A fun popcorn sequel... Not much else

Rating: 5/10 (7 October 2015)

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) is one of the many newer sequels to the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has it's hands full with building this cinematic universe, especially after last years critical and commercial hits "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014) and the surprise summer smash "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014). After those two films and the seeing the dark trailers for "Age of Ultron," I was expecting Marvel to bring something very exciting and new to the table.
Unfortunately, Marvel stuck to their easy formula which is to make an almost identical movie to "The Avengers" (2012) and past Marvel entries. The trailers which promised a darker take on the film and villain did their job to fill in the seats, but sadly it didn't deliver on its marketing.
The main problem with this sequel is the villain, Ultron (voiced by James Spader). While James does an excellent job sounding menacing, the writers do a poor job of making Ultron's actions just as evil and creepy. Most of Ultron's lines are meant to make the audience laugh (I hardly smirked), and there is one scene where Ultron commits a scary action but then undermines his villainy with an apology. If good superhero films have taught us anything, it is that a good villain makes the hero. Ultron sadly feels like he could have been any other villain and he still wouldn't be memorable.
The second problem for "Age of Ultron" is that our heroes have no threat to worry about. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), have nothing to fear. Ultron doesn't scare them and the heroes seem to act like he is just another easy threat.
I wish I could say "Avengers: Age of Ultron" is unpredictable or does something extremely new and exciting, but it doesn't. It is by far the most predictable entry in the series, which may be a good thing since it is only meant to be a mindless summer blockbuster.
In the end it's up to the audience member to decide if they were entertained or not. While I prefer films that try something new, others may be happy knowing this is exactly what Marvel has been doing in the past. It is not a bad thing, but I'm worried it may get old fast if this trend continues.
My movie/T.V. recommendations:
If you liked it: "The Avengers" (2012), "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014), "Ant-man" (2015), "The Flash" (2014-Present)
If you didn't like it: "X-men: Days of Future Past" (2014), "The Dark Knight" (2008), "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (2014), "Watchmen" (2009)