Somewhat over-whelming, but still a pretty spectacular ride

Rating: 7/10 (12 May 2015)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Opening in the action, the Avengers have been sent to rescue some people from a mad doctor in the Alps, who wants to experiment on them. Among them are a brother and sister pair, who possess special powers of their own, but who hold a grudge against Tony Stark, as they remember seeing a weapon made by his company lying in the rubble, after their parents were killed in the war torn country they are from. But after the mission's success, Stark becomes the spanner in the works again, when he talks fellow scientist Bruce Banner in to meddling with nature and opening the peacekeeping program Ultron to secure harmony in the world. Big mistake, as Ultron forms a life of it's own, and decides to try and wipe out the human race and replace it with his own kind.
Having unthinkably missed the original Avengers spectacle on the big screen three years ago, no way was I going to miss Joss Whedon's inevitable sequel, which promised to be bigger, badder and balsier than the last one, as they always do. This may be the case, but it hardly makes it better, as such. And, as grand and outside the box as it may be, that is the case. The follow up, like it's main antagonist Stark, is a victim of it's own blind ambition, a relentless, none stop roller coaster ride that bombards you with flash all the way to the end, and just leaves you over-whelmed. With Stark being the main character, and Robert Downey Jr. being the biggest star, it falls to reason that most of the attention falls on them, with even the publicity before the film's release (notably Jr's unfortunate walk-out interview with Tristram Guru Murphy or whatever his name is) maybe tying in with the hype.
At nearly three hours, the film is just too over-loaded and over ambitious, getting carried away with itself and just leaving the viewer feeling deflated by the end as a result. It would be one thing if there were some exciting bits throughout, but there's too many long stretches where nothing exciting happens that make it even more too much. Going on this long, it stands to reason that too much must be going on with the plot, which just gets a little over-complicated and at times none coherent.
Like the predecessor, however, it wisely keeps it's tongue in it's cheek, and the gang (especially, as ever, Stark) are always at their wise cracking best, it's still a dazzlingly colourful spectacle with, at times, jaw dropping action and visual effects and, again, it works better with them all as one than as separate entities on their own. The original, however, wisely kept it all at an endurable running time, so you could appreciate these qualities more, while this follow up goes overboard and, for all it's strengths, is just a little too much as a result. ***