8.5/10

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2015)

So many things to get out there, but before starting let me just give a disclaimer. I do not remember a time in my life where I wasn't reading Marvel Comics, that is totally true. I am a Marvel Comics geek and The Avengers have been, alongside the Cosmic comics, my favorite series to read and have brought some of the best stories I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. So when judging a Marvel film there are always two sides of me that are adding up to the final judgment: one side is the film nerd that just wants to get a great movie, the other is the comic nerd that wants his favorite characters to have the best portrayal on screen. That whole introduction might have gone on for two pages, but it was to say I might go into some nerdy territory that general film goers don't care about, but I just can't help it.
As you guessed from my score I liked the movie and upon second viewing I will go as far as actually loving it. One thing that I want to get out first is that for the first time, since 2008's "Iron Man", I finally saw the MCU coming into it's own. Every movie before was always trying to find it's place in with the other movies, but finally I saw the MCU as I had dreamed of it. It was just like in the comics and I truly loved that, it takes all the mythology and gives it for granted and throws you right into it. There is no need to set-up things, it nailed the feeling of a comic book even more than the first one.
"Age of Ultron" excels on so many levels it is very difficult to start with one because you are immediately thrown into talking about another. I'll start with what I thought was the best part: the characters. Joss Wheodn proves again he understands these characters more than anybody else and makes the very best out of them. There are many, many character moments that are gold and the best are the intimate ones. My favorite parts really were watching the characters interact and argue, the writing value of some scenes was really remarkable. Moreover it is great to see them having grown and knowing each other, it offered a new dynamic that made things all the more enjoyable and again so close to the comic books. Obviously the action sequences are absolutely stunning. My favorite being the very opening one: the film opens with a long shot that had my mouth dropped to the floor and fortunately these breathtaking shots continue throughout the film. Scene after scene I was glued to my seat because of the relentlessness of the visually fantastic action that was always in service of story. It was so brilliantly put together: the vision of the director is so clearly brought to the screen; the complexity of the scenes is so deep, I truly admire the talent of the filmmakers in bringing them to life. The comedy moments obviously work and are juxtaposed to some even better dramatic moments. Plus, as a comic nerd, I lost count of moments where I just geeked out in joy. Overall, this was simply a fabulous ride that never left me time to catch my breath and actually improved on second viewing.
All of the negatives are minor things, there isn't one gaping flaw, but when added up they simply don't match the flawlessness of the first one, which is one of my favourite movies of all time. Firstly, Ultron was underwhelming. It pains my fingers to type it, but it is true. Ultron is one of the best villains in history probably, forget Skynet, Ultron is the incarnation of AI gone wrong and is one of the most compelling villains to read about especially the relation with his creator (which by the way I am really bummed isn't Hank Pym because of what it means to that character), but these aspects were never explored and his motivations were really underdeveloped. He wasn't simply given the portrayal he deserves. He was a kind of cool villain, but he wasn't Ultron to me. The storytelling overall wasn't as flawless as in its predecessor, it was very good, but it left bits and pieces behind. The CGI some very rare times popped out. The action was sometimes sloppy and too fast cutting, for the majority it really stands tall, but there were moments here and there were it wasn't as good as it could have been. Moreover, the film just doesn't take risks, there are no major surprises and so it simply doesn't up the stake as much as I wanted to. Now this is really bragging but here are two pet peeves of mine: firstly, I just missed the Seamus McGarvey cinematography, Ben Davis was great don't get me wrong just look above to find my praises of the visuals in this film, but I just missed the what McGarvey is able to do, that being making every single frame immaculate, with Davis there was that shot once in a while that just fell flat. The second pet peeve is something that really bothered me, they tease and tease the Avengers theme throughout, but it never plays! And even worst it plays during the credits! That was really something that missed for me, it gave a great push at the very end, but it was simply too late.
Enough nitpicking, I really, really recommend this film to anybody, nerd or not, I genuinely had a riveting experience for the whole duration and that isn't something that many movies do to me. Yes there are many negatives that can be pointed out, but there is just so much to be enjoyed and loved that as much as you can think back to the negatives the better parts will stick out much more.