Curtains Up on The Avengers: Age of Ultron

by Joseph Rossi

This is like a big ice cream sundae. Sugary, sweet, and in the end, not really nutritious but it goes down easy and fast so that must mean summer is here.

I am not the biggest comic book movie fan. Aside from the Captain America Films and the first Avengers movie, Marvel films are not always my cup of tea.  Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t as fresh as the first one. It does suffer from that been there, done that syndrome but leave it director Joss Whedon  to up the ante with innovative sequences that are sure to leave jaws open and fans drooling as well as welcome quiet moments that flesh out the many characters in this project.

Our merry band of Superhero’s face off against an A.I called Ultron (James Spader), created by Iron Man himself, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who is hell bent on destroying all hope on earth. That is the basic plot in a nutshell.  Call in the rest of the team, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and their leader Captain America (Chris Evans) to save mankind.  The filmmakers throw in for measured bonus new characters, siblings Scarlet Witch ( Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and another A.I, the Vision (Paul Bettany) to make sure that this epic is chock full of characters that will help fill out future Marvel films.  Is this franchise building?  You bet. But Whedon jams enough pathos into this massive pack of bubblegum that it starts to form a soul.

The star of the film, for me, is, surprisingly Renner’s Hawkeye. Sidelined in the last film, here, he gets to shine by adding a backstory that is relatable and touching. Runner up, Ultron itself, played by Spader with equal parts flair and menace.  At points I expected Ultron to grow a mustache so he can twirl it maliciously.

This is the start of the silly season. And it a starts with one big ass bang.