Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ratings: 7.2/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Superhero Action

Stinger: Yes (mid-credits)

Packed with action but lacking in plot, this sequel of the Avengers was cool-ly confusing. The Avengers must overcome their greatest fears and band together with new allies after Iron Man screwed up by activating an Artificial Intelligence gone wrong - Ultron. Bent on destroying the world so that it can be "remade", Ultron is like a Transcendence version of Megatron. His abilities were nowhere near cool, just that he was able to be everywhere (cyberspace), control all technology and make an army s***load of machines for the Avengers to take on. 

*spoilers ahead*

The movie was like a superhero version of Hangover, a group of bickering grown up guys trying to out-talk one another with whoever has the funniest one-liner. A floppy "stand-up" comedy with too many lines falling flat, and too many leads snatching the limelight. On one hand we are drawn into the "sextion" (sexual tension) of Black Widow and Hulk, then we have the bickering of the alpha males, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, then we get to feel a bit more for the seemingly less awesome, most human family man Hawkeye, we get to see the extreme transformation of the repentant new kids on the block, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and finally get to scratch the our heads over the sudden creation of a new god-like superhero, Vision. 

Perhaps the funniest moment in the movie was handled effortlessly by Vision, where he picked up where the Avengers left off at the start. The opening sequence was inferior to X-Men: First Class, and the ending was like reliving the 1st installment of the Avengers franchise, where the members would gather in a circle and start fighting bad guys concurrently... almost like a trademark scene. 

I don't know how such a predictably boring script could have been approved by its creator Stan Lee, but I reckon that it has something to do with getting him drunk. 

There was however a small twist, the death of a superhero. Trust me, you wouldn't see it coming. 

And yes, there's the usual Stan Lee cameo and the sequel stinger. About 8 seconds long and it featured... *drum roll*, another God-like being, Thanos! It's about time the producers and director bring in the big fish! "Loki and Ultron, come on (sarcastic tone)?!" I sat through till the very last bit, hoping that there were perhaps 2 stingers (I only recall ever sitting through a Marvel movie with 2 stingers, was it The Avengers?), but all I was treated to were the ending words "The Avengers will be back". So don't bother, feel free to leave after seeing Thanos and hope that the next time they return, they will finally be more intact. 

PS.: To the Avengers... "Stop splitting up after the end of every Avengers movie to film your own Superhero sequels before teaming up again in future! Stop treating the Avengers team like a part-time job!"