Review: Avengers - Age of Ultron

(Disclaimer: If you haven't seen this movie, there may be information in this review that might be considered a "spoiler" - although I consciously try not to put major spoiler info in my reviews. Please proceed with caution.)

When I was growing up the only comics I read was the odd Archie and Jughead or an Uncle Scrooge comic book, but not the Marvel comics.  I don’t think there were fan-girls back then, and I certainly wasn’t one.  Although I did watch Batman (the 1960’s TV Series) and the Justice League cartoons, the only Avengers I knew of were John Steed and Mrs. Peel.

I went to go see the first Iron Man movie because Mom wanted to go - but I really enjoyed it.  At that point, I didn’t know about the clips at the very ends of the Marvel movies, after the credits.  And I didn’t really have a clue about the co-mingling of all these characters I’d barely heard of.

Since then, I’ve seen the 3 Iron Man (Men?), 2 Thor, 2 Captain America – although he’s my least favorite of them – I have not watched the Hulk movie(s?), but I may look for them on cable.  I’ve also watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on TV.  (It was slow in the beginning, but I listen to the Afterbuzz TV podcasts for the show and despite really not being that interested in the TV show, I stayed with it because of the podcast, and then the TV show got really good, so I’m glad I did.) 

BTW, if you like TV shows and you have time to watch/listen to podcasts (driving, working out, playing Angry Birds, etc…), I cannot recommend anything more highly that the Afterbuzz TV podcasts.  They recap and dissect 100’s of shows each week and I get so much out of the podcasts.  As you may recall, I’m shallow, and that extends into how I watch TV, so I’m always missing things, and the podcasts help me catch them, and they explain things I got, but didn’t understand (mostly because I didn’t get something else that was an important key!)

But I digress.  Oh, and then there was Agent Carter over the January/February hiatus of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  By now, I’m slowly beginning to know my way around the MU (Marvel Universe) and I was really looking forward to Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Although I had no clue who or what Ultron was.

There is an AMC theater about a mile from my condo, so obviously I go there for most of my movie viewing.  (Unless I have gift card to the other theater in town – which is more often than you might expect!)  Generally, when a new movie in a series comes out, AMC will have a marathon, usually the Thursday evening before the movie officially comes out the following Friday, and they show all the movies in the series AND the new movie.  I attended one of these when the third Batman movie came out.  I have to tell you, sitting in a theater for almost 9 hours watching Batman movies, while enjoyable, was very overwhelming!  And my butt was numb afterwards.

Then when the most recent Hunger Games movie came out… I’m thinking Mockingjay(? Isn't that the third book, the one they’ve made into two movies in order to squeeze a few more dollars out of the fans?)  Well, whichever, it was the first one of those.  So I sat and watched three movies in a row and really had a good time.  Except when the final (new) movie ended so crappily… but that would be a different blog article and this one’s already dragging on and I haven't got to Ultron.

Needless to say, when I received the email from AMC announcing the plans for an Avengers/Avengers: Age of Ultron evening, I signed up!  The cost was $22 and part of me thought, “Hmm… that’s a lot, maybe we’re getting some cool freebies or snack money” but then didn’t think any more about it.  Imagine my surprise when I checked in and the girl gives me 3-D glasses!

I’m one of those oddballs that really doesn’t care for 3-D movies, AND I happened to be wearing my glasses and not my contacts that evening, so that meant I had to sit there wearing glasses over my glasses.  But it wasn’t that bad, and after not too long, I forgot they were even there.  Obviously there’s a difference between movies that were probably filmed with 3-D in mind versus those that seems to be made 3-D as an afterthought.

I’m really glad I watched the first one before watching the new one.  I hadn’t seen it in its entirety since the first time I saw it in the theater.  I’ve caught parts here and there on cable, but never watched it all.  AND I got to see the clip at the end – which I’d not known to stay for the first time.  Of course, it really didn’t do me any good because I didn’t know who the blue guy was.  But still, good call.  (I did recognize him as the same blue guy at the clip at the end of Ultron, so.... that was good, and I was able to ask someone as we were leaving who the blue guy was - since I know you're wondering, it was Thanos from Guardians of the Galaxy.)

I really enjoyed the first one (both the first time I saw it, and this second time).  And I really enjoyed Ultron.  But they were definitely different movies.  (Duh!)  Here’s what I mean.  In the first one, Hawkeye might as well have been a red shirt for as far as I cared.  He was just a goob with a bow and arrow.  But in the second one, he was more important to the team and we got to learn about his family and his reasons for being on the team.  I actually cared about him and hoped that he wasn't going to die in the end, but I had a sneaky suspicion that he was going to, since we were getting so much insight on him.

We also got to know more about Black Widow.  I did not realize it, but have since read that she’s been in four of the Marvel movies, (I suppose I’m really going to have to catch the Hulk).  But I, not having read any Marvel comics, knew nothing more about her than what my pod(cast)-people told me.  But we got some background on her and found out more of what makes her tick.  Plus there’s a wee bit’o romance with the Hulkmeister in there.

Another aspect of the movie I really enjoyed it was packed with cameos of other Marvel characters.  Each time I recognized another one I got a little thrill or pride in my growing knowledge of the MU!  I listened to a podcast review of Ultron and the person had a problem with this, though; saying it made the movie too clunky and unwieldy.  I didn't think so, but then again, I watch things shallowly and don’t get too bogged down in the details; so if I didn’t know that that guy talking to Tony Stark is the same scientist who makes the XYZ potion that turns some guy into Whack-a-Mole Man, it doesn’t bother me.

Ultron – voiced by James Spader, who I will always remember as the creepy anti-Andrew McCarthy in Pretty in Pink – was basically an artificial intelligence system that Tony Stark set out to create, but that went wrong.  He added a good dose of comedy to the movie along with being the bad “guy.” 

As my regular readers know, I like my movies to be escapist entertainment – mix together some plot, a few explosions and car chases, a little smut, and some humor and Rose is very happy with a movie.  Now Ultron did have a few “deep” moments and conversations between characters, but all in all, I thought it was a very entertaining movie!  It met all of my requirements for a good movie! 

Two thumbs up!

Now, I just have to bide my time until the new Fantastic Four movie comes out later this summer!