Avengers- Age Of Ultron Review: Brooding companion piece to the first film

Film: Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Dir: Joss Whedon
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen
Rating: ***1/2

Sometimes, the world needs saving. Most times it doesn't. Through the cycles of war and peace, conflict and harmony, things sort themselves out. 

But because no amount of saving is ever going to be enough, you need an outfit like the Avengers.

When we meet them this time around, the action shifts to rural Germany, where they're tracking down a "Hydra thug" who goes by the name Strucker. The team takes his army down but underestimate the situation they're getting into.

They run into two powered humans. One is able to manipulate emotions and matter while the other can run really, really fast. And for the time being, they're working with the bad guys.

Tony Stark being Tony Stark is busy working his own angle in the meantime. With a little help from Bruce Banner, the two work on creating artificial intelligence codenamed Ultron. It's when Ultron gets a mind of his own that all hell breaks loose.

What's hot: The introduction of new characters this soon in the world of the Avengers showcases a rare confidence on Marvel's part. Like Ultron, expect every subsequent villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from here on, to be uniquely placed, yet interconnected. Everything adds up to a bigger picture. The sight gags and the tongue-in-cheek jokes are on-dot, though subtler this time around. Certain action scenes, like the Hulkbuster vs Hill face off and the final battle stand out.

What's not: As much as we're in love with the MCU and its characters, it's easy to realise that without a backgrounder or a gander at the previous instalment, you're going to be at sea. There are the wow moments, but nothing as distracting as the constant spectacle of the first film. Age of Ultron is more of a brooding companion piece to the first film. You like it, but not nearly as enough as you would have liked to.

What to do: It's an entertaining film, nevertheless. The characters are now household names and with the dawn of new characters, is well worth your while to keep tabs on what's gonna happen next.