Look out, it's raining money! Box office, that is! Avengers: Age of Ultron seems poised for one of the biggest openings of all time, which should come as no surprise. The original was a crowd-pleasing smash, and anticipation - and advance ticket sales - for Ultron have been off the charts for months.
Original director Joss Whedon is back, and he's structured Age of Ultron to feel like a massive James Bond movie, complete with an opening sequence action opus, showing The Avengers team staging a fortress assault in the country of Sokovia. Right out of the gate, we're globe-trotting, as this sequel takes us to numerous far flung locales, while serving up a gleefully deliberate comic book tone - staging action sequences like two-page panels exploding across the screen:
Also like the Bond series, Whedon knows they're only as good as their villains, and he's given us a real corker in Ultron (James Spader), the maniacal robot byproduct of Tony Stark's experiment to create a cybernetic global peacekeeping system. The threat of artificial intelligence is looming large in cinemas lately, with the recent Ex Machina and this summer's Terminator Genisys. Well, the cyborgs in Terminator will have to be awfully malicious to top Ultron, one of the best sci-fi villains in ages. Ultron represents our creations - and best intentions - turning against us, and Spader and Whedon let Ultron ooze superiority and disdain. He's psychotic, sarcastic and maliciously funny. He's also on a quest to evolve and improve himself - an intention that drives the plot in unexpected ways.
Whedon delivers some spectacular sequences, but none likely more giddy and rambunctious than the Hulkbuster sequence, something comic fans have been clamoring to see for ages. It's a sensational mid-film collision that blows the doors off.
We also get new characters. Elizabeth Olsen is terrific as Scarlet Witch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson less so as her brother, Quicksilver - a character we saw depicted much more successfully in last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Whedon balances right on the tipping point of having to keep too many plates spinning, with the ever-burgeoning membership of The Avengers, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, War Machine, Peggy Carter, The Falcon, Heimdall, plus the above-mentioned Maximoff twins, while setting up numerous other seeds that will germinate later in Marvel Phase 3 films - like Andy Serkis as Klaue. The film starts to feel like an overstuffed Italian Timpano, with the idea of adding yet another new character sounding like suicide. Yet that's exactly what Whedon does, with the introduction of The Vision (Paul Bettany) - and his arrival is what lifts the film up into a triumphant and unifying whole in the third act. The less you know about The Vision the better, but I think they've handled him incredibly well here.
In addition to Olsen, massive props go to Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner, who both provide plenty of new depth and soul to characters who've been more on the fringe in previous outings. They both really shine here and it's great that Whedon uses them to remind us of the humanity - and vulnerability - of our costumed league of heroes.
There's plenty of heart in Age of Ultron, and the camaraderie and humor works, because with a movie like this, the bottom line is it had better feel fun - and on that score, the movie is hugely successful. Yes, Age of Ultron is ready to burst at the seams at times. Whedon is handing the directing duties for the next Phase 3 Infinity War chapters to the Russo brothers - and you have to wonder if there's a certain realization that the familiarity of this dynamic might be a fragile thing to keep fresh. Once again, we have a finale that's dependent on enormous airborne impacts and rescues. But the strengths of Age of Ultron far outweigh any sense of repetition, thanks in large part to our affection for the ensemble of these characters, and the uniqueness of Bettany's Vision.
DO NOT MISS that end credits scene, as it's a doozy, and gets us chomping at the bit for what Infinity War may have in store. Avengers: Age of Ultron packs a punch, and having some new heroes - and a great bad guy - is what every summer movie season really needs. Highly recommended.
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