Good but not the dabble in the Marvel Palette It Could Have been.

Rating: 7/10 (27 April 2015)

I think that the film was fine but basically a retread of the original 2011 movie. However The Winter Soldier, with a fairly complex and even thought provoking plot and Guardians of the Galaxy which was a Sci-Fi effects movie with indy heart and soul promised something from Age of Ultron that wasn't delivered.
I think Whedon and the producers should have retained Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) as inventor of Ultron, commissioned by a US government ashamed of what SHIELD had become. There could still be conflict with Stark with Ultron invading his armoury. Add a more unstoppable Ultron element (in the time he was away he could have brought world finance to a halt) then you would have had an epic scale sense of peril that wouldn't just be limited to one small Eastern European City (even if it was going to be used as a nuclear warhead) Overall I enjoyed the film but last year's Marvel films wrote a plot and tone cheque 'A:AOU' failed to fully cash.
Introducing Pym (Michael Douglas) and having him be Ultron's creator wouldn't have been difficult. I feel this would have made so much more sense and added that extra layer that it needed - then Pym's history and initial protection of his creation could have provided a character arc that would have led more neatly into 'Ant-Man'.
Marvel/Disney own Pym and Ultron - there was no need to erase Pym from Ultron's history. OK, may be OCD-geek of me, but I truly think that just on film terms that would have enhanced the drama.
I enjoyed the film but despite Ultron's excellent CGI capture of Spader's performance, Tom Hardy - for example - with a plastic mask and shaved head managed to hold so much more dramatic power as a super villain because the timing and plot showed so much more tacit threat.