We’ve had our fun in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it’s time to head back to Earth and see what’s going on with the Avengers! Last we left them, HYDRA defeated SHIELD and was all over there world… oh and there were fire breathing superhumans and Dark Elves. Needless to say, things haven’t gotten any calmer for Earth’s mightiest heroes.
Plot
Ever since HYDRA was ousted, the Avengers have been around the world trying to clear any and all of their strongholds. They eventually learn that HYDRA’s new leader Baron Strucker has Loki’s mind altering scepter, and set out to retrieve it. It’s there that the Avengers meet two people with abilities: Quicksilver who has super speed and Scarlet Witch who is a sorceress. Thanks to Scarlet Witch, Tony Stark has a horrific vision of all the Avengers dying because of him not doing enough. With this new fear in the back of his mind, Tony and Bruce Banner use the power of Loki’s staff to create a safety program to help the world named Ultron. Little do they know though, that Ultron can both the Avengers and the world to its knees.
Villain
As the name suggests, the villain is Ultron; an artificial intelligence created by Bruce Banner and Tony Stark in the hopes that it would be the leading defense for Earth effectively removing the need for the Avengers. Ultron, however, becomes self aware and self serving and decides the best way to bring peace is to eradicate Earth’s biggest danger: humanity. Ultron has access to any computer in the world meaning that defeating him is borderline impossible. With Loki’s scepter he can control people to his whim as well and almost becomes one with the scepter’s power (which ends up being an Infinity Stone). After stealing vibranium, Ultron turns an entire city into a floating meteor and almost destroys all of humanity. He’s the most intelligent villain the Avengers have ever faced, almost immortal, and has an Infinity Stone… yet something about him just doesn’t seem right. I love the comic book version of Ultron: as a machine programmed to save the Earth, the best way to do so is to remove humans. The film version of Ultron has the same motivation, yet for some reason he acts and speaks like a human. He also quotes the Bible all the time… again he’s a robot who hates humanity yet he seems like humanity’s biggest fan.
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are villains for a majority part of the film serving as Ultron’s minions. Quicksilver is pretty one note: he runs fast and that’s about it. Scarlet Witch is definitely a more interesting character with the ability to read minds and make people see their deepest fears. She’s probably the strongest superhero in the MCU up to this point because her power is unpredictable and based on her emotion. One moment she’s perfectly fine, the next she gets angry and vaporizes everything around her. Luckily for the Avengers she joins their fight to save the world.
Best Scene
The Incredible Hulk vs. Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster Armor. What else could it be? Not only is it the best fight in Age of Ultron, it’s one of the best fights in the entire MCU. After the original Avengers, Bruce helped Tony build an Iron Man suit capable of standing up to the Hulk in case Bruce ever lost control. That suit is finally put into action after Scarlet Witch uses mind control on Bruce turning him into the Hulk. Hulk goes on a rampage in a nearby city and Tony calls in the Hulkbuster Armor to stop him. The two turn the city to rubble and the Hulkbuster wins in the most Tony Stark fashion. Tony carries Hulk above a skyscraper being built, BUYS THE BUILDING only so he can smash Hulk through it seconds later. It’s a hilarious, epic and extremely memorable fight and it was great to finally get to see the Hulkbuster on the big screen especially since it was notably absent in the Iron Legion in Iron Man 3.
Stan Lee Cameo
After the Avengers successfully defeat Strucker and retrieve Loki’s staff, the team has a party at Avengers Tower. At one point Thor breaks out booze he brought from Asgard that has been aged for 1,000 years. He says it was “aged in the barrels of Grunhel’s fleet. It is not meant for normal men,” which is when Stan Lee, an army vet, says “Neither was Omaha beach blondie! Stop trying to scare us, come on.” He then is seen being drunkenly dragged out of the party while mumbling his infamous line “Excelsior!” The line at the end is the icing on this delicious cameo cake!
Post Credits Scene
A dark room is opened revealing a large gold gauntlet. The one opening the vault is none other than Thanos! Because of course it is! We have Thanos, we have Infinity Stones, eventually the Mad Titan was going to get his gauntlet! Thanos simply says the words, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” No more minions getting the stones for him. Soon the starways will bathe in the blood of his victims.
Final Thoughts
This movie is very hit and miss. There are great action sequences, interactions between the Avengers, and it introduces us to the Vision, but the villain overall is kind of a downer. He speaks like a Bible thumper and although he’s almost immortal he’s never really proven to be as much of a threat as Loki was. Also, Winter Soldier introduced us to Baron Strucker who is a major villain in the Marvel Comics, but this film made him look like a joke killing him off in the first half an hour. The original Avengers is one of the best superhero films of all time, so expecting this to surpass that was always going to be a hard sell, but nevertheless Age of Ultron is a fun film.
Thanos Meme of the Week
Today’s date is March 16th aka 3/16 aka Stone Cold Steve Austin Day so there is no better Thanos meme for me to share than this one!
The Magical World of Dids 