The Ups and Downs of The Avengers Age of Ultron

Spoiler Alert!
And disclaimer: This post was written by not a Marvel comic fan but by a Marvel movie-watching mom.

First off, the plot isn't the easiest to follow. Especially if you're watching this with kids who kept complaining about their cheese popcorn-smeared 3D glasses half the time. So to summarise --just in case you need to explain to said kids later on-- Loki's staff and Tony Stark's scientific meddling spew forth Ultron --a semi-insane synthezoid who's badass talk is just plain awesome. Ultron wants to create order to the world via chaos, which is kinda like Tony Stark's shtick, too. Ultron later builds a body for himself because the robotic skin just wasn't working for him. But later, Tony Stark decides to fit in JARVIS into this body. Thor gets a vision and decides to lend a hand in this science project. And BOOM --The Vision is born.
Still confusing?
Okay, let me just do a run down of our favourite parts of the movie then. Less brain drain there.

1. The Twins
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch make their debut and their synergy is just fab. I love the vendetta-fueled rage! And when they turned goody-two-shoes and saved those people in that runaway train incident, it was teamwork for ze win! Woohoo! I am also thankful that Scarlet Witch didn't wear her comic costume and instead went all Stephern King Carrie on us. Creepier and more loveable that way.

2. Back Stories
I love how Scarlet Witch's power manipulated each Avenger into going into depressing dream states. It gave us a peak into Black Widow's assassin training past. Cool!

3. Hawkeye the Family Man
Speaking of back stories, I love how the movie revealed a different side of Hawkeye. He's married with children and lives in a cabin off in the woods, thanks to a Shield Protection Program. Fantastic but it does make us see that these superheroes are human, too.

4. Girlfriend Battle
Another humanising element in the film is when Tony Stark and Thor went about a 'Whose girlfriend is better' debate.

5. Hulk hearts Black Widow
Speaking of girlfriends… Dang! The love between Black Widow and Hulk is so sudden! And it gave my kids a slight shiver since they've seen this sultry fighting machine be a little sweet with Captain America in the Winter Soldier. But then, this twisted love affair was still cute and oddly appropriate since only Black Widow can calm the big green guy. Sure, it ended in heartaches. But hey, that's how all love stories go. Give it time.

6. Hammer Time
Loved how lifting Thor's hammer as a parlour game set up the fact that later on in the movie, it would be easily lifted by The Vision --the only other hero who's as worthy as Thor.

7. Hulk vs The Hulkbuster
This was fun. Heck, all the fight and action sequences were fun!
"Gotosleepgotosleepgotosleepgotosleep…"

8. Bully vs Banner
It gave us such a giddy feeling to see Stark being a complete heroic jerk as always --and easily bullying the wimpy sandwich, Banner, to play along with his crazy schemes. Oh, Dr. Banner, you're adorable.

9. Robot Zombies!!!
Did anyone notice how Ultron's robots moved like World War Z's zombies? Utter glee! Zombie lover here. Don't mind me.

The parts that made us raise an eyebrow…

1. Thor's Pool Wading
This part was a little lacklustre and befuddling. Which is kinda sad since this should've aided in the turning point of the story. Then again, I'm not a Marvel comic reader, hence, the reason behind being easily lost. And, this was the part when my boy got cheese on his 3D glasses… so yeah.

2. The birth of the Vision
I dunno. We liked JARVIS better when he was nothing more than a lovely voice in our heads. Now that he has a body --a purple one at that-- the magic just died for us. *sigh*

3. Speaking of deaths…
Ultron and Quicksilver died! Our two favourite characters! Okay, it was a given with Ultron --him being the big baddie and all. But Quicksilver had so much life in him. He had a future! *sniff*

Err… did I ramble? Yeah, I always do.
Ending my blabbering by saying 'watch the Avengers: Age of Ultron in cinemas today'!