“Avengers: Age of Ultron” lives up to the expectations

James Spader as “Ultron” in a scene from “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Photo from MCT Campus

James Spader as “Ultron” in a scene from “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Photo from MCT Campus

When I first saw the trailer for “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” I was confused as to what the plot was but once the movie started, my confusion was cleared up and I was blown away.

Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark; Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk/Bruce Banner; Chris Evans as Captain America/Steve Rogers; Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff; and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye/Clint Barton, the team comes back together to fight off Ultron (James Spader), an artificial intelligence program/peace-keeping machine (created by Stark) gone wrong that wants to kill all humans.

In addition, two new super-human powers, Quicksilver/ Pietro Mximoff (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) and the Scarlett Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) are introduced.

The acting, fighting, and special effects in this film were phenomenal. I loved the budding romance between Romanoff and Banner, and there was enough humor in the film to make the audience laugh every now and then without overwhelming the plot.

The only problem I had was with the character of Quicksilver. Quicksilver appeared in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” with Evan Peters and there were some big plot differences between the two Quicksilvers. I certainly didn’t like it, and I wonder why Marvel decided to have two different Quicksilvers, with the same powers, in two different movies.

Overall, this movie gets an 8/10. It’s not as good as the first “Avengers,” but it’s still spectacular, and definitely sets up the future “Avengers” movie well.