Movie review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers are back to once again save Earth from a lethal threat. When Tony and Bruce try to activate and use a peacekeeping program called Ultron, the program becomes self-aware threatening humanity.

Robert Downey Jr. (Tony/Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce/Hulk), Chris Evans (Steve/Capt. America), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha/Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint/Hawkeye), James Spader (Ultron), Samuel L. Jackson (Fury), Don Cheadle (James/War Machine), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda/Scarlet).

Avengers: Age of Ultron while being an entertaining story, is a somewhat well worn plot based on the surprising premise of a mistake. Tony finds an incredibly superior artificial intelligence program and rather than realizing the danger it presents and destroying it, as anyone would at this point in time, he simply turns it on. The remainder of the film has the Avengers fighting to fix that mistake. Though the action was fun, the premise is pretty tough to swallow.

Acting was good as always in this franchise. Downey uses his arrogance well as usual. Hemsworth delivered a bit less in this one, while Ruffalo delivered a bit more. Evans, Johansson, and Renner put forth some great energy. Spader was perfectly cast as Ultron and the CGI really brought through his personality. The rest of the cast was solid and enjoyable.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were good with nice detail and creativity but the film wouldn't be what it was without the CGI. CGI was nicely done and surprisingly realistic for a fantasy film. There were some overdone bits here and there but even they were fun. Dialogue was mild but fit the film, the cast, and moved things along well. Sound and soundtrack were nicely done.

Overall Avengers: Age of Ultron is a fun and entertaining film if you can get past the storyline and just enjoy the adventure. Younger viewers will probably enjoy this more than their parents but, this is a decent choice for family movie night that should keep everyone entertained.

With some foul language, mild sexuality, and a lot of action violence, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2015
Reviewed: 11.7.15
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Action & Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Sci-Fi Action

copyright ©2015 Dave Riedel