With bigger locales, a larger cast of characters, and a higher budget than any Marvel Studios film to date, Avengers: Age of Ultron expands upon the both the epic scope and the intriguing characters showcased in the first film. I have been a huge comic book fan for over half a decade, and the film adaptations of the stories that I love have rarely disappointed me. Age of Ultron is no exception. Written and directed by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Fiege, the mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe (aka “the MCU”), Age of Ultron references events from Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and, of course, its predecessor, 2012′s The Avengers, acknowledging that the events of those films helped shape the story of this one without ever making Age of Ultron dependent upon Marvel’s previous offerings.

The film opens with the re-assembled Avengers, led by Captain America and Iron Man, attacking a HYDRA (read: Nazi science supervillain group) base commanded by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (no, there won’t be a quiz at the end), whose appearance in this film is unfortunately limited–in the comics, he’s a major villain, but here…not so much. The Avengers succeed in capturing the HYDRA fortress and retrieving the magic scepter that Loki, the villain of the first film and brother of the Avenger’s Asgardian member, Thor, used in his bid for world domination. Iron Man and Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk when he isn’t hulked out) try to use the scepter to kickstart an AI program that would allow the Avengers to protect the entire world through a global robotic peacekeeping force. Unfortunately, the AI, Ultron, believes that the only way to grant the world peace is to bring about the Avengers’ extinction. Battles, chases, escapes, and rescues ensue, gripping the audience for two-and-a-half glorious hours.

Obviously, I’m very immersed in the world of the MCU, which I believe is the greatest expression of the larger-than-life feel of comic books that Hollywood has ever produced. Age of Ultron is another diamond in that crown of cinematic glory, giving the audience fresh insight into the motivations, doubts, and decisions of its amazing characters; even Ultron, the insane “murderbot” (as Banner describes him), manages to be both terrifying and heartwrenching, and the film ends in a fashion that makes the audience anticipate future MCU movies (there’s exactly one teaser scene after the film’s end; if you’re a Marvel junkie, you don’t want to miss it!).

To be fair, Age of Ultron isn’t a perfect movie. Because of the larger cast of characters, the movie occasionally feels crowded, and the constant action with relatively few scenes of quiet drama in between may be a turn-off to more contemplative viewers, although the quiet drama scenes that do make their way into the film are still essential to the film’s success. Perhaps the greatest strike against the movie is the inescapable fact that, unlike The Avengers, Age of Ultron isn’t the first of its kind. The Avengers was a daring move by Marvel to bring together some of its greatest heroes together in an unprecedented crossover movie that was expected not only to hold its own as a film, but also to serve as a centerpiece for the entire MCU and its various franchises. It was a phenomenal risk that paid off to the tune of over a billion dollars and outstanding critical praise, allowing The Avengers to be ranked as perhaps one of the greatest films not only of the 21st century, but of all time; it’s unlikely that any successive film, no matter how well-executed, can ever quite match that first exciting cinematic innovation.

Overall, I’d say that Age of Ultron is just as entertaining as the first Avengers film, even if it’s not quite as groundbreaking, and it will serve to spur the MCU on for years to come.