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

[Mr Light]

The current "Avengers Assemble" cartoon is basically one running commercial for the movies. The Big Bads have been Red Skull then Thanos then Ultron so far. So Thanos and Ultron have appeared a lot lately.

So what's the line up at the end of the movie?

Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, The Falcon, Scarlet Witch, The Vision

Iron Man basically walked away from the team right, and Hulk is MIA, and Thor left to search for the Infinity Stones.

 

[Corran Horn]

The current "Avengers Assemble" cartoon is basically one running commercial for the movies. The Big Bads have been Red Skull then Thanos then Ultron so far. So Thanos and Ultron have appeared a lot lately.

They've also just intro'd Ant-Man wearing the same costume as the movie. They haven't mentioned whether he's Hank or Scott, though, IIRC.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

You know what, I'm going to see this movie again tomorrow. I hear it's better on the second time. Right now I gave it a B, but I would like for it to be an A.

Prove me wrong, Joss and Feige! Prove me wrong.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I need to see it again before I give it a grade, but I'm hovering between B+/A-. Lots of flaws, lots of good stuff. Maybe I missed some things on first viewing (I usually do). But I enjoyed it. I love the Vision!

 

[Sci]

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.

False. The dumbest thing Banner ever did was turn down the chance to be with Nat. Everything else gets knocked down a peg.

 

[Skywalker]

The dumbest thing Banner ever did was completely forget that Betty Ross even existed. Seriously, he could have at least mentioned her in his list of excuses for avoiding a relationship with Natasha.

So I know this is a minor complaint, but I really wish they'd had Falcon show up along with Fury, Hill, and Rhodey on the helicarrier. Seems like kind of an oversight to have him at the party and then at the end, but not there for the big battle. I'm hoping that he was just a victim of editing and we'll see him there in the extended Blu-ray.

 

[Trekker4747]

The dumbest thing Banner ever did was completely forget that Betty Ross even existed. Seriously, he could have at least mentioned her in his list of excuses for avoiding a relationship with Natasha.

Don't care what is going on with Betty, Natasha wants to run off with you, you're all for it!

 

[Mr Light]

But as they said in the movie (indirectly) if he has sex with her, he'd turn into the Hulk halfway through and rip her in half...

 

[urbandefault]

It doesn't matter where I sit in a theater on opening weekend, I always get someone kicking me in the back, a group of kids going in and out of the aisle 14 times during the movie, someone elbowing me in the side, or a combination of all three. That's why I usually wait a week or so. Next time I'll remember.

The first Avengers took a few viewings to soak in, but now I love it. Probably be the same with this one. I enjoyed it, but there was a lot to absorb in one sitting. Almost too much.

It seemed like Ultron's self-awareness and escape was a little rushed, but Maybe I'll catch something I missed next time. His "personality" was shaped by watching his father. In a couple of places Ultron came off as a child having a tantrum. Good call there, IMO.

Banner's flying off alone reminded me a bit of Cap's scene in TFA.

Overall, a solid A-.

 

[Mr Light]

I did think Ultron's creation was very rushed. I was assuming the Ultron drones would have been constructed before the movie started.

I need to watch it a second time too. I feel like I missed half of the quick one liner jokes there was too much noise and too much stuff going on.

 

[DarthTom]

Oh my gosh was a disappointing movie, I gave it a C-. While visuals were excellent it had about as good as a plot as a video game.

Most disappointing for me was Ultron as a super villain. He wasn't scary but rather at best a joke of a Bond villain in terms of not only being a threat but also his plans for destruction of the human race.

When you have virtual control of the internet, your evil plan is to pick up a giant rock with a city on top to fall back to earth as in a an asteroid? And yes, yes we know that he's locked out of the nuclear launch codes, but he could have used his abilities to create other global chaos e.g. disrupt power plants, lock down the banking system etc. that may have started a war among humans themselves.

Thank goodness I went to a matinee and the ticket price was $12 for the IMAX version of the film instead of more.

 

[Reverend]

I did think Ultron's creation was very rushed. I was assuming the Ultron drones would have been constructed before the movie started.

I need to watch it a second time too. I feel like I missed half of the quick one liner jokes there was too much noise and too much stuff going on.

Yeah, the first bunch are all modified Hydra robots you see him start completing right after he escapes into the internet.

Ultron being rushed was sort of the point. After 2-3 days of trying and failing to even get an interface with the sceptre working, it suddenly up and works like three seconds after their backs are turned. They didn't even get to stage one and went and did all the stages all on it's own.
It's why I'm pretty sure there's some intelligence acting from within the gem. Indeed it's very telling that one of the first things Ultron asks JARVIS is "why don't you have a body?" If he was a totally blank slate how did he even have that concept? I suspect he's an impression of something trapped within the gem, maybe a celestial or an echo of one. A consciousness but without memory.

 

[Kemaiku]

The fact that he not only spoke, but spoke perfect English makes me think Tony had some basic level programming in the interface that gave Ultron a little knowledge to start with.

He may have known "body" but not truely understood the concept, as we see he keeps changing his out as he comes to experience it and learn.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Overall, I enjoyed the movie but I have to admit the fight between Hulk and Iron Man and the fight between the Avengers and all of Ultron's drones did not really do much for me emotionally. I think it is because these big CGI action scenes are more and more common place in movies now so the novelty is wearing off. It is hard for a new action scene to top the previous ones. When the Hulk fights Iron Man, nothing really shocked me or surprised me. And when the Avengers were offing Ultron's drones left and right, things got kinda repetitive. Maybe it is because I saw it in 3D. The one part that did touch me emotionally was when the Avengers were saving all the civilians at the end.

 

[Noname Given]

Honestly, I liked it much more than the first Avengers film myself. I see a lot of folks criticizing Ultron not just being more logical/ruthless and quickly coming up with some fast scheme to kill everyone, but remember, Ultron was an A.I. created by Tony Stark for the purpose of 'saving' the world, and it came across as being a reflection of Tony's mind, and as a result, was somewhat conflicted; and a big point was that he wanted mankind (and the planet) to 'evolve' - so what better way to accomplish that then having another asteroidal extinction event? I loved that they didn't just m make Ultron a 100% cold/logical killer. It actually had issues it was working through as it came to terms with its sentience.

I thought all the character moments were good too. We got to see more sides of everyone, and they delved more into Black Widow's origin, etc and it was nice to see a real nod to her original origin from th comics although, again, with her birth fixed in 1984 - it's still a mystery to me how the KGB would be involved as by the time she was 'of age' ity no longer existed.

Again, I guess everyone goes in with different expectations, but I really enjoyed this one more than the first, and loved the character interactions and conflicts. the point where the Scarlet Witch KNOWS what Tony will probably do with Ulton's casket, and the rest of the team showing up to stop him, (and honestly BOTH sides had a point - it wasn't back and white); and in the end Thor showing up to do what he did was great.

One of my favorite little character bits was the fact Thor's Hammer did 'giggle' for Captain America (and the look on Hemsworth's face as Thor was great when that happened.)

I was never a fan of 'The Vision' character from the Avengers comics (I ered them from the mid 1960ies into the late 1970ies), but I have to say I really enjoy the tweaks they did to the character and his origin with this film, and I hope we'll get a chance to see more of the character in the MCU. He' not just your garden variety human built android using a refurbished body from the 1940ies (he was originally made using the original 'Human Torch' of WWII vintage which was itself an android); but now he is more a cybernetic artificial life-form that combines human, alien, and Asgardian technology.

Again, everyone has different expectations, but I gave this film an A+ - and it shows what can be done by people who respect the material and don't try to change it just for perceived marketing or to fit a 'formula' for a film, etc.

 

[Karzak]

So I know this is a minor complaint, but I really wish they'd had Falcon show up along with Fury, Hill, and Rhodey on the helicarrier. Seems like kind of an oversight to have him at the party and then at the end, but not there for the big battle. I'm hoping that he was just a victim of editing and we'll see him there in the extended Blu-ray.

It's a "minor" complaint to point out how minorities got she short straw in this film?

I do agree with you though. Black Widow's big arc is a frustrated love story before she gets captured. Whoopee.

Meanwhile, Hill, and the three black guys - Fury, Falcon and Rhodey - all get sidelined for the majority of the film so we can focus on the white guys. What was even the point of including Falcon and Rhodey? It's almost worse to have them there and barely use them.

Ugh. So many issues with this film, but those two specifically (Black Widow and Falcon/Rhodey) are the the ones that really grate, as does the knowledge that by know we all know Joss knows better too.

 

[shapeshifter]

I didn't have as much fun as with the first. Maybe I was too tired, I even dozed off a couple times. I'll forego voting until I see it one more time.

I did like they found something other than a huge ship to hover over the city, for a change.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, I don't think it was as fun as the first. Not as many laugh-out-loud moments. It was still entertaining, though, and I liked a lot of the things they did: particularly, expanding on Hawkeye's backstory.

 

[Trekker4747]

But as they said in the movie (indirectly) if he has sex with her, he'd turn into the Hulk halfway through and rip her in half...

So, don't have sex. Jut enjoy her company, look at her, fondle her, give her a handie or a BJ. Intercourse doesn't have to happen.

Anyway. I saw this Sat. night, going again tonight for a rewatch in non-3D and to give it another think-through. Will post a review/thoughts later tonight.

 

[urbandefault]

I didn't have as much fun as with the first. Maybe I was too tired, I even dozed off a couple times. I'll forego voting until I see it one more time.

I did like they found something other than a huge ship to hover over the city, for a change.

It's hard for me to enjoy a movie in a crowded theater. I have crowd issues anyway, but the kids (for me, this means anyone under 30) going back and forth crossing in front of the screen is damned annoying. If that one teenage punk had gone through one more time I swear I'd have tripped him, just because.

Yeah, I don't think it was as fun as the first. Not as many laugh-out-loud moments. It was still entertaining, though, and I liked a lot of the things they did: particularly, expanding on Hawkeye's backstory.

I liked the Hawkeye bits. It grounded the story and gave it some nice down time from all the action.

The theater I was in had some really good LOLs, and even some applause.

I really don't like to sit in a theater for much more than two hours. I notice the body heat building up and as I mentioned, I have crowd issues. It gets uncomfortable. But I'm willing to set that aside to see a good movie. I didn't have a big problem sitting through this one.