Whilst The Avengers embraced a plot about killer aliens invading Earth and could be considered to be generally "dark," Avengers: Age Of Ultron attempts to be something akin to The Empire Strikes Back; that's to say, a decision has clearly been made to pile on the darkness in an attempt to render the movie as the "second, darker chapter" (which also means draining all of the colour out of the movie, apparently). But whilst Age of Ultron does embrace an apocalyptic tone of sorts, what with there being a huge explosive city-wide battle every half an hour or so, it also embraces a sense of lightheartedness throughout that results in one of the most bizarre blockbuster tones in recent memory. There is death and sadness everywhere, but there are also endless one-liners, "funny" moments and quips upon quips at every turn. Other Marvel movies have succeed whilst embracing big plots coupled with a sort of self-knowing funniness, of course, but here things are too extreme on both fronts: Whedon attempts to ensure that Age Of Ultron is a far darker and consequential movie than its predecessor, but refuses to hold back on the one-liners, funny one-liners and meta-references - to the point where he overindulges in both factors. This creates a tone that feels inherently "off." Dark and funny can work together, but it doesn't feel natural in this particular movie. Not quite.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
