The Avengers, The Age of Ultron Movie Review

By Mona Sabalones Gonalez

Time continues to pass, and like a fool I still believe there is time for a review of the movie The Avengers, the Age of Ultron.

Action movies are not my favorite genre, and this one starts right into the middle of one very confusing big huge fight. You see, the Avengers are raiding Baron Wolfgang von Strucker’s outpost where he has the scepter which can create super beings. Strucker has so far created two dodgy characters, Pietro who is fast as the Flash, and Wanda Maximoff, who can manipulate your mind.

Amid all the action, you may likely fail to tie in all this detail, so, you’re welcome. For me, all that mattered was this is an action scene, and in the middle of it comes a gentle scene, when Natasha Romanoff calms down the Hulk and brings Bruce Banner back. 

Love scenes are good, forget the fact that in a later scene, she pushes Bruce down a 

cliff because she wants the Hulk to fight. That’s when love resembles marriage, I guess… Because in the middle of those two scenes you wonder if in a forthcoming film they would have kids, and perhaps they may realize it’s easy to be green.

The chemistry between the ultra-conservative Captain America, the ancient god Thor, and the billionaire scientific genius Ray Stark, ergo Iron Man is always on target. The unspoken “contest” for the “most conservative” award between Captain America and the legendary god Thor is an ingenious situation, tied in well with the skills of Robert Downey Jr., -- not Iron Man, not Ray Stark -- Robert Downey Jr. whose genius for drama and humor can hold anything seemingly impossible together and anchor it for the audience. His one-liners are epic. For example:

Maria Hill: [from trailer] All set up boss.

Tony Stark: Actually he's the boss. [points to Captain America]

Tony Stark: I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look cooler.

From the scene of the fight, there follows a party scene, and Iron Man fails to make everyone cooler. Amid the glam they don’t fit. They don’t get the jokes. They need training from Kim Kardashian. That’s not gonna happen to these nerds. But when the party’s over, they’re at ease, competing to see who can lift Thor’s hammer. Thor insists it can only be done if you’re worthy. At some point Rogers wonders;

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

Tony Stark: It'll still go up.

Steve Rogers: Elevator's not worthy.

Stark pulls Bruce Banner aside and brings him to another room where he shows him Jarvis (his invention of his ‘maxi me’) and then shows him Ultron. The scientists in both men take over. Stark suggests they combine Ultron with Jarvis to make the perfect protection for the world.

Irom Man: What if the next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn’t get past the bouncer?

Hulk: The only people who threaten the planet would be people.

Iron Man: I see a suit of armor around the world.

Hulk: Sounds like a cold world, Tony.

Iron Man: I’ve seen colder. This one is very vulnerable. It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that.

Hulk: The only thing hurting man is man.

But Banner gets on board, and the two try to combine Jarvis and Ultron to produce the ultimate protection for the world, without letting the rest of the Avengers know what they’re doing.

When they leave the two creatures alone, Ultron takes over Jarvis. With his new, tremendous power, Ultron sees that the best way to protect the earth is to kill all humanity so they can start again.

Hulk gets mad at Iron Man when he realizes that Ultron has gotten free and starts fighting him. Captain America says, “Nobody tells me anything.” Everybody blames Iron Man for creating artificial intelligence.

Finally, things settle down. The Hulk becomes Bruce again, and Stark apprises him of the situation: When Ultron attached to Jarvis, the latter “went underground” and scattered himself in the ultrons. Stark put Jarvis’ pieces together, and asked Bruce to put him in the scepter.

Stark: We’re out of my field here. You know bio organics better than anyone.

Bruce: And you just assume that Jarvis’ operational matrix can beat Ultron.

Stark: Jarvis has been beating him from inside that belly. This is the opportunity. We can create Ultron’s perfect self without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his perfect personality. We have to.

Bruce: I’m in a loop. This is exactly where it’s gone wrong.

Stark: We’re mad scientists. We’re monsters. We’ve got to make a stand.

A recurring theme that I found interesting was how everyone felt like a monster. Such as this conversation between Banner and Natasha:

Bruce Banner: [looks at Barton's home] I can't have this, any of this. There is no place on Earth I can go where I'm not a monster.

Natasha Romanoff: You know what my final test was in the Red Room? They sterilized me, said it was one less thing to worry about. You think you're the only loner on the team?

The superheroes felt like monsters. The monsters felt like monsters. The beautiful Natasha Romanoff felt like a monster. It was only the strongest monster who didn’t see people as monsters. 

Consider Ultron’s expectations of himself as he speaks to Wanda:  

Ultron: "I wasn’t sure you’d wake up. I hoped you would. I wanted to show you. I… don’t have anyone else. … I was meant to be new. I was meant to be beautiful. The world would have looked to the sky and seen hope.”

And the conversation Ultron has with Vision, who is the perfect blend of Jarvis and Ultron.

The Vision: Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and try to control what won't, but there is grace in their faith. I think you missed that.

Ultron: They're doomed!

The Vision: Yes... but a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It is a privilege to be among them.

Ultron: You're unbelievably naïve.

The Vision: Well, I was born yesterday.

Then he kills Ultron.

If you want to see the movie, you can get a copy here.here.