(Sigh)

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2015)

I think the Marvel studio heads should realise now that comic books and film are two very different media. I don't feel like I'm watching a film franchise any more but a television series on steroids. And everything has to tie into the next couple of episodes.
And hence you get to see this bloated mess with so many sub-plots and really uneven pacing. Initially it starts off strong, cool action sequence in a snowy mountain and everything. Then Tony Stark and Bruce Banner create an artificial intelligence via Mcguffin and it becomes sentient and then genocidal. Which at this point in the MCU Tony has become such an unlikeable character. I don't understand why Hank Pym wasn't introduced earlier on in the franchise. It wouldn't balanced out Tony's character a lot more, but now he's reckless and just straight up stubborn.
Once Ultron gets loose this is where you get to see why the first film was so much better. Much of the second act in the first film had all the characters, even the antagonist Loki, in the heli- carrier, and you get to see them all interact, develop character and advance the plot. Here the second act was literally all over the place as they hopped from one set-piece to another. First you have the Iron-Man Hulkbuster throwdown in Wakanda where they level a 30 story building where it brought up uncomfortable 9/11 imagery. Then the movie just stops where all the characters reconvene in a log cabin where Hawkeye can finally get some character development so the audience can be told 'Hey! He's not that useless. We hired Oscar Nominee Jeremy Renner for a reason'. Then you have a forced romance between Banner and Romanoff which came out of left field. I'm sorry what was all that between her and Captain America in the Winter Soldier for? And what happened to Betty Ross? Then you have Thor and his water well, I dunno. The second act was disorienting to say the least.
Ultron is not a good a villain as Loki. He's an artificial intelligence who has access to nuclear launch codes, and the characters point that out but he doesn't go through with it and instead opts for a more convoluted scheme. Also at times he gets very comical. The final confrontation between the Avengers and Ultron was also messy. The previous film also had an intense chaotic final act but it was still easy to follow. This one got really difficult to follow with characters disappearing for minutes at a time and attending to stuff which really seemed minor to me at times.
As a Marvel film its nowhere near as good as the first Iron Man, the fist Avengers film or the Winter Soldier. However as a popcorn flick its still there. Hmmmmmmmmmm.