[6]

My favorite part of this Avengers sequel is when the bad guy, a robot voiced by James Spader, first pulls himself together and wobbles confidently in front of the superheroes at the end of a house party. It’s a good introduction to a nifty character who says some witty things here and then. (It is a Joss Whedon movie, after all.) Other than that, this feels pretty much like most other comic book superhero movies these days — except Guardians of the Galaxy, which was funnier and cuter than most, and X-Men, which is more character-driven the most (if you ask me). Whedon is normally a very character-driven guy, but his powers are strained to the breaking point in this movie. He somehow manages to give each of the Avengers their fair share of screen time, while also introducing new characters. But after the cataclysmic events of the first Avengers movie, fighting a robot seems kinda anti-climactic for a sequel, you know? Reminded me of when Superman went from fighting Zod in Superman II to fighting a robot in Superman III. Anyway, the cast is once again doing the best they can with their super-compressed screen time. Chris Evans in particular deserves special mention for playing the earnest stick-in-the-mud, Captain America. What else can I say? I wish superhero movies would go away for a while (or a few decades), but if they insist on going on and on and on and monopolizing the movie theaters, I guess it could be worse.