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Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

★★★☆☆

Three stars

With Avengers: Age of Ultron being the 11th Marvel Studios film since 2008’s Iron Man, one would be forgiven for assuming the franchise must have outworn its welcome by now. Fortunately, this is not the case. This summer’s most anticipated film serves as a suitable sequel to 2012’s The Avengers, but this latest installment in the Marvel “megafranchise” is let down by a convoluted script, with too many characters – old and new – and the general feeling that it is a ‘necessary’ installment in the series, one that doesn’t really further the overall plot.

Tony Stark has created a world-defending artificial intelligence programme, Ultron, chillingly voiced by James Spader, which instead begins to believe that it can only protect the world by destroying humanity. Ultron finds initial allies in two awesome additions to the cast, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s super-fast Quicksilver, and the telekinetic Scarlet Witch, played by Elisabeth Olsen, who hold a grudge against Tony Stark, after his weapons killed their parents. The six returning Avengers are joined by the newly created android Vision, whose loosely-defined powers seem to be made up as the film progresses. Alongside the team are another entire cast’s worth of supporting characters from previous films. If you think such a large roster of Marvel heroes would lead to a rather overstuffed film, you’d be right.

The main problem with this film is that there’s just too much going on, and not enough time to see much character develop- ment and interaction which was so perfect in the first film. Even the new characters aren’t given much chance to expand. The producers clearly felt it was time the Hawkeye character be explored, yet when we see his life outside of the team, it feels it’s been shoehorned in just to please fans.

Thor’s playful mockery of his mortal teamates gets tiresome, and with Loki not appearing, this film may simply prove that Thor as a character requires a ‘yin’ to his ‘yang’. The introduction of a love story between Black Widow and Bruce Banner is scarcely touched upon and though well portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, it feels superficial, the filmmakers ticking off another box. The quips and witticisms of the Avengers are not lacking, but the moments of interaction between the teammates that made the previous film so memorable are few are far between, and this talented ensemble is given little opportunity to showcase their abilities.

There is a distinct lack of focus – one moment you’re in South Korea, the next you’re in London – and whilst the action is still as exciting as ever, and the visuals no less spectacular, they are entering the realm of Transformers- esque messiness. Ultimately the central plot is confused, and the problem resulting from the Avengers’ own actions renders the narrative somewhat redundant, meaning it’s a film that neither does much to advance the series’ overall plot, nor excels in being a particularly good ‘stand-alone’ Marvel film.

Ultimately, it seems a “necessary” installment, in that the audience needed to see the team together once more before they are divided in next year’s Captain America: Civil War. There is little inherently bad, and following up its 2012 predecessor would be a difficult task by any standards, but it’s both overstuffed and lacking at the same time. Avengers: Age of Ultron is enjoyable, but its convoluted script is wasted on outstanding visual effects and a talented cast.

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