Wow! That’s what I was saying minutes after I walked out of the Destiny Regal Destiny IMAX 3D presentation of Avengers: Age of Ultron. I was trying to catch my breath; I’d been so engaged that I couldn’t even think of getting up at any point to go to the bathroom. At my age that’s a big deal.

poster imageBefore I get to the movie itself, let me talk about the IMAX theater at Destiny here in Syracuse. I’d only seen one other movie there, that being Ender’s Game. Although I enjoyed that movie, what it was lacking was a 3D version. In essence, it was a regular movie but on a bigger screen. It lacked punch because of that; I enjoyed it much better on blu-ray DVD.

However, watching Age of Ultron in IMAX 3D; that’s what this type of technology and movie was made for. The action was big; the explosions were big; the sound was big. Also, the spacing of the seats meant you would be very comfortable since you weren’t packed in tightly against your neighbor. I’ve read some reviews where the person said there was too much action; they couldn’t have handled this movie in this theater. It was perfect!

Now to the movie, which I’ll try to do without giving anything big away; that’s never fair, especially since it just came out.

In a nutshell, Age of Ultron follows what was revealed at the end of Captain America: Winter Soldier. If people didn’t see that one then the beginning wouldn’t make sense. In Captain America, we’re introduced to a group calling itself Hydra that had thoroughly infiltrated The Shield and, though the main group had been thwarted, there was a secret hideout for Hydra where they were using some of the alien technology introduced in previous Marvel movies to enhance not only some machinery but two… not sure I can call them kids, so I’ll say young adults.

This movie begins with the Avengers having figured out where the hideout is and attacking the compound. Suffice it to say that they’re the Avengers; you know what has to happen. However, in the process they encounter the kids and aren’t prepared for their skills. They also encounter the technology, which sets up the premise for the rest of the movie.

The central question of this movie is something that most of us have pondered once or twice in our lives: if there was a way to create something that would assure the protection of the earth and all of civilization should we create it? I’m not giving anything away to say that’s where Ultron comes from, as that’s Tony Stark’s motive (once again played by Robert Downey, Jr), since all previews have alerted us to this. Like many movies before, technology has come to a much different conclusion of what measures need to be taken to protect humanity than humanity has.

I’m not going to give away any of the plot twists and surprises that come because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone; maybe a year from now I’ll come back and update this article. What I will say is that there was a lot of action sequences that I loved, including the ending parts of the movie. In the down times we learn a lot more about some of the characters that I found fascinating.

Oh yeah; there’s lots of humor in the movie as well. I love one-liners and there are tons here. Whether they’re in the midst of the battle or just chilling, it’s fascinating stuff; when these folks are aligned in thought they really seem to like each other. One thing I wasn’t sure of was the time period between Winter Soldier and this movie, but they seemed to have learned how to be more cohesive as a unit.

If you like action, you’ll love this movie. If you want to see something in 3D that will finally blow your mind away, this is that movie, and if you have access to IMAX… do it! Heck, I might have to do it again… even at the price of $18.50; yes, it was worth that! 🙂