The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), PG-13, ★★★

The Avengers are back.

"There are...no strings on me."

Joss Whedon established the previous film with such loose energy and high-wire action that delighted not just myself but about the entire world as we witness all six superheroes teaming up to defeat a villain. What made the first film so much fan were two elements: the banter/chemistry between the six superheroes and the humorous action sequences and dialogue. It's about what you can get from a standard comic-book film. The only test with all blockbuster hits: Can you top the original? Well, he's back again and unfortunately, it is not as energetic or superior as the first film, but it's entertaining at best.

The Avengers (you know who they are: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner) are infiltrating HYDRA headquarters at Sokovia to break in and retrieve Loki's scepter. They also try to defeat Baron Von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) as he intends on surrendering, but his men urges him to send their human enhancements, the twins - Pietro and Wanda Maximoff/Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) to attack the Avengers with his suppressed and her telekinetic powers.

After blowing up the shield outside the building and retrieving the scepter, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner discover an artificial intelligence in the scepter in their headquarters in New York. With it, Tony decides to initiate the Ultron program which he is intent to design for world peace. After many hours of finding a program not intending to work, the failed experiment integrates itself successfully. Ultron (voiced by James Spader) awakens and while going through a network of events regarding the Avengers and global news, Ultron questions his purpose and decides to absorbs Jarvis' consciousness into his body.

After the party, the team and a few other talk and have fun with trying to pick up Thor's hammer, they are interrupted by Ultron shows up in scraps of Iron Man's metal and unleashes the warped Iron Legion bots at the Avengers and attacks them. After success, Ultron takes the scepter and escapes. The twins encounter Ultron in an empty building, walking in a shiny new robotic body and encourages both twins to join Ultron.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

I did not think it was on the level of of a few recent Marvel film such as the Captain America sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy or even the first Avengers film, either, but it is not bad, either. What was missing was the "wow" factor as energy was a bit lower and there is more intensity with the villain and also additional characters' backstories that seem so brief and dark that we do not sympathize with them. However, even a few main characters' backstories in their "mind melds" were dark and we find out who they are especially Black Widow. The first two action sequences were underwhelming as  they involve the scepter and got me bored for half an hour. But, the movie turns around a bit in a sequence in South Africa as Tony fights Hulk.

All the six primary character do their thing again, however, there was a noticeably great performance by Jeremy Renner as he gets some great one-liners, we find out who he really is and also delivers a convincing speech to Scarlet Witch late in the movie that is quite satisfying. James Spader is quite appealing as Ultron, however, even though his plot was evil, his characters was sort all over the place in terms of his mannerisms as he switches from being humorous to evil and then back again. It was a bit distracting to see him become too laid back. Also, I thought Elisabeth Olson provided some depth in the latter stages even though she and Aaron Taylor-Johnson sort of struggle with their accents a bit. Without giving too much away, I also like how they handled a new superhero, Vision, near the end.

James Spader as Ultron.

Again, the first half-hour was meandering and a bit boring but turns around during the fight between Hulk and Stark and progresses slowly in a great final climactic sequence in Sokovia which takes about 20-30 minutes of the film but it is exciting and a bit unexpected at times. The movie was a bit of a letdown because they teased a bit too much for the upcoming Marvel films and the energy was dwindled down a bit and there was not as much dynamic in terms of comic banter and chemistry as in the first movie. However, the movie is a standard superhero film with visual sensation and style but has enough substance to provide a film to keep your interest long enough. I do recommend the film with some reservations.

***