I decided to go out on Thurday evening to see Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron to avoid being spoiled tomorrow once people start talking about the film and I am glad I did. Not knowing what to expect made for an enjoyable evening and for that reason, I promise to keep this review spoiler free.

After seeing how Marvel wove the story lines from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. into Captain America: The Winter Soldier last year, I was eager to see Phil Coulson’s theta protocol fully revealed on the big screen. Age of Ultron starts out with a bang, quickly connecting with the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tie in. Do you need to be caught up on the TV show to follow the film? No, but it added to the experience. It was mostly a starting point for the film rather than an embedded story arc like last year. It did, however, reduce the mystery of the twins which just appeared in the opening. It will be interesting to see how Agents resumes next week following the events of the film.

There was some unexpected, but welcome character developments during the film; one of which was really needed in my opinion and helped me connect more with one of the Avengers that does not have a standalone film. Following the first act,… strike that… first part of the first act, the film takes a turn and it is no longer Avengers versus Hydra. Enter, Ultron. The story surrounding Ultron, voiced amazingly by James Spader, is interesting and could be an intriguing topic for discussion about technology and artificial intelligence in our lives. I am not going to say anymore on the film, as it will be more enjoyable to see it play out on the big screen.

Interestingly enough, the soundtrack tracks are split between Brian Tyler who previously worked on Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World and Danny Elfman who scored Spider-Man trilogy and Hulk. I expected to hear more of a contrast between the tracks, but neither composer stands out over the other resulting in an cohesive score. I’ve Got No Strings was briefly featured in the film, but it is not included on the soundtrack.

Avengers: Age of Ultron did not deliver as big of a punch as the first film, but Avengers 2 does entertain and more importantly kept my interest for the full 141 minutes. Not once, did I reach for my phone to check the time. I opted for the 3D showing only after the regular showing was sold out. This turned out to be a positive as I was able to see the Star Wars VII and Ant-Man trailers in 3D. 3D in the cinema continues to grow on me and there is once scene near the end of the film that was just meant to be viewed in 3D! There is a mid-credit scene, but nothing at the very end.

I will leave you with the final trailer, but if you want to go into the film 100% spoiler free do not watch.

How would you rank Avengers: Age of Ultron in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?