Vastly entertaining and brilliantly witty, but definitely overstuffed- "Avengers: Age of Ultron" is a good sequel that just can't QUITE reach the greatness of its predecessor.

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2015)

If there's one thing to take from the current slew of user- reviews, it's this... when hype's involved, people grow fanatic and lose any sense of objectivity. And they will say anything less than perfection "sucks." This is definitely not an overly-disappointing film, nor by any stretch of the imagination are the plethora of 1-out-of-10 scores reflective of the film. I would strongly advise everyone to see the film and judge it by its own merits, and not by the knee-jerk "it's not 'Gone with the Wind', therefore it deserves a 1!" reviews polluting this site. (Not only for this film, but virtually all new releases.)
I happily managed to see an advance screening of "Avengers: Age of Ultron", and there was one main thought that floated adrift in my mind the entire runtime... "I really like this! This is a ton of fun! ...but it's not QUITE as much fun as the first time around."
And that really sums up "Age of Ultron"- vastly entertaining and brilliantly witty. Very decently-written and wonderfully directed. And most definitely deserving of the big- screen experience. But never quite able to live up to the promise and the high bar set by the original. This is merely a "good" sequel. Not a "great" one.
The Avengers must deal with a new threat with the rise of Ultron- an artificial intelligence birthed through the power of Loki's lost scepter merged with Stark Industry Drone tech. Taking in the entirety of human history at once through his connection to world communications, Ultron almost immediately rebels, seeing humanity's flaws as a sign that the world as-is must end. Together with the twin test-subjects Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Ultron devises a deadly scheme to become a more "perfect" being, all while creating a plot that could lead to human extinction. And so, Earth's mightiest heroes must band together to stop him, no matter what the cost may be.
Joss Whedon has really pushed the limit when it comes to storytelling within the MCU with this film, both for better and for worse. You can tell he's having a blast, and his writing reflects this. When it's at its best, this film often matches and even exceeds the high-bar set by Whedon's own original. The banter of the Avengers, and even the villain Ultron, is fantastic, and Whedon has a way with developing the story and characters in a fun, stylistic-yet-organic way that raises the stakes constantly and leaves you in awe of the spectacle. However, the problem with this is that his script sometimes goes too far, and tries to put too many ideas into play at once, leading to a frankly muddled and poorly-paced first act. In fact, so muddled and poorly-paced, the film almost lost me. And in a weird way, I think Whedon's experiences with television were a part of my issues- the film feels a little too "episodic" up front as well, which threw me off. Thankfully, the problems with the pacing ended by the 45-minute mark, and the ensuing 60+ minutes of screen time were pure geeky joy.
The acting is all around fantastic. There's no need to really comment on the returning cast (including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlet Johannsen, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson, among others), as they are all so in-tune with their characters, they come off flawless as ever. Although I appreciated that more focus was given to the "secondary" players like Renner's Hawkeye, rather than just having it be the "Iron Man and friends" show as I had feared. Everyone is given equal screen time and all shine.
The new cast-members are generally wonderful. Particularly James Spader's Ultron- a bizarrely contradictory character who is both demented prophet and rebellious child. It's really fun seeing Ultron- who let's face it, is basically a newborn accustomed to throwing tantrums and suffering great delusions of grandeur, as he develops over the course of the film. Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are also fairly compelling in their roles as the Maximoff twins, though I will say I feel Olsen often outshined Taylor-Johnson as the beautiful and tormented Scarlet Witch. I think the big problem is that only a year ago, we saw Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver portrayed, frankly with much more gusto and originality in the film "X-Men: Days of Future Past." (Though the films aren't connected- they merely both have their own versions of the same character.)
The effects and action are absolutely top-notch. And they more than make up for some of my other grievances. From a wonderful opening single-shot action sequence, to the mythical "Hulkbuster" fight to the long and intense climax- this film is definitely one to give you constant thrills. Some may feel the film suffers from action- overload, and I will admit, there was one fight-scene that felt a little contrived, but they're just so much fun and so well-structured (as they make good use of the actual CHARACTERS and show their emotional states throughout), I didn't mind.
The rest of the production is fantastic. Especially the musical score courtesy of Danny Elfman and Brian Taylor. Great soundtrack than not only includes new themes, but also includes enough callbacks to Alan Silvestri's magnificent score from the original to keep a sense of audible continuity between the two films. (Call me a geek, but I prefer it when films in a series have recurring themes... something not many sequels these days do.)
Overall, I was very satisfied with "Age of Ultron", while still being able to admit it's flawed. Sure, the first 45 minutes had a lot of issues, and the film moves a bit too fast and clunky... but I was having too much fun to care!
I give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. Assemble in line at the cinema and see it for great thrills and great laughs!