So I saw this for the second time on Sunday afternoon.
I liked it a lot better the second time around. I still don't get all of the "been there, done that" criticisms with this movie, because AoU certainly does NOT feel like the first Avengers movie at all.
I still think the the first Avengers is superior, and my top 5 MCU films still stand (Avengers 1, Iron Man 1, Winter Soldier, Guardians, and CA: First Avenger), but after seeing it a second time, AoU may have the #6 spot for me? I originally had Iron Man 3 ranked above it, but that may have changed.
[blackout]Quicksilver's death[/blackout] had a bigger impact on me the second time I saw it. I never hated Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver to begin with, but I can safely say that I really liked his version of the character. I didn't want a copy of the Pietro that everyone saw in X-Men: Days of Future Past in this movie, and we definitely didn't get that. Sure, AoU's Quicksilver doesn't get his epic "Time in a Bottle" sequence like in X-Men, but he had his own personality, he had a purpose, and he did some pretty cool stuff. I'm happy.
I liked the Vision much more on the second viewing as well. Because the final battle moved so fast, I didn't catch a lot of the cool stuff that Vision did in the first viewing (like[BLACKOUT] the phasing![/BLACKOUT]). Also, seeing the movie a second time allowed me to absorb all of the bloated and fast-pacing plot a lot better, which made Vision feel a lot less underwhelming. Instead, that second viewing make me geek out over him like I had wanted to on my first viewing.
Age of Ultron is a weird movie. It's one of those bloated comic book movies that everyone complains about, but it's so much better than those bloated comic book movies that everyone complains about! This movie isn't a Spider-Man 3, a TASM2, or a Batman and Robin. Not even close.
I have a gut feeling that I'm going to like this movie even more the next time I see it. I might end up seeing it a third time in theaters if a friend of mine makes plans to go see it this week.
