Avengers: Age of Ultron- Grading & Discussion (spoilerific)

[The Old Mixer]

The biggest surprise for me was that at the end of the film Cap and Iron Man were on good terms. They were literally at blows in the middle of the movie, and we know they go to war in the next one, so I expected them to be hating each other when they walked away from this one. Is it because Downey wasn't signed for Civil War at the time that they made this?

The anticipated developments of CA:CW will have more impact if they start the movie as friends and allies and then find themselves on opposite sides.

How did they contact Thor? How many did he go on? He's just been hanging out on Earth all this time? It seems too small for him.

The impetus of the Avengers going after HYDRA seemed to be to get the scepter back, and that was definitely in Asgard's jurisdiction. After SHIELD fell, Thor was probably kicking himself for having evidently allowed SHIELD to take it into custody.

The Hulk-buster jackhammer punching Hulk over and over was this movie's Loki ragdog gag. Classic!

I think that the gag of the Hulk repeatedly kicking Ultron out of planes and whatnot gets to at least share in that accolade.

There was so much going on in this film that I really need to see it again just to properly absorb the details.

 

[kirk55555]

I just aw it, and it was great (I gave it an A). The story was very good, the returning characters were great as always, and the new characters were interesting. Ultron was a good villain. I like how they didn't make him a more generic robotic villain, he actually had an interesting personality. There was some good humor in the movie, and Hawkeye especially got some good lines. I also liked getting some hawkeye (and Black widow) backstory. I kind of wish the Korean scientist got a bit more of an explanation as to who she was and how they knew her, but she didn't have a huge roll so it wasn't a big deal.

I expected Falcon to show up with Warmachine when everyone was saving civilians, and it was weird when he didn't (but he still showed up at the very end as an Avenger). Vision and Scarlet Witch were pretty cool, I hope we get more with them soon (I think they're both supposed to be in Civil War?). Nick Fury was cool, and the Helicarriewr showing up gave me goosebumps. The Hulk/Black Widow stuff was done well. I wouldn't have called it before this movie, but they work well together.

Overall, I can't really pick between Avengers 1 or 2 when it comes to which was better. They're both awesome.

 

[Reverend]

Random thought: It just now dawned on me that the new Avengers line-up features two women and two black guys (and a red & green non-gendered entity.) Not a huge deal, but it's nice to see what was a very white team and what almost felt like a token female suddenly get much more diverse.

Also just remembered: Hawkeye's newborn son was wearing a shirt with his name on it. "Nathaniel Pietro Barton" which I thought was a nice touch.

He knew how much Tony valued swagger over...anything remotely sensible. Helping him create the Iron Legion and Ultron was the dumbest thing he's ever done, ever after what he did to himself.

Because he at least had the brains to try and end that with a bullet, nevermind that it didn't work, after that he should have known to limit Tony's insanity if he had actual imput on a day to day basis.

Really? I'd say shooting himself up with an untested serum his girlfriend's jingoistic military nutter of a father game him and then deliberately shooting himself in the face with gamma radiation was the dumbest thing Banner ever did.

Helping Tony Stark probably ranks around number four, right after posting your highly dangerous blood sample to a total stranger you met on the internet, and the whole purple trousers thing.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I like how they didn't make him a more generic robotic villain

Yeah, we already had Malekith for that....

(and a red & green non-gendered entity.)

Wanda might come to disagree with that description.

Helping Tony Stark probably ranks around number four, right after posting your highly dangerous blood sample to a total stranger you met on the internet, and the whole purple trousers thing.

 

[kirk55555]

I like how they didn't make him a more generic robotic villain

Yeah, we already had Malekith for that....

I like The Dark World, but yeah, Malekith was really poorly done, especially compared to the fairly interesting comic version.

 

[DEWLine]

--I was very surprised and confused when Fury showed up with a full crewed Helicarrier, given the fact that he's "dead" and the events of the SHIELD tv show show that Coulson doesn't have that kind of resources and the Gonzalez-SHIELD had a smaller Helicarrier but wasn't allied with Fury. He said they were repairing the original, but who is "we" if he was in hiding? Who were the thousands of people working on it?

Not fully-crewed. The regular airwing was unavailable and the focus was on rigging "64" for evacuation of civilians. Hence those troop-carriers popping out of her sides for example. I can see a skeleton crew for bridge ops and engineering, and a full team in the sick bay, but no intel officers, heavy weapons, or air wing.

 

[JD]

Really loved this one. I really liked that this one gave all of the characters a moment to shine. I was especially surprised to see Hawkeye's wife and kids.
James Spader was awesome as Ultron, definitely one of my favorite MCU villains so far. I didn't expect his story tie back to the first one so closely. I figured out the Avengers were going after Loki's staff after the last Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D episode, but I figured it was just going to be a reason for them to go the Hydra facility and I really didn't expect it to play a role beyond that.
I really liked Wanda and Pietro. I had heard a rumor on here a couple days before the movie came out that Pietro might die, but I figured they wouldn't kill him off in his first movie. I was rather shocked when they actually did kill him off.
I didn't really have a problem with Black Widow and Banner, and I liked how they had her as the one who calmed down Hulk.
Vision was really cool.
The movie had some absolutely amazing action sequences. I honestly thought it had a pretty good mix of quieter character moments, and big action scenes.
I loved the New Avengers facility at the end, and I especially got a kick out of the very last bit with the supporting characters getting ready to become Avengers themselves.
I thought the stuff with Klaue was a nice, subtle set up for Black Panther. If you didn't know the comics, then it was just another scene, but if you did then it was a fun bit of world building. I do wonder if Klaue getting his arm ripped off was a set up for him to return with the sonic device from the comics.
While the post credits scene was short, I thought it was a great set up for Infinity War.

EDIT: I was also wondering if Helen Cho (the Korean doctor), is any relation to Amadeus Cho from the comics. I was half expecting to see or hear about her having a son.

 

[kirk55555]

I missed the credits scene because we had to leave to avoid the traffic. I heard the ending was just a short scene with Thanos (and maybe the gauntlet and a line or two of dialog). Is that right?

 

[The Old Mixer]

I do wonder if Klaue getting his arm ripped off was a set up for him to return with the sonic device from the comics.

How could it not be at this point? They didn't make a point of taking his arm off for nothing.

I suppose it could just be an easter egg, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't setup for Klaw to be a/the villain in the Black Panther film.

 

[Kemaiku]

Yup, mid-credits with Thanos and no post-credits.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^There was a tiny nugget of reward for those who sat through the credits anyway:

THE AVENGERS WILL RETURN.

I missed the credits scene because we had to leave to avoid the traffic. I heard the ending was just a short scene with Thanos (and maybe the gauntlet and a line or two of dialog). Is that right?

That's about it. He said something to the effect of having to do things himself, and grabbed the gauntlet in what was probably supposed to be Odin's weapon's vault. Not much of a revelation for those of us who knew Infinity War was coming, but it makes sense that they'd emphasize the Thanos connection for general audience members who saw GotG.​

 

[JD]

They started with a close up of the Infinity Guantlet, a pair doors open, Thanos reaches in and grabs it, and say either "I guess I'll have to do it myself", or "Fine, I'll do it myself".

 

[kirk55555]

Well, the scene sounds decent, but not something I really regret missing. Still, I think Infinity War is going to be awesome, and we have a bunch of cool movies before we even get there.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I could see a lot of casuals thinking "um....ok" at the after-credits scene.

 

[The Old Mixer]

OTOH, as I brought up in another thread, at least one youngster in the audience at my showing...couldn't have been more than 5...knew him by name and was very excited to see him.

 

[JD]

Yeah, that strikes me more as one that's only really significant for people who know the comics, and what's coming in Infinity War.

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I just got back from the movie. I gave it an A, though I was thinking about giving it an A-. I liked the movie, but it's not as good as the first one. I liked Vision and I liked the inclusion of the minor characters like Falcon and War Machine. I liked that Cap was the clear leader. Ultron was cool, but his lips moving reminded me of Transformers, which is not a good thing. I really liked Scarlet Witch, but Quicksilver was kind of boring. I'm glad he was killed off. I thought Hawkeye was going to die though. I really liked Thor's side story, but I wish they would've explored that a little more. This movie ultimately felt like s set up for Infinity War, kind of like the first Captain America movie was a set up for Avengers. I didn't like that some of it was sort of a rehash of the first one. The ending was definitely a rehash with everyone going their separate ways. After Winter Soldier and Gardians, I guess I just expected more. It's not a bad movie, but I really was expecting more.

Side note: seeing the Star Wars trailer on the big screen was really great!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

OTOH, as I brought up in another thread, at least one youngster in the audience at my showing...couldn't have been more than 5...knew him by name and was very excited to see him.

Has Thanos been a part of the Disney cartoons?

 

[The Old Mixer]

I don't follow them, but now that you mention it, I think I've read that he has been heavily featured in them.

Yeah, that strikes me more as one that's only really significant for people who know the comics, and what's coming in Infinity War.

I think that those of us who were already in the know are more likely to be blasé about it...while general moviegoers who aren't up on Marvel's long-term plans would benefit from the connection with the very popular GotG being made explicit.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I could see a lot of casuals thinking "um....ok" at the after-credits scene.

Assuming they didn't watch either the first Avengers movie or Guardians of the Galaxy, I suppose. But I wonder if someone in that position would even know to stay for that scene. Certainly, it's a small minority of people who are completely ignorant of what's going on by this point (even Thor: The Dark World would have increased ones appetite for that scene).

OTOH, as I brought up in another thread, at least one youngster in the audience at my showing...couldn't have been more than 5...knew him by name and was very excited to see him.

Well, he was in Guardians. But I do agree. I went to a comic book shop for Free Comic Book day for the very first time yesterday and was thrilled to see kids of all ages excited about comics. There was even a 12 year old explaining to another kid who Lockjaw was when he pointed out a copy of "Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers." That's some dedication right there.

ETA: As for cartoons, he was in the Silver Surfer cartoon, but I highly doubt any five year old knows what that is.