THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Joss Whedon made the sequel that may not be better than its predecessor, but remains entertaining by the end of the day. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Avengers have reunited to take down the remaining HYDRA bases but encounter twin siblings that were voluntarily experimented by Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann), The Maximoffs. Clint Barton gets attacked by the speedster Pietro, and while Tony Stark finds Loki's scepter, he is shown his worst fear of losing his friends by the telekinetic Wanda. Tony encourages Bruce Banner to work together on an artificial intelligent program, naming it Ultron. It awakens on its own, eliminates JARVIS, attacks the Avengers, takes the scepter and aligns with the Maximoffs. They go to Wakanda to take vibranium from arms dealer Ulysses Klaue before the Avengers catch up. Wanda is able to show the team their worst fears like she did to Tony, and when she does so to Banner, he hulks out. Tony fights Hulk with a suit designed to stop him but much damage is done in Johannesburg. The team recuperates in the home of Hawkeye's family but Thor goes to the Water of Sight with Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to have a better understanding of a vision he had. Ultron hypnotizes scientist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) in Seoul to make a new body out of synthetic-tissue. Through that body, Wanda discovers that Ultron plans to nuke the world, which leads to her and her brother leaving the AI. The Avengers catch up when they figure out this situation. They take the body, but Natasha Romanoff is captured by Ultron in the process. They do debate on to complete activating the body as Tony plans to upload the surviving JARVIS into it, but Thor completes it, explaining that it was right to do so and an infinity stone is powering the android, which originally powered the scepter. The 'vision' and the twins align with the Avengers to go to Sokovia to stop Ultron. Bruce frees Nat from captivity and she joins the fight. Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), Maria Hill (Covid Smulders) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) arrive with a helicarrier to evacuate civilians. Before Vision and Wanda took the final blow to the enemy, Ultron attempts to shoot Clint down but Pietro covers for him, taking his life. Tony and Thor are able to destroy the machine in time. After this victory, the film ends as Hulk leaves to avoid causing anymore damage, Thor searches for other infinity stones, Tony considers trying to settle down with Pepper Potts, while Nat and Steve Rogers trained the newly recruited Avengers: Vision, Wanda, Rhodey and Sam Wilson/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie). Looking back at this film, I did overall enjoy it, but it suffers from predictability. What makes it predictable is the fact that we know the Avengers will defeat Ultron because they still need to face Thanos. When the first film's after credits showed him, we had expected him to immediately appear in the second film as the main villain but that is not the case. He has another mid credits appearance, which does bring great hype for Infinity War, but you still wish he had arrived already. Ultron is not exactly a charismatic AI in the comics, due to the fact that he was made much differently by Hank Pym in the comics, but it works in this movie since Tony made it. Between the charisma, James Spader is able to bring the intimidation Ultron is all about, making his motion capture performance deliver. The transition of turning JARVIS into Vision is genius, considering that Paul Bettany gets to play both, keeping him on board for later films. Plus, you can't say it wasn't cool that he lifted Mjolnir. As for the other new characters, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen are welcome editions to the franchise as the Maximoff twins, and their chemistry is there due to working previously in 2014’s Godzilla. Johnson accurately portrays Quicksilver as tenacious and arrogant as expected for one with his abilities. However, when understanding the stakes, he puts aside his selfishness for the greater good. His sacrifice was tragic because he proved that he wasn't as arrogant as he appeared. And as for Olsen, she shows the Scarlet Witch as one who acts as an introvert since her powers are still new to her. With a little bit of encouragement, she’ll stand up and kick as much ass as the heroes before her. Seeing her put the Avengers through a nightmarish hypnosis, it comes to show that even the bravest people can be afraid. When Vision saves her from Sokovia’s destruction, this would be the beginning of a dynamic romance we never thought we’d enjoy seeing onscreen. It is clever that they are not considered mutants due to the X-Men lore not being introduced yet, but I do hope that comes about in the future. And the presence of Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Kilaue is a clever buildup for Black Panther. The visuals in this movie are a delight but it has moments where they are or aren't better than its predecessor. However it is made up for when Tony uses Veronica, or as fans know it as Hulkbuster to beat the Hulk. I normally do not mind Danny Elfman as a composer, but his score with Brian Tyler is nowhere near as epic compared to what Alan Silvestri had done with the first film. Even though this film is generally enjoyable, it does not take away the issues that the story had. First off, it is cool when the twins attack Clint and Cap, but there kind of was no point if they’re just gonna run away from the rest of the action. Hell, Wanda could’ve even killed Tony since she remembers that it was his weapons that killed her parents, but chooses to fuck with him instead. It is funny when Cap tells Sam that he can’t afford a place in Brooklyn because it’s true that it’s expensive to live in that area. My question is that why is it expensive for him? He’s a super veteran, so Tony should help him out with a spot. It is crazy when Ultron first attacks the Avengers after the party, but why after? Wouldn’t it be more scary if he attacked during? I’m pretty sure things still would’ve happened as is, as in taking the scepter and building his army. And why didn’t Bruce even try closing the door on Pierrot? That was his one chance saving himself from hulking out and he blew it big time. I know the fight between Hulk and Veronica is the best fight scene of the whole movie, but Tony could’ve avoided fighting him had he learned Nat’s lullaby. Hell, Thor remembered during Ragnarok, so I don’t see the excuse for Tony to not remember it. If you want to talk about stupid and funny, it’s how a civilian was still driving in front of Ultron’s truck when Cap gets there. In a world full of superheroes, you should know shit hits the fan when superheroes are in front of you. So that civilian should’ve switched lanes at the very second Cap appeared. And of all mistakes that Ultron makes, I am appalled that he keeps Nat alive because he has no reason to. I even feel lost as to how Banner snuck in to Strucker’s compound to free Nar because it would’ve been cool seeing him take out a few bots before he has to hulk out. And lastly, why was there an empty room when Nat was talking to Fury? I know we need a scene for the two to have some privacy, but since the new headquarters is getting built overtime, I’m surprised no one other than Steve walks in. Ignore these and you’ll still have a good time. The top reason why I still enjoy it is because the original six heroes maintain the chemistry they created from the first crossover and the elevate it. Robert Downey Jr. gives his most relatable performance of Iron Manas his decision to make Ultron was out of fear of losing his friends. With such a thoughtful motive, it’s hard to not hate him. However, it is his mistake of not conversing with the rest of the team where we must learn that some decisions need multiple opinions before going through with it. Chris Evans gives a sensible outing of Captain America, whose disappointed of Tony's actions based on his own personal trust issues. This proves how different they are from each other that plants the seed for Civil War; Steve wants to prepare for the worst while Tony wants to avoid it. Luckily, these two are able to get along enough to save the world again. Seeing his hypnosis whereas he couldn't get to dance with Peggy is saddening because at the time, he felt that it was impossible to live the life he never had. Chris Hemsworth gives a neutral outing for Thor because his separate actions don't have a major effect compared to what the others do. He summons Vision after understanding the infinity stones, but that is pretty much it for him after that. However during his separate adventure, you feel the sense of maturity that he's been gaining since he proved his worth. I think the reason Hawkeye is looked at as the team's heart is because Jeremy Renner accurately portrays him as a guy whose got his feet set to two separate worlds, a family man and a hero. Knowing that he has someone to go home to shows how human he is in comparison to the heroes around him. Even though it appeared sudden, I respect the relationship between Banner and Nat because Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson play each other off very well. They clicked because in one way or another, they're both damaged inside. Ruffalo shows Banner to be more concerning because he worries of the damage he can cause as the monstrous Hulk. He left because he couldn't bare the possibility being responsible to lose someone he loves. Johansson finally shows that behind her sense of humor, it covers up the pain and trauma she has felt since being sterilized in the Red Room, a Soviet Russian training program, as shown in her hypnosis. This was the moment that finally made us sympathize with her in a way we wouldn't expect. That was part of the red in her ledger and lucky for her, she got around wiping it out. Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron is not better than it’s predecessor but not terrible, as it remains to be entertaining every viewing. If you loved what went down with the first Avengers film and enjoyed what the MCU had done at this point, this is a film that shouldn't be missed.
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