A Step away from Greatness

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2015)

Age of Ultron was always going to be in the shadow of the first Avengers film. The first film gave us THAT moment, when all of these heroes united on screen for the first time, and it felt epic. Topping that was never going to be easy for AoU, and it doesn't quite hit that mark.
There are some unresolved questions. At the very start of the film the Avengers are together again, apparently going around the world, taking down Hydra bases. When did they start doing this? How did they get in touch with Thor to rope him into it? We're left with the gang all together and we're meant to take it as read that this is how it is. That said, it was impressive to see them all as a functioning unit, a team (even the Hulk is on-side), taking out wave after wave of bad guys.
We're introduced to two new characters (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) but I can't help but feel they needed a film of their own to flesh them out - there's too much going on in AoU to cram in much back story or give them the time they deserve, however much they try.
Ultron is great. He isn't perhaps as fearsome as the trailers suggest, but he can go pound-for-pound against Thor, which should serve as a mark of his strength. He believes humanity needs to go - they have had their time and the world needs to move on. He isn't necessarily acting out of pure evil - he just sees humans as too chaotic to survive.
James Spader is quite dry and witty in this role - it's hard to imagine anyone else doing it.
The film is peppered with some nice moments and good one-liners but it could have benefited from a slightly more serious tone, and Ultron needed to be a touch more dangerous - he was painted as the villain to seriously test the Avengers, and he doesn't really come across as THAT dangerous - it sort of feels like AoU is teeing up Phase 3 rather than concluding Phase 2 - it's a good film, that they tried to do too much with, and so got a little muddled. That didn't stop me from enjoying it though!