3.6/5

Rating: 7/10 (14 May 2015)

Another year, another Marvel movie, and this time, the heroes are facing their greatest threat yet...A hype train. Last year's one-two punch combo of "The Winter Soldier" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" sees the studio sitting on a pile of money and critical praise. Now comes the sequel to the Avengers. It brings the earth's mightiest heroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Thor together again, and this time they're fighting the biggest baddie of them all: Ultron(James Spader), intent on making a city into a comet to evolve humanity by destroying it...or something. James Spader was a fantastic choice, and his menacing voice and evilly pompous personality could make for a great villain...if the end didn't come down to him splitting himself into multiple copies, and having those copies attack everything that moves. For the smartest Avengers villain yet, his plan is remarkably similar to EVERY OTHER ONE. Ultron is aided by Scarlet Witch(Elizabeth Olson) and Quicksilver(Aaron Taylor Johnson) who both do serviceable as both lesser bad guys and reluctant heroes. They are, however, hindered by some bad Russian accents. From the opening scenes, it's clear that the formula of dialog from the first Avengers film is still here. That's great. Witty banter gives way to strangely thought-provoking statements, and some cutting-edge meta humor thrown in there for good measure. Joss Whedon(Creator of Firefly, Buffy, and Angel) is a master at this sort of thing, and he's back in his element. In fact, the standout scenes in the movie are the quiet ones. Hawkeye's conversation with someone very special who I will not reveal, Ultron's many monologues that bounce between philosophical and hilarious, and a fantastic party scene all come to mind. There are bits of dialogue in this film that sound like poetry, like when Ultron comments that he enjoys the "geometry of belief" in reference to a church being in the center of a town. However, the problems come from his trying to re-create the magic of the first film too much. The opening action scene is all shot in the one-take style that made the final scene of the 1st film so memorable. This time around, it's hindered by bouncy CGI, especially where Thor is concerned. His hammer doesn't look like it's connecting with anything, and the laws of physics are so bent that everything begins to feel pointless. This stuff is absolutely unacceptable in a movie of this size. It's refreshing that the film isn't too dark, like the trailers suggest, because that's not what these films are supposed to be. However, it certainly looks dark. The vibrant colors of Avengers 1 are replaced with drab yellows and whites that look good in Fincher films, not summer blockbusters. The issue of battle fatigue that films like "Guardians" have so masterfully avoided rears it's ugly head in "Ultron." Instead of a thrill ride, the final action scene is a slog, with almost no audience reaction in my theater. The cast is in fine form, and their chemistry is palpable...except for the most out of left field romance I've seen in a film of this kind. Bruce Banner and Black Widow's dialogue and actions toward each other are about as subtle as a punch from the Hulk, and about as well-written. There are other problems too, some plot holes, some storytelling. Overall though, fanboys will love it, casual fans like me will have fun, but the joy stops there, something that could not be said about Guardians, Cap 2, or the 1st Avengers.