After 2012's Marvel's The Avengers, Joss Whedon is back to take us on another action-packed adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In the Avengers: Age of Ultron, the team faces a super villain, the titular Ultron, a half-Joker, Birdman-voiced, wise-cracking super-intelligent form with a Messianic complex. Ultron wants world peace— but it's an entirely different world peace that Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) had in mind when he jumpstarted the birth of Ultron.
Conflicts—and romance—spark within the Avengers team, further complicating their mission to save the world. Two additional villains, who are staunch supporters of Ultron, are also getting in the way: Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson).
The film, which runs a lengthy 2.5 hours, instantly opens with a climactic action sequence, shot in a single long take, and a little bit too speedy to be appreciated. The rest of the fight scenes are the usual explosive, spectacular and world-rocking smashing of large-scale proportions, with the most memorable one between the Hulk and Iron Man. There are significant amount of scenes with the Avengers humanized, their conversations punctuated with a fairly funny humor.
Ultron, voiced by James Spader, is one unique villain; he's got a distinct personality, which is impressively evident despite the stiff robotic suit. His face and two red blinking eyes and minimal head movement already speak volumes that he could seriously vie for an Oscar nom for Best Actor. However, he is not exactly scary, because we are unsure if he's truly evil or simply a perfect loony, who disturbingly quotes from the Bible. Also, his motive is such a cliche, hence there is no fearsome threat happening, nor does it spark much interest. The Avengers going against each other inspires more interest and sense of threat.
In its entirety, The Avengers: Age of Ultron may be too lengthy and there are too many wide-scale action happening that render them almost commonplace, but reasonably so for its obvious genre,. But it's got good, solid storytelling, stunning visuals, and a dose of comedy, which makes the movie fairly entertaining for general moviegoers—and surely mind-blowing to hardcore Marvel fans (imagine the experience in 4DX). Oh, and it's got some beautiful end-credits graphics, too.
3 out of 5 stars
Opens April 22, 2015 in Philippine cinemas
Photo credit: Marvel Studios
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