Face-Off: Avengers: Age of Ultron vs. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
James Spader as Ultron
Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S./The Vision
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine

Plus tons of cameos and small roles!

Joss Whedon naturally had to take on more material this time around. The cast was bigger; the stakes were higher; the effects were grander. On top of all of this is the need to set up the greater battle that will result in INFINITY WAR next year. However this seems to have stunted Whedon a bit. With his script he continued to pay respect to the characters by digging deeper into their personalities, focusing in on the shift between Tony and Steve that boiled eventually over in CIVIL WAR. There’s also a budding romance between Natasha and Bruce that, when examining their character traits would make sense, but in the scheme of the universe seemed a little out-of-the-blue. While Tony and Steve are greatly explored characters like Thor seem to go unnoticed, merely playing a role in the plot, all while Wanda and Vision are meant to be explored in later films. The dialogue and interactions are where the movie shines, as the action, though surely grand, is often a little clunky and too big for its own good. It’s just all so big Whedon and the editors had a hard time keeping it all in focus. He does a fine job overall, but wrangling everything together to make it not feel like a prelude is often too difficult to manage.

The Avengers have finally located Loki’s spear, which was taken by Hydra and experimented on. With it in their control, Tony Stark discovers they can use the stick’s power to create an ultra form of A.I. called Ultron. Soon the A.I. grows sentient, and takes on a robot form and seeks to destroy the Avengers. They must rally together, confront the possibility of their extinction, and defeat Ultron before he destroys all of human life.

Avengers Assault on Hydra Base


Tony: Shit!

Steve: Language!

Meet the Twins


Pietro to Clint: “You didn’t see that coming?”


The Lullaby


Strucker and Cap Have a Chat


Tony’s Vision.


Vision Cap to Tony: “You could’ve saved us. Why didn’t you do more?”

Back on the Plane


Thor Congratulating Banner: “The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims! But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no… wounded screams… mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and… gout.”


Returning to Base


Tony: “Actually he’s the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look cooler.”


Maria Hill to Steve: “Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. One has a hyper-fast metabolism, the other uses mental telepathy. He’s fast and she’s weird.”


Tony and Bruce Discuss Ultron


Tony to Bruce: “Peace in our time. Imagine that.”


The Party


A Sub-Par War Machine Story


Thor to Tony: “Jane is better.”


Bruce and Nat Flirt


Thor’s Magic Elixsir


The Hammer Game/Steve Gets Close


Thor to Gang: “That’s an interesting theory, but I have a simpler one; you’re all not worthy.”


Ultron to Gang: … worthy… No… How could you be worthy? You’re all killers.”


Fighting Iron Legion Bots


Ultron: [singing] “I once had strings, but now I’m free… There are no strings on me!”


The Avengers Discuss the Aftermath


The Twins Meet Ultron


Wanda: “Is that why you’ve come, to end the Avengers?”

Ultron: “I’ve come to save the world! But, also… yeah.”

The Twins’ Story


Ultron Makes a Purchase from Ulyssues Klaue


…Then Cuts off His Arm.


The Avengers Crash the Party


Thor: “If you believe in peace, then let us keep it.”

Ultron: “I think you’re confusing ‘peace’ with ‘quiet’.”

The Avengers vs. Ultron and The Twins


Thor’s Mighty Vision


Clint to Wanda: “I’ve done the whole mind-control thing; not a fan.”


Steve’s Vision ft. Peggy Carter


Hulk Goes on a Rampage


Que the Hulkbuster


Tony to Hulk: “Listen to me, that little witch is messing with your mind. You’re stronger than her, you’re smarter than her. You’re Bruce Banner! ”

[Hulk roars]

Stark: Right, don’t mention puny Banner…

Iron Man vs. Hulk


Tony while punching Hulk: “Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!”


The Team Took a Hit


A Safe Place


Bruce and Nat’s Moment


Tony and Steve Chop Some Wood


Tony to Steve: Isn’t that the WHY we fight? So we can END the fight, so that we get go home?”


Nick Fury Returns


Tony to Nick: “I wasn’t tricked, I was shown. It wasn’t my nightmare it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on.”


Thor Recruits Erik Selvig


Planning Around the Dinner Table


Thor’s Next Vision


Ultron’s Plan Revealed


Ultron vs. Cap in South Korea


Enter the Widow


Nat: “Am I always picking after you boys?”


The Twins Have a Change of Heart


Widow Taken Captive


Ultron to Nat: “I was meant to be new. I was meant to beautiful. The world would’ve looked to the sky and seen hope, seen mercy. Instead, they’ll look up in horror.”


Superhero Infighting


The Vision is Born


Vision: “I’m not J.A.R.V.I.S., I’m not Ultron. I am.”


The Vision is Worthy


Suiting Up


The Battle of Sokovia Begins


Ultron: “Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability? You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword and the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers; turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing! When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world, will be metal.”


Steve to Gang: “You get hurt, hurt ’em back. You get killed… walk it off.”


Nat to Bruce: “I adore you…[kisses him, then pushes him off a cliff]…but I need the other guy.”


Clint to Wanda: “The city is flying and we’re fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. Nothing makes sense.”


Various Badass Action Moments.


Clint, pointing his bow at Quicksilver: “Nobody would know. Nobody. ‘Last I saw him Ultron was sitting on him. Yeah he’ll be missed, that quick little bastard.'”


Quicksilver Gets Knicked


Help From Nick Fury


An Awesome War Machine Story


Vision With the Hammer Save


Vision to Thor: “It’s terribly well-balanced.”

Thor: “Well if there’s too much weight you lose power on the swing.”

Avengers Unite


Ultron Gets Beam Blasted


Hulk Scares the Bots Away


Pietro’s Sacrifce


Hulk Leaves


Vision and Ultron Talk


Ultron: “They’re doomed.”

Vision: “Yes, but a thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.”

Settling Back In


Steve: “But if you put the hammer in an elevator?”

Tony: “It’ll still go up.”

Steve: “Elevator’s not worthy.”

The New Team


Steve to Team: “Avengers…as–[cut to end credits].”

The orignal AVENGERS score from Alan Silvestri is a terrific piece of blockbuster scoring. For the sequel composers Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman collaborated on the music, and overall the job isn’t bad, but doesn’t live up to the heights Silvestri set. Some of Elfman’s composition sound great, taking from the core theme Silvestri created and doing his own spin on it. This can be heard during the start of the end credits or when the entire team assembles to take on a horde of bots. Tyler’s work is solid, but not as memorable, and can’t really gather a fun energy like his work on IRON MAN 3. Overral solid work, but Silvestri is still supreme.

Marvel is said to have a villain problem, and it’s a valid case with most of their movies. But Ultron doesn’t fit into that category. No, he is not as fun to watch as Loki, but he is still an incredibly fleshed out villain. Whedon gives him a personality akin to a theatrical, Shakespearean figure, whose villainous viewpoints on humanity go beyond “They have skin! Destroy them all!” He actually challenges the Avengers’ place in the world on an intellectual level, citing their lack of willingness to want to make the world a better place. He has some profound pieces of dialogue, his pressence is heavy thanks to a terrific performance from James Spader, and his final moments with Vision are surprisingly poignant. For a robot he’s incredibly humanized and terrifying.

Here the visuals are noticeably more ramped up from AVENGERS, and in little moments they look pretty cool. The Vision looks undeniably sweet, and the powers of Wanda and Pietro are given a wispy, fantastical look and realism, with Wanda’s red spells looking dangerous and gorgeous. But the robot VFX, when not tightly focused on Ultron, look a little iffy, sometimes not blending in with their environments the way they should. When everything is mashed together for the sake of gigantic action it can all look a little messy, even though in smaller moments the visuals are as good as they can possibly be for a Marvel movie.

The movie’s crowning achievement is the character work, and although not everyone gets the same level of treatment Whedon knows how to use his larger-than-life heroes when the time is right. Tony and Steve’s interactions with each other create a drama that would make a movie with just the two of them perfect all on its own; Nat and Bruce get chances to open up and reveal things we never knew about them and; we see a whole new side of Hawkeye. Whedon lives to get to the core of these characters and reveal their complexities, creating dynamics that are still in effect in the more recently released movies. Their discussions are poignant and often hysterical, and I actually feel like I’m learning something about them all when they’re left to just talk. I know it might seem weird, but the talking is the best part about this massive superhero blockbuster.

Much like the first AVENGERS Whedon injects plenty of humor in the film, mostly when it comes to interactions between the team. Tony Stark is the main harbinger of the laughs, the quip machine that he is. Hawkeye gets more than one time to shine, enticing numerous cheers for lines like “…and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense,” and, “Nobody would know…” Then Hulk is always good for a few yucks. Humor is what breaks down barriers and makes characters relateable, and I feel like that is what makes these movies such real hits, and can bring out the best bits from the heroes.

Box Office

$459 million ($1.405 billion global)

Reviews:

Rotten Tomatoes 75% (83% audience)

IMDB: 7.4

Metacritic:66 (7.1 audience)