MEDIOCRE: Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

The comic book hero has flown off its squared boxes into the screen, these days, as Hollywood seems to be drowning in a sea of superhero films. Though many are uninspired attempts to make money, some rise above others. (Guardians of the Galaxy, or The Dark Knight for example.) But one of the more recent Superhero movies, which mashes a bunch of familiar and unfamiliar superheroes into a team, called “Avengers: Age of Ultron” lands in a peculiar place; You see, it doesn’t drown in the sea of the franchise, but doesn’t soar into the heavens, like a few do. I’d say that it levitates. 

The film, which is quite hard to follow, starts with an action scene; the Avengers fight to obtain the, oh so powerful, “Ultron.” It has powers that cannot be explained. Anyways, Stark or Ironman (Robert Downie Jr.) gets hold of this “Ultron” and starts creating a robot out of it. During a party held at the Avengers base, the “Ultron” robot (James Spader) awakens, to make the Avengers “extinct” so that it can bring its meaning of peace onto this world. (Its peace means death and destruction.) Hearing this, the Avengers go on a mission to stop the “Ultron” from destroying our world. All of this is accompanied with, what feels like, eons of fighting scenes.

Now, this film doesn’t soar above because of two main reasons; First of all, the fighting scenes, as I have previously mentioned, go on for much too long. Once you think the action stopped, haha you’re wrong! You can almost see the movie pointing at you and laughing. These fight scenes most likely caused the films’ hefty length. 

Secondly, the film has too many characters. Yes, I know that this isn’t the films fault  but more the source materials’ fault, but, it’s true. It can, indeed, be refreshing to watch many characters, as sometimes in superhero films, you get bored of the main character. However, to me, the problem with the, count ’em 6, arguably 8, debatably 9 do-gooders is that, the film doesn’t have the time to follow everyone’s emotional journey, leaving me feeling not as close to the characters as I’d like. 

But, what are the good-parts of the film? It’s very hard to pinpoint the best parts, but if I had to choose one, it would be the ingenious way that the Avengers got telekinesis-sized. I always enjoy trips into characters’ brains, but the way done in Avengers deserves an ovation. We saw ballet dancers in their minds, we saw a party, we saw an empty room. Again, this scene deserves an ovation.   

“Age of Ultron” bit more than bark, and for some, the biting might have been the highlight. For me, however, I like a balance. I want talking and I want fighting; both half-and-half; equal servings of each.   

Marvel fans would like this film, and action-people would like it too. But for me, I saw a mediocre superhero film, that was good in some ways, and bad in others; it doesn’t drown, but it doesn’t soar above.

-TJ