Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon, 2015)

5/10
I really liked the first Avengers. Also, it's one of the few superhero franchises where I haven't already missed a dozen entries and feel hopelessly behind the curve (X-Men, Captain America) so I'm doing my best to keep up with this one. And I'm having a hard time trying to pin down why I didn't like this one so much. Its plot feels extremely fractured, not so much in a confusing way but just that it's so noticeably all over the place. The amount of time devoted to the in-fighting in this group (just so they can inevitably bond together at the right moment) is bordering on critical mass, and it was already a criticism of mine the first time around. It feels like padding time in a movie that doesn't need any more padding. And OK, I understand it for the heroes, but geez, do you really have to make even the villain a smarmy, quippy, banter-heavy caricature?
The battle scenes were certainly impressive, but maybe the overall effect was like spending two and a half hours with the volume turned up to 11. After a while, things stopped registering and I got bored. Maybe it's me.

The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)

8/10
There's a pretty daunting task ahead of you when you have to cram in a multitude of superheroes and at least give them some semblance of a backstory or character so that people who haven't read the comics or seen the other films (like me, mostly) won't be completely uninterested or uninvested with what's happening on screen. As such, the movie is a bit like an old ship - it does a lot of creaking out of the gate and takes some time to get going, but it's smooth sailing when it does. And to mangle another metaphor, the Avengers' in-fighting is a bit like trying to enjoy your salad when you know the steak is around the corner - it keeps you busy while it lasts, but you're really just killing time for the main course.
All that said, I thought the movie did a lot of things really well - the script was sharp, and genuinely witty (not "comic book movie funny" like Spiderman or something). The acting was very good all around, except I'd like to put a stop to Jeremy Renner playing the exact same character in every single film he's in. At least it only took him about 6 minutes to turn bad in this one. The end fight scene around Manhattan is action film ecstasy, and some of the best-filmed, most exhilirating 3D action I've ever seen, and certainly makes the whole thing worth the price of admission. I had a lot of fun, and that's what matters.