Avengers: Age of Ultron review: How does it impact Infinity War?

Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures; from Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

What Didn’t Work?

I am all for character development. I am also all for advancing the plot. Yet there are ways of doing so without sacrificing the story’s momentum. Unfortunately, Joss Whedon all but kills the momentum in Age of Ultron several times over. Far too often, there’s long-winded, expository, dialogue-heavy scenes in-between the action set-pieces. And while the acting in these scenes are good, the film’s pacing just grinds and sputters. Even though the running time is actually shorter than The Avengers by two minutes, you’d swear Age of Ultron is the longer film.

Whedon also violates the principle of “show, don’t tell,” and not just when characters describe events which happen off-screen. Take the sudden romance between Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanov/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson). It’s one thing to have a character comment about their relationship; but when multiple characters do it, that’s the scriptwriter trying too hard. Not to mention Ruffalo and Johannson really don’t project a lot of chemistry or sexual tension between them.

I’m also not against humor in action movies, but must every single person spout off a one-liner every other minute?  It’s rather distracting, especially when they’re out-of-place (a joke about prima nocta? Really?) or obvious ADR inserts. This leads me to the one criticism I have with regards to Spader’s portrayal of Ultron: his sarcastic quips. I get Ultron’s brain patterns are supposedly modeled after Tony’s (which the movie only implies). I also don’t blame Spader, as he’s only following Whedon’s direction. Yet it’s to the character’s — and the film’s — detriment in having Ultron have similar mannerisms to Tony Stark.

Moreover, having Ultron have wide-ranging emotional responses at all is, in my opinion, a huge mistake. It becomes really bad when he gains his new bodies after his “birth.” Why did CGI animators on this movie think it was a good idea giving Ultron facial expressions? The drones, with their blank face-plates, look far more disturbing, which is what Ultron should be. Giving him movable eyebrows and lips only make what should’ve been a terrifying villain look silly.

Age of Ultron also heads down too many avenues in its attempt at expanding its cinematic universe. Despite building up Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s (2014) mid-credits sequence, he’s nothing but a dead-end. Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) side-quest, while necessary, feels discontented from the plot. Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis) is just there to remind audiences that “Black Panther is coming in four more years!” And honestly, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is only in the film because he was the first Avengers, and for no other reason.

And as enjoyable and entertaining as the action is, I have to admit I wasn’t all that wowed by the climax of this film during my re-watch. Despite some cool shots, including another long take of the Avengers fighting Ultron’s robot army, the third act falls into the same trap many sequels fall into. The Battle of Sokovia is virtually the same as the Battle of New York, only “bigger,” which, dare I say it, makes it rather boring. Although, perhaps I’ve become accustomed now to seeing all these various heroes fighting together on the big screen. That’s what made The Avengers so magical when it came out. Now, with Age of Ultron, it feels passé.