Our Thoughts - Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Ryan:

I thought AoU was good. The first one was still better. In situations where it's a planned trilogy, it's rare the second film is better than the first or the last. While the action scenes were great and I'm glad Hawkeye got some much deserved screen time the worst part of the film is Ultron himself.

I feel like they didn't know what they wanted to do with him. To be fair he didn't get a movie beforehand to be developed (Loki) and hasn't been built up in other movies (Thanos) so we spend most of our time trying to develop a disposable villain amongst three other characters and the returning cast. It feels like they couldn't figure out whether to make him the T1000 or evil Ironman. I think he worked better as evil Ironman but they kind needed to mugguffin this character in so Infinity Stone.

Like I said in the beginning though, it was good. Action was great, character interactions were good, though the "language joke" got old pretty fast. I probably won't see it again in the theater but it is being added to my Blu-Ray collection when it gets released.

Elliott: I had a lot of fun watching it, and was certainly not disappointed in the finished product, but there were a few little things that I didn't like so overall I'd give it a 4.5/5.

Matt: My first blush impression: this 2nd outing for the Avengers movie team is very noticeably darker than the first. Marvel's wheelhouse since the first Iron Man has been a bouncy, snappy, witty tone with well-cast main characters wielding charisma as capably as superpowers. Previous entries have punctuated the commitment to humor with occasional head-fakes toward poignancy, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier and now Avengers: Age of Ultron layer in a different tone.

That's not a bad thing. But I tend to like these movies more when they stay upbeat. The first Avengers was a masterwork in that regard. The second is also a blast, but I'm not quite as high on it. The tonal rollercoastering might be why.

Despite mainstream success, Ultron faithfully crams in balanced fan service to their core fans from whence this cinematic juggernaut came. Every character gets set-piece spotlight time, and I am such a sucker for comic book movie action. I could try to be critical somehow of Captain America slugging it out with Ultron on top of a moving bus, or Hulk taking on Iron Man's “Hulkbuster” variant – but I just don't want to. I eat that stuff up, Marvel delivers it better than anyone. It's glorious. It's badass. I apologize for nothing.

The movie shows a bit of bursting at the seams with the introduction of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. If you're interested in how the movies relate to the comics, I suspect these two newcomers were added merely for their comics-universe stature. The movies have to be able to stand on their own, and Ultron didn't provide these two heroes with much reason for being there. However, almost as if to make up for it, Ultron makes an excellent case for Black Widow, and Hawkeye, the only Avengers not to have had their own movies.

Lastly, it needs to be said that James Spader deserves props for his villain's voicework. If you love these comic book movies, Ultron keeps the party going, and does plenty of stage-setting for what's to come. If you don't like these movies, man...see it anyway.