It’s all Tony Stark’s fault!

As you will expect, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is all about the Marvel superheroes that appeared in the first Avengers movie, fighting another bad guy, who is hellbent on destroying the world. I would advise that you see the first Avengers movie, before watching Age of Ultron, but it’s not imperative. There have been so many Marvel movies released recently, and they all seem to blur into each other a little. But who cares right! All Marvel movies are AWESOME!!

The Avengers: Age of Ultron sees the original cast reprise their roles as their alter egos for another epic adventure together. Headlined by the always vivacious Robert Downey Jr (The Judge, Chef, Iron Man 1, 2 and 3 and over 70 other movies since 1970), as Tony “Iron Man” Stark, the Avengers include: The lady’s favourite, Chris Hemsworth (Blackhat, Thor: The Dark World, Rush), as Thor, the god of thunder; Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Begin Again, Now You See Me), as Doctor Bruce Banner, and of course, our favourite jolly green giant, Hulk; Chris Evans (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Snowpiercer, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), as the always immaculate and totally incorruptible, Steve “Captain America” Rogers; the beautiful Scarlett Johansson (Lucy, Chef, Under the Skin), as the deadly and provocative, Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff; Jeremy Renner (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Kill the Messenger, American Hustle), as the reserved, Clint “Hawkeye” Barton; Don Cheadle (Flight, Iron Man 2 and 3, Brooklyn’s Finest), as Tony Stark’s best mate, and U.S. Air Force officer, James “Rhodey, War Machine” Rhodes; and their fearless leader and legend of the silver screen, Samuel L. Jackson (Kingsman: The Secret Service, RoboCop, Oldboy and 118 other movies since 1972) as the incomparable, Nick Fury.

Newcomers to the ensemble include: Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla, Kick-Ass 1 and 2, Savages), as the super-fast Pietro Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver; Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla, Oldboy, Silent House), as Wanda the Scarlet Witch, and twin sister of Quicksilver (We first saw both twins in the teaser trailer featured during the closing credits of The Avengers in 2012); Paul Bettany (Transcendence, Iron Man 1, 2 and 3, Priest), as the voice of Tony Stark’s artificial intelligence (A.I.) companion, J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System), who transcends into Vision, the omnipotent, yet naive andriod, adventitiously created by Ultron; and James Spader (Lincoln, Supernova, Stargate), as Ultron, the Frankenstein monster like A.I. created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner that becomes overwhelmed with a god complex, and wreaks havoc.

So, the first Avengers movie sees Iron Man become the ultimate hero by saving the world from invading aliens. Written and directed by Joss Whedon (Much Ado About Nothing, The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods), number two in the series sees Tony Stark almost destroy the planet. In an attempt to complete his “Ultron” global defence program, by secretly using the A.I. discovered within the gem inside Loki’s sceptre (obtained in the previous Avengers installment), Stark inadvertently creates a cognizant mechanical A.I. being that decides to rid the planet Earth of it’s virus, namely human beings. And so the band of extraordinary individuals again team up to save the day, and stop Ultron executing his plan of human obsolescence.

I am reminded of the age old question regarding, who would win in a fight between certain superheroes, or legends of the fighting world. In this case, my attention is directed at Hulk and Iron Man. This movie shows us just how tough Iron Man is with the help of Tony Stark’s amazing genius inventions. But Hulk,… Is there anything living that is tougher? I don’t think so. He is one huge green wrecking machine that you’d be glad to have on your side in any fight.

I found the 3D version, to be somewhat of an overload of the senses. The action scenes, and there are many of them, are so complex and fast-moving, that adding 3D was just too much for me. I prefer watching a standard 2D movie over a 3D version any day.

Second only to Furious 7, the highest-grossing film of 2015, The Avengers: Age of Ultron has grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide. The 11th Marvel blockbuster also claims the accolade of being the sixth highest-grossing film of all time. Watch out for the sequels: Avengers: Infinity War – Parts 1 and 2 scheduled for release in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Like all Marvel movies, don’t leave the cinema until after the credits, or you’ll miss the teaser introducing the next Marvel installment.

If you like The Avengers: Age of Ultron, you might also like: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and of course, any other Marvel movie.

The Movie Lad rates this: Four out of a possible five Hulk smashes.