ACG Reviews: Avengers: Age of Ultron (SPOILERS)

WARNING: The review contains spoilers.  You've been warned.

The Plot:
  Still dealing with the fallout of HYDRA infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. and the subsequent dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a result, the Avengers find a HYDRA base in Sokovia, led by Baron von Strucker, hoping to find Loki's scepter.  While there, they have a run-in with a pair of twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, who've been experimented on, giving Pietro super-speed and Wanda telepathy and telekinesis.  Their goal is to get revenge on Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, for making the weapons that killed their parents, to which Wanda makes Tony see a vision of the Chitauri invading the Earth again and killing the Avengers, which in turn caused Tony to take the specter to study.

  However, Wanda may've doomed the world and caused Tony to create something worse than any of the weapons he made as during his studies, Tony discovers that he could use the scepter to finally realize a project he'd been working on, a peace keeping project called Ultron.  However, Ultron soon goes awry, destroying J.A.R.V.I.S. and forming an alliance with the Maximoffs to destroy the Avengers.  To this end, when the Avengers investigate Ulysses Klaue, Wanda makes several of the Avengers see their worst nightmares and sends the Hulk on a rampage that destorys much of a nearby city.

  As the Avengers are forced to regroup and go into hiding, Thor saw something in his vision, something that might hold the key to defeating Ultron.

The Review:

Story/Characters:
  I'll go ahead and say this now: I agree with a lot of people that it's not as good as the first one.

  I do agree with some people that there's too many jokes in this.  Look, I'm not asking for Hulk (which didn't have that many if any laughs) here, but the tension is undercut if everyone's making wisecracks and being sarcastic, including the villain.  I get that because Ant-Man hadn't come out yet and the plans for it made using Hank Pym as the creator was a difficult proposition, but Ultron-as-evil Tony didn't work as well.  Ultron should be a cold villain; that's where part of his menace comes from.  Yes, there are villains that can make jokes and still come off and creepy and threatening, but it undercuts Ultron here.  However, one redeeming thing with this version of Ultron is the fact that despite his plans, he does legitimately care for the Maximoffs—but it still doesn't completely save Ultron as a character as he's still a poor villain.

  I thought that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were done alright.  True, I do wish Marvel had the rights to the X-Men so they could still be mutants and Magneto their dad (and, yes, I do hate that Marvel decided to retcon that detail out in AXIS some time before this movie came out just to match it), but at the same time, they did spend the majority of their comic careers as Avengers, so I can adapt and live with it.  Yeah, I'll say it: the people who thought the X-Men movies who be the ones to use the characters don't have much of a leg to stand on, given that the characters' tenure in the Brotherhood in the comics (a.k.a. the source material) was a blip at best.  I wish they had something close to proper costumes, but within the context of the movie it's understandable why they don't, and Wanda does something akin to one at the end.

  While still on the subject of Wanda, I will say that the nightmare bits were well done.  I'll get to Tony's on its own, as its part of his character arc, but they showed us some of the stuff that goes on through the minds of several Avengers, including shedding light on Natasha's background, Thor's setting up the Vision and Thor: Ragnarok, Steve showing that he still has trouble getting used to being in the present and that he feels he can no longer have a normal life.  It was pretty well done in getting into the character's heads.

  The transformation of J.A.R.V.I.S. into the Vision was set up well and within the MCU.  Seeing Ultron "kill" J.A.R.V.I.S. was a heartbreaking moment and we can feel the Avengers' grief about it and it was good to see that J.A.R.V.I.S. somehow managed to survive and was keeping Ultron from accessing codes for nuclear weapons.  However, as Vision himself says in the movie, he isn't J.A.R.V.I.S.  This probably is due to the Mind Stone, it does set him up as his own entity, though he does retain some elements of J.A.R.V.I.S., as noted by his "It's true; he hates you the most" line to Tony about Ultron.

  Whoever thought the "prima nocta" line was a good idea needs to be kicked in their genitalia.  There are things you don't ever make jokes about—and rape is fucking one of them!  And no one calls Tony out of this bullshit—not a single soul!  Not Steve, not Thor, not Rhodey, not Clint, not Bruce, not Hill, not Natasha, none of them!  While they are dicks about it, Cinema Sins is correct in pointing out that Natasha was clearly talking about being trained to be killer when calling herself a monster, not being unable to have children.  That said, given the first line about her training came after her saying that she can't have children, I can see why some people thought there was a connection and maybe that scene should have been revised a bit.

  HYDRA was wasted in this movie.  I don't really watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, one would think that HYDRA would play a big role in the MCU, especially with the mid-credits stinger for TWS setting up this movie.  Ant-Man did show that HYDRA is still active after the events of this movie, but Strucker was just wasted.  Much like Gambit's planned appearance for X-Men: The Last Stand, Strucker was written out of Captain America: The First Avenger as reducing a prominent villain to a supporting role—and much like Gambit's appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that's exactly what happened here, anyway: all Strucker is used for is to provide an action scene at the beginning, used to explain how the twins got their powers, and to serve as someone for Ultron to kill to taunt the Avengers.  He's a serious threat in the comics and set up as such in the TWS stinger and ultimately, he's basically nerfed down to Steve taking him out with just a kick and was already preparing to surrender.

  Thankfully, as I said, Ant-Man, as well as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., showed that HYDRA was still active, but Strucker was still wasted in this.

  One plot thread that did continue was Tony still suffering from PTSD, as it's clear from the Scarlet Witch-induced hallucinations that he's still not completely shaken it after it being a main part of the plot of Iron Man 3.  The truth is, I'm okay with this, as some people do have issues with traumatic events for a long time and Tony hasn't been seen seeing a doctor about his issues.  This, and Tony's desire to atone for his actions, are a driving factor of the plot for this movie and likely others, given part of the plot for Captain America: Civil War is Tony being pro-registration as a result of his actions in this movie and the line "Whatever happens on Earth, that up there, that's the endgame" foreshadows—and was used for the teaser for—Infinity War.

  The reveal of Hawkeye's family was an interesting choice, but then again, we never got anything in the way of his personal life and background outside of his talking Natasha into joining S.H.I.E.L.D. in the prior movies, so it was a nice surprise.  Granted, it came from the Ultimate Universe, but then again, the MCU has sued elements from the Ultimate Universe before, including Thor having a beard (yeah, classic Thor sported a beard at times, too, but it's a regular feature on Ultimate Thor), Hulk's origins being tied to the Super Soldier serum, S.H.I.E.L.D. being the ones who set up the Avengers (though Heroes Reborn did it first, so the idea predates The Ultimates), Hawkeye's costumes, Tony Stark's personality, and (obviously) Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.  It does add a dimensions to a character who until now was really a blank slate as far as the movies go.  I know so people are unhappy on a purely shipping level, but then again, I didn't believe Natasha and Clint were a thing in the first movie, and Bobbi" Mockingbird" Morse is being used as AoS at the moment and his history with her is being used for Lance Hunter.

  Speaking of Natasha, time to get to the other elephant in the room: the Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanoff relationship.  Why does this exist?  Was it to give them a character arc?  It came out of nowhere and had no set-up.  It was forced and should've been cut out.

  However, as stupid as the Bruce/Natasha subplot is, one of the scenes dedicated to it, as well as a scene in the first Avengers, shows that Bruce Banner does yearn to have a family and that he's tired of running, but he can't have a family or even settle down because of his being the Hulk.  The closest he got to finally finding a place came with the first Avengers, by meeting Tony and using the Hulk to fend off the invasion, which helps him find a place in the world for the Hulk, but that's all torn from him when Wanda used her powers to set the Hulk off in this movie.  While it didn't happen yet in this movie, it's likely a key part of future movies will be the authorities resuming their hunt for the Hulk, as we know General Ross will be in Civil War and Hulk will be Ragnarok.

  Still relating to Bruce, given the Tony/Bruce friendship as set up in the first Avengers, it does make sense that Bruce would have a hand in designing the Hulkbuster—which in turn also makes sense that it would beat the Hulk in the movie as opposed to it failing in the comics, as unlike the comics, Tony had input from the person it was designed to tackle, so it would be more effective.

  Lastly, it was nice to see what Maria Hill and Nick Fury again events the events of TWS,  and to see what Hill's been doing since going to working with Tony.  It was also nice to see Fury and the others help out with evacuating Sokovia when Ultron beginning to lift the city off the Earth for his plans.

Acting:
  Overall, everyone did a good job.  Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen all turn in good performances, especially when we get into the character's nightmares or delve into his history and fears.  While he was hampered by some of the material, James Spader also did a good job as Ultron.

  There wasn't really a bad actor in this one.

Final Verdict:
  It's an alright movie, but it's not as good as the first one, and there's some things that can offend people.  With some tweeting it could've been an excellent movie, but it's still enjoyable for the most part.