Let’s talk about the villains a sec. Ultron himself is kind of mixed bag on screen. While James Spader’s brilliant voice performance goes a long way (and he looks freaking incredible), Ultron’s origin felt very rushed and he’s a pretty one dimensional villain. He just really wants to exterminate every living thing on the planet and he’s sticking to that. It’s the Maximoff twins Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) characters development that brings the needed depth to the story, making their contributions to the films climax much more satisfying. Olsen particularly shines as Wanda stealing almost all of the scenes she partakes in.

The challenge of living up to 2012’s Avengers while integrating several hints for future films can be felt throughout the film. Moments like Thor’s visit to a magical watering hole and tie in’s to upcoming projects like Infinity War parts 1 & 2 come off very feeling very ham-fisted. As much as I enjoy watching the Avengers battling swarms of minions, at times it felt a little too comparable to the original Avengers film. Yeah, I’ve heard the arguments that if you are going to have the Avengers take on a worthy threat you kind of need hordes of minions for them to fight. But I say thee nay; we already covered that. How about a movie with the Masters of Evil! Now that would make for an awesome Avengers showdown.

Don’t get it twisted. I’m not saying that Age of Ultron is a terrible movie in any way. The action is incredibly well choreographed, the effects look marvelous on the big screen and of course those witty Joss Whedon touches are present and accounted for. In the end I think the hurried storytelling and pressure to be a bigger movie is what ultimately keeps AOU from outdoing the original.

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 for Avengers: Age of Ultron.