Avengers: Age Of Ultron Review - A Mid-Range Marvel

The Formula

Speaking of fan qualms, Avengers: Age Of Ultron surprisingly fires the first official shot in the bubbling war between Marvel and DC. In response to Man Of Steel decimating half of Metropolis and nobody, not even beacon of hope Superman, batting an eyelid, Age Of Ultron jumps wholeheartedly on the conceit of averting civilian casualty. Every action sequence is built around the heroes getting the public to safety first, making sure collateral damage is kept to a minimum. Sure, it may be a little too prominent, but it's a refreshing change to a trend that even the previous film engaged in. Although if you're looking for any more changes to the status quo, you're not going to find them here. That's right - the Marvel formula that's become progressively more prominent in the series makes a strong return. Now, being fair, it is incredible that, eleven pictures in, the MCU is still able to turn out fresh movies, but that isn't without falling into type. All the movies in Marvel's Phase 2 thus far - Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians Of The Galaxy - liberally took from The Avengers' rule book, boasting a CGI spectacle finale, endless wisecracks and a plot driven by a contextually important, but indistinct MacGuffin, leading to films that all felt a bit too similar. Many had hoped Age Of Ultron would depart from all that, delivering an Empire Strikes Back to the original's Star Wars, but in reality this is more a Special Edition; it's ostensibly new and looks great, but under the hood not much has really changed.