Avengers: Age of Ultron review: How does it impact Infinity War?
By Mike McNulty
Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures; theatrical poster for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
The Avengers sequel doesn’t live up to the original, but is still entertaining despite it’s faults, painstakingly laying the groundwork for what’s the come.
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As a cultural phenomenon, The Avengers is to the second decade of the 21st Century what Star Wars was during the late 1970s-early 1980s. It proved the superhero genre was here to stay. It grossed well over a billion dollars, and it’s still one of the top 5 highest-grossing movies of all time. Not to mention, it solidified an entire “universe” of movies. So, of course, there’d be a second Avengers movie. And when it was first learned the sequel would have Ultron as the villain, fans became really excited.
And who was playing Ultron? None other than James Spader, who was making a comeback thanks to Steven Speilberg’s Lincoln (2012) and his role as Raymond Reddington on NBC’s The Blacklist. It would also have its own versions of Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) as a “take-that” against Fox Studio’s X-Men. Also, what would a movie with Ultron as the villain be without The Vision (Paul Bettany)? Avengers: Age of Ultron, just like the first Avengers, seemed like an answer to every comic book fans’ prayers.
So what happened? Oh sure, the reviews were very positive, but not with the same universal praise given to the first. It still grossed over a billion dollars like The Avengers did. But when compared with the first Avengers, Age of Ultron feels underwhelming. It’s still good, but more like Return of the Jedi good instead of Empire Strikes Back good.
However, if judging this film on its setting up the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, then Age of Ultron really gets that ball rolling. As with all of these retrospectives on the Marvel Studios films, we’ll look at how Age of Ultron accomplished this, along with its good and bad qualities as a film. It definitely helps if you’ve watched this movie before, so take some time in doing so before reading on.