“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is Marvel’s second superhero team-up movie under the talented wing of writer/director Joss Whedon, who’s knack for bringing spark and wit to an ensemble cast has always been one of his strong suits. The film aims to top the action and bombast of 2012’s “The Avengers”, and definitely succeeds on many levels. While bringing more emotion and interactive human connectivity to these larger-than-life characters, the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand, not only with its ever-growing stable of classic as well as second tier heroes, but also in its story’s increasing technological advancements and even mystical and science fiction elements.

Robert Downey, Jr.’s portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man once more is the go-to of this team, as always given some of the most sharply written dialogue and coolly drawn elements. Even though Chris Evans' Steve Rogers/Captain America is technically the leader of The Avengers, its Downey’s snap that we ultimately look to and enjoy in these movies. That’s not to diminish the rest of the cast, which sees the return of Don Cheadle’s War Machine from the last two Iron Man movies while bringing in Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon from “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, as well as cinematic debut characters from the comics, Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).

This time around we’re introduced to Stark’s own creation as the main villain: Ultron. Without getting into too much of the comics backstory, the Ultron program was created to protect the world; essentially another effort, in this iteration, to overcompensate after the alien threat during the Battle of New York in the first film. James Spader, who not only adds just the right amount of vocal menace, but also some slyly unexpected humor, masterfully voices Ultron.

We first find the Avengers in the Eastern European country of Sokovia where they have previously received information about the whereabouts of Loki’s lost scepter from the previous Avengers movie. Attempting to gain entry into the Hydra outpost where its being guarded becomes a fantastic opening action sequence, finding the team flexing their muscles and weaponry in Marvel smash and grab style. However, there are a few nagging questions at the beginning, as this reassembling almost happens too quickly in the story.

I understand, based upon the last Avengers movie, that this team-up seeks once more to be almost a standalone story with clear threads to the bigger picture without wanting to get mired in too many of the details of individual hero adventures. However, I felt it was strange for the Avengers to already be reformed right out of the gate in the opening scene. There was no ramp-up time in bringing them all together, as the last movie’s end found members scattered. While I do not regularly follow Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” television show, last Tuesday’s episode did feature a direct beginning point for the need to reassemble the Avengers, perhaps answering my need for a start-up moment.

Of course, this has always been the way of crossover comics, finding a story thread interwoven between books and series. However, due to the fact that not everyone is connecting what’s on TV to what’s happening on the big screen, I find it odd that such a ramp-up wasn’t referenced largely enough at the beginning of “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. We’re already in the fight with no explanation as to how the team came back together, or any of their misgivings or previous story line missions or quests.

Probably the most glaring is Tony Stark having given up wearing the armor and no longer wishing to put himself in direct danger so that he can dedicate himself to his love, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), as was clearly laid out at the end of “Iron Man 3”. And yet as “Ultron” begins, Stark is suited up and in the thick of danger with Potts nowhere in sight. So what happened between “Iron Man 3” and this movie that caused everything to pivot back? We can certainly speculate and fill in the blanks on our own, but perhaps it would have been better to see Tony Stark working hard to try and protect the world with his Ultron program, keeping out of harm’s way by refusing to put on the armor again. Then, at a crucial turning point, perhaps midway through “Ultron”, realizing he very much needed to help, finally and to the audience’s satisfied cheers, showing up in his armor to save the day during a potentially major turning point.

The end of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” saw Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson beginning a quest to find Rogers’ friend Bucky who was revealed as the manipulated, yet morally confused title villain in that movie. Although there is a very brief conversation between Rogers and Wilson at the Avengers Tower in New York during a party that suggests they are taking a break from the investigation and pursuit to rightly help their comrades, I might have preferred the two to be found in some European country hot on Bucky’s trail when the call comes that Captain America is needed for this raid to retrieve Loki’s scepter.

These were really my only major quibbles in a summer blockbuster movie that delivers the goods while finding a welcome budding love interest I won’t say any more about but hope is continued beyond this current outing. Also expect a surprise here or there as more is revealed about the background of a certain bow and arrow marksman.

As Chris Hemsworth brings the hammer down (and a fair amount of humor regarding that hammer) with hunkiness as Thor, Chris Evans has surely gotten up to speed as Captain America, having found his action-packed present day place in “Winter Soldier” and getting past just seeming like the guy who can punch, jump and throw a shield while other members of the team are showing him up with their dazzling array of larger-than-life skills. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, always a welcome addition who thankfully has never been over sexualized (as some female heroes are at times), handily takes on the bad guys and keeps the boys in check; especially a certain big green one. And speaking of green, Mark Ruffalo continues to be just the right fit as Bruce Banner, more scientist than hero, with the Hulk and Stark’s Hulkbuster armor doing a mano a mano dance to dizzying comic geek delight. I would love to see Ruffalo and Downey as their characters featured in a buddy Marvel spinoff!

Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, enhanced after experimentation by Hydra using Loki’s scepter, are the new kids on the block. I'd have to say Scarlet Witch is the more standout of the two. The character of Quicksilver was introduced on the big screen last summer in Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. Johnson’s version is closer to the classic comics origin, but I have to say I enjoyed Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver in “Future Past” more. There was a lot of fun infused in the character in that film, brought to bare in the eye-popping action sequence during Magneto’s breakout from captivity. Interestingly enough, twins Pietro and Wanda are, in the comics, actually mutants and the offspring of Magneto, even though, due to contractual agreements, that cannot be identified in the Marvel films connected with Disney, nor can Quicksilver’s potential involvement with the Avengers be mentioned in Marvel’s affiliation with Twentieth Century Fox. Ah, to live in a world where everyone co-mingled and copyrights could be expounded more often for the greater good.

I saw “Avengers: Age of Ultron” as a double feature sneak preview with 2012’s “The Avengers”, which afforded a direct comparison of the two. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed “Ultron”, at the end of the day I found myself leaning just that much more towards the first film as the most all-around satisfying of the two. “Ultron” brought the size and spectacle for sure, yet with one or two very brief moments feeling as though we’d covered this kind of big action ground already. “The Avengers” has many standout moments that resonate for their incredibleness, emotion and laugh-out-loud stop down humor. “Ultron” possessed many of these elements, yet contains a very thick story that I feel the need to experience once again in order to give just that much more of a precise take on. One or two expositional scenes had me wondering what the point was of a particular action, for example Thor immersing himself in a remote mystical cave pool, but again, clarification may await my next viewing.

With team overseer Samuel L. Jackson returning as a guarded Nick Fury after the implosion of S.H.I.E.L.D. in “Winter Soldier”, the Avengers take off again and ultimately deliver what every comic book fan yearns for. Also, the appearance of new hero, The Vision not only allows Paul Bettany, the voice of Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant, Jarvis, to come to life as his own physical super entity, but also continues to push the story into the fantastical. Although I must say I tend at times to lean more towards the grounding that Marvel installments like the original “Iron Man” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” brought to the franchise.

Ultimately, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is spectacularly fun with the right amount of Joss Whedon’s magical ensemble touch. Here’s looking towards the Russo Brothers taking the directorial reins of the next Avengers story, which will be split into two movies, and giving it their uniquely supercharged spin as they did Cap’s fantastically breathtaking 2014 adventure.