![]() ![]() The Avengers take on a new villain - the artificially intelligent Ultron - in this highly anticipated comic-book sequel. Is Stark being overcome by his arrogance, and are he and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) using their scientific expertise to seize dictatorial powers over the others? Maybe, but now let’s just have everyone goof off at a cocktail party where they try to pick up Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) hammer. Whedon keeps approaching ideas, but every time he does so he leaves a flaming bag of dog poop on the doorstep, rings the bell and runs away tittering. Their parents were killed by one of Tony Stark’s bombs, so they want vengeance against the Avengers. ![]() Like some dark lord of Condé Nast, Ultron has a couple of naive interns on staff: supertwins Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) - she’s weird, he’s fast. He accidentally unleashes a pernicious force of artificial intelligence - Ultron (voiced by James Spader) - that is able to take shape as either a cyborg who fires lethal sarcasm in every direction or a computer virus that threatens the info grid, including the nuclear codes. This time, after a random shootout in a snowy forest, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) captures the magical scepter of Loki - Thor’s evil brother - from the villainous group Hydra, and it starts to mess with his mind. ![]() Above, from left: Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Butt-kicking superhero squad the Avengers return to battle viral baddies in “Age of Ultron,” but the muddled plot and lame jokes are anything but exceptional. It has enough whammo-kerblammo, high-stakes standoffs and breezy banter that, if you work really hard to fool yourself, you might mistake it for a pleasing blockbuster, in much the same way that Tim Tebow’s mom probably thinks he’s a good quarterback. If he were the star of a comic-book film, he’d be called something like Zinc Man or Captain Belgium. Writing and directing “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Joss Whedon proves he has a superpower of his own: mediocrity. Rated PG-13 (profanity, action, violence). ![]()
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