AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Satisfyingly More Of The Same

Now playing at every multiplex in the galaxy and beyond:

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

(Dir. Joss Whedon, 2015)

If you live on planet Earth, you?re aware that today the Marvel machine is rolling out the biggest super hero movie of the year - sorry, ANT-MAN, but, c?mon!

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (from this point on, A:AOU), the sequel to the biggest superhero movie of 2012, THE AVENGERS, and the 11th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that began with the first IRON MAN back in 2008, is here to officially kick off the summer 2015 movie season - sorry, FURIOUS 7.

But if you?re reading this, you most likely know all that, and just want to know if this highly anticipated, star-studded, and CGI-saturated production lives up to its huge hype.

I?ll say - yeah, it does. I had a tremendous amount of fun watching the reunited team - Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), The Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) ? working together with lots of wit and energy to defeat the powerful robotic villain Ultron (voiced by James Spader).

This adventure begins with an already-in-progress action sequence, involving the comic book crew storming the castle of Hydra leader Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in the icy terrain of the fictional European nation of Sokovia.

Amid the standard chaos and wisecracks (most of which are pretty funny) we are introduced to a couple of new characters, brother and sister duo Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). ?He?s fast, she?s weird,? is what SHIELD?s Maria Hill (the also returning Cobie Smulders) says of their powers, which means that Pietro can move at supersonic speeds, while Wanda can manipulate minds with magic.

The Avengers rescue Loki?s scepter, one of the McGuffins of the series, and return to their headquarters at the Stark Tower Complex in Manhattan, where we actually get to hang out with the guys as they party, and engage in a game of taking turns trying to lift Thor?s hammer. Meanwhile, Stark?s Ultron project, which is supposed to be a global peacekeeping program, is co-opted by the scepter and becomes sentient.

That means Spader, who in addition to providing the voice, performed on set in a motion-capture suit, takes over as the movie?s major villain, and sets out to wipe out humanity (?There is only one path to peace... your extinction?).

As if he thinks we don?t have enough characters to keep up with, Whedon keeps piling them on. We meet Barton?s (Renner, in case you forgot) wife (Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men fame) and kids living at a ?safe house? farm where the Avengers lay low between battles, geneticist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) who gets co-opted by Ultron, arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, a motion capture master himself), and the re-occuring role of Stark?s A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Betttany) is expanded via a red and green android body (Bettany in the flesh).

There?s also the many cameos from the MCU including Don Cheadle getting in a few good one-liners again as as James ?Rhodey? Rhodes/War Machine and Anthony Mackie getting in a few glaring grins as Sam Wilson/Falcon, along with appearances by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and of course, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who no Marvel movie should be without. And yes, there?s a Stan Lee cameo, but, c'mon, you knew there would be.

Yes, A:AOU covers every single fan-pleasing base it can in its 2 hour and 21 minute running time and is a pretty bloated affair because of it, but it swiftly juggles all these strands until they collide in the big climax set on a ginourmous hunk of a Sokovian city land mass that Ultron has lifted from the earth and is planning on crashing down. The Avengers try to save the city's people while warring with the armies of robots that are all forms of Ultron (in a MATRIX sort of way I guess).

The special effects, of course put together by thousands of digital artists, are flawlessly top notch, but it?s the human moments that give a lot of heart, soul, and humor to this enterprise. A romance blooming between Ruffalo?s Banner (another invested portrayal - where's this guy's Hulk movie?) and Johansson?s Romanoff adds a thoughtful touch, and while Downey Jr.?s Stark is still full of snark, there?s an unmistakable conscience behind it. The rest of the gang also have their moments, but Hemsworth's Thor is still my least favorite Avenger.

Spader, even with only a mechanical presence, makes for a powerfully worthy foe, one who gets his share of well delivered quips and takes delight in destruction.

If this is Whedon?s final fling with the super hero franchise, he went out with a multitude of big bangs. Maybe they?re all riffs on the familiar formulaic tropes of the genre we?re all used to, but that doesn?t make them any less effective. 

A:AOU is winningly and satisfyingly more of the same; it?s everything a superhero superfan would want out of a Marvel movie. Non fans who haven?t been won over by any of the movies in the series before won?t be converted by it, but I seriously doubt many of them will have read this far into this review anyway.

More later...

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Satisfyingly More Of The Same

Now playing at every multiplex in the galaxy and beyond:

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

(Dir. Joss Whedon, 2015)

If you live on planet Earth, you?re aware that today the Marvel machine is rolling out the biggest super hero movie of the year - sorry, ANT-MAN, but, c?mon!

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (from this point on, A:AOU), the sequel to the biggest superhero movie of 2012, THE AVENGERS, and the 11th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that began with the first IRON MAN back in 2008, is here to officially kick off the summer 2015 movie season - sorry, FURIOUS 7.

But if you?re reading this, you most likely know all that, and just want to know if this highly anticipated, star-studded, and CGI-saturated production lives up to its huge hype.

I?ll say - yeah, it does. I had a tremendous amount of fun watching the reunited team - Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), The Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) ? working together with lots of wit and energy to defeat the powerful robotic villain Ultron (voiced by James Spader).

This adventure begins with an already-in-progress action sequence, involving the comic book crew storming the castle of Hydra leader Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in the icy terrain of the fictional European nation of Sokovia.

Amid the standard chaos and wisecracks (most of which are pretty funny) we are introduced to a couple of new characters, brother and sister duo Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). ?He?s fast, she?s weird,? is what SHIELD?s Maria Hill (the also returning Cobie Smulders) says of their powers, which means that Pietro can move at supersonic speeds, while Wanda can manipulate minds with magic.

The Avengers rescue Loki?s scepter, one of the McGuffins of the series, and return to their headquarters at the Stark Tower Complex in Manhattan, where we actually get to hang out with the guys as they party, and engage in a game of taking turns trying to lift Thor?s hammer. Meanwhile, Stark?s Ultron project, which is supposed to be a global peacekeeping program, is co-opted by the scepter and becomes sentient.

That means Spader, who in addition to providing the voice, performed on set in a motion-capture suit, takes over as the movie?s major villain, and sets out to wipe out humanity (?There is only one path to peace... your extinction?).

As if he thinks we don?t have enough characters to keep up with, Whedon keeps piling them on. We meet Barton?s (Renner, in case you forgot) wife (Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men fame) and kids living at a ?safe house? farm where the Avengers lay low between battles, geneticist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) who gets co-opted by Ultron, arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, a motion capture master himself), and the re-occuring role of Stark?s A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Betttany) is expanded via a red and green android body (Bettany in the flesh).

There?s also the many cameos from the MCU including Don Cheadle getting in a few good one-liners again as as James ?Rhodey? Rhodes/War Machine and Anthony Mackie getting in a few glaring grins as Sam Wilson/Falcon, along with appearances by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and of course, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who no Marvel movie should be without. And yes, there?s a Stan Lee cameo, but, c'mon, you knew there would be.

Yes, A:AOU covers every single fan-pleasing base it can in its 2 hour and 21 minute running time and is a pretty bloated affair because of it, but it swiftly juggles all these strands until they collide in the big climax set on a ginourmous hunk of a Sokovian city land mass that Ultron has lifted from the earth and is planning on crashing down. The Avengers try to save the city's people while warring with the armies of robots that are all forms of Ultron (in a MATRIX sort of way I guess).

The special effects, of course put together by thousands of digital artists, are flawlessly top notch, but it?s the human moments that give a lot of heart, soul, and humor to this enterprise. A romance blooming between Ruffalo?s Banner (another invested portrayal - where's this guy's Hulk movie?) and Johansson?s Romanoff adds a thoughtful touch, and while Downey Jr.?s Stark is still full of snark, there?s an unmistakable conscience behind it. The rest of the gang also have their moments, but Hemsworth's Thor is still my least favorite Avenger.

Spader, even with only a mechanical presence, makes for a powerfully worthy foe, one who gets his share of well delivered quips and takes delight in destruction.

If this is Whedon?s final fling with the super hero franchise, he went out with a multitude of big bangs. Maybe they?re all riffs on the familiar formulaic tropes of the genre we?re all used to, but that doesn?t make them any less effective. 

A:AOU is winningly and satisfyingly more of the same; it?s everything a superhero superfan would want out of a Marvel movie. Non fans who haven?t been won over by any of the movies in the series before won?t be converted by it, but I seriously doubt many of them will have read this far into this review anyway.

More later...

Big Hero 6

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! There must have been a redneck comedian out there who made a bad joke about how his "Big Hero 6" is the six-pack of beer.

Big Hero 6 ? 5 out of 5

I love comic books.  This isn?t really a surprise to any loyal readers of mine?with my never ending references to superheroes and the way I pretty give perfect scores to all the comic adaptations that come out (even this one), I?ve made it painfully clear that I?m nuts about those books that old people call cartoons and funny pages.  However, I haven?t read every comic to ever exist and there are tons and tons of stories from various publishers that I haven?t known about, haven?t glanced at, or haven?t got to yet.  When the Big Hero 6 miniseries came out in 1998, I think I read one issue (maybe two) and never bothered to finish it.  I just wasn?t into it?however, when Disney Animation Studios did a very loose adaptation and complete re-imagining of it, I was very sold.

                                                                              Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The adorable-factor with Baymax helped sell me, too.

Set in an alternate future in the new city of San Fransokyo, the brilliant (but unfocused) Hiro (Ryan Potter) ends up seeing his future put into a spiral after his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) and his brother?s mentor; Robert Callaghan (James Cromwell), die in a fire.  Hiro?s resulting depression becomes the focus of his late brother?s work when his healthcare robot, the loveable and balloon-y Baymax (Scott Adsit), makes it his mission to cure him.  Soon, however, Hiro discovers that his brother?s death came about after a mysterious man stole microbot technology from him and now Hiro wants to get to the bottom of the crime and bring about justice for his brother.  So, he forms the superhero team Big Hero 6 with some of his brother?s friends; Fred (T.J. Miller), GoGo (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez).  The heroes set out to bring down the villain using the microbots but discover a horrifying secret about him? 

                                                                             Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
"Let's seek out Tony Stark...and to make things fair, he can wear his Hulk-Buster armor."

Like I stated in the opening paragraph, I read one issue of Big Hero 6 and didn?t really care for it.  I don?t recall what exactly I wasn?t digging about it but I remember it just not grabbing my attention.  Either way, I was a little surprised when I found out that Disney was going to adapt it to a cartoon (that is not connected to the live-action MCU, by the way?although, it would have been kinda neat if it was).  I knew I wasn?t going to see the team?s big names like Silver Samurai and Sunfire in the film because of the rights to those characters belonging elsewhere but I really had no idea how they were going to adapt it.  The comic didn?t really seem like a Disney affair?so, I guess that?s why so many changes were made.

                                                                             Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Will GoGo share her gum with the rest of the team?

                                                  Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
A misspelling in her invite email made Honey Lemon
show up with balls on.

Pretty much everything about the team, the setting, the story, and the characters were changed for this adaptation and, honestly, that wasn?t a bad thing.  I?ve never been one for strict adherence to source material and the changes made to Big Hero 6 did something the comics didn?t and that was create interest in me (that makes me sound a tad narcissistic).  Baymax is no longer the robot that changes into looking like some kind of reptile beast and is now a lovable and ridiculously adorable balloon robot that gets all kinds of badass when he gets the armor treatment.  Wasabi gets the rest of his name dropped (originally named Wasabi-No-Ginger) and is no longer a trained chef who fights with all kinds of bladed weaponry.  GoGo is given a simpler advance suit to wear into combat and Honey Lemon is almost unrecognizable from her comic counterpart.  Also, the way they handled the change to Fred (called Fredzilla in the comics) was pretty entertaining.  He?s not creating monster auras anymore and, instead, he is simply wearing a suit that breaths fire and gives him super jumping abilities and it made for some very amusing moments.  All the alterations made to the source material were an improvement, in my opinion.  It turned an obscure comic into something that worked for a mass audience and it ended up being one of the examples where adjustments for a wider appeal ended up succeeding and not feeling like the source material was being watered down.

                                                                             Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
T.J. Miller as Fred is seconded only to Baymax as the show-stealer!

The story in Big Hero 6 (also greatly different from the comics) is your typical superhero origin affair but it never felt played out or like some sort of rehash.  It hits all the numbers that are synonymous with hero origin stories?like a death of a loved one sparking the need to take justice into one?s own hands, the connection between the first villain and the heroes' story and, of course, a training montage.  However, Big Hero 6 took all these clich?s and made them feel less weary and more entertaining.  From watching Hiro design a suit for Baymax to watching the team learn how to use their new supersuits to watching their first, and inevitably losing, battle was filled with heart and humor.  The addition of having characters that were entertaining, interesting, and very diverse made these classic tropes feel refreshing and new.

                                                                              Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Hey...I wanna wowwy-pop.

                                                  Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
And with that, Wasabi started to ask Pizza Hut to
never cut his pizzas again.

The characters, and all their changes, were all fantastic in Big Hero 6.  Everyone from Hiro to Baymax to Honey Lemon and Wasabi to Tadashi and Hiro?s Aunt Cass (voiced by Maya Rudolph) to Robert Callaghan and the industrialist Alistair Krei (voiced by Alan Tudyk and may, or may not, be the one behind the mask of Yokai because of the interest he had in Hiro?s microbots)?they are all very interesting and fun to watch.  While characters like GoGo may not have as much screen time or be as overwhelmingly hilarious as someone like Fred, no one felt unwarranted or complete superfluous in their role.  They are all dynamic, interesting, fun, and even intimidating when it concerns Yokai.

                                                                             Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In all seriousness, Yokai is a pretty badass bad guy!

The voice acting helps greatly in creating the world of Big Hero 6 and is one of the biggest reasons that the characters are so easy to get behind and invest in.  While T.J. Miller is, without a doubt, one of the biggest highlights as Fred because they guy is just ridiculously hilarious, no one in the cast was any real slouch.  Ryan Potter is fantastic as Hiro and nailed the emotion needed for the boy genius, Scott Adsit helps makes Baymax the loveable and sweet character he is, and veteran James Cromwell is incredible as Robert Cromwell.  In fact, everyone in the cast felt right at home in their characters and really brought everyone to life and helped make the story move fluidly.

                                                                            Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Big Hero 6 is what a douche bag version of Hiro would call his six pack...

                                                  Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Bring on Part 2!

Big Hero 6 holds no surprises with its story of a newly formed superhero team but it never feels tired or dated.  With spectacular animation, a perfect blend of heart and humor (I cried and laughed in this one), and a talented cast, Disney Studios was able to showcase the standard of Marvel-infused action alongside Disney wonder and magic.  The film is heartwarming, hilarious, action-packed, and, most of all, ridiculously fun from beginning to end.  Finally, the film proves that a Disney animated version of a Marvel comic can work and work extremely effectively!

                                                                            Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Maybe the best Stan Lee cameo yet!

Avengers: Age of Ultron

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! Now I want my own Hulkbuster armor...I mean, I've always wanted Hulkbuster armor but now I want it even more.

Avengers: Age of Ultron ? 5 out of 5

Right now you?re probably saying, "What a big fucking surprise?Rev. Ron gave another superhero film a perfect score. He?s clearly an amateur and not worthy of his opinion and I will punch him in the face when I meet him in person." First off, there?s no need for violence because I thought we could play mini-golf when we first meet in person and, secondly, I have repetitively mentioned my geek nature and have said that comics and superheroes are some of my favorite things and haven?t EVER denied by bias towards this form of entertainment. However, I still think Marvel Studios is just laying the competition out with their cinematic universe and Age of Ultron continues to prove that working formula!

                                                                                                           Disney/Marvel Studios
"Wait...Ultron is mooning us!  The bastard!!!"

It?s been a little bit since Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) stopped Loki and his Chitauri army from destroying New York and taking over the world. However, their work isn?t complete since they still seek the scepter that Loki wielded. They track it to an outpost ran by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) where he used it to genetically modify humans for Hydra. There, he created the mutant wonder miracle twins: Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson); the speedster Quicksilver, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen); the manipulative Scarlet Witch. Once the scepter is recovered, Tony Stark realizes it holds a secret that can help him and Dr. Bruce Banner unlock the secret to artificial intelligence and help him finish his peace making program called Ultron. The only problem is that once Ultron (James Spader) comes online, he deems that mankind must evolve or die and he, along with help from Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, puts forth a plan to do just that?and to eliminate The Avengers once and for all.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
Capt. can totally lift it...he's just pretending not to so he doesn't hurt Thor's feelings.

Okay, so it?s no secret that I?m obsessed with the MCU and I was not-so-patiently waiting for Age of Ultron to hit the theaters (the minute the tickets went on sale, I bought them because I?m a gigantic dork). Overall, do I think this one is better than the first one? No. Will I compare the two? Absolutely not, because the MCU is a far reaching and expanding story and universe and I see the big picture in each film. If I had to compare it to other MCU films, it?s going to rank somewhere after my Top Three?which are, in case you are wondering, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, what Joss Whedon did (and, sadly, this one is his final work with Marvel) was make a film that was much darker, a lot deeper emotionally, and developed not only the beloved characters further but the overall story and its build-up to the massive showdown that is going to take place in Infinity War 1 & 2.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
With the fact that Banner has never lost a pair of pants to ultimate annihilation when
changing into the Hulk, it's amazing that he hasn't found his fortune in the garment industry.

The lighthearted and funny nature of the first film is out the door in Age of Ultron and Whedon went with a far more serious tone. Granted, there are still some great hilarious moments and gags littered throughout the story but, overall, the emphasis is character development and a tone that that is far bleaker than what we?ve been seeing. This tone doesn?t feel shoe-horned in or like the MCU is trying to be dark and gritty but rather a natural evolution to the overall story and it worked exceptionally well.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
So...when are we getting a Black Widow solo film?

                                                                              Disney/Marvel Studios
Let's face a reality here...RDJ is cooler than all of us.

Like all Marvel films, the cast is great and have all cemented themselves perfectly in their roles. RDJ is still awesome and still the only person I want to see as Tony Stark, Chris Evans still embodies Steve Rogers, and Chris Hemsworth is still Thor. Other staples that have been established?especially Hawkeye and Black Widow?see further development that makes their already cool characters even deeper and more sympathetic. To me personally, the character development done to Hawkeye was one of my favorite things about Age of Ultron. As you remember, Barton got the raw end of the deal when Loki took his mind over in the last film and, this time around, we get to see him come into his own and show us why he is a hero and what he is fighting for. Add to the fact that he also had some incredible action sequences and there's some great one-liners from him and Hawkeye proved to be one of my favorite aspects of the film.

                                                                                                          Disney/Marvel Studios
I actually never thought I'd see the day when I said that Hawkeye was my
favorite part of an Avengers tale.

The new members of the cast, like Taylor-Johnson, Olsen and Spader, all proved to be a welcome addition to the MCU. All of them really captured their characters quite well. As cool as Evan Peters was as Quicksilver, Taylor-Johnson really captured the spirit of the comic character and nailed his mildly-arrogant, kinda-jerky attitude. Additionally, Olsen really made Scarlet Witch sorta-creepy and pretty badass and, finally, James Spader really was the perfect man to be Ultron. The dude?s voice is incredible and how you picture the comic villain to sound on the pages.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
Bite his shiny metal ass.

And it was flipping awesome to Paul Bettany bring The Vision to life! For so long we?ve come to associate Bettany as Jarvis and it just made sense to adapt Vision in this way for the film. Can?t wait to see him in Infinity War?and speaking of a character that is established and will come into play some more later?I really enjoyed seeing Andy Serkis come in and do a damn near flawless African accent as Ulysses Klaue?the infamous villain of Black Panther. I guess what I?m really getting at here is that Marvel has, once again, proved they know how to get the right actors for the right roles and Joss Whedon really knew how to get the perfect performances out of them?and that says a lot because the cast in this one is huge and it is a testament to Whedon?s skill that he never makes any of them feel useless or pushed into the background.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
Awww...The Vision looks so cute when he's sleeping.

So, how?s the action? As you would expect, Age of Ultron is pretty epic with its action?hell, the Hulkbuster armor scene alone when Iron Man takes on the Hulk was worth my money, in my opinion. The fight scenes are big and filled with awesome spectacles?BUT?they sometimes get hard to watch. Often during the action scenes, Whedon has the camera in really tight and it made the action unfolding blurry, muddled and hard to focus on. This is a big distraction at the beginning and when Ultron first arrives but, aside from that, most sequences are put together exceptionally well.

                                                                                                            Disney/Marvel Studios
Dat Hulkbuster armor!

                                                                             Disney/Marvel Studios
For dry, red eyes...

Other things that I wasn?t such a fan of in the movie were the relationship between Banner and Romanoff and Ultron?s threat level. First off, I didn?t mind that Hulk and Black Widow started to have eyes for each other but the whole time it is happening I found myself asking, "So?did Bruce forget all about Betty?" Secondly, while Ultron is a cool villain who has a never ending procession of cool lines for Spader to eloquently shoot out, I never really felt he was a world-wide threat. Sure, the story and characters will keep telling you he is a huge danger but I never get a sense of that until the epic final battle. When first introduced, he?s sold as someone who might be unstoppable but through most of the story, we see a guy who feels like a "villain of the week" one shot and not someone who will tragically alter the course of events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ultimately, this is resolved but Ultron and his development is hindered greatly due to the development of the Avengers and the blow they receive after a defeat at the hands of Scarlet Witch.

                                                                                                          Disney/Marvel Studios
Wanda's powers were altered from the comics...which is fine because I will
never truly understand Scarlet Witch's powers.

Any complaints I have with Avengers: Age of Ultron are limited and did absolutely nothing to kill the enjoyment factor. The movie is huge in scope, darker in tone, full of action and characters, and is still a lot of fun. The story does a lot to set up what is going to be happening in Phase Three of the MCU including the mystery surrounding the Infinity Stones, new members to the Avengers (and what awaits in the future for the current members), and the mastermind behind all these events and how this being is somehow orchestrating this ordeal. While it?s sad this is Whedon?s final Marvel film, he still went out on a bang and made something that isn?t just rehashing the same formula that was already done but making something that is a little more mature but equally fun to watch.

                                                                                                           Disney/Marvel Studios
Now let the debate over who was the best Quicksilver begin!