Avengers: Age of Ultron is a good movie that could have been great

As I watched the epic final battle of Avengers: Age of Ultron, I couldn't help but think about how much more epic it would have felt if it wasn't the fifth extended battle sequence in the movie. It was great - the best one in the movie, in fact - but you were so oversaturated with fighting at that point, that it didn't carry quite as much weight as it should have.

Look, this is a superhero movie and with superhero movies come these larger-than-life action sequences, but this one overdid it a bit at the expense of its own compelling storyline which also ended up undercutting the impact of that final showdown. And that's a microcosm of Age of Ultron's biggest issue, because while the movie delivers as a whole, it often chooses style over substance; and that's a shame, because the substance is there.

The 2015 film is a sequel to 2012's The Avengers and it's often regarded as the weakest of the four Avengers movies. It's an unfortunate title to bear, but it's up against stiff competition within its own franchise, as the three others are among the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most game-changing movies. And yet, there is promise there that, even though it isn't fully realized, presents Age of Ultron as perhaps the most interesting of the four movies.

The untapped potential of Avengers: Age of Ultron

The premise of the film revolves around Tony Stark's greatest fears. Brought on by the events of the alien invasion in New York City in the first Avengers film (and carried through into Iron Man 3), the fear of his friends dying due to a threat that he can't stop weighs on him greatly and, in this case, it pushes him to create an artificial intelligence system that can act as a suit of armor for the world should another invasion come. But when that artificial intelligence system becomes sentient, it decides it would prefer to destroy the world and start over instead.

There are so many interesting plot threads there to discuss. Tony Stark's hubris presents The Avengers with their toughest test to date; one that knows them all so well and how to stop them. He didn't account for that being a problem and that impulsiveness may have come from a good place, but it continues to be a problem for him and his teammates, especially as he intentionally withheld his plans from them (with the exception of Bruce Banner). But that sets up the movie's central arc well, as he must learn to trust his partners - something that he eventually learns in that aforementioned epic, final battle. And, as always, this wisdom came from Captain America. Like the old man said, "Together".

Of course, Tony's fears and insecurities were preyed upon by Wanda Maximoff, as the Scarlet Witch (although we couldn't quite call her that yet) and her twin brother Pietro/Quicksilver were powerful new arrivals in the sequel; new arrivals that Ultron attempted to manipulate to work with him. The irony here is that Ultron's mightier than thou attitude prevented him from seeing that he too had inherited Tony's hubris, as he also intentionally withheld vital information from his partners. He did not fill them in on his plans to, um I don't know, eradicate the entire world, which quickly turned them against him. And that revealed the biggest difference between him and his creator; Tony learned from his mistakes, while Ultron did not.

I do feel like the film could have done more with Ultron. The character is far more interesting in the comics, and while there was certainly potential there, the MCU iteration didn't get the chance to develop into the unstoppable threat that his comic book counterpart is. That's somewhat due to the fact that he was introduced at that level and much of what we saw from him never lived up to those levels of hype. Nevertheless, he was captivating whenever he was on-screen, with his self-important ramblings and thought-provoking musings being oddly fascinating - thanks in no small part to James Spader's committed performance.

The character work is strong, if occasionally inconsistent

There is a lot of underrated character work in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and perhaps the character that benefits from it the most is Hawkeye. The character was often unfairly referred to as "everyone's least favorite Avenger" at the time due to how under-explored he was, but this movie makes a noble attempt to amend that, showing us all why he was such a mystery through the reveal of his secret family that only Black Widow knew existed. Clint really comes through for the Avengers here, acting as a voice of reason for both them and Wanda, while also having a fun dynamic with Pietro. This movie did Hawkeye a lot of justice and I think we should talk about that more often. And Renner was in his element the whole time.

Characters that I'm not sure it got entirely right were Black Widow and the Hulk. While Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner were important parts of the movie, their relationship was one of its more divisive aspects. Fans weren't quite sure what to make of Natasha's sudden attraction to him, specifically because their admittedly great chemistry in the first movie didn't particularly scream romance. It is what it is, and the chemistry is there, but it's still one of the MCU's more odd pairings, and the fact that it was quickly dropped after this movie says all you need to know about it.

Steve Rogers didn't have that much material in terms of character development, but Captain America was one of the grounding aspects of this movie, being a reliable leader during a time of uncertainty and he was one of the most involved when it came to the action sequences. Thor, meanwhile, had an interesting but underdeveloped plot that eventually led to his discovery of the power of the Infinity Stones. For such a pivotal reveal, there should have been more focus on the feelings he was feeling that led him to this. Instead, it felt a bit forgotten about.

Wanda and Pietro's introductions were welcome aspects of the movie. They could have had a bit more focus (especially Pietro) but they proved to be strong additions to the ever-growing Avengers ensemble, having instant chemistry with each other and the established cast. And the same goes for Paul Bettany, who finally got to make his live-action MCU debut as Vision (after seven years of voicing J.A.R.V.I.S.). He was much more mysterious here than in his subsequent appearances and that really added to the element of not knowing whether he could be trusted. It made Vision such a fascinating character as you do find yourself wondering about what the android could be thinking.

I mentioned the battle sequences earlier and they are epic, with both the opening one and the highway chase being extremely well-accomplished. Some are a bit indulgent (the Hulkbuster vs. Hulk one) and the overreliance on action ultimately hinders the pacing of the movie, undercutting what is a surprisingly thought-provoking analysis on the dangers of AI and Iron Man's own hubris. It juggles other elements such as the overwhelming power of grief, fear of loss, and the beauty of connection, but all of these stories don't get the chances they need to breathe due to the multiple lengthy fight scenes.

The final battle is everything it should be, achieving one of the most ambitious sequences in the MCU's history, full of life-or-death stakes as The Avengers struggled to get everyone off the floating Sokovia before it plummeted back to Earth. It's so great to see The Avengers fighting alongside Wanda, Pietro, and Vision and that triumphant circular shot of the battle is one that we don't appreciate enough. It might have stood out more if the rest of the movie wasn't overflowing with fight scenes.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is one of the MCU's most underrated movies, as people rarely give it the credit it deserves. Yes, much of the criticism is valid, as it forgoes a lot of the interesting subjects its tackles in favor of spectacular fight scenes, but even if it doesn't fulfill all of its potential, it achieves its goal of providing us with larger-than-life entertainment and an Avengers-level threat to unite our favorite MCU heroes. On rewatch, you really learn how pivotal it is to the Infinity Saga, as it officially presents the Infinity Stones as a potential threat, forcing the team to begin their investigation into who - or what - is coming.