MYST Post #5: Avengers: Age of Ultron

I don't like Superhero movies a lot, the only ones that I like are The Dark Knight Trilogy.

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And Iron Man.

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And Spiderman 2.

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And the Avengers, Captain America: Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past-

Ok so I REALLY like superhero movies. But that's not a bad thing. Sure the amount of them has become has become excessive and they're the biggest moneymakers in movies right now, but for every Iron Man 2, there's the Dark Knight. And for every Green Lantern, there's the Avengers. So like any genre it has the good and the bad, but lately Marvel Studios has been doing incredible work including Guardians of the Galaxy, a fun space opera in the vein of Star Wars, Captain America: Winter Soldier, a 70's style espionage and conspiracy thriller, and the Avengers, all around one of the most fun experience you'll have watching a movie. So here we are with the sequel to the Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The first thing one asks when seeing a sequel to a beloved movie is, "Is it as good as the original?" While although this is an unfair thing to ask of a film, to be a better than another, Avengers: Age of Ultron is not as good as it's predecessor, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad movie at all. Quite the contrary I really liked Avengers 2. First of all you're reunited with all the characters from the first one that you love and the clever writing and banter between the characters in the quieter moments is just as fun to watch and amazing as the technically incredible action sequences though while at some moments is a little to reliant on CGI and can seem fake at certain times, overall delivers a lot of the same incredible cinematic battles and action-interplay between the heroes that we've taken for granted from these movies. The villain, voiced and motion-captured by the fantastic James Spader, Ultron is a compelling and sarcastically funny villain with real motivation but towards the beginning is developed far too quickly and becomes a villain so rapidly it's a little bit jarring and out of nowhere. And there are moments throughout the film in which some scenes feel a little arbitrary and feel a little bit like they were only created as setups for future Marvel Universe films. The Hulk vs. Iron Man Hulkbuster Armor fight is incredible, and the development of Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye as a man amongst these Gods was a nice surprise as he felt underdeveloped in the last movie, and here comes off as one of the most compelling characters in the film. And again back is Joss Whedon's witty and clever script that consistently produces some of the funniest laughs and moments you will find in any superhero movie ever, and the best part is, is that his humor isn't derived from gags or setups for jokes, but from us the audience knowing the characters so well and how they operate together, at times begrudgingly, which makes for some hilarious moments that don't undermine the serious moments and beats throughout the film. Overall I had a great time with Avengers: Age of Ultron, although not as good as the original, it still gives us more of what we love in the humor, action, and characters that we've come to cherish in these films. I give Avengers: Age of Ultron a 3.8 out of 5.