The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a relentless battle between payload and payoff
THE first Avengers film soared above the standard superhero blockbuster, pushing up expectations for the sequel. Does Age of Ultron deliver? Leigh Paatsch reveals all.
Leigh Paatsch
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Avengers: Age of Ultron (M)
Director: Joss Whedon (The Avengers)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany and the voice of James Spader.
Rating: ***1/2
Verdict: Heroes in a holding pattern against a mean machine
WHEN it comes to Avengers: Age of Ultron, you are watching a relentless battle being waged between payload and payoff.
Budgeted at over $300 million, this blockbuster sequel arrives fully armed with virtually every major name in Marvel Entertainment’s all-star action-hero stable.
Bearing in mind Age of Ultron has been made for one of the most massive captive audiences in movie history — the first Avengers from 2012 is the third highest-grossing release of all-time behind Avatar and Titanic — the producers have been compelled to throw everything plus the kitchen sink at the screen.
However, after almost two and a half hours have passed, Age of Ultron falls slightly short of its predecessor in every department.
While it couldn’t be labelled a disappointment, this sprawling action epic marks a distinct downgrade in both execution and impact from the high standards set by the first instalment of the saga.
Rather than commence proceedings with a rudimentary roll call, returning writer-director Joss Whedon elects to open with a gang’s-all-here set-piece skirmish which unveils an all-new enemy for the Avengers team.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has been well aware of the threat posed by the dreaded Ultron (voiced by James Spader) for some time.
After all, Stark authored the artificial-intelligence program that powers Ultron. This machine-monster had been originally designed as the ultimate peacekeeping police-bot.
However, once Ultron’s brain got to thinking about what mankind was capable of, he decided the planet might be better off without any human beings on it whatsoever.
In short, Ultron wants to wage a war that will wipe the slate clean, and he is more than prepared to play dirty to ensure there is a global Armageddon ASAP.
Got all that? Good. There is a stack more storytelling data to be processed throughout Age of Ultron.
Understandably, Stark’s culpability in the unleashing of Ultron gives rise to severe ructions within the Avengers ranks.
However, these tensions prove to be the least of the problems facing a majority of the team.
Some telekinetic terrorism by Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) — who, together with her twin brother Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), is allied with Ultron — has seriously messed with the heads of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and company.
Each superhero must deal with the psychological invasion in their own way until all scores are ready to be settled in the film’s final act, set entirely in the badlands of Eastern Europe.
It is here — with Ultron having raised an entire city into the sky with every intention of dropping it — that the Avengers, their many sidekicks and a few surprise new recruits must find a way to neutralise Ultron once and for all.
The gargantuan scale on which Age of Ultron’s cinema-shaking finale takes place is undeniably jaw-dropping as a visual spectacle.
However, a select band of problems to do with scripting cohesion and clarity — normally a strong suit of Joss Whedon — undercut some of the desired impact.
The fact that Ultron himself is a computer-rendered villain does not exactly help. Whenever he busts loose with the chrome-alloyed crazy in the heat of battle, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a preview of the next Transformers movie.
What ultimately keeps Age of Ultron in the right zone as a prestige ‘event’ production are the relatively quieter stretches where the CGI bad guy is nowhere to be seen.
The accomplished cast is at their very best in these scenes, where the all-too-human alter egos of the main Avengers are explored and enhanced via some incisive writing from Whedon.
So once the dust has settled and the final credits roll — don’t forget to stick around for the expected random teaser of future gravitational shifts in the Marvel universe — how should we file away Avengers: Age of Ultron?
With the double-barrel salvo of Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2 not due until 2018-19 at the earliest, Age of Ultron will stand as an exercise in maintaining the borders of the franchise, as opposed to conquering any fresh territory.
Originally published as The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a relentless battle between payload and payoff
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