Forgettable

Rating: 5/10 (3 May 2015)

The cast from Marvel Studios' previous films have naturally returned to their respective roles but one of the major downfalls of "Age of Ultron" is that there is little to no development to these characters at all.
One of the best aspects of the film, however, is Jeremy Renner's portrayal as Hawkeye, whose character is greatly developed and, in comparison to the rest of our beloved Avengers, feels 'genuine'; his particular situation in "Age of Ultron" has evoked him to finally open up to the rest of his team and to us, the audience, to subsequently obtain a better understanding of the character.
While Hawkeye's character has been pushed a little more to the forefront, Black Widow seems to have taken a step back from the result of a very forced and poor romance 'blossoming' between her and Bruce Banner. Scarlett Johansson's character has always seemed quite strong in previous Marvel films and the insight to her character via flashback sequences in "Age of Ultron" would have only reinforced that impression if it weren't for Romanoff being so desperate to get into the Hulk's pants, despite their lack of chemistry.
Although it is nice to see the cast come together again since their ensemble debut, the characters simply engage in very generic and repetitive conversation and are constantly turning on each other, which soon becomes very tiring. We already witnessed enough of that in the first Avengers movie. If you are aware of Marvel's current movie plans and their 'Phases', it is easy to piece together that this forced conflict within the group is all necessary buildup for the events of "Captain America: Civil War" and though this conflict will be accentuated in the 2016 movie, the teasing towards this event was just not subtle.
On a related note, Marvel is dabbling excessively in what I dislike the most about their attempt at creating a very 'cohesive' cinematic universe; their need to set up events that play out in the future. In itself, "Age of Ultron" is quite a solid movie with a definitive beginning, middle and ending. However, most of the bits in the 'middle' can be cut out, i.e. the need to introduce characters and locations (and "Age of Ultron" features MANY of these) that will have greater significance in future films. With this in mind, the film feels overstuffed with characters, hence why characters, overall, feel so underused and underdeveloped.
Introduced into the movie's new roster of heroes are Wanda Maximoff, her twin brother Pietro Maximoff and the Vision, their presence definitely welcomed. The transition from antagonists to heroes feels natural on behalf of the Twins. While Olsen's and Johnson's performances as the Twins are sufficient, it is worth noting that their Eastern-European accents are notably off at times. Paul Bettany as the Vision is definitely one of the film's highlights but unfortunately just feels like another character that Marvel have attempted to shoehorn into their movie universe, making his presence and role feel underused.
Ultron, who is responsible for these three new heroes, is one of the biggest problems of this film. Don't let the trailers fool you that he is menacing because he simply isn't.
Again, because of the abundant amount of characters, it is so difficult to focus on a single character and that unfortunately includes the villain; we never get a full insight into what Ultron is truly capable of. The villain is also made to be too human in some aspects with his dialect and (facial) expressions and is composed as acting much too casual considering his 'motives'; Ultron is simply is just all talk and no action.
"Man of Steel" quickly made viewers tired of seeing building after building being demolished and flying pieces of rubble and debris everywhere in its action sequences and so, to see this happen so often in the Avengers sequel is to experience something so tedious, exhausting, cliché and repetitive. I had no reaction at all to the action sequences. Characters may don slightly upgraded weapons and suits and may be pulling off some sweet combo moves together but the choreography just isn't striking enough as it was with "The Winter Soldier".
Due to the bland action sequences, it never feels like the heroes are in any danger at all. There's no tension to be anticipated at all and the stakes throughout "Age of Ultron" just never feel high enough. Sure, some villain galvanises the team of heroes to navigate through several different locations and stop him from destroying the planet before it's too late but, I don't know, I may or may not be experiencing some déjà vu
Marvel don't seem to know how to amp up the stakes and tension; all they really seem to know is how to amp up the number of characters they can squeeze into a two hour movie. As mentioned above, the action sequences are all so generic (and all contain so much destruction) that it's difficult to tell when we've reached some kind of pinnacle or climax where we can expect the film to really blow out, hence why the third act of "Age of Ultron" is just so underwhelming.
"The Avengers: Age of Ultron" is no improvement on Marvel Studios' former works and, sadly, just not even on the same standards. The film is simply overstuffed with mediocre gags, characters, repetitive dialogue and dull action. As a result, there's hardly a reaction to have towards "Age of Ultron" other than the feeling of being underwhelmed by how much a potentially good story and exciting villain have been sacrificed at the expense of Marvel pleasing the average moviegoer with comedy and 'big' action. Unless you're taking your kids with you, save your money on cinema tickets and rent the film later this year instead. There's nothing to miss here. "Age of Ultron" is one of Marvel's most forgettable movies to date.