Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the troubled and introspective Dr Bruce Banner, for whom Hulk transition is not in and of itself a problem. The issue now is the way in which he must be coaxed into remorphing into human form and Black Widow, nicely played by Scarlett Johansson, is becoming the Hulk whisperer. The intuitive tenderness with which she deals with Banner/Hulk is turning into a sweet love affair: it seems to involve a great deal of delicately erotic hand-holding: her tiny hand in his galumphing green mitt; yet Dr Banner is holding back from returning her love, unwilling to burden her with his terrible rage potential. Chris Hemsworth is Thor, continuously resident on Earth for the time being and without claims from Asgard to distract him. (My one quarrel with the film is that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki doesn’t show up.) Chris Evans’s Captain America is a stolid reminder of wartime values and Jeremy Renner is Hawkeye, whose bow and arrow make him the quaintest and yet most romantic warrior of the group. Show  The Hulk whisperer … Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff, in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Photograph: Jay Maidment/AP But now they find themselves up against a couple of new enemies: Pietro Maximoff, or Quicksilver, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and his twin sister Wanda Maximoff, or Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen. They are blessed variously with super speed and mind control (as one character puts it, “he’s fast; she’s weird”) and Scarlet Witch almost immediately uses her head-messing capabilities to show a secretly aghast Stark how he might betray and even destroy his fellow Avengers. The film team review The Avengers: Age of Ultron Guardian But more importantly, Stark begins to experiment (without his comrades’ knowledge) with an artificial intelligence programme that could impose absolute power on Earth, supposedly to repel all enemies: this insubstantial mega-brain, like a floating blue jellyfish, instantly goes rogue, becoming a terrifyingly dangerous new enemy named Ultron, appropriating a new exoskeleton, and becoming a bizarro version of his effective creator: Stark. Ultron uses the blandly Chamberlain-esque phrase “peace in our time” to describe its planned totalitarian rule, the Pax Ultronica, and the irony will hardly be lost on the second world war veteran Captain America. The Avengers realise that they are actually fighting against a hideously parodic version of their own ally: Stark, his worst and perhaps even strongest self. It’s all operatically mad, and the city-destroying final confrontation is becoming a bit familiar, but Whedon carries it off with such joy and even a kind of evangelism. His script is a thing of wonder, jam-packed with great lines: I loved Stark’s wearied remark: “I’ve had a long day … Eugene O’Neill long …” And the unresolved romantic and sexual tension between Black Widow and Hulk creates a weird driving force to the narrative: even the absurdity is somehow recirculated into the film’s internal economy as comedy and irony and the cast-of-thousands effect never seems to split the focus: Andy Serkis plays metal trader Ulysses Klaw and Julie Delpy has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as Black Widow’s sinister former controller. It’s a superhero cavalcade of energy and fun. Exuberant and eye-popping, Avengers: Age of Ultron serves as an overstuffed but mostly satisfying sequel, reuniting its predecessor's unwieldy cast with a few new additions and a worthy foe. Read critic reviews Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Rent/buy Rent/buy Subscription Rent Watch Avengers: Age of Ultron with a subscription on Disney+, rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu. Avengers: Age of Ultron videosMost Surprising Movie Cameos 22:58 Rotten Tomatoes Is Wrong About... Avengers: Age of Ultron 0:46 MCU Phase Two Interview: Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Describes the MCU’s Evolution 10:36 Avengers: Age of Ultron: Trailer 1 TRAILER 2:30 Avengers: Age of Ultron: Teaser Trailer 1 TRAILER 2:16 Avengers: Age of Ultron: Trailer 3 TRAILER 2:08 Avengers: Age of Ultron: Extended International Trailer TRAILER 2:34 Avengers: Age of Ultron: Trailer 2 TRAILER 1:30 Avengers: Age of Ultron PhotosMovie InfoWhen Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) jump-starts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the team is put to the ultimate test as they battle Ultron, a technological terror hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they encounter two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.
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May 09, 2016 Avengers: Age of Ultron was quite a bit of fun but is it better than the first movie? Positives: 1. The characters; all of the Avengers are back including some new faces. Their banter is there and in my opinion it is stronger in this film than the first. I especially love the scene where they all are trying to pull Thor's hammer and they just chill and talk, very fun scene. The introduction of Vision was awesome, Paul Bettany did a great job as the character and I cannot wait that they do with him in future installments. Other than that the characters are just as awesome as the first film and without them this film would be nothing to be honest. 2. The visuals and action; stylistically I think this film is better than the first Avengers. The first movie had this full screen TV type look to it, but here this actually looks like a movie. The action is spectacular, the Hulkbuster scene was by far my favourite one! Also the Sakovia sequence was intense and fun too. 3. The tone; I found this film to be darker than the first movie, some scenes they don't hold back and they have some thought-provoking themes at some parts. Negatives: 1. I wasn't honestly a fan of Quicksilver in this film. The Fox version of Quicksilver was a lot more entertaining and better, but Quicksilver in this film was bland and his fake Russian accent didn't help.... 2. The build up/set up of Ultron was rushed and Ultron himself wasn't a very compelling villain in my opinion, he was pretty disposable which is ironic cause he literally was... However James Spader did a good job voicing him. 3. The set up of Bruce Banner and Black Widow's romance I felt was poorly handled. I don't have a problem with those two being together per say its just I felt it was sloppy how it was set up/built up, other than that I'm cool with them being together. Overall: Avengers: Age of Ultron is not as good as the first movie and it does have some problems. However, I did enjoy the film and the high points were more than the low points. The characters are still awesome and it was a lot of fun. |
