Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

[Hangman]

Saw a screening of Avengers AOU.

 

I didn't care for the first Avengers movie at all.  It's down there with Thor 2 as movies I've only seen once and probably will never watch again.

 

But I liked this one a lot more. More than GotG, but less than CA2.

 

It was "darker" than the first, but still had some funny moments.

 

I thought the farm scenes were unnecessary, but I guess they were supposed to add extra emotion. I never cared for the Hawkeye character though.

 

X-Men's Quicksilver was better, but they're not really comparable.

 

Special effects were amazing, but the 3D was pointless.

 

I'd give it a B+.

[ACCA]

I came into this with reasonably high expectations, primarily due to Winter Soldier, what that established in the Marvel universe, and also some hype from the Marvel and Whedon camp. I was left disappointed by Whedon...again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

My thoughts in random order:

 

- the visuals were surprisingly inconsistent. Most of the visuals were amazing like the Sokovia end sequence. However some other visuals, like Natasha weaving through traffic on a bike and the opening Sokovia sequence had some really bad-looking visuals.

- Ultron was a very disappointing villain. I expected MUCH more, and was left wanting. Marvel, Whedon, and the trailers had all hyped Ultron as a VERY terrifying and dangerous villain. At no point in the film did I ever feel that the Avengers were in danger or were threatened. The only "Avenger" who died was Quicksilver, which was a very abrupt death, and he was not a permanent member of the Avengers. The comedic element to Ultron was unexpected, and ultimately very jarring. Personally it was absolutely unnecessary. Everything was very by-the-numbers and predictable in terms of Ultron's threat to the team and the world. Given that Ultron's consciousness could be anywhere and everywhere electronic, it was highly unbelievable that the Avengers were able to thwart him without Ultron knowing of their movements and plan ahead of time. I felt more threatened by Klaue's short scenes in the film than I did by Ultron during his entire time in the film.

- It was a big slap in the face that the main plot device in the film, now a second time in a row for an Avengers movie was Loki's scepter. I mean SERIOUSLY? That's the best that Marvel and Whedon came up with? Absolutely preposterous.

- With all the SIGNIFICANT implications that Winter Soldier caused in the Marvel universe, throughtout the entirety of the film, only vague, passing mentions were made to those events.

- Vision was very cool.

- Hulk/Banner was very well done

- No Pepper was disappointing

- Hulkbuster fight was cool, no other thoughts on that

- Stark's arrogance and ego reached near absurd levels in this film. After all that Stark has gone through in the previous Marvel films, we are expected to sincerely believe he could have such arrogance and ego remaining? Again, it's nearly absurd.

- Team dynamics/comedy was well done, but this was a basic aspect of the movie that they could not have screwed up.

- Thor displaying more of his full power was VERY appreciated. Specifically his massive display of power at the end, that was VERY cool.

- the way the film concluded had no impact; no real implications, aside from obvious ones, were raised.

- Natasha/Banner to me felt very forced and awkward. I just couldn't buy into it.

 

 

All in all, I was thoroughly disappointed. I actually think Loki was a bigger threat in the first film, versus Ultron in this film. I now have a very serious worry that Marvel will neuter the power and threat of Thanos and the Infinity Stones in the upcoming films. I am glad the Russo brothers are directing the next Avengers films, but even that is not enough to allievate my worry of Thanos being neutered and watered-down. However with the Russo brothers I at least expect better films than these first two Avengers films from Whedon.

 

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy and Winter Soldier to me were far more compelling films. This is down there as one of the worst Marvel films for me.

 

I give this a C-.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Gonk

[Hangman]

- It was a big slap in the face that the main plot device in the film, now a second time in a row for an Avengers movie was Loki's scepter. I mean SERIOUSLY? That's the best that Marvel and Whedon came up with? Absolutely preposterous.

 

 

I think using mind control again is even worse.

[bapi]

Wow, that was exactly like Transformers sequels. Opening action is weird but scenes like 'safe house' or 'creating Vision'... that was some bizarre shit. Empty, boring movie without its own face.

 

4/10

[bapi]

1. Iron Man

2. Iron Man 3

3. Captain America: The First Avenger

4. The Incredible Hulk

5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

6. The Avengers

7. Thor

8. Guardians of the Galaxy

9. Iron Man 2

10. The Avengers: Age of Ultron

11. Thor: The Dark World

[darkelf]

Some long-ass reviews in this thread

 

Anyway, I thought it was good but not as good as the first one. Hawkguy rules!

 

8/10

 

Don't feel like writing anything more, it just kinda met my expectations.

[CJohn]

Loved Scarlett Witch, Quicksilver. Vision was cool as well. Hawkeye was cool, not sure why people are saying it was the heart of the movie and the best of it lol. Ultron was a garbage villain, I was laughing out loud with some of the stuff he was saying and his facial expressions. Not much to say about Andy Serkis, waiting to see more of him in Black Panther.

 

Entertaining ride, better than the bland and boring first movie, but still below Iron Man 1 and 3, Winter Soldier, Thor 1 and 2 and Guardians.

 

That was also some of the worst editing I have ever seen in a movie lol. There were so many scenes clearly missing. What the hell.

Edited May 1, 2015 by CJohn

[4815162342]

Thought 1: No Star Wars trailer but we get Dope and Vin Diesel's Season of the Witch remake. That's some shady stuff.

Thought 2: The action cinematography was very weak. Way too many close-ups and quick cuts during the action pieces.

Thought 3: The music lived up to the MCU standards, by which I mean it was thoroughly unremarkable. If Danny Elfman scored music I sure didn't notice.

Thought 4: The only difference between the Chitauri goons and the Ultron bots was that the Ultron bots didn't shut down when a command center was taken out.

Thought 4A: Whedon definitely threw shade at Man of Steel with the entire final battle. On the other hand, Man of Steel had a ticking clock already in motion whereas Age of Ultron's ticking clock didn't start until a little while after the shade was thrown.

Thought 5: Someone needs to go into the Days of Future Past thread and gloat at the MCU fans knocking Bryan Singer for "ripping off Whedon" with using Quicksilver. People who have seen the movie know exactly what I mean. Whedon trolled, guys.

Thought 6: Lots of cameos, lots of set-up for future films. Age of Foreshadowing.

Thought 7: There's definitely a bunch of connector and depth scenes on the cutting room floor. A lot is going on and the film sometimes does a Hulk leap over it to get to the next actual plot point.

Thought 8: All these thoughts are negative so far, but I wanted to get them out of the way since they're the main quibbles I have.

Thought 9: The movie belongs to Hawkguy, Widow, Ultron (though in terms of actual physical threat he's maybe a hair more dangerous than Loki), and Vision, and 3rd Act Scarlet Witch.

Thought 10: The film definitely takes time to delve into a bunch of character moments, which is appreciated.

Final Thought: It's not as good as Avengers 1, but it's still pretty fun and enjoyable, and it does provide a better insight into most of the characters than Avengers 1 did.

[75Live]

I liked it but it definitely was a drop off from the first one.

There was a few good lines and moments but no one person stood out for me.

Ultron was pretty weak but that is the norm for Marvel movies so I don't hold it against the flick.

It is still a fun time regardless

B/B-

[Chewy]

There are two big reasons I don't think this is gonna land with audiences the way the first did:

-There are laughs throughout, but little laughs. None of the full-audience, big belly laughs that really drove the WOM on the first one

-The entire third act set piece is pretty blah, unlike the first movie which had an excellent third act. Most of these superhero movies don't stick their landings, the fact that the first one did really set it apart

 

Anyway, I liked it. It's full of character moments that usually work and action that usually doesn't. There's a real balance between the main characters which is nice (and appreciated), even moreso than the first one.

 

Ultron is an excellent villain. He's got a great personality and even a little nuance. People who can't name their senators are going to rant about how he isn't intimidating, and they're missing the point. The final scene between Ultron and Vision is probably the best scene in the movie. Could've used more Vision although it's understandable that there isn't much, given all the buildup to his birth. I imagine he's going to be a major scene-stealer from here on out

 

Definitely feels like Whedon bit off a bit too much. Sometimes it flies from scene to scene, ineffectively. The Thor subplot is dumb and I'm glad most of it was cut. Should've just had him fly off and then fly back in, talking about Infinity Stones. It felt like they decided to cut that whole thing, but didn't want to lose the shirtless Hems scene, so they left just a little bit. lol

 

The character interplay really works here. I liked how hurt Ultron was when they twins turned on him, I liked how Cap identified with the twins, I liked Widow's whole arc. The running Quicksilver/Hawkeye gag was fun. On the other hand, the running "language" gag was super lame. Real eyeroll

 

Random moment that stuck out - a small Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch insert shot with them watching TV, that was so obviously filmed after the fact. Olsen was wearing a bad wig, instead of the extensions she wore through the rest of the movie   It was fun noticing all the ways they hid ScarJo's pregnancy, too

 

Anyway, I'll give it a B. This is one that I think I might even like more on rewatch. It's interesting, unlike the Iron Man 2s and Thor 2s of the world that are empty

 

I'll end this post with a request for Marvel - please retire the Stan Lee cameos. They are no longer cute

[Chewy]

why would thanos's dumb ass even give his one infinity stone to loki?

 

lol when I was watching this it struck me that they definitely didn't intend the staff to be one at first. I guess they decided to make it one in between the first movie and this. The fact that they randomly changed the gem from blue to yellow just cuz they can't have two blue stones made me laugh

Edited May 1, 2015 by Chewy

[eddyxx]

lol when I was watching this it struck me that they definitely didn't intend the staff to be one at first. I guess they decided to make it one in between the first movie and this. The fact that they randomly changed the gem from blue to yellow just cuz they can't have two blue stones made me laugh

 

Some one actually predicted this would happen on SHH and I just couldn't believe Marvel would do it...but they did it.

[ACCA]

I think using mind control again is even worse.

 

Agreed, really lazy writing and story conceptualization. The scripts for Guardians of the Galaxy and Winter Soldier look like Shakespeare in comparison.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Gonk

[#ED]

Intro was good.

Story was OK.

Ending was horrible. Ultron's demise was weak.

The final better felt like MoS but "saving people" which got in the way of the action IMO.

Hawkeye isn't interesting and I don't understand the point to Widow and Hulk.

7/10 or a B- really.

I'm debating a C though.

[redfirebird2008]

There are two big reasons I don't think this is gonna land with audiences the way the first did:

-There are laughs throughout, but little laughs. None of the full-audience, big belly laughs that really drove the WOM on the first one

-The entire third act set piece is pretty blah, unlike the first movie which had an excellent third act. Most of these superhero movies don't stick their landings, the fact that the first one did really set it apart

 

Anyway, I liked it. It's full of character moments that usually work and action that usually doesn't. There's a real balance between the main characters which is nice (and appreciated), even moreso than the first one.

 

Ultron is an excellent villain. He's got a great personality and even a little nuance. People who can't name their senators are going to rant about how he isn't intimidating, and they're missing the point. The final scene between Ultron and Vision is probably the best scene in the movie. Could've used more Vision although it's understandable that there isn't much, given all the buildup to his birth. I imagine he's going to be a major scene-stealer from here on out

 

Definitely feels like Whedon bit off a bit too much. Sometimes it flies from scene to scene, ineffectively. The Thor subplot is dumb and I'm glad most of it was cut. Should've just had him fly off and then fly back in, talking about Infinity Stones. It felt like they decided to cut that whole thing, but didn't want to lose the shirtless Hems scene, so they left just a little bit. lol

 

The character interplay really works here. I liked how hurt Ultron was when they twins turned on him, I liked how Cap identified with the twins, I liked Widow's whole arc. The running Quicksilver/Hawkeye gag was fun. On the other hand, the running "language" gag was super lame. Real eyeroll

 

Random moment that stuck out - a small Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch insert shot with them watching TV, that was so obviously filmed after the fact. Olsen was wearing a bad wig, instead of the extensions she wore through the rest of the movie   It was fun noticing all the ways they hid ScarJo's pregnancy, too

 

Anyway, I'll give it a B. This is one that I think I might even like more on rewatch. It's interesting, unlike the Iron Man 2s and Thor 2s of the world that are empty

 

I'll end this post with a request for Marvel - please retire the Stan Lee cameos. They are no longer cute

 

Completely agree with pretty much everything you said. I enjoyed this movie a lot more than something as bland as IM2 or IM3, but TA1 had me grinning ear to ear during the third act. Hulk was not given as much of a chance to shine this time.

 

I think Numbers is spot on too about the similarity between Loki and Ultron's armies. That plot point has to change in future movies or it's going to get old real fast. It already felt like too much of a rehash in this movie.

 

One of my favorite aspects of the movie was the party scene where they all try to pick up Thor's hammer and Cap is able to make it budge. The look of panic on Hemsworth's face was classic. And then when Vision comes in and grabs the hammer with ease. Everyone's reaction was awesome. "We're not worthy" look on their face and then Thor with the nice one liner, "Well then..."

 

Vision was fucking awesome. Really enjoyed Natasha/Bruce moments. Also really liked how they gave Renner a better role this time. Too good of an actor to be turned into a zombie like the first movie. Spader gave a damn good vocal performance. The CGI for Ultron was pretty damn great too. The Hulkbuster scene where Tony kept punching Hulk over and over...poor guy just couldn't get up. Was pretty damn funny.

[MrPink]

I didn't care for the Natasha/Bruce dynamic. It set back Natasha as a character from Winter Soldier. Quicksilver was useless but he's part of the packaged deal for Scarlet Witch who was genuinely good.

 

The solitary house scene allows for nice character moments but slows the movie down. Thor goes off to do...something? Added nothing to the movie.

 

Ultron was tonally confused. I liked him in general, but little moments ultimately serve to undermine the character, even if in the moment he's amusing. When the Hulk came up to the Quinjet and he's like "Oh for God's Sake!" I laughed...but then I thought...man you're wasting a potentially threatening character with moments like these. His grand scheme I thought was better than recent Marvel villains, so I liked his purpose. His final face off with Vision was great too, even if a bit on the nose with his spiel in the first act of the film.

 

I would give it a B, roughly same rating as Avengers. Avengers is the better movie, but I found Ultron to be more enjoyable overall.

Edited May 1, 2015 by MrPink

[Water Bottle]

A fun movie that serves as a satisfying climax of Phase II.

 

Vision stole the movie IMO.

 

A-

[Kalo]

It had some fantastic moments, Scarlet Witch was super awesome and her powers are amazing. but why was there so much freakin cheesy dialogue? if you got read of some of the awful attempts at humor and cut tony's tongue off it might have been better than the first. and the final battle while it had some awesome stuff. I didn't really feel that the Avengers were in mortal danger at all.  but still overall all it was still very good, not the best marvel film so far. but far from the worst. 

[Blankments]

I'm pretty mixed on it right now, but since for the first 45 minutes, I was too busy screaming internally about how there was no Star Wars trailer, I was pretty much in a bad mood.

 

Basically, the new characters are great. Quicksilver is cool for what he is, but I'm happy he's dead. Scarlet Witch was awesome, her powers were cool and she was a badass. Hawkeye counts as new because he has some fleshing out finally and it's well worth the wait. Ultron was a fun villain too; a bit disappointing at first, but I grew to like him. The real highlight is Vision though; every second he was on screen, I had a huge smile on my face even though I have no history with the character. He felt like... well, at risk of starting a fanboy war, Superman. He was majestic and wonderful and wow. I just really really liked him. Oh, and Andy Serkis was fun.

 

The humor is good, but unfortunately, I felt like the other five Avengers had a been-there-done-that feel. A lot of stuff felt like set up for Civil War and other shit down the road. I also don't see the point of the mid-credits scene. The action is hit and miss, with the best segment actually being the setpiece in Seoul. I just felt like the film could've been more though at this time. I'll give it an B+/A- atm but it could really significantly change with a rewatch.

 

One thing that made LOL in a minor way: how War Machine gets a huge entrance that makes you feel like the audience is supposed to cheer for him, but no one actually cares about War Machine. Silly Marvel, just put Falcon in there and everyone would've cheered

[The Stingray]

Ultron is an excellent villain. He's got a great personality and even a little nuance. People who can't name their senators are going to rant about how he isn't intimidating, and they're missing the point. The final scene between Ultron and Vision is probably the best scene in the movie. Could've used more Vision although it's understandable that there isn't much, given all the buildup to his birth. I imagine he's going to be a major scene-stealer from here on out

 

What point did I miss?