Just seen Avengers: Age of Ultron. A Tremendous juggling act from Joss Whedon and company. The story was involved but moved at a brisk pace, with all the major players getting their place in the sun. The newcomers were well represented, with the standout being Paul Bettenys stirling Vision. Honorable mention to James Spaders mellifluous voicing of Ultron. It's nice to have a villain with a bit of depth. No really squeeee-worthy moments that I got from the first film, and the action sequences, while spectacularly well choreographed, fall prey to the current modern action movie habit of being filmed too frenetically, but these are buffeted by nice little character moments and snappy dialogue. All in all, a worthy sequel to one of the great superhero films.
I was entertained. There were great things, but there were a lot of things that didn't really work or hold together. I think the first Avengers movie helped from getting to play out all the will they/won't they beats of whether all these strong, solo figures could come together at all.
In this one, they seem pretty together at the start, so a lot of the 'Can you stand together??' beats in this just didn't ring true. It felt like this film just had too much to juggle, and too much water to carry for future movies (I know, that was two metaphors) which got in the way of telling this story. There was a lot of good action, and that's not nothing, but this one wasn't really about anything.
I feel like the Scarlet Witch's power was to give everyone terrifying visions of what they will face in future movies. Which is a cool, comic booky thing. Sure. And helps to get other things cooking. But that really undercut the idea that they were supposed to be in the midst of facing an existential threat from Ultron.
I also wish that the creation of Ultron by Stark (with Banner's help) hadn't been played as the fallout from his hex by Scarlet Witch. I mean, it was never made clear what exactly that zap was. But it seems like there is some element of mind control involved. And I would have preferred that Stark make Ultron in a moment of pure, CLEAR HEADED, hubris.
Even if Scarlet Witch only gave him a nudge towards something he would have done anyway, it basically robbed the movie of the central, Avengers-dividing conflict. Because can they *really* blame Stark for what he did when mind control is on the table.
To end positive, I loved Vision. He looked great. Bettany was fantastic. He was this wonderful, trippy mix of tech and mysticism. There was just something different about him than any of the other Avengers. As @Brack put so well earlier, he is like our bridge between the military tech world that has been most of Avengers, and the space opera that is to come.
I also really loved Hawkeye's secret family. That was a nice reveal. And I hope they refute expectations in the future by having them not be killed or just become the wonder-hostages/ squishy people to put in peril. I would love if they just exist as part of what is true about his character, and maybe what makes him more centered and professional than the rest of the characters. His super-power is he has a family to fight for.
Anyway. Enough for now. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained. But it is a shame that this didn't find a way to build UP from Avengers, rather than feel like an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle.
You know something? A few viewings from now I'm going to have some critiques for this movie (a slightly dimmed color pallet for one) but right now?
Did anyone else just sit in that theater watching the spectacle unfold and go, "Holy crackers, its the freaking comic books on the screen."
No, no. I get it. We've had several dozen superhero films, several amazing Marvel ones in there as well. But for whatever reason I was just sitting in the theater with a shit eating grin on my face the whole time. And I'm not even a Marvel zombie!
Thor, Captain America, Iron-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Wakanda, Ultron, Heli-Carriers, Peggy Carter, Thanos, Infinity gems, Infinity gauntlet, Heimdell, etc.....
All of these and more are in a MOVIE. And that movie doesn't suck! And the general public likes it AND WANTS EVEN MORE!
I mean.... yeah. I'm a comic fan. After a few watchings I'm going to find something. But overall it was an amazing spectacle and right this moment? I'm just in awe that this even exists and was done WELL.
When 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' comes out, I might be more critical. I might rip apart 'Ant-Man'. I don't know. But right this second, if anything, I'm just happy this movie is here and reminding me just how lucky I am to be a comic fan in this day and age. I mean, Jesus guys. Look at that list of characters and concepts again. Did you TRULY ever think those would play out on the silver screen in a well made movie? Let alone the SAME movie?!
When 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' comes out, I might be more critical. I might rip apart 'Ant-Man'. I don't know. But right this second, if anything, I'm just happy this movie is here and reminding me just how lucky I am to be a comic fan in this day and age. I mean, Jesus guys. Look at that list of characters and concepts again. Did you TRULY ever think those would play out on the silver screen in a well made movie? Let alone the SAME movie?!
When 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' comes out, I might be more critical. I might rip apart 'Ant-Man'. I don't know. But right this second, if anything, I'm just happy this movie is here and reminding me just how lucky I am to be a comic fan in this day and age. I mean, Jesus guys. Look at that list of characters and concepts again. Did you TRULY ever think those would play out on the silver screen in a well made movie? Let alone the SAME movie?!
I mean... wow.
Did I miss an earlier post by you? Why might you "rip apart" Ant-Man?
So question , Idris Elba let slip he shot scenes with Tom hiddleston months ago , he is in the movie , tom is absent, i assumed cut , however their is a flash of a hooded figure in the thor vision and his shoulders are very loki robes , think it was him ?
So question , Idris Elba let slip he shot scenes with Tom hiddleston months ago , he is in the movie , tom is absent, i assumed cut , however their is a flash of a hooded figure in the thor vision and his shoulders are very loki robes , think it was him ?
And Hiddleston is set to appear in Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War.
One of the things I felt going into this was that Whedon and Marvel owed Renner/Hawkeye a really good role this time after using him mostly as a plot device last time around.
I wish Agents of SHIELD had been able to give us some indication that the Avengers were active during this period.
I heard there are a lot of wishes with that show.
M
I enjoy the hell out of it.
Aside from the teaser opening with Peggy, the last "current" episode I watched was the one that followed Winter Soldier. After streaming DD, I finally watched the episode.
I wish "underwhelmed" best described it. Lethargic-whelmed? Can that be a new description?
I wish Agents of SHIELD had been able to give us some indication that the Avengers were active during this period.
I heard there are a lot of wishes with that show.
M
I enjoy the hell out of it.
Aside from the teaser opening with Peggy, the last "current" episode I watched was the one that followed Winter Soldier. After streaming DD, I finally watched the episode.
I wish "underwhelmed" best described it. Lethargic-whelmed? Can that be a new description?
M
How many Whedon-template, Scooby gang style, action with a large dose of humor and a dash of soap opera TV series have you been "whelmed" by?
I get the impression that they're just not your thing.
I wish Agents of SHIELD had been able to give us some indication that the Avengers were active during this period.
I heard there are a lot of wishes with that show.
M
I enjoy the hell out of it.
Aside from the teaser opening with Peggy, the last "current" episode I watched was the one that followed Winter Soldier. After streaming DD, I finally watched the episode.
I wish "underwhelmed" best described it. Lethargic-whelmed? Can that be a new description?
M
How many Whedon-template, Scooby gang style, action with a large dose of humor and a dash of soap opera TV series have you been "whelmed" by?
I get the impression that they're just not your thing.
Actually, no others. I use to watch Buffy 2x the same week; the live feed, then the copy I recorded. Fifth season aside, Angel was another stellar show I watched like it was a requirement.
I caught Firefly late, but found it to killed before it got a chance to grow.
Never saw Dollhouse, but that was more free time availability.
AoS (admittingly) is just not for me; at least in its current format. Perhaps if it was more like a limited series run each season I'd feel differently.
I watched AoS for two months and finally gave up. People said it got very good after Captain America 2 came out but I was gone at that point. Agent Carter was awesome though. I really hope that comes back.
Enjoyed it a lot. Not as good as Avengers or Cap2, but a good superhero movie.
Good Stuff:
Liked the Scarlet Witch. Liked Quicksilver (sniff). Loved the Vision. Ultron was, perhaps, a little too funny, but good nonetheless. Serious threat. Iron legion stuff was good. Strucker connection to AoS was appreciated. Wakanda reference was good. Romance with Banner/Hulk/Natasha was pretty good. Who is she attracted to? Banner or the "BIG GUY".
Main issues that took me out of the moment:
I didn't buy the team being pissed at Stark. They didn't sell that to me. Pretty forced.
Kinda seemed like Stark hung up the armor at the end of IM3. He's back in this 'issue' with no reference to that, then at the end he's seemed to be distancing himself from at least the Avengers if not Iron Man again. Seemed a little repetitive. Felt a little disjointed.
Seemed pretty obvious that Stark's "hallucination" or "premonition" or whatever you call it had nothing to do with this movie and that it has to do with the infinity war.
More crap falling out of the sky and Stark saving the day? Good visual, but a little meh. I was really hoping Ultron was drilling through to the core of the earth or something cool like that.
Stark progression didn't bother me. Tony was destroying the ghosts of his pasts, the things that inspired him to keep building . he destroyed them to move on but he never gave up being iron man. he even states it at the end of the film and collects his tools. Iron Legion is a logical step after what the drones could do in IM2 and IM3 . post credit scene showed him talking to banner after first avengers , setting up Ultron and the like .
I got the feeling that him and Pepper might've called it quits or been on a hiatus or something. That "who's girl is better" banter with Thor at the party seemed a little...uncomfortable for Tony.
Did anyone else just sit in that theater watching the spectacle unfold and go, "Holy crackers, its the freaking comic books on the screen."
I did. I enjoyed this movie a lot, equally as much as Avengers 1, and I do think this movie, more than any other, most approximates the look and feel of a Marvel team comic where dozens of characters are flying around in an awesome battle. While I've enjoyed other superhero films more, this one was really solid and fun.
My complaint with both Avengers movies is the sniping between Stark and Rogers, which seems forced and nonsensical. I just think it gets old, and is a lazy way to portray Stark as the "egomaniac CEO who answers to no one." When they show him actually doing something reckless, like building an Ultron, it kinda works better.
The Marvel movies remain a bit confusing to casual fans, however. There are references back to things that happened in two Thor films, two Cap films, three Iron Mans, Guardians, the first Avengers movie, and maybe a couple of TV shows. My wife was asking who is that guy and what is that several times in the movie. And she also didn't quite catch how Scarlet Witch's mumbo-jumbo factored in to Ultron's creation by Stark, and I couldn't really explain it either.
Did anyone else just sit in that theater watching the spectacle unfold and go, "Holy crackers, its the freaking comic books on the screen."
I did. I enjoyed this movie a lot, equally as much as Avengers 1, and I do think this movie, more than any other, most approximates the look and feel of a Marvel team comic where dozens of characters are flying around in an awesome battle. While I've enjoyed other superhero films more, this one was really solid and fun.
My complaint with both Avengers movies is the sniping between Stark and Rogers, which seems forced and nonsensical. I just think it gets old, and is a lazy way to portray Stark as the "egomaniac CEO who answers to no one." When they show him actually doing something reckless, like building an Ultron, it kinda works better.
The Marvel movies remain a bit confusing to casual fans, however. There are references back to things that happened in two Thor films, two Cap films, three Iron Mans, Guardians, the first Avengers movie, and maybe a couple of TV shows. My wife was asking who is that guy and what is that several times in the movie. And she also didn't quite catch how Scarlet Witch's mumbo-jumbo factored in to Ultron's creation by Stark, and I couldn't really explain it either.
I haven't seen this movie yet (3:30 today), but from what I've seen thus far in Avengers, the sniping between Rogers & Stark makes sense in this version of the characters. There's a history between the 2, which for Stark, spans 2 generations.
In the first movie, Stark even made a comment to Banner to the effect "that's the guy my dad always talked about?!" It seems Stark & his dad weren't exactly the Cleavers. So, to some extense I've read there to be some resentment toward Rogers.
Also, if you look at the drives of each. Rogers' drive was because he doesn't like bullies. Stark's drive was more for redemption.
Plus, this all seems to be one of the subplots to Civil War.
I'm not certain the casual fan has difficulties across the board. I figure my wife will have a couple "who's that" & "what are they talking about" moments when we see it today, but I haven't heard that issue from most of the casual viewers I've spoken with. Again, going off the prior movies, they've normally been something that was a one-liner or implied enough to make connections.
Plus, I'd rather a small percentage of people be a little confused then there not be a running continuity for the rest of us.
Comments
Waiting is at least 15% of the fun.
In this one, they seem pretty together at the start, so a lot of the 'Can you stand together??' beats in this just didn't ring true. It felt like this film just had too much to juggle, and too much water to carry for future movies (I know, that was two metaphors) which got in the way of telling this story. There was a lot of good action, and that's not nothing, but this one wasn't really about anything.
I feel like the Scarlet Witch's power was to give everyone terrifying visions of what they will face in future movies. Which is a cool, comic booky thing. Sure. And helps to get other things cooking. But that really undercut the idea that they were supposed to be in the midst of facing an existential threat from Ultron.
I also wish that the creation of Ultron by Stark (with Banner's help) hadn't been played as the fallout from his hex by Scarlet Witch. I mean, it was never made clear what exactly that zap was. But it seems like there is some element of mind control involved. And I would have preferred that Stark make Ultron in a moment of pure, CLEAR HEADED, hubris.
Even if Scarlet Witch only gave him a nudge towards something he would have done anyway, it basically robbed the movie of the central, Avengers-dividing conflict. Because can they *really* blame Stark for what he did when mind control is on the table.
To end positive, I loved Vision. He looked great. Bettany was fantastic. He was this wonderful, trippy mix of tech and mysticism. There was just something different about him than any of the other Avengers. As @Brack put so well earlier, he is like our bridge between the military tech world that has been most of Avengers, and the space opera that is to come.
I also really loved Hawkeye's secret family. That was a nice reveal. And I hope they refute expectations in the future by having them not be killed or just become the wonder-hostages/ squishy people to put in peril. I would love if they just exist as part of what is true about his character, and maybe what makes him more centered and professional than the rest of the characters. His super-power is he has a family to fight for.
Anyway. Enough for now. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained. But it is a shame that this didn't find a way to build UP from Avengers, rather than feel like an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle.
Fantastic.
Can't wait to see it again.
Ultron was a really pleasant surprise. I did not expect that personality.
Well-misdirected, trailer editors!
You know something? A few viewings from now I'm going to have some critiques for this movie (a slightly dimmed color pallet for one) but right now?
Did anyone else just sit in that theater watching the spectacle unfold and go, "Holy crackers, its the freaking comic books on the screen."
No, no. I get it. We've had several dozen superhero films, several amazing Marvel ones in there as well. But for whatever reason I was just sitting in the theater with a shit eating grin on my face the whole time. And I'm not even a Marvel zombie!
Thor, Captain America, Iron-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine, Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Wakanda, Ultron, Heli-Carriers, Peggy Carter, Thanos, Infinity gems, Infinity gauntlet, Heimdell, etc.....
All of these and more are in a MOVIE. And that movie doesn't suck! And the general public likes it AND WANTS EVEN MORE!
I mean.... yeah. I'm a comic fan. After a few watchings I'm going to find something. But overall it was an amazing spectacle and right this moment? I'm just in awe that this even exists and was done WELL.
When 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' comes out, I might be more critical. I might rip apart 'Ant-Man'. I don't know. But right this second, if anything, I'm just happy this movie is here and reminding me just how lucky I am to be a comic fan in this day and age. I mean, Jesus guys. Look at that list of characters and concepts again. Did you TRULY ever think those would play out on the silver screen in a well made movie? Let alone the SAME movie?!
I mean... wow.
M
What did you want/expect from the movie that you didn't get?
The human cost of all the superhuman violence was always right there in front of us, and right there in front of our heroes.
How did he go from blowing up all his suits to being back in the armor with a fleet of crowd-control drones?
I think Cap talked him into it.
I think, in the post-SHIELD environment, Cap convinced him that they had to get the band back together to deal with Hydra.
I wish Agents of SHIELD had been able to give us some indication that the Avengers were active during this period.
M
Boy did they deliver.
I wish "underwhelmed" best described it. Lethargic-whelmed? Can that be a new description?
M
I get the impression that they're just not your thing.
I caught Firefly late, but found it to killed before it got a chance to grow.
Never saw Dollhouse, but that was more free time availability.
AoS (admittingly) is just not for me; at least in its current format. Perhaps if it was more like a limited series run each season I'd feel differently.
M
40%!
Suzie Derkins is definitely in the treehouse.
Enjoyed it a lot. Not as good as Avengers or Cap2, but a good superhero movie.
Good Stuff:
Liked the Scarlet Witch.
Liked Quicksilver (sniff).
Loved the Vision.
Ultron was, perhaps, a little too funny, but good nonetheless. Serious threat.
Iron legion stuff was good.
Strucker connection to AoS was appreciated.
Wakanda reference was good.
Romance with Banner/Hulk/Natasha was pretty good. Who is she attracted to? Banner or the "BIG GUY".
Main issues that took me out of the moment:
I didn't buy the team being pissed at Stark. They didn't sell that to me. Pretty forced.
Kinda seemed like Stark hung up the armor at the end of IM3. He's back in this 'issue' with no reference to that, then at the end he's seemed to be distancing himself from at least the Avengers if not Iron Man again. Seemed a little repetitive. Felt a little disjointed.
Seemed pretty obvious that Stark's "hallucination" or "premonition" or whatever you call it had nothing to do with this movie and that it has to do with the infinity war.
More crap falling out of the sky and Stark saving the day? Good visual, but a little meh. I was really hoping Ultron was drilling through to the core of the earth or something cool like that.
Some of the comic book science was a bit much.
All in all, 75%.
Tactically, she appreciated the "Other Guy".
Also, "But Jane is better" lol
Shocked at the death of Pietro.. Did not see that coming..
I get the feeling the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier came from Fury's "friends," Phil Colson and his Scooby gang
My complaint with both Avengers movies is the sniping between Stark and Rogers, which seems forced and nonsensical. I just think it gets old, and is a lazy way to portray Stark as the "egomaniac CEO who answers to no one." When they show him actually doing something reckless, like building an Ultron, it kinda works better.
The Marvel movies remain a bit confusing to casual fans, however. There are references back to things that happened in two Thor films, two Cap films, three Iron Mans, Guardians, the first Avengers movie, and maybe a couple of TV shows. My wife was asking who is that guy and what is that several times in the movie. And she also didn't quite catch how Scarlet Witch's mumbo-jumbo factored in to Ultron's creation by Stark, and I couldn't really explain it either.
In the first movie, Stark even made a comment to Banner to the effect "that's the guy my dad always talked about?!" It seems Stark & his dad weren't exactly the Cleavers. So, to some extense I've read there to be some resentment toward Rogers.
Also, if you look at the drives of each. Rogers' drive was because he doesn't like bullies. Stark's drive was more for redemption.
Plus, this all seems to be one of the subplots to Civil War.
I'm not certain the casual fan has difficulties across the board. I figure my wife will have a couple "who's that" & "what are they talking about" moments when we see it today, but I haven't heard that issue from most of the casual viewers I've spoken with. Again, going off the prior movies, they've normally been something that was a one-liner or implied enough to make connections.
Plus, I'd rather a small percentage of people be a little confused then there not be a running continuity for the rest of us.
M