Avengers: Age of Ultron

"The Avengers" is every comic-book nerd's fantasy — a film in which Captain America orders Hulk to smash. It feeds upon our familiarity with these characters etched in our collective consciousness.

It's safe to say we all know Captain America (Chris Evans); Hulk (Mark Ruffalo); Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.); Thor (Chris Hemsworth); et al. But Ultron, the titular character of this sequel, is new to most — and not so safe. One of the most seductively sinister villains in recent memory, he elevates the film, evoking a stronger shiver of excitement than the Avengers.

The film opens in James Bond or "Mission: Impossible" fashion with the team mowing down soldiers in the snow surrounding some evil headquarters. Their mission is to capture a magical staff stolen from their teammate Thor's world. Tony Stark, the man behind Iron Man, ends up using the staff to create Ultron, a cyber-suit of armor around the world.

This artificial intelligence system eventually breaks out of cyberspace, rising to the surface of the real world like the ghost of a machine. The creation limps into Stark's mansion, his electric eyes flickering and metal guts hanging out. Like a zombie, Ultron is fragile yet threatening. As the rotting robot snarls about humans' puppet strings, the film takes on the ominous tech-noir tone of James Cameron's “The Terminator.”

James Spader — a man we loved to hate in such films as "Wall Street," "Wolf" and "Secretary" — is at his slimy best behind this metal body. His voice oozes with menace and sardonic wit.

Writer-director Joss Whedon seems to work more wonders when applying his own caustic humor to darker material and channeling it into one character as opposed to an ensemble.

The banter between the Avengers amid their adventures is fun and everything, but "Avengers: Age of Ultron" only feels truly great when the villain is on screen. It works better as a Hannibal Lecter-esque character study than an action movie.

Sci-fi action predecessors like "The Matrix" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" have a comic-book panel clarity lacking in this film's chaotic action scenes. "When the dust settles, all that will be left is metal," Ultron says in one of those sequences. And he's right — his metal figure is the only thing your eyes will focus on amid the wreckage.

I suspect some people will be upset that I'm not elaborating upon the Avengers' performances or adventures. Well, they're all fine. Ruffalo is particularly effective in terms of exposing the monstrous nature behind such heroes' machismo — the chinks in their armor. He's really the beating heart of the movie, the most raw and relatable of all the Avengers. But they're all engaging in various ways. Even Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) gets some poignant, revelatory moments in between shooting arrows.

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" is a good superhero film. But it's odd in the sense that the heroes aren't the ones who send the tingle of movie magic up your spine. The bad guy wins this time around.