Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Joss Whedon

Composers: Danny Elfman, Brian Tyler

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Samuel Jackson, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris elba, Stellan Skarsgard

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A new age begins

Plot: When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and it's up to the Avengers to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

A funny thing happened on the way to the build-up of waiting all this time for the sequel to THE AVENGERS (2012)...at no point was I all that excited.  I loved the first one and I've dug the various character franchise films (not so much on the Thor pictures).  But I couldn't get thrilled to see this movie.  I just returned from seeing it in Imax 3D (the 3D is OK and it didn't feel like it's a must-see in 3D).  It's a good and worthy follow-up to the first film.  All of the characters get their moments in the spotlight and James Spader's voice work is fantastic.  I REALLY dug Ultron.  I could've used more thanks to Spader's performance.  It was great seeing Andy Serkis in a minor part that felt like more of an extended scene than anything else but it was still fun and I'm glad it made the final cut.  We get action from the get-go and a nice little string of reveals for each character and their badassitudeness.  Caps is still my favorite.  There are little bits that annoy me like when Maximoff (Taylor-Johnson) does that sideways head snap thing when he's about to cut loose on a foe.  I hate that shit.  This is a darker film than the first with a lot less humor which kind of hurts the picture.  I loved the tone of the first film and the playfulness the characters had.  That's mostly gone here.  It's still a very good movie despite its shortcomings.  I read this week that Whedon wanted to release his 3.5 hour cut and said that there would be an extended edition on the home video release.  I hope so.  I'd like to spend more time with these kids.  Once you see the Thanos bit shortly after the end credits roll, there's no need to stay since they didn't include an after-the-credits bit at the tail end.  All you get is "The Avengers will return".  And I had to pee so fucking bad. I was pissed (figuratively) that I waited through 4,000 names for nothing.