MOVIE OF THE WEEK (5/1/15): AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

"Kneel before – wait, that's a phrase from a movie from one of that 'other' comic book company's properties!" The titular villainous character (voiced by James Spader) makes his presence known in a scene from Marvel Studios' AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. Credit: © 2015 Marvel Studios. All Rights Reserved.

WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE:




KEY CAST MEMBERS: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Claudia Kim, Stellan Skargsård, Thomas Kretchmann, and the voice of James Spader ... Not to mention some other cameos ...

WRITER(S): Joss Whedon; Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (characters on which the film is based)

DIRECTOR(S): Joss Whedon

WEB SITE: http://marvel.com/avengers

60 SECOND PLOT SUMMARY (OR AS CLOSE TO THAT TIME AS ONE CAN MAKE IT): Coming together as a team after the events of the first Avengers adventure, Age of Ultron finds the superhero megasquad put together by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America (Chris Evans), Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a. the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanov a.k.a. the Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Clint Barton a.k.a Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – finishing up a mission to take down what may be the last of the infamous H.Y.D.R.A. outfit overseas. Stark, however, has never really gotten over the events of New York where mankind learned they truly were not alone and other worlds may try to take over ours. 

That is why it's so important the Avengers team find Thor's brother's scepter before H.Y.D.R.A. uses it for some nefarious purpose ... And unlock its power. Stark, you see, wants to complete the Avengers mission of creating a world where there is peace and he and his friends are not needed. He even has a name for his program in mind: Ultron. Ultron is a system that could protect the world and prevent anything like the New York incident from happening ever again. 

That's when he unlocks the power of the scepter with his own artificial intelligence system, J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Bettany) ... And without the knowledge of the rest of the team (save for Dr. Banner), Stark is able to harness the mysterious device's power to make Ultron a reality.

That invention quickly proves itself to be the worst one of Stark's illustrious career once Ultron (voiced by James Spader) decides there is only one way to guarantee peace on earth: By wiping out the cause of all wars, a.k.a. the human race. 

Ultron isn't the only problem the Avengers must face however ... Because there are also a pair of twins (Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olson) that H.Y.D.R.A. was experimenting on that have a very personal grudge against Stark. And payback is definitely coming ...

WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Marvel fans, Renner fans, Spader fans and pretty much anyone who has enjoyed any of the previous Marvel films.

WHO WON’T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE?  People who aren't familiar with many of the seond-tier Marvel characters and their connection to the larger Marvel universe; sticklers for staying true to the origin stories in the comics; people who don't like a plots that become a ta convoluted; anyone expecting the film to be exactly as the first one.

SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Despite some aforementioned convoluted plot turns - not twists, mind you - and a little bit of excess at times, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a solid follow-up that expands the development of its characters while setting up the upcoming two-part Infinity Wars blowout film.

The things that Age of Ultron does well are, in no particular order, [1] Highlighting and digging deeper into backstories of the characters that did not get as much solo shine time in the first film; [2] showing how the changing world around them remains a compelling element to cause tension, conflict and serious soul-searching that [3] continues to move the Marvel universe forward as opposed to having it remain stagnant. 

While Iron Man is still given the most screen/story development time to the point it almost feels a little repetitive, Spader is snarky enough to give him a run for his money in terms of one-liners. The addition of all the new/returning characters holds together well enough to likewise keep you intrigued. Is Age of Ultron perfect? No, there are some "this is how a superhero reacts" moments despite Whedon's best efforts and other moments that while, not lackluster, lack as much oomph as they did on the first go 'round. 

All that being said, Age of Ultron deserves to make all the money it's going to make - it delivers an intriguing, well-acted story that blends action, drama, humor and intensity ... It just feels a little less spectacular than the first adventure and closer to a "standard" super hero movie vs. one equivalent of the impossible Marvel standard. But it does so much well one will leave satisfied.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):