Avengers: Age of Ultron
2015  PG-13  ACTION  2h 21min
CAST— Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Linda Castellini, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson
MUSIC— Brian Tyler, Danny Elfman  DIRECTOR— Joss Whedon  BASED ON— Characters appearing in Marvel Comics

     Wow. The Avengers assemble once again in this explosive addition to the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. The gang breaks up some sinister goings on at a remote European HYDRA base. One of HYDRA’s newest weapons (Scarlet Witch) has been getting inside our heroes’ heads, bringing up their darkest fears, which prompts Tony Stark (accompanied by a rather reluctant Dr. Bruce Banner) to finally bring his plans for Ultron to fruition. Conceived to be a worldwide peacekeeper, the robotic Ultron should have been a home run. But something always goes wrong, doesn’t it? Ultron becomes self aware and his notion of worldwide peace sounds a little like worldwide extinction. Make that a lot like. Ultron recruits Scarlet Witch and twin brother Quicksilver to tear apart the Avengers so that they will have a part in his nefarious genocidal schemes. Or something. The point is that Ultron and his countless minions give it their all in an attempt to bring the pain to the good guys, with the outcome being… what do you think? This Avengers is shades darker than pretty much any entry of the MCU (so far) yet still retains tons of humor and dynamite sequences of action. The villain is a mess of emotions that showcases an ultimately flawed sense of self righteousness that ends up being pretty heady stuff if pondered, a mix of existential musings and dictatorial views. Again, wow. Plenty to soak up in this super heroic extravaganza. Just remember going in: watch your language!
OUR RATING— ***
PRECEDED BY— Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
FOLLOWED BY— Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)