AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON - Tuesday 28th April 2015.

The first outing for the assembled 'Avengers' way back in 2012 was Directed by Joss Whedon and made by Marvel Studios for a lean mean lazy US$220M and grossed a record beating US$1.52B making it the third highest grossing film of all time. With that, a sequel was a foregone conclusion, and so over the ensuing years Joss Whedon set to work again on the next instalment which was made for US$280M this time, and has just been released, grossing US$287M within the first two weeks after it's so far limited global release only. And so I saw 'THE AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON' earlier this week, and can recommend this to you as a worthy sequel that further expands the Marvel Universe, reunites the Team and introduces a few new characters along the way.

Our film opens up with a Bondesque pre-credit tongue in-cheek but nonetheless well executed opening action sequence as The Avengers mount a raid on the Hydra mountain hide away in the eastern European country of Sokovia. Here Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is conducting human experiments using the sceptre retrieved from Loki, Thor's estranged intergalactic brother. Needless to say the mere Hydralings are no match for the mighty force of The Avengers who now are a lean mean focused fighting machine determined to rid the world of otherworldly foes, world domineering megalomaniacs, and various crims intent on stirring up a shit storm. Von Strucker though has a few ideas of his own including the Maximoff twins - Pietro (Aaron Taylor Johnson) who can move at superhuman speed and his sister Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) who has the ability to harness magic and control telekinesis and hypnosis. With their powers they can thwart The Avengers and so they team up with Ultron as the story progresses.

As far as Ultron is concerned, it is a former programme that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr.) was developing to create a safe world where The Avengers services were no longer required or necessary. Stark's thinking is that he can retire peacefully and sip Pina Colada's by the beachside without a care in the world - yeah, dream on Iron Man! With the Loki sceptre retrieved from the Hydra hide-away and now at Avengers HQ safe & sound, Stark and Banner (Mark Ruffalo) seek to reinstate Ultron using the artificial intelligence they have discovered within the gemstone encased within the sceptre. Of course they have no idea what they are dealing with and while The Avengers and gathered guests are celebrating their win over Hydra, Ultron secretly springs to life sucking up all of J.A.R.V.I.S.'s (Paul Bettany) intelligence in the process. Keep an eye out here for Stan Lee's ever dependable cameo!

When Ultron manifests itself in A.I. robot form all hell breaks out in Avengers HQ setting up the second set piece where an unprepared Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) face off against their unsuspecting newly formed foe. Needless to say they survive to fight another day.

When the other Avengers discover that Stark & Banner sought to reinstate Ultron they are none too pleased and so dissent in the ranks starts to manifest itself, while Ultron is out there running amok, growing more intelligent by the day, replicating an army of mini-Ultrons with which to annihilate the world as we know it, and take down The Avengers . . .  and Stark first & foremost, front & centre!

Before all this goes down Wanda bends the minds of our Avengers friends and causes them to hallucinate and lose track of who, what & where they are, With this Banner goes into overdrive, morphs into the Hulk and promptly trashes a few city blocks - his first public show of strength which shows the world watching on TV that he is a menace to society! To calm him down it is Iron Man to the rescue which sees our third set piece as as few city blocks get trashed well & truly and Iron Man in his souped up Hulk busting suit 'Veronica' go head to head with no due care whatsoever for life, property or city & public wellbeing.

Eventually The Avengers reunite, regroup and re-examine what they stand for and how they stand, but not before Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) has made an appearance and sets them back on the straight and narrow in the name of truth, justice, integrity and the American way! As Ultron continues to replicate itself on his path of destruction and world domination by wiping it out so that it can rebuild itself, The Avengers seek an alternative saviour through an Internet connection that might just be their salvation. Whilst J.A.R.V.I.S. was banished to cyberspace oblivious in the mind of Ultron, his blueprint still remains hidden in the deep, dark recesses of the inter web, which of course Tony Stark is able to uncover, and reboot his former stablemate and trusted cyber-companion.

This all leads us to the final set piece back in Sokovia where it all began with the final showdown between Ultron and his amassed army of replicants, and The Avengers which by now have been joined by Quicksilver (AKA Pietro Maximoff), Scarlet Witch (AKA Wanda Maximoff), War Machine (Don Cheadle) and perhaps more importantly by Vision (AKA the former J.A.R.V.I.S.) now rebooted into almost human form, that Ultron had previously wanted for his own form.

It's all impressively executed, albeit perhaps a tad too long and drawn out but these are minor faults only. It is fairly predictable, but nonetheless enjoyable, well executed fare with a solid story line that is up there with the first instalment in 2012, backed up with tried & tested performances. I am not sure if this will do well as the first but it is solid, very well realised, well crafted and well acted by all the principle characters we have come to know & love. Catch it on the big screen soon - I know you won't be disappointed.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-