Superhero films are tricky. Take too much action and they feel generic. Too little and they start to feel like a stilted attempt at portraying ‘deep’ messages. Avengers Assemble was very much in the former camp. It was a thoroughly enjoyable film, but Joss Whedon did little to rewrite the filmmaking bible. Evil guy turns up (Loki), chaos ensues, superheroes are rallied, mild complications ensue (the Hulk smashing up a flying aircraft carrier), and an ending that sees the good guys win. Age of Ultron, however, is a much subtler, and ultimately better film.

Firstly, some context for those living Marvel-free lives. This film follows the Avengers as they clean up after the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D (CIA on drugs), smashing the evil-doers of Hydra to finally bring peace to Earth. The majority of the film, however, revolves around technology. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr of Cambridge Union fame) proceeds to tamper with sentient artificial intelligence, releasing a self-aware – and very angry – machine named Ultron.

It is this focus on artificial intelligence and the morality of technology that is one of the big strengths of the film. Gone are the generic Earth-hating aliens of the first film. In its place is something much more complex. An artificial intelligence built to protect the Earth gone awry. Simply getting Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to wave his hammer and call down lightning is no longer the answer. 

Ultron himself is voiced by James Spader. Spader does an excellent job, imbuing Ultron with an almost childlike curiosity about the complexities of humanity in the 21st century. His obsession with the lyrics to “I’ve got no strings to hold me down” is one of the most haunting moments of the film. It is this curiosity which slowly builds into something more sinister, a desire to achieve ‘peace’ by wiping out humanity – made all the more horrific by Spader’s perfectly cold delivery.

Humanity is often something neglected in superhero films amidst the capes and sense of righteousness. Whedon, however, presents a group of Avengers much less polished and more grounded than in the first film. Gone is the safety of the military might of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Avengers are totally left on their own and reliant on each other. As a result, this beautifully humanises them. 

We get to see an Iron Man grappling with the guilt of releasing the chaos of Ultron into the world. Thor gropes with fears about the future of his home. Captain America (Chris Evans) is, in a wonderfully crafted scene, made to deal with the terrible pang of the death of his WW2 comrades. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is unwrapped as a character, with the audience witnessing the horrors of her past and an unlikely, but surprisingly convincing, romance blossoming with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). And Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is turned from a rather generic spy character into a wonderful, multifaceted human being, dealing with everyday concerns, and the constant pressure of fighting alongside a god like Thor.

The film is drawn together with Whedon’s usual panache, with a rumoured $250 million budget creating the vast spectacles audiences have come to expect from a Marvel movie, and drawing in exotic locations from South Korea to….Norfolk. Equally, Whedon’s comic talent shines, with the cinema regularly bursting into laughter at the one-liners that pepper the film.

It is not totally perfect. The complexity of the film’s themes do leave some parts of the film, and new characters like Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) occasionally feeling a tad lost. These are, however, rare exceptions. This film dares to not stick to the rigid superhero formula, and long may that continue.

Overall, there are many compelling reasons to see Age of Ultron. See it to experience an incredibly accomplished action film. See it for its developed character performances. Or in the depression of exam term, see it to marvel at that great work of Australian engineering: Chris Hemsworth’s abs.