It’s the age of the Avengers

The success of Marvel’s Avengers was not a fluke.

Its sequel, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” expertly blends science-fiction and superheroes, action and comedy, romance and tragedy.

This time, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, seeks to create an army of robots directed by an artificial intelligence of his own creation. These robots would be charged with keeping the peace.

Unfortunately, our hero didn’t see Stephen Hawking’s appearance on John Oliver’s show warning of the dangers of such things, because soon the “Ultron” project (as it is called) is self-aware and not only replicating itself in robot form and charging through the internet, but also it decides the best way to make peace on earth is to eliminate humanity. Luckily, “Ultron” felt compelled to make himself known to our heroes before he set about destroying the earth.

Given that Ultron can jump from robotic body to robotic body (Ultron is a big believer in “evolving”), he proves a worthy nemesis to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Soon, Ultron discovers he is in possession of one of the most powerful weapons in the universe and seeks to use it to create a new body for himself, part-human, part robot, and fused with an indestructible metal at the molecular level. But before he can see his plan come to fruition, another intelligence will inhabit it, leading to the introduction of one of Marvel’s most recognized characters.

Marvel has broken the curse of comic hero films which dictates that the more characters you introduce, the worse the film gets. The Avengers introduces at least four new major characters, and is as fun as ever.

Once again, Captain America provides the moral grounding for the team. Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark steals the show with his hyper-energetic Stark/Iron Man portrayal. Scartlett Johansson is the mesmerizingly beautiful “Black Widow”. Chris Hemsworth is the mighty (and funny) Thor. Jeremy Renner is Hawkeye (who’s secrets are revealed to the team). And CGI Hulk is back and, once again, awesome.

Director Joss Whedon clearly loves the material and more importantly, his audience. He keeps the action at a breakneck pace, and allows for comic interruptions without sacrificing a feeling of gravity about what’s at stake and what is lost in stopping great evil.

A couple of warnings to parents: Ultron is a little scary looking, and his voice (Blacklist’s James Spader) is diabolically sinister, there is an arm cut off (no blood), a couple of vague sexual references, and a scene of scantily clad dancing women in a dream sequence (nothing that wouldn’t be on a daytime commercial these days). It’s filled with robot violence and some human deaths, but if The Avengers was okay for your kids, this is too.

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” expands the Marvel Universe and promises more diverse heroes in the future—and is enough fun to promise an expanded audience right now.

Audiences Assemble!