Marvel May - Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

          Hey guys, Chuck here. 2015 was a massive year for Hollywood. With major releases including Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, Furious 7, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and so forth, 2015 was a fun year for moviegoers. Marvel Studios had a great 2015 as well, and it started with the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Written and directed by Joss Whedon, the second Avengers movie marks the return of Earth's Mightiest Heroes as they deal with a terrifying new adversary. So, let's dive right into Avengers: Age of Ultron.

       The movie opens with the Avengers attacking a HYDRA base in the country of Sokovia, looking for Loki's scepter, which is in the possession of Baron Strucker. While the Avengers easily subdue Strucker's troops, the enhanced twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff attack, with Wanda showing Tony Stark a vision of the other Avengers dying, and it being his fault. Tony snaps out of his trance and takes the scepter. The Avengers then return to Avengers Tower in New York, and the unmanned drones known as the Iron Legion, which were deployed to assist in Sokovia, are brought in for storage and repairs. Meanwhile, Clint Barton is patched up with an experimental device made by a friend of the Avengers named Dr. Helen Cho. 

        Tony, along with Bruce Banner, study the scepter, and discover a form of artificial intelligence on the jewel of the scepter. Tony thinks that the A.I. may be the key to activating a project he and Bruce have been working on called Ultron. Tony has his own A.I. program J.A.R.V.I.S. implement the A.I. on the scepter into the Ultron project, and when Ultron activates and is instantly overwhelmed, he attacks J.A.R.V.I.S. and builds a body from damaged Iron Legion parts. 

       The Avengers, meanwhile, are having a party, with attendees including Rhodey, Sam Wilson, Maria Hill, and many more. After the Avengers attempt to lift Thor's hammer, with Steve Rogers almost succeeding, Ultron appears and unleashes the Iron Legion against the Avengers. Upon their defeat, Ultron's body is destroyed, but the A I. himself leaps to other bodies in the abandoned facility in Sokovia. Back in New York, the Avengers attempt to regain themselves and figure out what happened with Ultron. Ultron, meanwhile, recruits Pietro and Wanda to help him defeat the Avengers and change the world. 

         The Avengers, meanwhile, learn that Strucker was killed by Ultron, and learn of an associate of Strucker's that Tony had previously been associated with: Ulysses Klaue, who has been branded with the Wakandan symbol for "thief" due to his theft of several tons of Vibranium from Wakanda. Ultron, Pietro, and Wanda meet with Klaue to obtain some of the Vibranium, and after hearing a familiar quote from Ultron (that was previously said to Klaue by Tony), has his arm cut off. The Avengers arrive, and are quickly dispatched by Wanda, who shows them different visions, with Natasha Romanoff seeing her past, Steve attending a party with Peggy Carter, and Thor seeing the death of everyone in Asgard and the universe at large. Bruce, meanwhile, reverts to the Hulk and goes on a rampage through Johannesburg. Tony activates a device ha and Bruce designed called VERONICA, and the Iron Man armor is reinforced by the massive Hulkbuster armor. After a lengthy brawl through the city, Hulk calms down and is knocked out by Tony. 

        The Avengers, suffering from this massive defeat, head to a farm owned by Clint, and they meet his wife Laura, and their two children. The Avengers use the time at the farm as a chance to rest and recuperate, while Thor goes to investigate his vision, learning that one of the Infinity Stones may be involved somehow. Back at the Barton farm, Nick Fury tells of something, or someone, inside of cyberspace slowing down Ultron from getting anywhere near nuclear launch files, but Ultron is still a threat, with Bruce deducing that he's planning on using the scepter and the Vibranium to evolve himself. In South Korea, Ultron uses Dr. Cho's regeneration cradle, the Vibranium, and a stone that was housed in the jewel of the scepter, to build a new body for himself, and Wanda sees what Ultron is planning: to wipe out all life on Earth. Wanda and Pietro then abandon Ultron, as Clint, Steve, and Natasha arrive. Natasha is captured by Ultron, Clint gets the cradle, and Steve is joined by Pietro and Wanda, who look to stop Ultron from destroying the world. 

      Tony returns from Oslo, and reveals that J.A.R.V.I.S. was inside of cyberspace, slowing Ultron down to entire time. Tony makes a plan to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into the body Ultron was making for himself, with Tony believing that J.A.R.V.I.S. could overwrite Ultron completely. Steve, Pietro, and Wanda arrive to stop Tony, leaving the upload incomplete, but Thor uses lightning from his hammer to activate the new creation: Vision, revealing that the stone in Vision's head is the Mind Stone, which is one of the Infinity Stones. Vision then reveals that Ultron's plan to destroy the world involves Sokovia, and only together does this eclectic group of heroes stand a chance of stopping him. 

       The Avengers head to Sokovia, help evacuate the city, and fight Ultron and his army of drones, with Vision digitally burning Ultron out of cyberspace. As the fight rages, the city of Sokovia rises into the air, with the Avengers realizing that of Ultron drops it from a high enough spot, the impact could wipe out all life on Earth. Fury arrives with an old S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, and his crew launch transports to clear the Sokovia civilians out of harm's way. Pietro sacrifices himself to save Clint and a civilian child from Ultron shooting at them, Wanda rips Ultron's heart out, and a last remaining Ultron drone drops Sokovia, which Tony and Thor work together to destroy into smaller, less dangerous pieces, while Vision rescues Wanda. Hulk goes missing in a quinjet and Clint returns home to his family.

       At the new Avengers facility in upstate New York, Thor returns to Asgard to investigate the sudden emergence of the Infinity Stones, Tony decides to step down from active duty as an Avenger, and Natasha and Steve prepare to train the new Avengers: Wanda, Vision, Rhodey, and Sam. A mid-credits scene shows Thanos picking up a golden gauntlet, deciding to go after the Infinity Stones himself.

        This movie tries to go bigger and darker than the first Avengers, and it comes off as just okay as a result. Admittedly, Ultron is an entertaining villain, and actor James Spader does a good job brining the metallic menace to life. The returning actors of Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo are all terrific, and new heroes like Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda, and Paul Bettany as Vision are great as well. The visual effects are terrific, with the Hulkbuster armor being my favorite. Overall a fun entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although not as strong as the first Avengers, I'm going to give Avengers: Age of Ultron a rating of 4/5. This is Chuck signing off. Join me this Thursday as we continue Marvel May with Ant-Man.