Avengers assemble! As Earth’s fate dangles in despair, Tony Stark creates a peacekeeping program to prevent the Avengers from being needed. Things don’t quite go as planned, forcing them to work together to defeat Ultron; a clever enemy bent on human extinction. Along the way, they encounter two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro, and Wanda Maximoff.
Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios, Avengers: Age of Ultron was was written and directed by Joss Whedon and serves as the eleventh installment in the MCU.
This is as close to perfect as a summer blockbuster movie can possibly get. You get a bit of everything: character development, great individual character moments, a rich and interesting plot with a great villain and the usual rich dollops of Whedon humor (yes, the movie is ‘darker’ than the first, but it is almost as funny even so). How he manages to balance so many screen presences so magnificently is beyond me, it comes off as an almost completely effortless master class in rapid-fire plotting and dialog. As in the first Avengers movie, everyone gets their moment in the spotlight and the characters that may have come up a little short in the first installment, most notably Hawkeye and Black Widow, get to shine especially in this iteration.
The action sequences are breathtakingly, mind-bogglingly well choreographed and directed and there are numerous shots that seem to leap from a comic book page. There are several moments where – if you feel any connection to these characters and their rich comic book history at all – you will feel the urge to leap from your seat and pump your fist in the air. There is so much to care for, so much to cheer for, so much to marvel at it is quite literally too much to fully appreciate in one viewing.
With its memorable cast including Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jr., Chris “Thor” Hemsworth, Mark “Incredible Hulk” Ruffalo, Chris “Captain America” Evans, Scarlett “Black Widow” Johansson, Jeremy “Hawk Eye” Renner, the film now holds the highest-opening weekend in 2015 so far. It’s also one of the largest opening weekends at the box office ever.
Super packed with high-flying action, Age of Ultron has now made over $626 million worldwide. It was a little fast paced, so I give it an 8/10. I felt that the first one was much better, but this one doesn’t disappoint at all.
