Avengers: Age of Ultron NON-Spoiler Review

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I just got home from seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron and thought I would sit down and write up a quick non-spoiler review.

Simply put, this movie is awesome!  I don’t think it’s quite on the same level at Captain America: The Winter Soldier in terms of plot twists and storytelling, but it is still up there with the upper echelon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The various fight scenes are awesome in how they pair the characters up so we see a lot of different combinations fighting together.  Everyone gets a couple of good lines, but Hawkeye seems to get the most.  There are three different “money shots” scattered throughout the movie—shots that can and should be posters or motion posters (a la the Avengers standing in a circle while the theme plays for The Avengers).  The first happens within the first five minutes of the movie; the second is maybe thirty minutes from the end, and the last is right before the credits.  Definitely keep your eye out for those epic team shots—though it’s pretty hard to miss them!

There were several parts of the movie that seemed rushed, like there was something missing or it could have been expanded further.  I didn’t feel like they made the movie incomprehensible or “jumbled” or whatever reviewers are calling it by cutting pieces out (over an hour’s worth).  I thought that for most of those moments it was pretty easy to “fill in the blanks” for myself where it seemed like something was missing.  Nevertheless, I really hope that they put out a “Director’s Cut” of Age of Ultron alongside the theatrical cut.  I really want to see the 3 ½-hour version that Joss Whedon submitted! (Is there a “#AoUDirectorsCut” yet?  There should be.)

Age of Ultron does a lot to set up Phase 3, specifically Civil War and Ragnarok.  However, I did not think that the set-up moments took away from the movie or bogged it down.  In fact, most of the set-up served the plot.  We’ll have plenty of chanced to talk about how later, once we’ve all had a chance to see the movie.  Suffice it to say that Age of Ultron ends with a lot of the characters in place for Phase 3.

This is definitely a movie that I would encourage you to see—and even see it a second time (or more).  I know there were parts that I missed, so I’m planning to see it again (probably before I write a full review).  I think that seeing it a second time will help with understanding the few parts that seemed a little “rushed.”

One quick note for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans:  I don’t know if the events of Age of Ultron will have the same effect on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as The Winter Soldier did last year.  But if I was counting the days correctly, Age of Ultron picks up the day after “The Dirty Half Dozen” (2x19), last week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode (Wednesday), and ends on either Tuesday or Wednesday—meaning that the final events of Age of Ultron may be happening concurrently with the upcoming Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode, “Scars.”  So I would encourage you to see Age of Ultron before Tuesday.  Of course, I’d encourage you to see it before then anyways, but still…  I didn’t see a lot of plot points in Age of Ultron that serve as lead-in to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but there are at least a couple significant ones which I will touch on Sunday.

What did you think of Avengers: Age of Ultron?  Where would you rank it among the MCU movies?  Please be nice to those who haven’t gone to see it yet and be careful not to include spoilers in your comments.

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