Good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2015)

I've seen the movie twice now, once in a near empty theater (first viewing) and once in a packed theater (second viewing). It was definitely a more enjoyable experience with a crowd to create some atmosphere.
This movie is good but not great. I definitely enjoyed the first Avengers movie and Guardians of the Galaxy more. The movie felt a bit flat because plot-wise it was very similar to the first movie - the evil villain messes with the team's minds to break up the team, but the Avengers inevitably regroup and save the day. Furthermore, Loki was a more interesting villain than Ultron.
While the sequel produced a few giggles, it lacks the laugh-out-loud moments of the first (except for one cracker from Hawkeye). There is also a within team romance that seems to have come out of nowhere and with little explanation as to why. Hawkeye gets by far the most character development of any of the Avengers, which made me think he was going to die at some point (no spoilers - I'm not saying he does or doesn't).
Unlike in Avengers 1, Hulk is notably absent from many of the major action sequences which I felt let the movie down, as Hulk was responsible for some of the best moments of the first movie.
In summary, it is a good popcorn movie, but unfortunately not as great as its predecessor.