FILM REVIEW Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron

STARKOTICS?Robert Downey Jr stars as Tony Stark in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’.

Nothing marvellous


Cinema
Ciara Galvin

THE comic book inspired movie industry doesn’t seem to be letting up. In the next two years we can expect to see at least 15 more hit the big screen, including ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’.
Once one film is made about a certain comic book character or storyline, it’s pretty much a dead cert that a chain of sequels will follow. This genre of film does well for the Hollywood coffers, as it appeals to a broad audience from the young action-hero-obsessed types to the ageing fanatical comic-book collectors.
This year’s first offering is ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, the sequel to the 2012 debut ‘Marvel Avengers Assemble’. More and more we see these kinds of films mash together different protagonists from films – and this one is no different, bringing together near on 20 roles, including the Avengers and their allies. At times the swollen cast, including Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Idris Elba, does little to add to the story.
Speaking of which, the story sees the Avengers find technology, with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) coming to the conclusion that artificial intelligence is the only way to keep the world safe. As one can assume, things don’t run smoothly. Enemy Ultron (James Spader) wants to wipe out humanity.
The characters bounce off each other well with witty dialogue, but through the course of the film, secrets and lies pour out from the Avengers crew, who start to resemble a rather dysfunctional family relaying their problems on a reality TV show.
Director Joss Whedon was dealt a daunting task progressing from Marvel Avengers Assemble, but he has stepped up to the mark. He does very well in developing characters while fitting in all the action and destruction. That’s not easy, as we know from disastrous efforts like ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ and 2003 film ‘Daredevil’.
The action scenes throughout this sequel are enjoyable. The opening sequence of The Avengers’ first attack is impressively played out against a snowy forest backdrop to great effect. A party scene following on from the opening lets us see the famous characters interact, but soon the action is in full swing again, and it’s hard to get a breather from the heavy storyline and various location changes.
The onscreen banter is really great, following the textbook formula we’re used to seeing from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Fantastic Four’, the former doing it refreshingly well.
This chemistry between characters shows that even though these types of films have to have big-budget action sequences, it’s the witty interactions that make Marvel a hit with audiences.
Should there be more laughs and less artificial intelligence trying to wipe out humanity? Probably.
It’s not the bulging cast that lets down the film, but the feeling that each sequence of events is happening to tie into other films we can expect to hit our screens in the next year or two, like ‘Captain America: Civil War’.
It isn’t a disappointment, but there’s a lot for your average cinema goer to get their heads  around.

Rating 6 out of 10