![\"age](\"http:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/age-of-ultron-16.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
With an ever expanding Marvel universe, the gang\u2019s all here together in full assemblage (how many more heroes can be packed into one film is beyond comprehension at this point):\u00a0\u00a0 Tony Stark\/Iron Man, Steve Rogers\/Captain America, Thor, Natasha Romanoff\/Black Widow, Bruce Banner\/Hulk and Clint Barton\/Hawkeye.\u00a0 And of course, what would the Avengers be without Nick Fury.\u00a0 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Fury\u2019s right hand man, Maria Hill, is also back for the fun as are limited appearances by James Rhodes\/War Machines Sam Wilson\/The Falcon.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the new kids on the block – Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, not to mention Ultron and Vision.<\/p>\n
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, he stays true to the \u201cvintage\u201d thematic of the evil Hydra and the original comic battles of Captain America waging war against the Nazis.\u00a0 Almost instantly (as part of an epic battle raging in Eastern Europe as the Avengers are attempting to obtain \u201cthe ultimate weapon\u201d and secure a Hydra stronghold), we meet Strucker, a Nazi-esque villain to rival the slick monacled sneer of Erich von Stroheim on his best, or worst, day.\u00a0 Decadently delicious.\u00a0 Seems that Strucker has been working on altering the human genomes in a meld with science and technology developing\/perfecting artificial intelligence.\u00a0 The human result of his experiments are twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.\u00a0 The A.I. result involves the now well-known-to-the-Marvel-Universe Infinity Stone and which, as we soon learn, is essential in the creation of Ultron.<\/p>\n With this \u201cpower\u201d now safe in the hands of the Avengers and particularly, Tony Stark, it awakens an idea Stark had years ago but which was shelved – Ultron.\u00a0 Intending Ultron to be a singular A.I. peacekeeping force to replace the Avengers, together with Bruce Banner, with the AI work and Infinity Stone liberated from Strucker melded with Stark\u2019s work, they bring Ultron \u201cto life.\u201d\u00a0 But Ultron is anything but the benevolent peacekeeper Stark envisioned.\u00a0 He is an arrogant, megalomaniacal hater of humanity who wants to create an extinction level event to eradicate the world and start from scratch.\u00a0 But first, he wants to eliminate the Avengers.\u00a0 And in the very moment the Avengers believe they can have simple, regular lives with families and children and futures free of super-heroing, Ultron goes on the attack and the team goes back to work.\u00a0\u00a0 Heartbreaking in this evolution is Ultron\u2019s destruction (or not) of Tony Stark\u2019s beloved Jarvis.<\/p>\n All the usual suspects return in their acclaimed roles – Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson (the latter who, thankfully, has two more guaranteed Marvel appearances on his contract).\u00a0 Also back is Paul Bettany who gets screen time for the first time in the franchise.\u00a0 Long known as the voice of Jarvis, Bettany now does double duty as he becomes a tangible three-dimensional entity known as Vision.\u00a0\u00a0 And returning to the fray albeit with minimal screen time are stalwarts Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Colbie Smulders, Andy Serkis, Stellan Skarsgard and, of course, Stan Lee.<\/p>\n One thing that I genuinely appreciate with the actors is that no one \u201cphones in\u201d their performance.\u00a0 Whedon has developed depth and emotional growth for the characters and the actors fully embrace that on screen.<\/p>\n Notable is Chris Hemsworth who just keeps getting funnier.\u00a0 His comedic timing has really become a force to be reckoned with.\u00a0 Playing on that, it bears mentioning that the chemistry amongst everyone and their respective comedic sensibilities is one of the best on the big or small screen today.\u00a0 And speaking of comedy – one liners fly faster than Thor’s hammer and each is funnier or wittier or sharper than the last.\u00a0 They are all ****ing awesome (Oops. Sorry, Cap!\u00a0 Language!)<\/p>\n Watching the relationship between Natasha and Banner develop is sweetly charming with Mark Ruffalo bringing this great puppy love shyness to the table while Scarlett Johansson gets to add some nuanced wry comedy to her performance.<\/p>\n Paul Bettany\u2019s Jarvis has been an integral part of Iron Man\u2019s world but to see him now be able to bring even more texture and nuance thanks to \u201ccorporeal form\u201d, is one of the highlights of the film.\u00a0 With costume often being the base with which an actor starts when building a character, the costume design for Vision is stunning and sets the tone of Bettany\u2019s performance. It not only fits the ideal of Vision (as it is a “vision” to behold) but it fits Bettany and his lulling voice.\u00a0 Bettany brings even more nuance to Vision with his vocal inflection and calm.\u00a0 There is this great intelligence and wisdom of the ages but with a childlike purity.\u00a0 It’s a lovely piece of the puzzle and one of my favorite performances of the film.<\/p>\n And then we have the new kids.\u00a0 Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson slip into their respective roles of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver quite nicely.\u00a0 Calling on their own pre-Avengers experience working together on \u201cGodzilla\u201d adds a resonant layer of believability to the brother-sister dynamic and ease between them.<\/p>\n But then there\u2019s Spader, James Spader.\u00a0 Two words for his performance as Ultron – divinely delicious!\u00a0 Notable is Ultron’s dialogue (and kudos to Whedon for writing it) – very Neil La Butte in its construct, with Spader creating this beautiful cadence and elocution trying to present himself as a superlative next generation being but then resorting to plain old human rage and hissy fits.\u00a0\u00a0 No one but James Spader could bring such life, vibrancy, poignancy and entertainment to this role and these words.\u00a0 It bears noting that this shoot was Spader\u2019s first time at bat with motion capture.\u00a0 Even Whedon has limited experience with motion capture, having used it only with Ruffalo\u2019s Hulk.\u00a0 But Spader, the consummate professional embraced the technology and as opposed to many shoots where the motion capture and CGI then don\u2019t require the presence of the actor on set, was physically on set and in scene working opposite his fellow actors, adding more emotional resonance to each scene and the film as a whole.\u00a0\u00a0 And while we\u2019re talking motion capture, the ante was upped this go round for Mark Ruffalo as facial\/kabuki motion capture was used more extensively to create facial expression for Hulk, a new bar for Whedon and Ruffalo. The result is noticeable, welcome and adds to the performance.<\/p>\n Although with brief screen time, Thomas Kretschmann oozes evil as Strucker.\u00a0 And be on the lookout for some icy veined hatred from Julie Delpy, a fabulously frightening turn by Idris Elba as Heimdall and the woman behind the man known as Hawkeye, Linda Cardellini, who plays a significant part in the plot development of the film as a whole.<\/p>\n Most appreciative is that Whedon has done an exemplary job of not only bringing in new characters but in setting up the continuing lineage of the Avengers.\u00a0 We see Tony Stark now taking a back seat.\u00a0 And thanks to this beautifully crafted family life that Hawkeye has kept hidden from all, we are shown exactly what it is the Avengers are fighting for, what they are trying to preserve and not on a global, impersonal save the world scale, but an intimate familial scale.\u00a0 The idea of home and hearth grounds the film to the values of Captain America’s youth.\u00a0 It resonates.\u00a0 It connects.\u00a0 It touches. And not just the audience, but each of the Avengers.\u00a0 It gives them something personal and tangible to connect with, reinvigorates their passion, their fight and their friendship.\u00a0 Extremely powerful threadline that is fully developed and stays the “calm in the eye of the storm” to ground the film and the audience. Without a doubt this plot point is the heartbeat of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.<\/p>\n Applause! Applause! There are no loose ends! At an early post-battle gathering virtually everyone in the Avengers\/Thor worlds pop up, but you find yourself asking, where’s Pepper and Jane?\u00a0 Anticipating his die-hard audience, Whedon\u00a0 quickly explains their absences with an hilarious exchange between Maria Hill, Thor and Tony Stark.\u00a0 Quick, expedient and satisfying.<\/p>\n Interesting is the placement of the sarcasm and wry wit as the best lines fly during the darkest moments which supports real psychology that humor is how many deal with darkness and fear.\u00a0 It’s telling as to the characters and who has the most to fear and what they fear – which then comes in to play through Scarlet Witch and her mind manipulations.\u00a0 Fear is a very real part of the story and captures the humanity of heroes.\u00a0 Equally exciting is Whedon’s return to the original source material for developing Ultron.\u00a0\u00a0 Thought provoking is the intellectual and emotional meld of Ultron as he taps into\/assimilates Stark’s programming leading to a wonderful and intriguing psychological exploration.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, where I find the deficiencies is on the technical end.\u00a0 There are two action sequences that are “flawed” with the first being the opening sequence at the very beginning of the film.\u00a0 The blend of CGI and live action is “messy” with some of the CGI appearing like a cut and paste.\u00a0 Compounding that is editing that doesn’t quite find its footing\u00a0 with the slo-mo, stop-mo, and gung-ho speeds of the CGI-live action blend.\u00a0 It’s disconcerting and visually takes one out of the battle, questioning everything thereafter in the sequence for its technical execution.\u00a0 The second issue is an over-extended Hulk rampage after being allegedly “bewitched” by Scarlet Witch although that actual close encounter is never shown on screen (it is intimated Scarlet was the cause of Hulk’s tirade).\u00a0 The scene drones on and on and on.<\/p>\n As with the first AVENGERS, sound design is again an issue and much dialogue is lost due to explosions and scoring, particularly that of Scarlett Johansson.<\/p>\n Indisputable is the scope and excellence of the production design.\u00a0 It is beyond impressive and the result is immersive.\u00a0 From cobblestones and concrete texture in “Eastern European” architecture of bridges and the huge technical sets like the Helibridge and others, the sets alone give the film a truly “global” sized feel while the intimacy of the characters, propelled by the home life of Hawkeye and the burgeoning love between Banner and Natasha, give everything a personal touch.\u00a0 Look for an Oscar showdown between AGE OF ULTRON production designer Charles Wood and \u201cCinderella\u201d production designer Dante Ferretti!<\/p>\n But for the issues with the opening battle scene visuals, equally majestic is the VFX work of Christopher Townsend and his team, as well as that of the SFX team under supervisor Paul Corbould.\u00a0 The intensity of the action and overall blend of FX, CGI and live action is non-stop.\u00a0 There are essentially only two breathers in the film, two moments of respite to try and digest the power of the story itself, before you are swept into the moment and carried away with the sheer entertainment of it all.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n