Terrorist organisation Hydra is played for laughs, and like the first film the sequel is full of never-ending waves of faceless minions who stir no real jeopardy, existing simply to hurl themselves en masse into our heroes' cool-looking finishing moves. Many superhero movies suffer from a lack of compelling villains - Loki aside, of course - and in that department, 'Age of Ultron' is a mixed bag. Andy Serkis grabs his scenes by the scruff of the neck as oily South African arms dealer Ulysses Klaw, exuding stocky menace without a trace of CGI in sight, but the film forgets about him almost as soon as he turns up. And themes and ideas are introduced and dispatched before they even register, like the dangers of artificial intelligence or a subplot involving Iron Man's peacekeeping drones proving none too popular with the locals.Īnnoyingly, the most menacing villain simply disappears. Captain America and Thor basically have nothing to do. A major late-stage twist doesn't really land because it isn't set up enough. Brooding, brutal 'Daredevil' shows the shadows of the Marvel universe (spoiler-free review)īut inevitably, having so many balls in the air and plates spinning means that some balls and plates drop.How does Tony Stark's body survive the forces of his Iron Man suit?.'The Avengers' gets an awesome 'Friends'-inspired opening theme.

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Avengers age of ultron reviews