What a wide, wonderful cinematic universe the folks over at Marvel have cooked up for us. We’ve had everything from the fish-out-of-water-that-happens-to-be-a-god flick, the espionage/action picture, the cosmic misfits cracking jokes amongst the stars saga (“Thor,” “Captain America 2,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy”), and the superhero team phenomenon, “The Avengers.” Measured against such champions, an equal contender, let alone a knockout, is a tall order.

I am very happy to report that “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is an extremely worthy successor to the universally beloved “The Avengers.” First and most importantly, this movie isn’t an extra two and a half hours of the first film. It serves a different purpose, has a different tone and accomplishes different goals.

“The Avengers” was a once-in-a-lifetime cinematic experience – it was the dream of a superhero ensemble movie come to life after six years of lead-up. “Age of Ultron” takes its ever-growing collection of characters and puts them through the wringer, a darker, less gleeful wringer.

Summer movies just do not get any bigger than “Age of Ultron.” This thing is absolutely packed to the gills with entertainment; and it’s not the absolutely stupefying action of “Furious 7,” it’s smart, quick, beautiful and heroic. Director Joss Whedon has a great many gifts, among them is an eye for the microscopic details that connect excitement to the human experience. It’s not just nameless heroes fighting faceless villains; it’s living, breathing characters connecting the dots in ways that only they can.

I loved “Age of Ultron.” That said, I’m not a run-of-the-mill movie patron. I was sorely tempted to pay $70 and sit through an 12-film Marvel Movie Marathon. I ended up getting tickets (in Kansas City) to a double feature that played “Avengers” 1 and 2 back-to-back (which was absolutely incredible. I cannot wait to find a theatre that will play all six “Star Wars” movies back-to-back before the premiere of “The Force Awakens”. Sidebar – in my double feature of “Age of Ultron” the new “Star Wars” trailer received just as much, if not more, in-theatre applause than the best moments of the movie). I also thoroughly enjoy a good comic book and the intricate, connected universes they are well-known for. My point being, “Age of Ultron” represents a tipping point. The casual viewer, the non-comic-book-reading, hasn’t-watched-the-new-Star-Wars-trailer-at-least-ten-times movie-goer might have some difficulty in connecting the ever-growing and ever-expanding state of affairs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel has done an excellent job in introducing characters and concepts over time, but even I must admit that the water is getting a little murky. “Ultron” has all the depth and universe-building that I greatly enjoy. However, I completely understand that it might be too much, too bogged down for some audiences.

My advice is this, don’t go into “Ago of Ultron” expecting the same light-heartedness and pizzazz of the first film. This isn’t a do-over with shinier paint, this is a different, closely-related, but nearly equally magnificent work by one of the great masters of our time. As of this writing, I’ve seen this movie twice and am very much looking forwarding to turning that twice into a thrice.

6 of 6 stars