Avengers: Age of Ultron grossed $187.7 million dollars on opening weekend, the second-highest domestic box office debut of all time. (The first Avengers holds the #1 spot, with an opening weekend of $207.4 million.) Age of Ultron also scored $439 million overseas, a number sure to climb when the film finally opens in China and Japan.
Even though the new Avengers film is going to remain on top for a while, I think Xander Markham’s Age of Ultron review here on Ruby Hornet sums up my feelings: “Even the most successful philosophy will struggle when weighed down by repetitive storytelling.” The film plays like a bigger rehash of the first Avengers, though the CG action has a weightless sense of spectacle to it. The film’s quieter moments allow the characters to play off each other, giving the movie some personality.
Too bad the four new characters introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron are so generic. Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and even Ultron feel like bland superheroes and villains. They have no discernible personalities, but are just vessels for superpowers and the dictates of the plot, which sort of makes sense since the Avengers movies seem to serve as the event comics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
(Spoilers ahead.)