Age of Ultron is indeed a masterpiece
Roger Ebert used to say: "Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you" as if to say listen to your gut when judging a movie.
Well, when both your head and your heart agree that means that a movie has reached masterpiece levels. Avengers Age of Ultron is such a film.
Everything converged perfectly, delivering the perfect sequel to the greatest genre film of all-time. It really can be considered a continuation of the first film and one long epic. Really, how could these films not be the best of the best? They positioned the first film with FIVE other set up films that were each remarkable in their own right. Then in this phase, we got more individual films that didn’t really set up this story but did flesh out Iron Man, Cap, Black Widow and Thor more robustly. Not only does it all come together but it comes together at the highest level possible.
Believe it or not, they managed to not only recapture lightning in a bottle but they also managed to do so many things differently. It’s an astounding movie. Even though each set up film has been able to stand on their own merit, good results from a team up was anything but assured. In both films, it would have been easy to be overwhelmed by the task of putting all these great character together and making it click but they pulled it off perfectly each time. Maybe it’s because the characters themselves are complex and intriguing and that they have been brought to three dimensional life by people that really care. Whatever the case, everyone AGAIN hits a home run here.
They continue to flesh out perfect cohesion while remembering to include the fun and humor that have made those other films so good. If you define those movies as good then you have to define Age of Ultron as great. It’s a unified step up from solo films in the best way imaginable. The depth and amazement will come from those that have invested in to this universe. What they’ve done is transcend any other of this genre’s films by going deeper and doing so in spectacular fashion with style and fun.