Avengers: Age of Ultron (3D) (12A)
four stars
Dir: Joss Whedon
With: Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo
Runtime: 141 minutes
AMONG the audience at the Cineworld Glasgow IMAX premiere of Joss Whedon's superhero adventure was a youngster wearing a Captain America costume. Complete with sewn-in muscles, the nylon suit probably weighed as much as he did but it was the thought that went into the dressing up that mattered. Much the same could be said for Whedon's savvy and rip-roaring picture. Where else can you go for a comic book movie that combines acres of crash bang wallop action with references to Banksy and Eugene O'Neill?
If you are looking for the Apple of superhero movies, a business class of popcorn blockbuster, then the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the first Avengers movie - box office $1.5 billion and counting - is your man. While not quite as much fun, or as flab free, as Whedon's 2012 Avengers Assemble, Age of Ultron still offers plenty of bang for your cinema buck. Especially if you like wearing superhero costumes, an experience, one understands, which is not to be knocked until tried.
Whedon, on writing as well as directing duties, opens on a high with the assembled Avengers - Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) - launching an all out attack on a fortress in eastern Europe. The magnificent six are on same old, same old superhero duty, liberating an item from some wicked types bent on epic destruction. What they cannot know, however, is where this gig will lead them next. Only Stark is given a glimpse of the future, and he does not like what he sees.
Yes, this is the part in the superhero movie story arc when things grow bleaker and edgier, when secrets are revealed, fears are laid bare, and the actors get to show they can do more than just fill a costume. Helping matters along in this case are some new foes in the shape of supernaturally gifted ("He's fast, she's weird") Russian twins Wanda and Pietro, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson. The Maximoffs, complete with thick as borscht accents, have their own reason to hate the Avengers, but their feelings amount to a mere dribble of enmity compared to the tidal wave of malevolence about to be unleashed by the picture's main bad guy, the titular Ultron. Surprisingly, Ultron is not a new brand of washing powder or extra long-life battery. Voiced by James Spader in ultra deep, movie trailer guy voice, this particular piece of nastiness wants to save the world, but first he feels the need to destroy it.
Ultron's thinking makes about as much sense as some of the action sequences. With so many heroes, facing so many foes, the fight scenes were bound to look like a guddle, and they do. Half the time it is hard to know what is going on other than a lot of punching, kicking, flying through the air and general mayhem. The noise is enough to wake a dodo. Whedon certainly offers spectacle - this is definitely a film to see at an IMAX if you can - but a little order to the chaos would have been nice, too.
If the action sequences grow tiresome after a while, Whedon and his cast show they still have plenty in the tank when it comes to that other must-have feature in a superhero movie - top quality quipping. As ever, playboy tech billionaire Tony Stark/Iron Man/Robert Downey Jr, nabs the best lines, among them the Banksy and O'Neill zingers, and delivers them delightfully. The joy of the Avengers, however, is that everyone has a chance in the spotlight to show off their charms. If Stark's snarkiness is not to your taste, try Captain America's sweet earnestness or the testosterone-drenched hamminess of Thor. If still not satisfied, there is the growing closeness between The Hulk and Black Widow to marvel over.
Whatever else results, The Age of Ultron shows that it will be a fair old time yet before this franchise makes old bones.
ENDS
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