Release Year: 2015

Genre: Action, Superhero

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Joss Whedon

Stars: Robert Downey, Jr., James Spader, Scarlett Johansson

Potato chips, donut holes, Avengers movies—you really can't stop at just one, can you? Luckily for us, chips and donut holes are sold in bulk, and we get to feast on at least four scheduled Avengers movies before it's all said and done. Mmm, Marvelicious.

In the case of Avengers: Age of Ultron, we're served up some tasty seconds after the original Avengers movie. All our favorite heroes are back: Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury. To keep things nice and spicy, we also get some new flavors added into the mix, like the mysterious, "enhanced" Maximoff twins, the cryptic android Vision, and of course the star of our show: the mechanical, maniacal menace Ultron.

Through that last character, Avengers: Age of Ultron gives us some real food for thought regarding artificial intelligence and its role in our modern society. Instead of tackling alien Chitauri invaders like they did in the first Avengers film, this time the good guys are up against what amounts to a computer program that has run amok.

And by "amok," we mean all of the slick fight scenes, explosive action, and humanity-threatening scenarios you've come to know and love in a Marvel movie. The first Avengers writer and director Joss Whedon returns to put his distinctive stamp on Age of Ultron, once again finding enough screen time and story lines for this team of superheroes that are as different from each other as they are larger-than-life.

Sure, they may step on each other's capes from time to time (or drop entire skyscrapers on each other's heads—more on that in the "Summary"), but they find a way to work together as a team. It's a dynamic that sure resonated at the box office, with the film grossing almost $430 million after its May 2015 release. The film also takes a major step forward in the Marvel Universe's storyline of the Infinity War.

Age of Ultron is way more than just a narrative stepping stone, though. It's a self-contained, action-packed tale that will make you laugh, gasp, and, most importantly, think. And there's nothing tastier than a bit of blockbuster brain food.

Has Google ever read your mind? You know that experience of starting to type something into your search bar and then—boom—the rest of your thought magically appears right there for you? Or maybe it's a case of checking out some awesome sneakers and then—whammo—you see an ad for those exact same kicks on your web feed a few days later. It's like your computer is—gasp—inside your brain.

Cue the dramatic music.

Of course, it's not literally in your brain. That would give you one heck of a headache. Rather, web designers and computer engineers have become sophisticated enough to empower your laptop, phone, and tablet with the ability to read, analyze, and, yes, even predict your behavior—and desires.

Does that freak you out?

It does for some folks; others totally dig the convenience. But what are the limits of this kind of artificial intelligence? At what point does the power cease becoming a help and start becoming intrusive—or worse, a threat?

If Avengers: Age of Ultron is any indication, that's the kind of question that's keeping writer Joss Whedon up at night. With his Ultron program, Tony Stark wants to use artificial intelligence to anticipate and eliminate threats to humanity. Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, not so much when the program decides that humanity is its own worst enemy, so a species-wide do-over is in order. Didn't see that one coming, did ya, Tony?

In some ways, that's precisely the point. How will we be able to predict the ways in which artificial intelligence will evolve? Super-brains like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have already sounded the alarm about the dangers that this technology poses. Will the world listen? Will you?

If you aren't thinking about this kind of stuff already, you certainly will after watching Ultron do his thing on the big screen. Sure, it's a fictional superhero tale, but the film's reflection on humanity's relationship with technology is something that will shed light on your own text-, tap-, and typing habits. Trust us. We're on your computer, after all.