Another year. Another crisis. Another time humanity is saved…. The déjà vu is strong with this movie…

This movie offers a handful of intriguing developments but lacks the same dynamic chemistry that made the initial installment so much fun. Though impressively made and visually remarkable, it suffers from the hollowness that plagues so many blockbusters carrying the sense that we’ve been through this before. …………In layman’s terms it has the air of a rerun.

Fortunately, Joss Whedon has done justice to the nefarious cybernetic villain, appropriately voiced by James Spader who joins the most impressive cast ever assembled including (…deep breath) Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Andy Serkis, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen — when you juggle more than a dozen marquee names the multi-tasking seems more like scatter-brain!

But the main reason to watch the movie is that it feels like the pages of a comic book come to life.. Age of Ultron not only feels like a Joss Whedon movie, from beginning to end – with its emphasis on flawed heroes, the repercussions of choice and characters trading not only witticisms but smart, deep ideas about existence – it feels like a Marvel Comics crossover, it has the wacky sweep of a comic book, whose boundaries are defined only by the crazy imaginations of the writers and artists.

Think of this as the movie equivalent of the world’s best, but longest, roller coaster ride. You’re never far from a moment of heart-stopping excitement even if, by the end, you’re more than ready to step off.

The original Avengers took just over $1.5billion at the worldwide box office and it’s predicted the sequel will smash this figure with the force of a Hulk punch. So, if a ticket at a Mumbai multiplex costs Rs. 500 it’s irrelevant what this movie is worth…. Just go and buy the ticket – the spectacle is spectacular……

SAUMIL BHANSHALI