Best Moments: Avengers: Age of Ultron

It’s been quite a long time since I did one of these posts for The Avengers, but it’s a fun thing to contemplate with the team-up films, what each team member’s coolest contribution is.  In addition to the original six Avengers, I’m including Vision and the Maximoffs here (Rhodey and Sam won’t get in on the action until I get around to Civil War.)  Spoilers abound.

Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man:  Taking out the City – Tony has a rough time of it in this movie, for obvious reasons.  After all of his misfires, though, he makes good in the end by figuring out how he can blow up the (evacuated) city, breaking it into small enough pieces that it won’t cause catastrophic devastation when it hits the ground.

Capt. Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America:  Throwing the Motorcycle – There are a few absolutely choice Cap moments in this movie, but you can never go wrong with Captain America doing a backflip over the handlebars of his motorcycle and then using the momentum from said backflip to throw said motorcycle into a truck full of bad guys.  I mean, sure, it loses him the motorcycle, but the style points cannot be discounted.

Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow:  Transferring the “Package”

Another moment of motorcycle-related badassery.  Why sure, I’ll stand on the seat of my motorcycle in traffic to jump into the open back door of a moving truck.  I’ll keep my cool when that truck is carried off by flying robots.  I’ll wait for my partner to swing by in his quinjet, and then I’ll steal the robot’s new Vibranium body clean out from under him, placing explosives on the truck right before I leap onto the body’s case and ride it from the back of the truck into the quinjet (in midair, with no propulsion or steering mechanism.)  How do you spend your Tuesdays?

Thor:  Saving the Motorists – Thor doesn’t get a lot of play here; most of his best moments are literally “moments,” not scenes.  That said, all of my favorite Thor bits involve his recurring tag-teams with Cap, and I like this one best from a Thor standpoint.  Two cars have gone over the edge of the city, despite Cap’s most dedicated efforts, but Thor swoops in for the save.  He plucks the driver out of one car in midair and tosses her back up to Cap before retrieving the second car and dropping it back onto the road.

Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk:  Taking out the Bunker – Though not as bad as Tony, Bruce also has a rough movie, filled with angst of both the romantic and Hulk-related variety.  So for me, my favorite Bruce moment was seeing how the Hulk has been integrated into the team, laying waste to a bunker of armed Hydra guys moments after Natasha asks for someone to take care of it.

Clinton Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye:  Thwarting the Scarlet Witch – A small moment, but a good one.  Wanda has already whammied Tony and she’s just added Thor, Steve, and Natasha to her collection, but right when she goes for Clint, he anticipates her, putting her momentarily out of commission with an electrified arrow.  Given what he went through in The Avengers, it’s satisfying to see him so deftly cut off someone else who’s trying to mess with his head.

Vision:  Burning out Ultron’s Escape Route – I really like Vision, and I love both of his standoff moments with Ultron.  If I had to pick one, the first is my favorite, when Ultron comes at him and he responds by forcing him out of the Internet so he can’t escape the battle that way.  He’s just so stoic and serene right up until the moment he goes in; I love that.

Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch:  Tearing out Ultron’s “Heart” – I’ve talked about this scene before.  I think it’s my favorite of the whole movie.  Even though it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s a huge moment for Wanda, confronting one of the forces that’s been manipulating her pain and anger in order to use her and instead directing her pain and anger towards him.  She is stone cold, using her powers to tear Ultron’s metal heart out of his chest and calmly informing him that that’s how it felt when Pietro died.

Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver:  Saving Civilians from the Derailed Train – The train scene is the Maximoffs’ first foray into heroism, and Pietro and Wanda make a great team.  While she tries to telekinetically stop the train, he races ahead of it, weaving in and out of its path to pull civilians clear.  For both of them, I like that their first good-guy moment isn’t even a switch to fighting villains instead of heroes.  Instead, it’s all about them saving innocent people, which is very cool.