The Small Fries

Avengers Assemble

It’s not even officially summer yet, and Age of Ultron is already the hit movie of the season. The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the 2012 hit film, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk take on a different kind of threat in the form of the evil artificial intelligence of Ultron. As a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this has been one of my most hotly anticipated films of the year, and as a whole it didn’t disappoint. However, I will say that I enjoyed the first Avengers film a lot more and Age of Ultron left a few things to be desired. CAUTION: SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT.

The Good

• Nobody does a good, snarky one-liner like Joss Whedon. The dialogue was one of my favorite things in the first Avengers, and once again it did not disappoint.

• There were a lot more action sequences in Age of Ultron, and they were all breathtaking. I could not take my eyes off the screen. I’m pretty sure I didn’t blink during the Hulk/Iron Man scene.

• Speaking of Iron Man and the Hulk, every scene between Tony and Bruce was fantastic. The acting chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo is out of this world. I would watch a movie with just those two. Science bros for life!

• The plot itself was wonderful. Ultron managed to make the idea of artificial intelligence scary again, and we got a glimpse into the Avengers biggest fears.

• The introduction of characters such as Pietro and Wanda Maximoff and Vision were excellent.

• The cameos! War Machine, Falcon, and many more appearances made me extremely happy.

• To connect the previous two points, the new Avengers team being trained by Steve and Natasha at the end blew me away. I’m so excited to see what they do with the new crew.

The Not-So-Good

• I felt that the whole Bruce/Natasha relationship was very rushed and forced. It came out of nowhere, as neither of the two characters had even hinted interest in each other in previous movies. The chemistry was awkward and I felt it was a waste to use those characters as a romantic side-plot instead of exploring them further as individual

• Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson had terrible Russian accents. Otherwise, they were well cast in their respective roles as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver).

• I really did not like Hawkeye’s backstory. I don’t know if that’s because I have a special place in my heart for Matt Fraction’s version of Hawkeye, but I thought it was completely lame. Hawkeye is supposed to be a normal dude, but I wasn’t crazy about the whole family thing.

• I think I speak for everyone when I ask “Where was Bucky Barnes?” Our favorite Winter Soldier was conspicuously missing, not even warranting a mention.

• There was no point in introducing Pietro only to kill him off at the end of the movie. In the comics, he is a main member of the Avengers team, so I thought this was pretty pointless.

• When Hulk went incognito in the jet at the end of the movie, that could have been a perfect opportunity to set up a solo Hulk movie. I love Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal of the tortured Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk, and a reboot would be great after the mediocre Edward Norton film. However, since Marvel has revealed the films for Phase Three, there is no possibility for the Planet Hulk film of my dreams to happen.

 All things considered, this was definitely a fun film to kick off the summer season. I definitely recommend it for MCU superfans and newbies alike.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is now in theaters!

--Julie