Movie Review: Age of Ultron (2015)

Pacing is a big deal to me, and when you have a movie with a lot of plot and tons of characters, things can get a bit muddled.  Avengers: Age of Ultron does a pretty good job of balancing things considering how much happens, but I still came away feeling like it was a 3 hour movie crammed into 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Now, I'm a Marvel Comics fanboy from way back; so when I watch this film, I see all the cameos and Easter eggs that probably go over the heads of the average viewer.  It's quite possible that those who only know the movies wouldn't see all the stuff that I do.

Still, if it's overstuffed, it's overstuffed with goodness.  The action sequences are all great, though my favorite parts were the witty dialogue and nice character touches.  Director Joss Whedon is one of the best at working with ensemble casts-- every character advances their own personal story arcs; each actor gets their chance to shine.  I think the interpersonal relationships between the heroes are even better than in the first Avengers film.  Loki is absent this time around, but Ultron manages to be just as compelling a villain, if not moreso.  Genocidal robots are nothing new, but Ultron is a unique and entertaining take on an old trope.

Now, the first Avengers was a big deal.  On top of becoming a cultural phenomenon, it completely changed the film industry.  Superheroes were already dominant at the box office, but The Avengers showed that an interconnected universe could steamroll everything.  Since then, we've seen all the major studios rushing to create their own interconnected universes, and spreading from the big screen to the small screen, too.  Age of Ultron isn't quite as ground breaking as its precursor.  If anything, it probably shows the limits of interconnectedness-- the movie almost sinks under the weight of its cross-referencing.  On the other hand, it does signal an achievement some 30-odd years in the making:  pure, unadulterated comic book storytelling has reached the silver screen.  Up to this point, I feel like they've always compromised (at least a little), but not this time-- we're getting it all: the super, the silly and the shaggy.

Bonus Question:  How many of you would have been willing to see Avengers: Age of Ultron if it had been 3 hours long?  Would you have been more likely to wait until it came out on video?