Ghost Toasters - Regular Show
Games and Entertainment
App
Save the park from a ghostly invasion in this REGULAR SHOW PLATFORM SHOOTER! Gear up with the latest...
News Explorer
News and Entertainment
App
News Explorer is a powerful yet remarkably easy-to-use RSS, JSON, Atom and Twitter newsreader with...
EA SPORTS™ FIFA 18 Companion
Games
6.0
Rate It
App
Read on for important info below! This app requires you to have an EA Account, FIFA 18 (available...
National Rail Enquiries: Train journey planner
Navigation and Travel
6.5
Rate It
App
Stay on track with the free National Rail Enquiries App, Great Britain’s number one destination...
YuppTV - Live TV & Movies
Entertainment and News
App
Live TV, Catch-up TV, Movies, TV Shows, News, Bazaar - Short films, Web series, Music Videos YuppTV...
ICC Pro Cricket 2015
Games and Entertainment
App
ICC Pro Cricket 2015 Play the Official Game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. This game features...
İBB Yol Gösteren
Navigation and Travel
App
İBB Yol Gösteren, which is developed by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is compatible with iOS...
London Underground by Zuti
Navigation and Travel
App
"Probably the best map and route planner out there" - recent customer review Don't take our word for...
Ryan Hill (152 KP) rated Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) in Movies
May 10, 2019
And still I feel disappointed that Age of Ultron did not manage to cut its own strings attached so strongly to the Marvel Template.
From the opening it's clear we're watching a film without bookends. Thrust into the action with Whedon's trademark 'give every character its moment' visuals, the second installment in the Avengers is aware it doesn't need to introduce itself, it just needs to reacquaint itself with a flashy entrance. And boy does it ever. There's the quick-fire banter, the kinetic action and the energetic fun that made the first film so great.
When the plot kicks in, many of Whedon's quirks remain and to great effect. It's fun, familiar and exciting. We get thrust from one amazing set piece to the next, are treated with some truly outstanding action sequences and are easily allowed to sit back and enjoy the ride. There are a couple of outstanding character moments, most notably for the more 'human' Avengers, something I felt worked rather well, mostly because it was unexpected and because it provided some much needed connection to characters without their own movie franchise.
The new characters are fine. Quicksilver is underdeveloped and never transcends his power, but the Scarlet Witch is absolutely spot on. Olsen plays her with conviction and her development is handled beautifully. Can't wait to find out what they have in store for her. When the Vision first made his appearance I audibly gasped. A firm favourite of mine, his creation and subsequent actions were put in the film especially for me. I'm sure of it.
What misfired for me was some of the comedy, which felt rather forced and the villain. The first is rather easy to step over, the second is a bigger problem. Ultron is a truly formidable adversary, one that deserves a larger platform than he is given here. It seems that the second film was always going to be a transition film to the (probable) epicness ahead and I therefore find Ultron to be an odd choice for the villain. Don't get me wrong, he looks and sounds fantastic and Spader does a truly excellent job, but he feels shoehorned into a middle part that is structured the exact same way the previous film was and most Marvel films are. Again, not necessarily a problem, but I had expected more from this one. The hinted at darker tone is not really there, the seriousness of the threat is not really convincing because it is not given the time to develop properly. There is a moment in the film I felt it was going to happen, where the team is truly rattled and defeated, but it is fleeting as we're already hurrying towards the next sequence. Whedon lacks focus here and seems preoccupied with building up rather than just telling a story. And that's a shame. I felt there was an opportunity here to break away from the mould most of these films seem intent to cast themselves in and it is an opportunity they missed. Better luck next time.
Now, having said all that, I always rate these films by how much fun I had and let me assure you, there is plenty to be had. The Hulkbuster, the final showdown, the nightmare visions all had me smiling like a git.
For all its faults it still is a cut above most big blockbusters in that it delivers the goods with confidence and gusto and never forgets to try and entertain the crap out of its audiences.