A little short of the first but a solid entertainer none-the-less

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2015)

In a way, it was inevitable. The massive expectations from the sequel to the $1.5 billion grossing and incredibly charming Avengers had shot up so high, the movie was bound to disappoint at some level. And at some level it does, though not to the extent that it can be called a grossly underwhelming disappointment as is being hailed by the media and professional critics. The movie does have its moments, it works for the most part, but just falls short of the first one. In the interest of North American viewers who get this flick a week after international viewers, I'll keep this review completely spoiler free while hoping that it doesn't feel too generic.
The movie's plot, no matter how well written, is pretty standard science-fiction stuff: A robot decides that eliminating humans is the best way to achieve worldwide peace and begins by hatching a scheme to start by eliminating humanities saviors first - The Avengers. That two of the Aveners themselves are responsible for its creation could make for an interesting face off between the creator and the creation. Except that it doesn't.
One of the complains I have with this one is that the dialogue didn't feel as sharp as the first one. In The Avengers, Tony Stark for instance had some amazing lines and so did Steve Rogers. And their banter, while pretty interesting, was entirely in character. Here, both characters seem to have lost their wit / charm. Now fans may justify this as a result of what these characters went through in their respective standalone films but I feel the writing has a lot to blame. Stark's dialogue during the Hulk v/s Hulkbuster fight sequence is an example; his lines are so bland and generic that Downey himself could have done better if he had simply improvised.
Something similar applies to the film's humor; while there were sequences of absolute hilarity amongst the characters in the first film, most of the humor falls flat in this one. All these minor squabbles could have been forgotten if the movie had a great plot. But with something like a robot out for human extinction ending in an equally generic save the city standoff make these flaws stand out even more.
Most movies with a mediocre plot manage to compensate for their shortcomings through some spectacular action sequences. This however, is not Age Of Ultron's strong point either. Most of the action is too heavily edited to be able to follow and the ones you can seem like they were designed by the visual effects crew on an ad hoc basis. And its about time Marvel did away with Brian Tyler and brought a different composer to the mix; the only good themes heard in Age Of Ultron are the ones lifted straight from Alan Silvestri's score in The Avengers and Danny Elfman's slightly modified version of Silvestri's Avengers Theme. Compared to the first one's score which was much more memorable, this one's rather forgetful. And despite a 140 minute runtime, a lot of sequences feel rushed. I guess this has to do with Whedon trying his best to give every character his due and should this movie have an extended edition, it would certainly be one to watch out for.
Now that all the negative stuff is out, here are some of the positives. First off is Ultron and Spader's terrific portrayal of the robotic psychopath (that voice) and Whedon's terrific treatment. Despite his rather clichéd mission, Spader and Whedon make Ultron sound utterly convincing and at times, logical when things are viewed from his perspective. He wants to eradicate humanity so its rather obvious to start with the ones who guard it - The Avengers. Also well done are some bits with Thor's hammer and the following which stand out.

The party sequence. Thor's expression when Rogers tilts the hammer is priceless (Again, the music sucked; they should've kept the one in the trailers)

The Vision. He's a welcome addition and his sequences are bound to spark fan debates

The sequence with the city. Some pretty wondrous effects that had the audience gasping

The mid-credits scene. Its tiny but pretty significant in terms of plot enhancement. And there is no post-credits scene

Hulk v/s Hulkbuster. Its good in parts, but not entirely

When The Avengers came out back in 2012, the kind of shared universe cross-referencing was a novelty that made it an event. It was as close to comic books as movies could get in terms of continuity. With so many shared universes announced, it seems that this novelty factor has wore off resulting in Age Of Ultron a good movie but not a great one. It is certainly a treat that comic-book fans owe themselves and the comic-book audience has a lot to cheer for. For the casual moviegoer, this will just be another good movie. Regardless, critics be damned and tomato-meter scores aside, this is a movie you should not miss.
I'm heavily conflicted between scoring this with a 7.0 or a 7.5. I'll stick with a 7.0 for now and revisit the rating after subsequent re-viewings !!!
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10.0