The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie review

The second installment of the Avengers franchise stars the same big-name Hollywood clan as its predecessor, all reprising their roles. Robert Downey Jnr plays the indelible alpha male Tony Stark – better known as Ironman. And, when it comes to casting in the Marvel franchise, Downey Jnr’s wit and charm are perfect for the role. Scarlett Johannson is the femme-fatale, Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo is the sensitive but dramatically angry Hulk, while Chris Evans plays the straight-laced Captain America. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Thor and Jeremy Renner is fantastic as Hawkeye.

As with all films inspired by comic books, the premise is: good vs evil. Director and writer Joss Whedon decided to fidget and really unwind and explore this major theme by internalising the demons of The Avengers as individuals and also as a group of vigilantes. For example, Ironman faces his biggest demon – his ego – while the Hulk faces his internal struggle of wanting normalcy over being a superhero.

As a group, the internal politics of “who’s boss” forms an entertaining parallel story to the major theme of good vs evil. Again, even with Ultron (James Spader), the main protagonist in the film, the idea of being plain evil is explored, showing this ideology – which has stood the test of time in books, movies and life – is never a question of black and white, but rather a grey area.

Moviegoers will appreciate the journey The Avengers takes to Russia, Congo and Johannesburg. Not since District 9 has a film captured the essence of Joburg. The Avengers: Age of Ultron showcases the landscape and griminess to heighten the intense fight scene between two of the Avengers.

However, though the movie excels in exquisite fight scenes and futuristic action, it loses its way in terms of storyline. Whedon laces the movie with funny one-liners, but the central idea of good triumphing over evil loses its way between artificially intelligent robots and computer programming.

Watch it for the action.