Official Australian release date:
23/4/15. Viewed: 23/4/15.
Director: Joss Whedon
Actors: Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, James Spader
Genre: Action / Adventure
Rating: M
Avengers 2 starts off
very fast-paced – you’re already in the midst of a battle and one of the first exchanges
is a hilarious back-and-forth between Iron Man (Downey Jr.) and Captain America
(Evans). It at once sets the scene for a great action film, but also helps to
quickly re-introduce characters and their personalities. It’s not essential to
have seen the first movie, or even the ‘Thor’, ‘Iron Man’ or ‘Captain America’ films
(and even ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’), but they definitely help to add another
layer of nuance and understanding to some events/characters.
The plot is pretty
straight forward – Iron Man wants to protect the world by having his automated
suits everywhere. This inadvertently creates artificial intelligence, which
turns out to be Ultron (Spader) – who wants to protect Earth by helping it to
evolve. This obviously involves wiping out the human species! The Avengers can’t
handle him – and with Scarlet Witch (Olsen) and Quicksilver
(Taylor-Johnson/Kick-Ass) on his side (before they see his true intentions) – they
have to re-group and learn to all work together again. The introduction of
Vision (Bettany) is handled well and is a welcome one for future films.
One of the best
aspects of this film is the characterisation – each Avenger gets some backstory
and exposition, not just fight scenes. Hawkeye (Renner) probably comes off the
best here, since he’s often overlooked – he is after all just a guy who’s a
good archer! The Black Widow (Johansson) and Hulk (Ruffalo) ‘romance’ is odd
and new, but doesn’t necessarily work. However, it’s good seeing Thor
(Hemsworth), Iron Man and Captain America work as part of a team – especially
when Thor and “Cap” combine to take out dozens of enemies at once!
Spader’s voice is
great as the voice of discontent with the human species. While the ending is a
little reminiscent of ‘Superman Returns’, the film takes you on an entertaining
ride through the Marvel universe – I still look forward to the next instalment(s)!
Overall: Not perfect,
but still an extremely enjoyable superhero flick.
Gav's Rating: 4
stars.
