I think AoU was underwhelming for a lot of people.
I think AoU was underwhelming for a few people, but they say the same thing over and over so much, and have such a big need for others to share that opinion, they will make grandious statements speaking for a lot of people. I know plenty of people in real life, outside of the internet, who simply say 'that was an effing fun flick' and move on. They don't feel the need to go on forums or comment sections and rehash the same points over and over.
AoU had decent to good reviews and some bad ones too. That means there are a whole lot less people 'underwhelmed' than you claim there to be.
AoU was generally well recieved, if not AS good as the first one. Doesn't mean it sucked.
I didn't say it sucked. I said it was underwhelming. It's not like I said TDK, Iron Man 1 or Spider-Man 2 (2004) were crap. Like critics of TASM 2 and MOS; critics of AoU do have legs to their argument.
With the recent report that Disney was dissatisfied with AoU's performance, plus Whedon's statements after he separated from Marvel, the more mixed reaction from fans and critics; it's fair to say that AoU does have it's share of flaws. But no one here, and certainly not me, has said that AoU sucked and was the worst thing ever. Fantastic Four (2015) has certainly earned that spot, and it's nowhere close to AoU in terms of enjoyment.
If you enjoy the film more than I do, more power to you to man.
I fortunately have never seen Age of Extinction. However, going by the first Transformers (which is supposedly a better movie than AoE), Age of Ultron has a more cohesive plot with better suspense. The dialogue was better. Most importantly, the humor was way better. The resolution, while, in both cases, was "superheroes do superhero-y things," had far more heart. And, frankly, having likeable characters is important to films and something the entire Transformers franchise has utterly failed at.
That's the thing though. Transformers has shown that if you put a famous name on something and a bunch of mindless action CGI scenes on a screen; you can still rank in hundreds of millions of dollars. The last two Transformers films have billion dollar grosses. The lowest grossing Transformers film (the first) made $700 million world wide.
The MCU movies are doing things the Transformers movies aren't, but it doesn't seem to matter to the general audience/consumer. Since both are in the same genre of film (action, scifi, fantasy), you can get a sense of what consumers respond to/are willing to support.
Since I was debating an entirely different point with you (the comparative quality of the films) and not one about what movies can be made that audiences will accept (which is what this point is), I'll let it go without commenting on it. But I figured I'd at least let you know I read your post. If you want to go back the previous argument, let me know.
^ We can't accurately debate a film you've never seen though.
I agreed with your post and only bolded the part I thought was worth discussing.
The likable cast of AoU is a positive for the film. Having seen all 4 Transformers, I can confirm that no Transformers film has a likable cast like AoU.
I made the comparison between AoE and AoU, because I feel they the same flaws. AoU edges out into the positives (for me) because of it's likable cast.
Comparative quality, as you put it, is dubious in this context; I feel. I think it insinuates that TPTB at Paramount deliberately/purposefully put together a bad movie. A bad movie in the sense that the film was rutterless in terms of direction, plagued with production issues, budget constraints and interference from the studio. You know, like with be XMO Wolverine, and FF (2015).
By bringing up AoE and AoU belonging to the same genre, and the financial success of both films. I was trying to illustrate that Paramount and Disney are fighting/sharing the same audience. People who like those kinds of films, and will pay to see them, again and again. Things like "heart" and humor don't really seem to matter much (IMO) to the grand scheme of box office totals or positive critic reviews, because people keep supporting the Transformers movies; even though none of those films have what Marvel's film's have. Leading me to the conclusion, that people go to both films brands of films for the action/entertainment each property provides.
I'm only sharing my opinion. I am willing to be convinced though.
