Avengers : L'Ère d'Ultron

I have loved almost every MCU movie. Civil War and Age of Ultron are two blemishes on the stretch of great movies for me though. I liked all three Thors, all of Cap's, both of GOTG, both Ant-mans, all of the Spider-mans including Far From Home, and I even enjoyed all of the Iron Mans. I know lots of people disliked Iron Man two and three, a lot disliked Thor Dark World, and a lot disliked GOTG 2. I liked them all myself. However the bickering and blame game drama of Civil War and Ultron just contaminated those two movies for me a bit too much.

I saw this way back in 2015. I remember how I was just annoyed how they dumbed down the characters just to make them argue. It just infuriated me that they were all just bickering with each other and being idiots. Not the heroes I wanted to see. A bunch of blame game out-of-character nonsense. What is worse is that the arguments weren't even rational. It is like they just needed to create some fake drama filler as if this were a stupid reality tv show.

I also recall feeling that they didn't completely make the villain make sense. His intent for the reason said was just illogical. That angered me as well.

There WERE lots of GOOD things in this movie, but I'm keeping it at just six out of ten because these negatives really weighed on my mind throughout the movie. For the plot itself to be compromised...dang it really bummed me out. I do advise watching it if you are going to watch Infinity War or Endgame. There are some good things in these Ultron and Civil War that I am glad I didn't miss out on.

In 2012, there came a day unlike any other day where the worlds greatest heroes were united against a common threat and THE AVENGERS blew away audiences of all ages with the first ever comic book movie crossover. In 2015, there came another day unlike any other day and this time the world is threatened by a Ultron, the cynical critical atypical child of Skynet and Megatron...... No actually he's just a wisecracking artificial intelligence with delusions of godhood and all round evil. Turning on his creators, he threatens all life on earth with his sidekicks "illusion- woman" and "not-the-flash"....I mean, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and it is up to the Avengers to take him out before he can usher in THE AGE OF ULTRON.

Instead of the robot dominated dystopian future that we saw in the comics, what we do get is more "the next few days of Ultron". No matter, it is an exciting few days with director Joss Whedon balancing the intercharacter dynamics with awesome action pieces from claustrophobic close combat, to a freeway chase, to the much advertised no holds barred beat down between the Hulk and iron man's new "hulk buster" Armour. All this is supplemented with beautiful special effects from Industrial Lights and Magic ILM. Flawless work befitting the movie's massive Budget.

In The villain, Ultron, the Writers have crafted a memorable though under utilised bad guy. Ultron could have been the vehicle to explore deeper themes, themes that were merely hinted at but never fleshed out. Instead, His cynical yet refined snarling courtesy of James Spader reminds me of the those magnificently passionate Super villains that were so common in Saturday morning cartoons of old.

And that is exactly what this is. AGE OF ULTRON can be described as a true live action cartoon. The dialogue is light hearted, the story is straightforward, the tone is fun and the action is immense. And this is not exactly a good thing. Intense scenes are interrupted and spoilt with poorly placed humour and once again the story does not seem to take itself seriously.

Fights are over-choreographed, more like some fancy ballet than an all out battle. The fact that it cuts to graceful slow motion once in a while only emphasises the dance like nature of the fights.

And yet the movie felt like pieces of it were cut out. The narrative does not flow as smoothly as the first with inexplicable scenes like Thor suddenly going off on his hallucination trip. Much of the premise and the characters development up to this point very much depends on the viewer watching prior marvel movies.

It is here that Marvel studio's continuity heavy Creative direction rears its ugly head. To know what is going on in this movie, one would have to watch the previous movies. Captain America the winter soldier, iron man 3, the first avengers movie. But perhaps that's the point? Force people to go buy the Blu rays or the video to rewatch and get up to speed. In the end, the real big winner is distributor Disney. Ka-Ching $$.

I like a good comedy. In in a big action blockbuster, I like to believe that the stakes are real, that the dangers faced by our heroes are real, that they are really fighting for the fate of the world. Instead, we get this cartoony violence, with equally cartoony superficial story, where heroes joke around with quick lighthearted quips in the middle of a fight scene where people could die. This kills tension. And if it weren't for the magnificent effects, action and direction, AGE OF ULTRON would have scored a bit lower.

In Avengers Age of Ultron the Avengers fight Ultron, an artificial intelligence obsessed with causing human extinction. The movie is a mostly satisfying sequel. It's full of action and darker than the first one. Sometimes it has a great sense of humour, the main villain is well characterized and the final act is full of tension and emotional. However in the first half isn't always gripping and there are some ridicolous moments. It isn't as good as the first one but it's still a fun and entertaining ride to join.

Rating: 7,4.

What's the old saying? "Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." Well, Joss Whedon is officially a genius and the talent of this cast was evident in every scene. They all hit it out of the park. Yes, I just love Avengers Age of Ultron. This movie works on so many levels and makes you draw on absolutely all of your emotions. The last time I enjoyed a movie this much was the last time these characters assembled. Again, they managed to deliver a remarkable cool factor. What makes it extra special is following this film after all the other solo efforts from each character. I enjoyed the others films quite a bit but they all delivered something different. Winter Soldier delivered conspiracy thrills. The Iron Man trilogy factored in Tony Stark's complete dramatic arc, character flaws and all. The Dark World was pure sci-fi fantasy. Seeing them blend together in Avengers and the sparks that resulted is an extra special treat.

It all works so well and is grounded enough to carry the story and the audience through an unbelievable ride. In fact, it doesn't just fit, it's an exciting symphony and that dichotomy and difference in characters and how they interact are what makes this movie truly great. It's why Avengers stands so tall above any other franchise at the moment. Things like Transformers, Fast/Furious, and even Star Wars or Star Trek all operate with monotone restrictions. Avengers covers all angles and even multiple genres all by itself. It delivers depth of character with its fun and amazing action sequences. There's a reason why these movies make as much money as they do. They deliver a lot of everything and do so at a high quality.

Right from the beginning of the movie, where we get the all in one tracking shot, through the epic final globe smashing conclusion, everything is on go and everything delivers superb intensity and spectacle. This is going to be many many people's favorite film of 2015.

Cool seeing them all together again, even if I didn't massively enjoy it. It's good, nothing more or less in my opinion.

'Avengers: Age of Ultron' isn't too far off 2012's 'The Avengers', especially in terms of how I fell about it. I definitely wanted more from both, yet they are still satisfying superhero action flicks. I'd rank this narrowly below the aforementioned.

Robert Downey Jr. felt a little flat to me as Iron Man - he still has a decent amount of moments, just not as many as you get in his individual films. All the others continue to entertain to an equally suitable level, I didn't overly like the characters of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen but I also don't have any noteworthy negatives about them. The story between Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo didn't do much for me either.

With that noted, it is still an enjoyable ride through the 141 minute run time. The ending is intriguing, interested to see where that goes - I have a minor inkling about the mid-credits scene, given all the internet attention that has had - even for someone like me who knows very little overall.