Age of Ultron: Avengers gather for an average feast this time!

Rating: 6/10 (4 May 2015)

Be prepared to cheer for your Superheroes with all of them coming together in a rather elaborate opening scene to invade the Hydra base from the previous installation of Marvel, Captain America: The Winter Solder. Much has been said about this particular scene but frankly speaking it lacks thrill. It is shot in a gloomy hue with very fast paced action sequences, so fast that you actually miss the details of a good fight. Advice: Keep an eye out for Hulks entry, lest you will miss it.
Once they get back to Avengers HQ with Loki's scepter a miscalculation on the part of Banner and Stark gives form to an evolving AI program, Ultron, which goes rogue and leaves on a mission to eliminate human race from earth. How the Avengers embark on this journey to stop him is what the plot is all about.
Joss Whedon did a marvelous job in the first movie by giving each character their due share of screen space and showcased the right amount of camaraderie between the characters. It was backed with friendly banter, good humor and amazing screenplay. In his new attempt he tries recreating all elements to a bigger affect but the outcome is very different – so many characters are brought in the plot from MCU that screen time of the main leads is reduced to a bare minimum and no one gets to shine. Not even Tony Stark! Other two weak elements were the introduction of Hawkeye's family and the romantic angle between Natasha and Banner. Though most of it was relevant to the Marvel comic world, many were uncalled for as a part of this sequel. Editing could have been better. OK so the heroes lacked the punch, but a worthy villain could have saved the day. Unfortunately the movie is at its lowest when Ultron is in the frame. One really misses the sly, manipulative, conniving and unapologetic Loki from the previous one.
The action in this movie is done well but is it different from other franchises from MCU? – no! With the four characters of Avengers having their own franchises running in parallel, the action here should have been four times better but manages to be just OK. Remember, the antics like Hawkeye shooting out an arrow to Loki aboard one of his minions and Loki catching it midair only to be blown up the explosive arrow head, Hulk beating the wits out of Loki, the never ending edge of the seat pursuit of Ironman with his continuous witty conversation with Jarvis, all were missing here. Whedon tries to bring in some of the flavor from his earlier project, but forgets to add freshness to it. Just getting more characters with no space in the plot does not amplify the thrill element. Yes the action is explosive but it is something that we see time and again in other movies as well - there was no differentiator here. Final showdown could have been cut short by at least ten minutes because things started getting seriously repetitive and a drag.
Every movie has its moments and this one sure does too. My favorite is the SmackDown between Ironman's Veronica and Hulk towards the middle of the film. It's outstanding! We wanted many of these in AOU!.
All said, it's not a movie to be missed, not because it's outstanding but because it builds up the tempo for the next movies to come.