When Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as they battle to save the planet from destruction at the hands of the villainous Ultron.

Avengers: Age of Ultron hits you with everything you expect from a blockbuster superhero movie. The cast are all lovable, not to mention their high sense of humor. I felt that the most amazing job came from James Spader, who uses only voice to fantastically portray the menacing A.I. trying to bring “peace” to the world by replacing humanity with robots as the dominant species on the face of the Earth. Ultron is the best Marvel villain yet, as he is unpredictable, and even feels human in the flesh. Newcomers Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen do a decent job. They don’t play a huge role in the film, and I was slightly disappointed by them, as I expected more from them. Another thing I liked about the cast is that each Avenger is humanized, and given a reason to care for. For example, Hawkeye in no longer “that cool guy with the bow and arrow”, he now also feels to the audience like a real person, with a family and a reason to fight. All the main actors are at their best, and I love the new character of Vision, I can’t wait to see what the filmmakers do with him next.

Now, about behind the camera. I felt that writer/director Joss Whedon put such great effort into the film, from it’s cinematography, its stunning visual effects, its boldly hilarious script, and its fantastic cast, to its brilliant storyline. Unfortunately, Whedon won’t be returning to direct the third and fourth Avengers films, but this is definitely a milestone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Recently, there have been two concepts constantly being used brilliantly (and in various ways) in contemporary sci-fi film: Time Travel and Artificial Intelligence. Last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past showed us the best of modern time travel (not as a film, but as the concept being used in the movie), Avengers: AOU does exactly that with A.I. The ending is a great setup to Phase Three. I can’t wait to see what Marvel has for us next!

Overall, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a must-go for all fans of Marvel’s work! It has a stellar cast, a great sense of humor, and is a very entertaining time at the movies!