Weak attempt at fanservice

Rating: 4/10 (13 November 2017)

This film is a perfect example of what happens when you're more focused on cramming in references and lead-ups to future films rather than having a cohesive narrative.
The Avengers return to take on one of Tony Stark's mistakes: a defence technology gone rogue, taking control of his Iron Man suits and becoming sentient. That's essentially the plot. Also shoehorned in is foreshadowing and allusions to future films such as Civil War, Black Panther, Infinity War and Thor: Ragnarok. Our heroes are caricatures of themselves here as very little character development is given for the majority of the film, save for a 'shock reveal' about Hawkeye.
We are also shown the most 'out-of-nowhere' romance between Black Widow and the Hulk, which really only exists for people to make fanfiction.
Ultron is shown less as an intimidating villain and more as a wise-cracking ass. Barely memorable and his evil plot was completely forgettable.
Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson make their debuts as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively, but since Quicksilver was already done by Fox's X-Men, Taylor-Johnson's multi-movie contract was made kinda redundant.
The movie attempts to have character bonding scenes at the halfway point, but ultimately, it's just more foreshadowing. This film may have about as much depth as a kid's swimming pool but the visuals are certainly stunning. I think it was around this point where many people were succumbing to 'superhero fatigue', but it's definitely debatable.
A lackluster sequel to the first Avengers, and the resulting cause of Joss Whedon's departure from involvement in the MCU.