Oct 25, 20203 min read

Avengers: Revenge of Ultron

★★

Starring: #MohedsRandomStuff #Dandroid #LWanimations

Almost a year after putting an end to Ultron, Tony Stark convinces Bruce Banner (for some reason) to bring the malevolent mechanical maniac back with the hopes of learning from their previous mistakes. But of course, Ultron has other ideas, meaning yet another showdown with Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and... Michelangelo?

Now, if you are thinking perhaps you somehow might have missed an entry in the ever-present Marvel Cinematic Universe, fear not. Avengers: Revenge of Ultron is in fact a home-made piece of fan-fiction meant to homage Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, brought to us by YouTube creator Mohed’s Random Stuff (MRS) who himself has enlisted a few creator friends to help along the way in LWanimations and Dandroid.

A quick glance at the MRS YouTube channel will instantly confirm a passion for the franchise, and while Avengers: Revenge of Ultron certainly isn’t short of love for it either, what this particular project is ultimately let down by is a lack of structure, planning and to a certain degree, commitment.

In terms of plot and premise, the film’s overall idea isn’t actually too bad and there are sporadic moments of ingenuity throughout the films sixty-minute runtime as MRS tries to mix things up with different storytelling methods and camera angles (it even has a post-credit sting), but mostly it is an hour plagued by jarring dialogue, half-backed ideas, sound issues and more. The most glaring issue at play here is that aforementioned dialogue, with MRS and co. making it all up as they go along but without the improv skills to pull it off, meaning there are gulfs of awkward dead space while they struggle to think up what to say next. It also means unfortunately that the film is never really that funny, clever or engaging, only occasionally bringing a chuckle when things start to get a wee bit meta.

That poor dialogue is only emphasised by a host of uninspired vocal performances. There is a lack of clarity as to who is speaking at any one time, something which is an unaddressed problem throughout especially in the bigger group pieces. Captain America is the most British he’s ever sounded, with every other voice seeming to land somewhere close to it as well. Of course, it is appreciated that these might not be professional voice actors, but it is not the lack of talent that is the problem but in fact the lack of trying, as any attempt at some distinction between the characters would have perhaps worked better, or at least a script. What does work on a more consistent level is the accompanying score, yes its familiar Marvel fanfare sourced from YouTube but used quite effectively and goes at least a little way to creating the desired illusion of being part of that well-established universe, although it often drowns out some of the underlying dialogue which at times might actually be a bonus.

Those expecting something akin to the brilliance of Action League Now! might be disappointed. Avengers: Revenge of Ultron is an obvious passion project that means well and MRS and co. shouldn't be disheartened, but with what looks like a sequel on the way they should know that films like this need a script and better planning at the very least to make us forget the fact that this is just guys playing with figures in a room.

#ChrisBuick

Watch the trailer here: