With jaw-dropping action sequences, excellent character development and a compelling villain, Avengers: Age of Ultron surpasses its predecessor in almost every way.

The film drops right into the action from the beginning with the Avengers attempting to recover Loki’s scepter.. After the thrilling sequence has concluded, we’re treated to an Avengers house party where the Avengers play a game of “who can pick up Thor’s hammer?”

But the mood completely shifts when a sentient artificial intelligence known as Ultron, created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner to combat threats and create world peace, interrupts them and attacks them, having shifted his plans to fit a global scale destruction.

James Spader is excellent as Ultron with his drawling, sardonic tones. Spader used motion capture to make his mannerisms almost human. They  are simultaneously funny and disturbing––such as singing “I’ve Got No Strings” from Disney’s Pinocchio. His sarcasm and complete lack of understanding that what he’s doing is wrong is both excellent comedy and characterization. It goes to show that despite all his speeches and monologues he doesn’t concretely know what his motives are.

Whereas in the last film he was criminally underused, this time around Hawkeye has a much larger role to play. More of his personal life is revealed and his full character is made known. . By the end of the film the audience sees that even amongst a super-soldier, a gamma radiation experiment gone wrong and a physical god, Hawkeye is still a valuable member of the team.

Although the character interactions were mostly excellent, one flaw was an unconvincing romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner that didn’t actively contribute anything to the plot.

The pacing to me felt a little off. Everything was constantly moving, and the slow parts sometimes felt disjointed from the rest of the film. These however are minor nitpicks, but the overall experience was excellent.

With bigger battles, a better villain and excellent humor and character development, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a worthy continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Rating: 4.5/5