie engages with these characters more and they have their own relevant struggles. The humour also does work better, the quips are very hit or miss but also feel a bit more fluid and also didn’t halt the flow of the movie as much. It still has its frustrating Joss Whedon moments, especially with some of the joke attempts. He must’ve found that gag of Mark Ruffalo falling onto Scarlet Johansson’s breasts face first hilarious considering that he reused it for his Justice League reshoots. The first Avengers movie had a simple plot about heroes coming together to defeat the aliens in the sky. Age of Ultron is a come together to defeat the evil AI story, but does aim to be larger and more ambitious in scale. However, parts of the story do feel both overstuffed and rushed, with too much going on, even for its 2.5 hour runtime. Apparently about 40 minutes had been cut from the movie and it certainly reads a movie that had been edited down. Some of that ambitious stuff included set ups for future movies, like Thor going off on a brief side quest which is intended to tease both Ragnarok and the future Infinity Stone entries in the franchise. Those are certainly distracting, but I can generally look past those moments.

The main Avengers cast work much better here than in the first with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, and Jeremy Renner. Their chemistry feels far more natural, like they’ve actually been a team for a while. Even Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is given some more stuff, something he desperately needed after having barely anything in the first Avengers. Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk is once again the standout of the 6, with him having the identity crisis between the two personalities (even if the whole “sun’s getting low” aspect is now a bit hard to take seriously). It’s also the last time that the character would be portrayed with a somewhat serious take for at least another decade. A much disliked aspect was this romantic subplot between Banner and Johansson’s Black Widow. That’s one part of the movie I really can’t defend and am not a fan of. I liked the new additions to the cast, the most notable are Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. While the accents were a bit distracting and Quicksilver was underdeveloped, Scarlet Witch was established well, paving the path for her far more prominent appearances in later MCU projects. Paul Bettany’s Vision is great and while his portrayals in the later movies ranged in quality, he’s at the right note here. One of the highlights of the film for me was James Spader as Ultron. I do know that he’s very different from the comics, he’s built by Tony Stark instead of Hank Pym and instead of having a ruthless robotic persona, he jokes around a lot. Whedon’s take on the character is deliberately intended as sort of a dark Tony Stark. While some people are mixed on this portrayal of the character, I really liked him. Spader’s performance is what sells it to me, his voice and charisma added so much. He’s menacing (even if not scary) yet funny and I really enjoyed whenever he was on screen. Perhaps some aspects could’ve been handled much better, but I did enjoy him as a villain more than Loki in the previous Avengers.

Joss Whedon returned to direct the sequel and to his credit, Age of Ultron actually looks like a movie and not like a TV show like how The Avengers looked like. The cinematography and camerawork feels far more competent and the visuals don’t look overly lit. The action has also notably improved over the last movie, far more entertaining and better captured. I particularly liked how the movie showcased the abilities and powers of each of the characters. I will say that the CGI generally has not held up greatly, at least in comparison to the CGI in the previous Avengers. Some digital effects can be distracting, especially during the action. As much as I criticised 2012’s Avengers, the CGI on the Chitauri have held up much better than the Ultron bots did here.

Avengers: Age of Ultron still has its issues and is messy, but is a notable step up from its predecessor, especially with the better character work, directing and action. Despite having the reputation as “obviously the worst Avengers movie”, it’s not that for me, and I would consider it about mid tier within the franchise.