Joss Whedon came through again – there was a lot ridding on his back with this second movie, also his last with the team. The first one was amazing, could the sequel be just as good? I just came back from the cinema and I think it might have actually been better. You MUST see it for yourselves.
For those of you who do not know, Ultron is a robot accidentally created by Tony who wants to destroy the Avengers. He is voiced by James Spader. Ultron suffers from daddy issues, hates Stark the most, but also has inherited a lot from him, including the witty dialogue. Throughout the film, there’s an obvious difference of opinion between Iron Man and Captain America – they both want to save the world, it’s just that they have different ideas on how they should pursue that. Everything is set up really nice here for Civil War.
Bruce is mostly on Tony’s side, after all, they are both “mad scientists”. The most interesting story involving the Hulk in this movie, is, however, a different one – oh boy, love is in the air! Tragic love, of course. Black Widow is the other half and I am very upset about this. First of all, I don’t like her – she was introduced as a hot sexy something in the second Iron Man and has continued to kick-ass ever since. So why introduce her as a bimbo in the first place? Secondly, she is the one actual female super-hero the MCU has delivered so far, yet she does not get her own movie. There have been innuendos about her and Tony, Hawkeye and even Cap. Now she goes for the green giant. Why, oh why, does she have to fall in love?? Let her kick ass, damn it!
Moving on – Thor. He doesn’t do much here as his scenes were the ones cut from the original 3-hour version. Yes, there were a lot of abs on-screen, but his are the coolest, why deny me that? His main accomplishments are bringing Erik Selvig and Heimdall on screen for a short while. And Vision, but that’s for the spoiler area. Other people from the MCU who show up: Maria Hill, a short dream with Agent Carter, Rhodes aka War Machine, Fury of course and Falcon, who is just there for the party and is nowhere to be found for the fighting. I’d give up on him, if I were you, Cap. Notable absences are Pepper Pots and Jane, who are mentioned, agent Caulson (he has his own TV show now), and, ahem, Spider-Man! Claudia Kim is the newly introduced Dr Cho and Andy Serkis makes his first apparence as Klaw. We will see him later in the Black Panther movie (another character I was hoping I’d see – honeslty, I wouldn’t mind a 3-hours Avengers movie!)
SPOILERS ahead, from this point on you read at your own risk.
So, Hawkeye has a family? Two kids and one on the way, with a beautiful and understanding wife played by Linda Cardellini. And Nat (!?) is a close family frined….well, that was unexpected. It’s hard for me to buy Jeremy Renner as the nice family dad, but there you go. (nope, not buying it)
Now, about the new guys – Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen is the Scarlet Witch. You should know this because those two nick-names will not be mentioned it the movie. You see, back in the day, Marvel sold some of the movie-rights of its characters. Today, it owns the Avengers, while 20th Century Fox owns the X-Men, which is where these two first started – they are mutants, Magneto’s kids to be exact. I think, legally, Marvel still cannot use their names on-screen. (Up until recently, Sony owned Spider-Man, which was bad as he plays a major part in the up-comming Civil War, but a settlement has been made in that respect and Spidey is back with the family).
They also had to change the story a little – they are not mutants, but genetically modified humans like Cap. Fine. Initially, they hate the Avengers as it was a Stark bomb that killed their addoptive parents. They will switch to their side when they realise they’re the good guys.
It was rumored that Whedon was going to kill one of the main Avengers. Tony and Cap have to face-off in Civil War, while Thor has Ragnarok comming. That left Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. It’s either half of a doomed romance or the family dad. Well, no, it’s the guy we’re not allowed to name legally – buh-bye, Quicksilver. Let Scarlet Witch be a completely emotional traumatized person who can play with people’s minds, that’s just great.
The second big spoiler is Vision – you know he’s in the movie and you know he’s related to Jarvis since he’s played by Paul Bettany, but you have no idea how cool he actually is. Another child of Tony and Bruce first develped by Ultron, but pushed to life by Thor – I guess he does something after all. Can’t wait to see what Vision does next!
Avengers is fun, comic-book on purpose fun. In the middle of the final battle, Thor starts saying „I am the son of Odin and while there is air in my….I am running out of things to say” This is the main difference between Marvel and DC on-screen, fun, not sad and unintentional like the now infamous „Do you bleed?” Ah, please let that movie be good!
So there you go, Age of Ultron is finally out. Enjoy!
Joyrock 