As intelligent, nuanced and, yes, awesome, as its titular villain

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2015)

Everything seems to be settled for the team, making room for more infighting as this goes for psychological thriller in their individual nightmares being forced to the surface. Each of them have their own drama and interpersonal relationships, all effective and compelling, yet incredibly well-balanced with the near-constant humor and huge, creative and unforgettable action as this doesn't take itself too seriously. A certain genius creates a powerful A.I., failing to realize that this is based on a comic book, so, duh, it's going to Sky-Net on them, and this manages to avoid feeling cliché. Ultron(Spader, in the unusual, for him, not-perverted role, but intensely creepy nonetheless) is the first bad guy in the MCU(did I mention this is the best one yet?) to be as compelling as Loki.
This somehow manages to be both jam-packed with detail yet not overwhelming, deliver on an incredible amount of the dense, and well-utilized continuity, and, somehow, actually allow newcomers in. I kid you not, you can go into this completely blind. Sure, you'll have to pay close attention, but it's doable, and where "Guardians" told and did not show, this does the opposite, spending little time explaining, and rather just letting us see how everything and everyone works. Everything you need to know to follow it is in there – think Star Trek, as you watch, you'll understand more and more, and it doesn't really throw anything you can't at all follow at you until you've seen a lot to set it up for the payoff and yet, it doesn't feel constrained by that. This delivers from frame 1: we start in the middle of a major attack! A ton has happened between movies, and we quickly pick up on it, and this establishes, develops and uses every element, be it big or small.
There is a lot of disturbing content and, mostly mild, violence, a little of it genuinely getting nightmarish and inching close to an R and yes, the language does occasionally get strong, and the film teases the MPAA by pointing out the amount and where that line is drawn. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys going to the theater, albeit the 3D is entirely optional. 10/10