Avenger Soup

Rating: 4/10 (3 May 2015)

The first Avengers film was such a success. It contained one of the most momentous cinematic moments of all time - The Hulk's efficient destruction of the villain.. "Puny god!" Never before have I heard a cinema erupt in such cheers. Nor am I ever likely to hear since.
So the expectations on this edition were very high. But unfortunately this film shows how hard it is to write a script containing multiple superheroes and be fair to each one of them. Inevitably it comes down to having a good villain who can beat them all - and here lies the Achilles heel of the Avengers property. How to give them something worthy of winning against.
So how to create a worthy adversary without introducing an alien? Have the Avengers create their own villain. Well, almost.
Right from the first frame the film is definitely The Avengers with equal time given to all of Our Heroes. The story is strong, twisty and challenging. All good so far.
Then.. inject a super villain who has the power to mess with the Avengers' minds. Whoops.
By the second act, the film has degenerated into an unrecognizable series of dreams, flashbacks and flash forwards. Soon it becomes impossible to tell which one is which. You look around the darkened cinema, catching the eye of other equally confused viewers. Before long, it becomes apparent that almost everyone around you has whispered "what the &*$# is going on?
Thankfully this film DOES eventually get back on the rails. By the third act, we're back in true Avengers territory and it all ends happily ever after in true Avengers style.
Stick in there. Make sure you watch right to the very end, well after the credits have rolled. There are a few moments where the film tries to emulate the first, but overall the Age of Ultron brings together the hobble of heroes we had in the first film and prepares it for greater things to come in following editions.
This edition of The Avengers certainly won't be the favorite of most. It's largely disjointed. Kind of like trying to watch eight different movies at the same time. It would have got an 8 - if it weren't for that 40 minutes in the middle wasted trying to work out what the heck was going on.
Barely a minute goes by without the cinemas' sub woofers getting a workout. This is The Avengers, after all.
Great classic Marvel stuff, right down to Stan Lee's cameo. But please.. in the next edition, let's get some new blood on the Directors' table if we need to do flashbacks or jump from one reality to the next.