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" The film's weakness brings up a continual issue with films in the MCU, though. Ultron (James Spader), as a villain, disappoints. His sinister motivations aren't clear enough. His powers seem to fluctuate. He's angry at Tony in a murky 'you betrayed me, father' manner, but their conflict gets no time to manifest, so Ultron's never as dangerous as Whedon intended him to be. "

" Joss Whedon's film gives you [a] pop-culture sugar rush, stacking characters, conflicts, subplots and background treats like tiers of wedding cake - far more than you'd think you could possibly cram into a little under two and a half hours without the whole thing crumbling under the weight of its own calorie count. But the structure holds, and the film flies past at speed. Among its other attributes, it's the first long blockbuster in years to feel short. "

" It's all operatically mad, and the city-destroying final confrontation is becoming a bit familiar, but Whedon carries it off with such joy and even a kind of evangelism. His script is a thing of wonder, jam-packed with great line... Even the absurdity is somehow recirculated into the film's internal economy as comedy and irony and the cast-of-thousands effect never seems to split the focus. "

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" Avengers: Age of Ultron plays like an obligation, a box to be checked off on a list before all parties move on to the things they really want to do... There are moments of wit and a few rich character beats... but these are diamonds in the rough. This seemingly all-important chapter feels like a stop-gap, an intermission from a filmmaker who doesn't want to be here and a company that would rather just move on to the next big movie. "

" There is truly a great deal to love about Avengers: Age of Ultron. All around, Whedon manages incredible brushstrokes with a palette made of pop art iconography and a true understanding of the characters. This is strong summer fare that nevertheless fails to come together as the mighty Marvel masterpiece it should. It's a souffle that didn't quite rise but is nonetheless exceptionally tasty, especially when served with tempered expections. "

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" All these minor characters and blueprints for their function in the coming chapters give 'Ultron' a bloat that the prior film didn't have, and while the movie jumps through enough hoops to remain entertaining on a basic level, it doesn't have the giddy enjoyment factor of 'Avengers' and 'The Dark World' nor the smarts and character development of 'The Winter Soldier.' Marvel movie die-hards will come away having found nuggets of pleasure, but those who complain about superhero sagas will find plenty to support their arguments here. "

" Series junkies will get their fix from the sheer massiveness of the exploits, but at least two of the big action scenes are lackluster, while the climax and resolution could have been worked out in more complex, less rote ways... At moments [the film] takes a peek down some shadowy side roads but ends up mostly zooming along the main highway to deliver what the audience wants rather than something even a little bit different. "

" When the movie does return to symphony-of-destruction mode, it stays engaging precisely because Whedon has given us reasons to care - at least a tiny bit - about the all the whirring and smashing and booming and crashing... If this is what the apotheosis of branded, big-studio entertainment has come to look like in 2015, we could be doing much worse. Unlike its title character, 'Age of Ultron' most definitely has soul. "

" Joss Whedon attempts, and succeeds, to make a different, darker, more complex and bigger sequel but he's a victim of his own success. Age of Ultron works but you can't help but remember the moments that helped us get here. You end up speculating more about what's to come than what you just saw, even though what you just saw was incredibly funny and exciting. "

" Whedon has revealed that his first cut ran for well over three hours, and it shows: Ultron feels excessively nipped and tucked, barrelling from one explosive set-piece to the next, leaving ideas half-formed and character motivations murky. "

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" Whereas "The Avengers" felt like a reimagining of the paradigm for superhero movies, Age of Ultron has air of a rerun. Though impressively made and visually remarkable, it suffers from the hollowness that plagues so many blockbusters carrying the sense that we've been through this before. "

" This is a movie that is almost exhaustingly large-scale, and Ultron's ultimate plan involves a crazy visual idea that Whedon makes sort of beautiful and eerie. It's got so much action that I'm going to bet some audiences go numb after a while. But in scene after scene, there are beats and stunts and poses that suggest that an army of comic book fanatics worked on this movie. "

" This is a movie that is almost exhaustingly large-scale, and Ultron's ultimate plan involves a crazy visual idea that Whedon makes sort of beautiful and eerie. It's got so much action that I'm going to bet some audiences go numb after a while. But in scene after scene, there are beats and stunts and poses that suggest that an army of comic book fanatics worked on this movie. "