Avengers: Age of Ultron

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Here's a title I tend to like a little bit more than most people, it would seem. It's not to say that the movie isn't without it's problems, but for the most part, I was entertained by it.

Taking place, again, real-time on the timeline (circa summer, 2015), The Avengers open the movie with a mission their on to shut down Hydra once and for all. During the mission, Loki's stolen scepter is found and brought in to be examined. Within it, the fourth Infinity Stone - the Mind Stone. Stark sees a unique opportunity to create an A.I. that could protect the whole planet for whenever the next alien attack could occur. He would call it "Ultron".

During the process of Ultron's (James Spader) creation, it backfires. Ultron becomes so intelligent, that he kinda sort goes full Magneto and decides the human race doesn't need to exist due to his sentience... or is that "full HAL"? Anyway, his primary target is the nation of Wakanda, the only place in the world where the precious metal vibranium (the stuf Cap's shield is made of) can be found. And of course, it's up to the Avengers to shut Ultron down.

I suppose where it lacks is in that it's not an entirely original villain. I mean, I just compared him to two of the best. Also, I have to admit that I haven't been through the comic story this is based on, so all I really have is this movie to work with, not knowing how accurate/inaccurate the story may be. A lot of fans tend to see this one as "just okay", as in "not particularly bad, but it was no 2012 Avengers". I have to agree to that side of things at least a little bit, but again, I was still quite entertained by it

It's action-packed, it brings all the heroes back together again, has a great sense of humor, and to be perfectly blunt and honest, I quite like Ultron (James Spader) as a villain. Although, I can see him being a little over the top for some. One could consider his character a guilty pleasure, I suppose. But he's just the kind of villain I enjoy. He has his plans for the world, he's highly intelligent, but above all, he's got personality. That perhaps sounds like a weird thing for an A.I. to have right off the bat, but the idea behind him is that he's super advanced and created using something not of this world. So, I dunno, for me it just works fine.

We also get further introduced to Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elisabeth Olsen, respectively), aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (also respectively) as well as Vision (Paul Bettany), who is essentially J.A.R.V.I.S. uploaded to a synthetic body, again, using the infinity stone which, as we all know now, is that thing in his head.

To say that it had as much of an impact as the first 'Avengers' movie would be a lie, though. Again, tis movie isn't without a few problems, not least of which is the unoriginal villain (who I still like, but even I have to admit to that) with unoriginal motives. I can understand why people don't tend to enjoy this particular chapter of the MCU. But what can I say? I just had a lot of fun with this. Kind of in the same way I had fun with 'Justice League'. It just hits that balance where, it might not be a great movie, but upon turning it off, I still feel satisfied and felt like I pretty much got what I came for.

4/5

MID-CREDIT SCENE: Thanos unlocks a vault containing the Infinity Gauntlet, puts it on his hand and says "I'll do it myself", hinting that he is now well after the Infinity Stones, and essentially teasing 'Infinity War'.

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