Solid but predictable

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2020)

Joss Wheden returns to helm the second Avengers film within the cinematic universe. As I said in my review for The Avengers, you always know what you are going to get from Wheden and he very rarely fails to deliver. Once again as director (and writer), he delivers a top-notch action film with an ensemble cast of hero's and weaves everything together masterfully.
Age of Ultron opens to the Avengers fighting off waves of Hydra forces on route to a secret research base (which we saw in The winter Soldier) and where the Maximoff twins are located. This is also (as we know from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) where Hydra have been keeping Loki's sceptre and using it to conduct experiments on volunteers in order to try and replicate the abilities that the Inhumans possess to further goal for world domination and to finish the Avengers.
Strucker, one of the new heads of Hydra wishes to use the twins abilities to defend the facility but others are not so sure they are ready. Once inside Stark gets to downloading information from Hydra's computer systems but Wanda (well played from Olsen) manages to warp his mind (in a first proper glimpse into her powers) which gives him visions of the Avengers all dead in a pile on a futuristic battlefield. With Strucker and the twins escaping the Avengers return with the sceptre for further anylysis before Thor finds a safe haven for the weapon.
We then discover that Stark is planning on building a shield around the Earth (Ultron) and after studying the sceptre with Banner (an excellent Ruffalo again) believes the power of the crystal within the sceptre can be harnassed and starts to try to integrate Jarvis with it in order to create the ultimate protection system for the planet. Unfortunately for Stark (and everyone else) this leads to a rather unexpected result.
This unexpected result forms the basis for the film which could quite easily have been split into two films if they decided to go down that route and follow the comic stroyline more closely. As it is we only really get a glimpse of what went on there and instead Ultron feels rather largely wasted. They could have done so much more with the character then ultimately just end up having him as the token bad guy within a standard films run-time. Regardless, he is well done and Spader must be credited with bringing him to life and giving him some degree of personality.
To the rest of the film, I guess we should start with the maximoff twins. We finally get our real first look at Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) and what unique powers they have along with a little more back story for them both. Unfortunately what isn't clear is exactly how and where they came from. This is due to immeasurable red tape regarding licensing and Fox having the right for the X-Men (for anyone who does not know the real back-story then the internet is your friend). There are numerous hints and clues dropped though that their powers did not come from the sceptre and experiments alone and they they may in fact have been dormant within them.
Hopefully we now have the possibility (now Disney have aquired Fox and got the x-men franchise back) that Marvel can blend the two back-stories together and we will get some their father within the MCU (as well as others) so one can only hope there. I'm certain Kevin Feige can do it better than Fox could have ever dreamed of. Regardless, Elizibeth Olsen (thankfully the decent normal, non crazy sister) is excellent in the role and I also think has the looks to pull off the characters birth heritage. A lot was made of not casting an Eastern European for the role and I feel Marvel got this just right with Olsen as she is an excellent choice to play Wanda.
As for action scenes, we're talking Whedon's Avengers, so epic destruction on a truly epic scale wherever they go is the order of the day. The special effects at the beginning looked a little off but from then on they are excellent. Ending action/fight scene is truly stunning and far better than in the first Avengers film. ILM did a fantastic job here as they usually do when given a big budget and everything (barring the start as said) looks like it should be there and not digitally thrown in. Top marks indeed to all involved in that side of the production.
Direction is also excellent (as one would expect from Whedon) and the script also on point and very well written. This one doesn't contain quite the amount of himour and one-liners as seen in previous films, but hat there is, is very well written and acted and spoken by the cast. The Captain's hero speech is excellent and has lots of feels and Clint's to Wanda is also very well done. And the whole scene with Stan Lee's obligatory cameo has to be his best yet and is a absolute delight. We also get some lovely moments between The Hulk and Black Widow as we get to see more of their developing relationship.
For the rest of the cast, everyone is excellent once again. It's great to finally see Paul Bettany (Jarvis) rather than just hear him and we again get small cameo's from Samuel Jackson as Fury, Mackie as Falcon, Smulder as Maria Hill along with a minor appearance from Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter. Don Cheadle represies his character as Rhodes with War Machine though he doesn't have a great deal of screen time this time around but it does keep a nice continuation of characters that keep appearing.
We also get to learn and see a lot more regarding Clint Barton's character and that whole segment adds a nice feel to a movie that at the time needs to just reflect. We also get some more insight into Natasha's background also to show us how she became the person she is. And last but not least (in a film that tends to throw a litte of everything at you) we get to learn and see some more infinity stone goodness along with a little more Josh Brolin for good measure to lead us into future events. An all round excellent film that just falls short in my opinion of the first Avengers movie but that is head and shoulders above the rest of the Marvel offerings. As they say, everything is better with friends.
The Sage's Rating: 8/10