Best Post Avenger Installment yet...

Rating: 9/10 (6 April 2014)

By the last half hour of the movie, you're thinking, "Are they really gonna do this?"..and the answer is YES, they're really gonna do this. The commercials for TWS are stating that this movie changes everything for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that isn't an exaggeration. Avengers: Age of Ultron will be the culmination of the Marvel Phase 2 leading into Phase 3 and if they're willing to shake things up this much, then fans better gear up for an experience. The storyline is more solid and suspenseful than the Avengers and will send ripples into all future Marvel Avenger-based installments. The action is eye-popping and jolting, including a scene involving an elevator that was probably a lot of fun for Chris Evans to perform. He truly took it up a notch for this film, as well, because the action/fighting scenes were brutal, fast and non-stop warranting a "Whoa!" every 30 seconds. Scarlett Johannsen and Anthony Mackie made for perfect counterparts to Evans' soldier, each providing key hero moments of their own. But the real standout here is the one and only, super spy himself, S.H.I.E.L.D Director Nicholas J. Fury, once again brought to spectacular clarity by the incomparable Samuel L. Jackson. He has a chase scene early on that sets the pace for the action for the rest of the movie and makes one of the smoothest escapes you'll ever see in a superhero movie. Cobie Smulders is also appropriately set as Fury's right hand Agent Hill once again and comes through with a clever rescue of her own reminding us that even Fury needs people he can trust. She proves pivotal in the final act assisting Cap, Falcon and Black Widow with the big save. And Robert Redford, well, he's Robert Redford...there's isn't a second of screen time where he isn't completely convincing and commanding complete attention, but, then again, he's Robert Redford, so there is a bit of expectation for his presence. And every heavy needs a trigger man/guinea pig, and his is none than the Winter Soldier, who is as enigmatic as he is familiar and gives Cap some of the most brutal and jaw-dropping fight scenes you'll ever see in a superhero movie. Probably the only time you'll ever see someone else catch Cap's shield. And let's not forget about Mr. Marvel himself, Mr. Stan Lee with one of the funniest cameo lines I've ever heard (after realizing that a certain suit is missing from a certain museum). By the end, Rogers, Sam Wilson, Romanoff and Fury mark out their new respective paths and objectives, which will surely meld into what will become the next standard for the superhero film genre-Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel has raised the stakes has only they can and all we can do is wait for the roller-coaster to continue. Avengers: Age of Ultron 2015...