Great popcorn blockbuster production, but it stops there

Rating: 7/10 (10 May 2015)

As usual, Marvel has nailed it. Age of Ultron is a great popcorn blockbuster production.
I won't go into the same reviews everybody already wrote: yes, same characters going crazier. Same witty dialogue up a notch. James Spader is a fantastic villain and a great choice for Ultron. The new comers are quite good, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, were good enough.
All that having being said. This was supposed to be the ending for the MCU's Phase 2. At that phase, Tony Stark should have retired from the Iron Man mantle (as of the horrible Iron Man 3 showed). Thor should've been retired and living with Jane Foster (as of the reasonable Thor 2 Dark World).
Captain America 2 retired SHIELD, but if you've been following the Agents of SHIELD TV Series you already know they've been rebuilding it. The intersection with the TV show and the movie was quite abrupt in my opinion and felt rushed.
At least the TV is showing developments towards the Inhumans for Phase 3. Captain America 3 Civil War will be Avengers 2.5. The lack of any mention to the upcoming Scott Lang's Antman was a huge missing opportunity.
The major problem with Age of Ultron is that it picked up where Avengers, Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD left off and ignored Iron Man 3, Thor 2. The MCU was supposed to be one concise and coherent universe. But the more they deliver new movies, the bigger the gaps.
Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were by far the best thing about Phase 2 thus far and Age of Ultron was unable to top it. And this is what makes this super highly anticipated movie fall short.
Production value was really high and I enjoyed watching it in the theater and I will enjoy watching it again on Blu Ray. But it did not make any real impact to kick off Phase 3. It seems more like Civil War will be more meaningful to the MCU.
The MCU mythos is getting convoluted too fast. Too many gaps are not being addressed. It's already very difficult to explain the story to newcomers. Each big Phase should have some closure as an arc, but it's not helping. With sideshows such as Daredevil and Agent Carter, it only adds to the bloat. Unless Civil War can do something about it, the MCU will lose a lot of steam in Phase 3 and Infinity Wars will be too little too late in the future.
Age of Ultron felt just like a throw away story. Don't get me wrong: it's a very nice blockbuster for sure, but it's not what it was supposed to be.