#REVIEW: “THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

Joss Whedon is back on the saddle a final time on the Marvel money-making machine aboard Sequel to widely-successful Superhero Opus, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron. As Phase 2 is coming to a conclusion, Audiences have seen a much darker side to their beloved Superheroes and this Installment in the Marvel Universe is no exception, it may easily be the gloomiest  to date. Age of Ultron focuses on what happens when one lone Member takes the fate of the World into his own hands and creates a monster, Ultron.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is responsible for creating Ultron (James Spader) an artificially-intelligent Robot with a sole mission is to save humanity, someone to make the Avengers obsolete so they can go on with their lives. Tony is able to do this after the Avengers storm a Hydra Base and retrieve Loki’s Scepter. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) continues his Bromance with Tony as he helps him remove the inner workings of the Scepter into something tangible that they proceed to download into Tony’s Iron Man self-programmed and operating suits, through JARVIS (Paul Bettany). However, when the program goes rogue, and Ultron takes over and sees how corrupt and evil the world truly is, his objective changes from saving the World to destroying the Avengers and everyone else living on the Planet.

What is inherently different between Age of Ultron and the first Avengers Film is the mapping the Movie does for future Installments. Yes, a Movie should pander marginally to Sequels and other installments, but it was slightly heavy-handed. The tensions between Tony and Steve/Captain America (Chris Evans) reached new peaks providing a starting ground for Captain America: Civil War. As well as a particular scene with Hulk that hinted at widely-speculated Sequels for him that Fans have been begging to see for years now.

Lastly, with so much future building happening within the Film and the addition of three new Characters, Ultron (James Spader), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) there was some slight underdevelopment on their parts. Ultron had enough background to him for the audience to grasp his intentions and purpose, but the scenes with Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver were too sporadic and not deep enough for an Audience to truly connect well with either Character. That being said however, there were some major developments with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) so maybe they’ll get more fleshed-out in Sequels as well.

The Avengers are regarded as the greatest of all, but when they may very well be the cause of the end of the World, something has to be called into questioning and changed. Our Heroes over twelve Films have developed and grown, as tensions have calmed down and risen, yet whenever their greatest Enemy comes forward they can set aside their differences and fight to protect the World. However, with Tony’s actions will things ever be the same between the Avengers?

Avengers: Age of Ultron is an ample Sequel to the first Avengers Film, as well as serving for future Installments. Although, the only issue that lies within the Movie is that it plays entirely and utterly to fans. It is a Film that has to be seen by someone who has watched the previous eleven entries and who plans on seeing the next ten or so. Then again, who isn’t a Fan of The Avengers? Avengers: Age of Ultron is the fan feast that everyone was hoping for, giving audiences just a taste of what to expect from our greatest Heroes and new Heroes to come ahead.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada release Avengers: Age of Ultron everywhere Friday May 1, 2015.