I was trying to think of another instance where a film studio aside from Marvel was so successfully able to tie together such a wide variety of stories as Marvel has done with its Avengers universe and I am not having much success. Not only do the Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor movies tie directly into the series, but the television series was also part of the story and so was Guardians of the Galaxy. When you look at what is going on in the Avengers universe, you start to realize that everything is just getting started and that is really good news.

I guess you could say that the newest series of Star Wars movies threaten to create an even more comprehensive universe than the Avengers, but I am still not sold on the idea of a bunch of derivative Star Wars movies fueling a main story line. I still want to see a Star Wars movie that does not have George Lucas’ lame dialogue or overblown special effects. Let’s face it – Star Wars is no Star Trek when it comes to telling entertaining stories.

But in the superhero world, the Avengers rule the roost and there is no reason to expect that rule to come to an end any time soon. After seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron, I can tell you that 2018 cannot come fast enough. Not only do we get the third Avengers movie in 2018, but we also get the second Legendary Studios Godzilla movie and we all know how amazing that will be.

Avengers: Age of Ultron benefits from the three ingredients that make all Marvel superhero movies successful: a good story, good acting, and well-timed humor. I found myself laughing a lot more at Avengers: Age of Ultron than I did at Paul Blart 2. I know that isn’t saying much but, trust me, Avengers: Age of Ultron is funny.

This is the second longest movie in the Avengers universe, but yet it did not feel like it was nearly two and a half hours long. The plot moved along nicely and the special effects did not have me bored within the first 30 minutes (like Star Wars Episode I did, or II, or III).

I have always been amazed at how Marvel has been able to keep the cast together to keep these movies coherent. The thing that could really ruin these movies is if Marvel kept having to cast different actors for the main parts. But this cast is signed up for at least two more movies and then we have to wonder what Robert Downey, Jr. will do. I find it impossible to believe that Marvel would keep making Avengers movies without the Iron Man character, so Downey’s announcement that he will be retiring from the Avengers series after these last two movies will create a very interesting situation.

I know that I haven’t said a lot about Avengers: Age of Ultron to this point and that is on purpose. This movie is good and it is a movie that all action movie fans should see on the big screen. It is entertaining and it maintains the continuity that we have enjoyed throughout the entire Avengers series to this point. We know this cast can act in an Avengers movie and we know that director Joss Whedon can deliver a quality Avengers story; so it is actually a foregone conclusion that this movie would be a hit.

As usual, you will have to stick around through the credits because we get glimpses of what we will see in the upcoming Avengers movies. The next movie in the series is a Captain America movie being released in 2016, but the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron does not indicate if we will pick up this story line in the new Captain America movie, or if we have to wait until 2018 to see how this story continues to unfold.

The first Ant-Man movie is coming out this summer and, as Avengers fans know, Ant-Man is an Avenger as well. There are no solid plans to do another Ant-Man movie yet, but there are strong rumors that Ant-Man will be in the 2018 Avengers movie, which makes seeing the new Ant-Man movie a must for Marvel fans.

The Avengers universe just keeps getting bigger and bigger and, to this point, I have yet to see a bad Avengers film. From the release of the first Iron Man movie in 2008 to the new Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, every one of these movies is entertaining, funny, and a hit. Carry on Avengers fans; this movie is well worth the price of admission.

Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III  is a drive-in lunatic who loves movies under the stars. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him an email at georgeroot@verizon.net. Be nice when you send emails because you never know who may be reading them.

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