"Avengers: Age of Ultron" . . . starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, and Scarlett Johansson. (PG-13)
This movie picks up where "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" left off . . . with the Avengers taking down a hidden HYDRA base where the bad guys had been experimenting with alien artifacts and working on developing artificial intelligence. Tony Stark decides to adapt that research for an A.I. he created to protect the world . . . but after Ultron becomes self-aware, it decides that WE'RE the problem, and the only way to restore peace is to exterminate us. James Spader is the voice of Ultron.
Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson join the cast as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. You may remember them from the end credits of "The Winter Soldier". They're twins who were given the power of magic and super speed from Loki's scepter. Elizabeth Olsen uses her powers to manipulate people's minds . . . which is why Iron Man and Hulk are fighting each other in the Hulkbuster clip everyone's excited about. And until now, Paul Bettany has only been the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S., but in this one he also gets to play the android Vision, who's created by Ultron but ends up on our side (Watch him discuss motion capture with James Spader here.)
On the cameo front, Stan Lee is back for his normal comedic turn . . . Anthony Mackie appears as Falcon . . . and Don Cheadle is back as War Machine in the scene where everyone tries and fails to lift Thor's hammer. Sadly, this is Joss Whedon's last "Avengers" movie. He's going out on top though. "Age of Ultron" will be showing on nearly 4,300 screens in the U.S. this weekend. And it's made $255 million in its first week overseas, which means it's turning a profit.
But can it keep up the momentum? After all, the first movie "only" made $207 million in its opening week in the states. And it went on to become the third highest grossing movie of all time. "The Avengers" raked in $1.5 BILLION by the time it was done. The next two "Avengers" movies will be directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, who did last year's "The Winter Soldier" and next year's "Captain America: Civil War".
But you'll have to wait THREE YEARS for "Infinity War: Part I". There are six Marvel movies between now and then, including "Ant Man", "Doctor Strange", a new Spider-Man reboot, and sequels for "Captain America" and "Guardians of the Galaxy". One last thing . . . don't be that guy sitting in the dark waiting for the end of the credits. The director says there's no bonus scene this time. You'll be able to watch the "tag" scene tying this one to the next movie at the start of the credits . . . then you can go.
