Avengers: Age of Ultron, rated PG-13
*** ½
The second Avengers film opens with an assault by the Avengers – Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – on a Hydra base in Eastern Europe to secure Loki’s scepter from Strucker. It is here that we first meet the twins Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).
Tony Stark (Iron Man) wants to use Loki’s scepter to create Ultron, an artificial intelligence network that will detect and destroy threats. He eventually convinces Bruce Banner (Hulk) to work with him in secret to create it, but things go horribly wrong, resulting in the creation of Ultron (who is played by James Spader, Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington on one of my favorite television programs, The Blacklist). Ultron takes care of J.A.R.V.I.S. , Stark’s artificial intelligence (voiced by Paul Bettany), and later creates smaller robots in his own image – let’s just say he’s up to no good. Stark’s work, without involving the rest of the team, also causes division and a lack of trust between him and the rest of the Avengers.
The Avengers are no match for Ultron. That causes Avenger’s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to show up. Later we are introduced to a character named Vision, (also voiced by Bettany). Later, Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) show up in small roles.
The film contains some adult language (which becomes a running joke), and some sexual innuendo, which younger viewers may not catch. There are also several religious comments or references, including Ultron basing his operations in a church. Of course there is a significant amount of super-hero violence included. Though long (at almost 2 ½ hours), it was never boring, the violence mixed with humorous dialogue and some character development. We find out some things that we didn’t know about some of the Avenger’s including romantic relationships. But we don’t want to spoil things for you.
In a year that is disappointing as far as movie releases thus far, I really enjoyed this film. It is well-made (with an estimated budget of $250 million), well-acted by the large cast, and has a good story.
