Age of Aquar... Ultron?
Keeping it short and spoiler-free here.
Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron hit theaters this weekend. It was easily the most eagerly anticipated Marvel Studios movie to date and was projected to shatter every box office record that matters.
I couldn't care less about that.
As a lifelong Marvel Comics fan I wanted to see if Whedon could keep the amazing moment from last year's Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. The former being my all-time favorite Marvel movie to date and the second being the most fun ensemble super hero movie ever made.
Ultimately, the new film fell short of both of them for me.
Don't get me wrong. I really liked it. It had some fun moments, good action, and some nice nods to the expanded cinematic universe. Sure, there were a lot of recycled elements from the first entry in that franchise but this newest film enhanced and improved all of them. The jokes were better, the character interactions were more meaningful and impactful and you could see that the Avengers and their supporting cast were invested in each other and their roles. Very great stuff, overall.
If I had to be honest, I'd say that this new Avengers movie was the first actual Avengers movie. By that I mean that the first entry felt more like an Iron Man movie with cameos from the characters in the other films. This one was focused on the characters, their motivations, reactions, and what the current world's status quo meant to each of them. They weren't competing to out snark Tony Stark.
I'll have more to say when more folks have seen it and I'm in less danger of losing friends.
