You know how in most blockbusters you look at your watch and groan that there's still an hour of the movie left? With Avengers: Age Of Ultron that's completely reversed; you look at your watch with an hour to go and simply can't comprehend how they'll fit everything in before the credits. Joss Whedon's second (and likely final) Avengers movie moves at a pace that would even tire out new hero Quicksilver. One minute he's homaging that incredible singular shot from the first film, the next titular villain Ultron is developed and plotting some evil scheme, the next Iron Man and Hulk are duking it out, and then you're sat waiting for the mid-credits scene. Now, in general, fast paced blockbusters are good, a welcome change from a sizeable chunk of Hollywood's rote, hand-holding output. And the frantic screenplay certain aids Age Of Ultron's entertainment factor. The numerous, visually sumptuous action sequences rarely overstay their welcome and the obligatory set-up for later movies (there's major foreshadowing for Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok) never get to Iron Man 2 levels of intrusiveness. But for all its enabling of fun, the pacing means the film repeatedly tips over into feeling rushed; it suddenly just arrives at the creation of Ultron, realised through a deux ex machina montage with minimal set-up; the much hyped Hulkbuster fight feels like it comes out of nowhere because it literally comes out of nowhere. Genuinely heart-wrenching moments (a surprise from Black Widow's past; a newly created hero seeing their reflection for the first time) are rushed by with the same commitment as one of the witty exchanges and there's an overall lack of character development.
