I guess I'm contrarian when I look at all these high ratings but what ever.
The plus side is that there is more time with the 'characters' this time around as they're already "assembled" and the action scenes and CG is well done but that is all it's going to get.
The movie is long, really long - despite there being a gaping editing hole already. You still could cut an hour off this without loosing anything important though. It's depressing how something this shallow has been blown up like this.
How great is that we're getting superheroes instead of some other generic action movie. Let's just do all the standard stuff with CG anyways. Some yadadada in some slave country, a trip to Manhattan, South Africa and lets not forget a derailing train action scene in Korea. It's also quite dumb how random the powerlevels are in this (not that the group makes any sense like this anyways).
The big bad? The more he opened his mouth the worse it got. No one said anything about a degenerating A.I. His plan was shite and so was the execution but otherwise someone had to actually write a compelling story that is more than action sequences (or beepbeep to quote Black Widow). You better not be poking for holes in this as it's littered with them.
Too make matters worse the ending was actually the worst part. I don't think we need 20 scenes of them saving a family from the 10th floor or a lady out of her car when countless other people get fucking crushed. A sleazy guy like Stark is already the most popular one of the assemble anyways so why would anyone need confirmation that the guys are not evil? The fighting goes from one-shotting robots en masse, punching them a lot and even drop-kicking a single one - these guys sure are effective (it's amazing how much attention those copy paste robots get). I'm really glad tho that Captain America's spidey senses can feel the "waves" they're attacking in so he can do more drops.
Too bad the Marvel's circle-jerk isn't going to stop anytime soon (with Disney joining in). I rather have the other ones back because they do not get hyped like these movies so I can ignore them more easily. I wonder how many directors more they're going to burn down the road.
[7.8/10] “There is grace in their failings.” With those words, Joss Whedon writes the epitaph for his own film. That’s not to call Avengers: Age of Ultron a failure. It is, at worst, a quite good superhero film, full of spectacle and humor, character moments and solid thrills, and meaty, difficult ideas that, god help it, the movie never fully gets its hands around. But it tries. Age of Ultron is not as good a film as its nigh-flawlessly constructed predecessor, The Avengers, from three years earlier. But it’s arguably, at least on a standalone basis, a more ambitious one.
That ambition leads Age of Ultron to both good and bad places. It is undeniably an overstuffed film. The last big Marvel team-up had to service each of the six main Avengers plus a bad guy, and between mind control and prior introductions, somehow managed to pull off the task without ever seeming creaky. Here, on the other hand, Whedon and company have to come up with something new for each of those six heroes to do, plus introduce an entirely new bad guy, plus integrate three brand spanking new Avengers, plus set up a few more films, plus find key moments for the Shield team and the J.V. Avengers and a couple of never-before-seen side characters to join in on the fun. It’s just too much.
With those responsibilities, Age of Ultron quickly becomes bloated and breathless. It left me craving a director’s cut after my first watch back when the film was released. My hope was that, given final cut, Whedon would let some of these moments sit and excise others rather than forcing the audience to leap from thought to thought and scene to scene like The Hulk clambering through the Sokovian countryside.
And yet, I’m also grateful for all that we got and all that was attempted. Age of Ultron is a messy, complicated film because it wants to tackle a messy, complicated subject -- the fate and nature of humanity, and it wants to channel that through the fate and nature of its messy, complicated main character. On rewatch, it becomes clear that the film is about the best and worst of human beings, and the best and worst of Tony Stark in particular.
In the final act, it centers on a battle, and a meeting of the minds, between what amount to his two children. One, Ultron, represents the part of him that “doesn't know the difference between saving the world and destroying it”, who cuts a path of destruction out of his desire to protect the world, that constantly demands that he, and we, become stronger, safer, and better, until the whole project collapses under its own weight. The other, Vision, represents the part of him that values the sanctity of life and puts himself on the line to save it, that accepts and understands without judgment, that is, in a word, worthy. Internally and externally, the film is a clash between Tony’s hubris and self-sacrificing nature, his well-intentioned ingenuity and his destructive blind spots, his desire to build a better future and his mistakes in that effort that threaten it. We know, as we always know, which side will win out, but Age of Ultron does not elide the contradictions, and takes the tension between them seriously.
Despite the fact that it ends with the familiar uplifting theme, it is also a film about its heroes’ darkest fears and their irrevocable losses. It’s about Tony’s fear that if he stops, if he doesn't keep pushing, everything and everyone he loves will die. It’s about Steve Rogers facing the specter of the idyllic post-war life he’ll never have. It’s about Black Widow and Bruce Banner confronting whether any sort of affection or connection, with each other or anyone, can survive in the face of the monstrous things done to each of them. It’s about Hawkeye putting his life on the line and doing his job knowing that every time he steps out to fight some metal man on a flying city where his only weapon is a bow and arrow, it might leave his children without their father. It’s about Thor...trying to track down the Infinity Stones to prevent Ragnarok.
Okay, like with the movie writ large, not every one of these character focuses, or the execution of them, is perfect. But it embraces the darkness and hardship of these ideas without descending into the sturm und drang of its D.C. competition. As unbalanced and bumpy as Age of Ultron feels at times, it is a film committed to plumbing the shadowy depths of its characters and having those anxieties drive the action of the film, while still setting them off to crack laugh-worthy jokes and fight a horde of evil flying robots. That’s a lot to juggle, and as often as not, Whedon and company drop a few balls along the way, but the effort is a noble one.
The film’s biggest flaws mainly stem from the new figures introduced. Some of their problems are textural: Vision looks like a strange update of Slim Goodbody, Scarlet Witch joins Kendra de Vampieyer Slayeur in the hall of terrible Whedonverse accents, and Quicksilver seems like a mid-1990s aerobics instructor who moonlights in a boy band on weekends. But some of them are deeper. “The Twins” get a strong motivation that’s then barely ever serviced in the film and then switch sides on a dime. Vision speaks in the tritest of platitudes, and the well-setup trick with Thor’s hammer has to do a lot of the work for why we should care about him.
And then there’s the titular Ultron himself, who is a mixed bag. The notion of an Asimov-esque robot gone mad, wanting to take his mission to protect humanity so far that he threatens to destroy it, is a solid one. James Spader can match Robert Downey Jr. in on-screen loquaciousness, and the writing captures the sort of fumbling humanity in a being who resents it well. His self-made meteor plan even has some poetry and nice groundwork laid for it in the script. But the character’s also an enabler of Whedon’s most “too cute by half’ tendencies as a writer (with taunts that begin to wear as thin as The First’s once did) which I tend to enjoy, but still become exhausting after the nth monologue. Plus the swarm of evil robots doing evil robot things becomes static in a similar war after a while.
But at the same time, many things that irked me on my first go ‘round don’t bother me much here. It’s still odd that in his last outing, The Natasha/Bruce romance, which felt out of nowhere, is easier to swallow, even endearingly tragic, when you’re expecting it. Rather than cringing at the “five days til retirement” bits with Hawkeye, I can appreciate how the movie was headfaking its audience the entire time in a clever, knowing way. And while it’s still odd that, in his last outing, Tony blew up all his extra suits as a sign of character growth, but now relies on the Iron Legion, the sting of that disconnect and relapse fades when you haven’t just seen Iron Man 3.
That’s ultimately what Age of Ultron feels like: a relapse for Tony, but one that he recovers from. Scarlet Witch’s worst case scenario vision turns him back into the man who felt like he had to do everything himself, to take the world on his back in the hopes of having any peace. But his arc, as all team-up stories inevitably must fall back into, is him learning that they can accomplish the great good by working together. Ultron hopes to sow disharmony and distrust among The Avengers, and in any number of difficult moments, he succeeds. It’s becomes a legitimate question, for the audience and for Tony’s teammates, whether he’s an asset or another disaster waiting to happen.
But when there’s lives on the line, everyone sets that aside and works together. The best of humanity outweighs the worst of it, at least for now. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes spend as much time saving the innocent bystanders as they do going over the big metal megalomaniac threatening them. The parts of these beings that Vision sees, those better angels of natures, win out over the death and destruction we’ve wrought that convinced Ultron we needed to be replaced. The same goes for the film’s titular do-gooders, Tony included. It is a bumpy ride to get there, with too many characters, too many action sequences strung together, and too many stories than can be reliably serviced in two and a half hours. And yet when Age of Ultron fails, it fails nobly, which is all that one can ask a film, and all a film can ask of us.
Even better than the first one. With the cursory introduction period now behind us, the team is finally able to shift into what's made them so appealing to readers for so many years: their personal relationships, both on and off the battlefield. Of course, with more characters than ever it also runs the risk of overdoing it and crowding the screen, but that's not a problem at all: Joss Whedon manages to get everyone that moment in the sun in a simple, organic way.
I was particularly impressed by the amount of time dedicated to Hawkeye and the Black Widow, not coincidentally the two members of the team without solo flicks of their own, and how effective they were at transforming the characters into essential human components of a squad so thoroughly populated by gods among men. Ultron is an intriguing foil, backed by a magnificent voice-over from James Spader, though his threat is often undermined by odd off-the-cuff remarks that, while amusing, make him seem more snarky than sinister.
The screenplay is effortlessly cool and funny and rich, though, with staggeringly giant set pieces and no shortage of ballsy, CG-leaning action. A few plot threads could've used more exploration, particularly Thor's spirit quest in the second act, but with so many moving pieces I'm not sure how it could've been done in a reasonable amount of time.
In short, The Age of Ultron is everything it advertised and more, an all-stops home run swing that made me giddy to be alive in an age where something so close to my heart could be translated so literally to living color on the big screen. My only reservation stepping out of the theater was that I'd have to wait years to catch the next one.
Before I start, I want to get this out of the way and say F:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol: you, Joss Whedon, for having Scarlett Johansson have Mark Ruffalo’s face right in her chest area; it was unnecessary. This sort of behaviour is not a one-time thing, Joss told Gal Gadot to do it, but she had her double do it with Ezra Miller in justice league. The weird sexual vibe going on in the film was pretty visible. It bothered me for sure.
Besides that, I thought the film was okay; I know watching it the first time was a bit of a letdown since the first movie was pretty epic. After rewatching, it seemed pretty evident that the main goal of marvel studio team was to have a set up for many films to come after because I could see so many plot points and characters ultimately returning. I believe the antagonist was not given enough attention and hence became a simple character with no complexity. It may seem like he's deep with the commentary, but if you think about it, then it just ends up being surface level.
James Spader did a decent job as Ultron but not as great as I remembered. That's because one minute, he would sound like a badass on a mission, and the next, he would sound like an uwu cute guy that's just a quirky villain.
The one reason I liked watching this, just like I love watching the other avengers movie, is the team-up between all the superheroes and kicking ass. I will give this movie some credit as we saw some development between the team that we didn't see in the first movie as the action started right away.
There is less action in the movie, but the end sequence hits right.
Of course, this would be an essential viewing if you're on the path of watching the entire MCU in timeline order, but the movie by itself is alright.
The last point I’ll make is that it is an avengers movie and does feel like it but it seems like it wasn’t made just because but it was made to spawn out more movies. It’s one thing to set up for a next movie for a bit but the whole plot felt like it’s set up since I’ve watched all the movies and I know what happens next.
Not a bad movie but it has its down. It’s decent enough and watchable.
Director Joss Whedon is back for some extra Avengers action! An introduction and explanation of how the Avengers are assembled is not necessary in this sequel, so this time they fly right into it. I like this, because that way they go straight to the point: They have to get the scepter, containing the Mind Stone, back. And meanwhile they save the not so common twins. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are from the X-Men comics, but in the MCU they are not Mutants. This is mainly due to copyright issues, since Fox has the rights for the X-Men. But fortunately that doesn't matter at all, and they're a great extension to the Avengers. Their plot is even better than Ultron's main plot. And that's mainly the reason why I place this movie a bit lower than the first in the series.
But apart from the twins, we also get some other new characters. Both Ultron and Vision get an introduction to tell you. Both as a kind of yin and yang of the Mind Stone. Also introduced is Ulysses Klaue, and he has Vibranium from Wakanda. More about this in the film Black Panther I guess...
As mentioned above, not as good as the first Avengers, but definitely worth it! With some nice chemistry between Wanda and Vision. And some forced chemistry between Natasha and Bruce (sorry that was really not necessary...). Herewith also a new beginning for The Hulk. That promises more Hulk action in phase three!
For an action/adventure/sci-fi flick, this was great. For a comic book adaptation? Decent. For a chapter in the MCU that, like the other projects, is supposed to connect everything? Average at best, if I'm both critical and 100% truthful. Whedon's culture erasure of the Maximoffs aside—and let's also push aside the in-your-face, out-of-the-blue Bruce and Natasha angle for the sake of a less nitpicky review—Age of Ultron was an... enjoyable film.
The action sequences and CGI were, as to be expected, Marvel-ous. Pun absolutely intended. (What I appreciated most of all about them was the emphasis on saving the civilians.) The banter was fun, despite the film's attempt at comedy feeling a bit stale and forced at times. The overall plot and tone of the movie were not as stellar as I had originally hoped, but they were still decent. Don't let my picking apart of the movie fool you, though; I DID like it. For the most part.
I think my only real problem with the movie is that the experience of watching it can only be described as seeing a canon divergence fanfic come to life on the big screen. I love fanfiction. I do. Just as much, I love the canon divergence spectrum of alternate universes in the world of fanfiction. I just think it doesn't belong on the big screen. Whedon isn't a big fan of Bucky, I'm aware of that much, but it doesn't excuse ignoring a large chunk of what happened in The Winter Soldier.
Oh well, right? Not much to be done about it. And it does pave the way for Civil War, so I suppose that IS a plus, all things considered.
In short: A isn't just for Avengers, it's for average.
Finally got to go watch Marvels Avengers: Age of Ultron today, and I must say, I quite enjoyed myself. My hopes weren't too high though, whilst I have enjoyed all the Marvel films so far to varying degrees, I had concerns around certain aspects. Things such as the well known belief that too many heroes/bad-guys make for a bad movie (see batman forever for reference), this alongside how Wanda's potential role could have ended up very similar to Loki's (causing distrust within the group). I love superhero films, but I still wont enjoy the film if it is just the same as all the others.
So, what did we end up with (without spoiling it for you)? We had enough plot and dialogue to stop the film getting boring, the whedon humour, an awesome bad-guy voice, and as everyone was hoping, a hulk side-punch. What didn't we get? Well, tbh, the plot at times got dangerously close to the 'seen there' concern I had, but luckily reeled itself in fast when it did this (see the Wanda comment when you watch the film, and how things are different to Loki). Also, my main disappointment was more around how awesome Ultron could have been. Let me get this straight, he was really good, but I still wanted more. James Spader is an awesome actor, and his voice is the sort you would love to hear monologuing for a good few minutes, but at times, the crazyness gets a little too theatrical as opposed to a cold robot. If you don't know what I mean, watch the trailer again, listen to the oft-discussed pinocchio quote, creepy enough yet allowing a sense of fun.
For all those geeks, and also those that know the basic histories of some of the characters, there are a lot of nudges and winks to future stories. You don't need to know about them to enjoy the film tbh, but they certainly gave for excellent dialogue when talking to my wife afterwards. I think she was listening, but if not, I enjoyed talking about it anyway. If you want to read up before you go in, maybe read up on vision (his history is different in the film, but all the potential future stories are still possible), as he gives himself most for speculation. The other areas, I wont mention now for risk of spoiling.
There is one more thing you will want to know, in case you missed the news, Joss Whedon did say there was only 1 after credits scene. This is the case, so you don't need to stay around for a second, go enjoy the day, and talk about all the geeky teasers you may have seen.
My closing view: A great action film, with a fun story, a sense of risk and tragedy, and strong characters. Just be aware this is action/dialogue heavy, the plot is there, but not as intense as it could have been.
When I first saw that teaser trailer with the haunting rendition of "I've Got No Strings", I was beyond hyped for this movie. If you've seen the trailer, you could imagine my disappointment when the movie didn't strictly end up reflecting the dark tone the trailer led us to believe. And I still feel the same way even this third time around, but for a slightly different reason.
This movie flips between moments of insane dread and wacky humour so quickly, it'll give you whiplash. Like, the main villain goes from waxing poetic and quoting Bible verses menacingly to cracking silly jokes in the same scene, and it makes it difficult to take him seriously in those moments. It's not a bad thing to have moments of levity in an otherwise serious movie; like the saying goes, "The best comedies have moments of drama, and the best dramas have moments of comedy". However, this movie doesn't seem to know what tone it wants to convey, and it can really take you out of the moment.
Now, I don't know what was the writer's fault or what the studio may have forced into the screenplay, but this movie is so dense. If they had added at least ten to thirty minutes onto the runtime, (first of all, it would be far too long, but) it would give this movie some time to breathe and be more about the characters instead of the plot. The Thor pool-vision scene was almost completely useless. Cut that crap out.
As much as I can nitpick about Age of Ultron, I have a lot of fun watching it. James Spader absolutely nails it in the role of Ultron, and that party scene where they take turns trying to lift Mjolnir is fantastic! This movie can feel bloated and messy at times, but it's still a good time.
THE CAWPINE OF ‘AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON’
WRITING: 5
ATMOSPHERE: 7
CHARACTERS: 6
PRODUCTION: 8
INTRIGUE: 6
NOVELTY: 5
ENJOYMENT: 6
The Good:
The opening shot is a wonderful adaptation of a classic comic book splash page and battle issue combined with war movie battle sequences. It's a great way to reintroduce us to the Avengers and throw us right into a new adventure.
Age of Ultron introduces Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch properly, before taking the aforementioned from us too soon. Despite their mutant origins, their involvement has been fit within the (as of 2020) mutant-less MCU seamlessly. Their powers have been brought to life realistically and look very good in action.
The best new addition to the cast is Paul Bettany as the Vision, who has been translated from the comic pages fairly well.
The Bad:
I'm sad to say, nut Ultron doesn't do it for me. In the comics, he's a killer robot with megalomania, but in the film, he seems much more content, even going as far as to throw in jokes every so often. The film Ultron is a shallow shell of his comic counterpart, a classic Avengers supervillain.
The movie puts a major focus on the Avengers fighting among each other or bickering about small things, which takes focus away from the main threat at hand. Time is also spent developing mostly superficial relationships, in particular between Bruce and Natasha and Clint and the rest of the team and his family.
Natasha's mind games are meant to spread disarray among the Avengers, but it also spreads disarray within the script, as these sequences randomly pop up here and there and take the audience out of the narrative rather bluntly.
Somehow, the Maximoff siblings seem to have been shoehorned into the film, as their arc is shallow and they don't bear much impact on the plot. Pietro's sacrifice and subsequent death don't hit as hard as it could had he been introduced earlier. Vision doesn’t do much throughout the film.
The action sequences are fine, but disappointingly soulless and uninventive, considering that the same man who made the masterpiece that is The Avengers helms them. The 40-minute climactic battle sequence doesn't feel as exciting as the battle in New York in the first film.
The Ugly:
Worst superhero death ever.
CAWPINE RATING: 6.14 / 10 = 3 stars
"There are no strings on me!".
The story to The Avengers: Age of Ultron is about Tony Stark jump starts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as they battle to save the planet from destruction at the hands of the villainous Ultron.
You had no idea how excited I was for Age of Ultron even after the chilling and dark looking teaser trailer we got back in October last year. The teaser trailer looked really dark and so dead serious and I know that's a thing with Marvel films today that they making they own films look dark and gritty but it's comedy, I have no idea why they do that but anywhere I was hooked. The villain Ultron was another reason for me to get excited for the movie as "There are no strings on me", thing I never thought it would be so creepy. After seeing the movie I can say that Age of Ultron is a great start to summer movies and a lot of fun to watch.
Joss Whedon had spoken out saying "This was the hardest movie he ever worked on", and I clearly see the effort and hard work put into this movie. Joss had a lot of things in his hands while making this movie and that's it's characters, story, action and it's brilliant sense of humor, and it payed off well. Joss Whedon did a great job directing this movie as he put in enough energy and to entertain everyone.
James Spader as the villain Ultron is pretty much what I already expected for the most part but these a lot of surprises to his character like his sense of humor and how self aware he is about everything around him and I think it worked and fitted him very well. James Spader pretty much dose Raymond 'Red' Reddington from The Blacklist and I'm not saying that in a negative way but more of a good thing. Marvel isn't doing such a great job with villains and I'm not talking about Loki I mean in Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy all have weak villains but Ultron was awesome and I'm happy his character wasn't like the other villains in those three movies I just named. Great work James Spader.
The visual effect's were pretty damn good, the Avengers themselves are once again brilliant as we remember them.
Now for problems: Black Widow and Bruce Banner or Hulk have a love triangle in this movie and it really doesn't work at all. They chemistry wasn't there and there was no build up to it, I would like to see Captain American or Haweye have relationship with her as she as better chemistry with those two, it would have made more sense since she's been with Captain America and Haweye more times than Banner.
I feel that the movie didn't really set up the Civil War story in the next Marvel movie with Iron Man and Captain America against each other. I know a couple of times those two would get into a little fight but they quickly shake it off and moved on, it's a small little nick pick I have and I know it wouldn't effect everyone else but I just saying the Civil War story should have been set up a little bit.
Overall The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a great start to the summer movie season. I had a great time watching this movie, I never got bored, all the characters had they screen time and it was funny and entertaining, the villain I thought was great and the action scenes was very enjoyable.
One of my NYE resolutions this year was to leave a review for every movie I watch, no matter how brief, and because I didn't really make a very clear pact with myself I'm not to assume this also applies to movies I've previously seen and am re-watching this year.
As many others, I've been re-watching the Avengers movies in the run-up to Endgame, as well as a couple of select other Marvel movies.
My biggest takeaway from this round of re-watching is how much my opinion on the original The Avengers vs Age of Ultron has changed. While I originally thought the first was close to a masterpiece, and the follow-up a fairly shallow compilation of meaningless action, both of these assessments have shifted dramatically.
The first Avengers has aged quite poorly. It's still fun to watch, but now that we're no longer impressed by their ability to bring this many story lines and characters together, it's nowhere near as impressive as it once seemed.
At the same time, as mentioned by other reviewers, Age of Ultron is actually one of the more mature, and in some ways "realistic" of the Marvel movies. The massive final battle scene in Sokovia is one of very few in the MCU with real stakes - unlike the empty streets of New York, there are terrified civilians everywhere, and we see them die. The human cost to all of this is real, and a little part of you does wonder (until he ends up wanting to destroy the whole world) whether Ultron is right that the Avengers create war and destroy peace, rather than the other way around.
The new character additions are awesome. Scarlet Witch is a ton of fun, and while the specific extent of her powers are unclear, she's kick-ass in battle, has some great character moments, and is played by the ever lovely Elizabeth Olson (a great addition to any movie - do yourself a favour and view Wind River if you haven't already).
The middle part of the movie, where we get an extended look into Hawkeye's private life and a look into the behaviour of the various Avengers outside of battle is surprisingly fun, emotionally impactful, and mostly unrivalled in the MCU to this day.
The major downside to this movie, as with many other MCU movies, is that the run time is unnecessarily indulgent. This movie could've been a much tighter two hours, and would've been better for it. While I'm usually in favour of less studio interference, that's already not going to happen on a franchise this big, so Marvel might as well force its directors and editors to do their jobs properly and give us the tightest cut of the movie possible.
James Spader's needless and painfully boring monologuing as Ultron got old real fast and should've been cut wholesome - I reckon that might've saved the movie twenty minutes right there.
The primarily off-screen development of Black Widow and Bruce Banner's relationship doesn't really work and feels forced and weird - we just don't get to see enough of the arc to buy it.
In the end, while the movie isn't perfect, it's a whole lot better than I remember. It's imperfections hold it back from greatness, but it's still very good and a ton of fun.
will i ever not be annoyed by this movie? probably not. 3rd time watching it and it still doesn't rock my boat. the screenplay is one of the worst in the mcu movies, sooo corny. them building their own villain is boring, because it doesn't take the story further, it's like a hiccup they had to pass by to continue their avenging of problems NOT caused by them (Thanos' attempts), but that doesn't make for a good movie (altho i will say i REALLY like the angle of the consequences of the Avengers' actions, that then builds up to Civil War, because it's important to understand they might be powerful but they still have to answer for their mistakes - maybe i'm slightly team Iron Man oops). Besides there's just so much melodrama in this movie, and I'm all for a little bit of emotion thrown into the action spectacle but please do it tastefully... don't have Natasha and Bruce suck face while a whole city is flying in the air, getting ready to drop and destroy half the human race like....
On the upside, I like some of the character development we get in this movie like Clint's, Natasha's AND Bruce's (but not the parts that involve one another). I love the twins, I LOVE Pietro SOOOO much, every time i watch this I can't help but be heartbroken for what he could have been in the future, especially cus Wanda without him just doesn't captivate me as much.
All in all it's exactly what a 7 means on this site: good. But it's an avengers movie ffs, avengers movies are supposed to be FANTASTIC. And this one will always make me sad because it was a waste of my favourite team of people ever.
7/10
I’m going to add myself into the ranks of the ‘most hated’ on the world of the Internet with this review.
There are as many dedicated and devoted Marvel fans out there as there are Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift acolytes would only just stop short of physical abuse if you criticise their god of choice.
I fully admit I do not particular like many comic-book adaptations after the initial glut of films. The originals were fun and interesting and at the time ‘newish’. Now we are inundated with them, if it’s not vampires or zombies it blooming superheroes. Nevertheless, I approached Age of Ultron with an open mind. I like Mark Ruffalo he always gives good value for money and Captain America was a quirky and fun hero when his film originally came out. Plus of course Josh Whedon is an innovative and generally good script writer and film maker, so it could be okay.
The opening fighty, jumpy, quipy start to the film is supposed to fire you up from the get go. The trouble is I’ve seen it so many times now that the jump cuts, leaping back flip action is now so overdone that these eye-popping and frankly confusing scenes are actually dull. I’m sure if I had been tired I would have fallen asleep among the explosions, crashes and shouting. Each star has to has his or her little action scene, they each have to have their irritating quip and each one has to save another one at some point or another. It must be in the contracts. I would imagine there was quite few egos shaped the action in this film.
There is so much CGI in this film that I’m not sure the actors only had about a few weeks of filming each. As with a lot of ‘action CGI’ it all appears weightless to me and in some places cartoon-like. It detracts from the film.
After a while I couldn’t tell which film I was watching and worst of all I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I mean none of them are going to die and if Ultron defeats them and destroys humankind then that is the end of the series and I know there is another film after this one.
I am led to believe there are in-jokes and pointers to other parts of Marvel’s canon but as I’m not into that they were wasted. Some of Josh Whedon sharp and snappy one liners were genuinely funny but a lot of it was tiringly misplaced too. The acting in most cases was good and Rob Lowe’s Tony Stark who usually rubs me up the wrong way was actually a bit toned down for this film but his all-pervading brilliance where he seems to only need a night to invent anything and appears to need little to no help is just – well plan silly. Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner was both too jokey and wimpy and the Hulk seemed to be neutered from the uncontrollable rage machine I remember. Scarlett Johansson showed her incredible range of playing well…. Scarlett Johansson, she just seems the same in every film to me - clearly I have a problem with her which I am happy to concede is all down to me. [I don’t find her particularly sexy either]. Jeremy Renner was in the film, I saw him, but that chap with the arrows is the lamest Avenger ever. The only main characters that seemed to connect with me were Thor and Captain America played by Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans.
The super-dooper twins were plan annoying and boring in equal amounts.
None of the characters seemed to develop beyond Arrow-man having a secret family, I was happy to see Linda Cardellini from Freaks and Geeks though.
So all in all this was just explosions and fighting spliced with quips, jokes and exposition split equally between characters for contractual and fan favourite reasons.
The world of comic book is not a dead tome to me. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America and the original Iron Man but generally I am left unmoved by what is supposed to be exciting and nail-biting action on the screen. I feel jaded by it.
I have recently seen Deadpool and that I did enjoy but after reading this review it is obvious why I did.
More will love this than hate it. I don't hate it but it is just tiring, so very tiring.
Not impressed. The actors were great. The visual effects were great. The fight scenes got confusing, but I think that was on purpose. The actions of the characters don't make sense a lot of times. Like when iron man throws the hulk down a brand new, unfinished, sky scrapper, that miraculously is uninhibited, during the middle of the day. Why did he do that? It should have no more effect on the hulk than dropping him from so high anyway... I digress. The quipping is common for Stan Lee heroes, but not really very interesting or humerous. Ultron is the weakest super villain ever. I swear he is a pus. He got thrashed over and over again, I don't think he won a fight at all. The flashes were hard to read, and when the characters attempted to explain their own visions, it made it worse, since they really seemed to be jumping to conclusions, by what the vision açtually showed. And worst of all, and this goes for all the Marvel stuff...way too much Disney. At one point Cap actually says "language". I nearly threw up a bit. But this is a Disney movie, like star wars, and it's all about quantity, not quality. Warner Brothers is definitely the more quality movie making company.
Watched this at premiere, forgot to give comment. I don't have much expectation with the movie, but Age of Ultron turns out to be a really disappointing popcorn flick. I actually like the character developments, only that the movie gives us too many character developments, too many subplots, that each of them don't seem to be connected to each other except that they are all in Avengers. I like the personal, intimate touch on Hawkeye's family and Natasha-Bruce actually, but those subplots feel too really detached with other subplots going on--and especially with the main plotline.
Also for an Avengers movie this one is too flat-out comical in that they put too much jokes, to the point it's distracting and ruining the character development. E.g., what's with the HYDRA's official acting comically coward and with Ultron, who have been developed in the whole movie to be a fearless, despicably intelligent cruel machine, in the end turned to be a desperately opportunist who begs for mercy? The fearmongering Ultron is reduced to a comical character just because a single scene! Also the really unnecessary twist involving the sacrifice one character is really unnecessary and should have been put later in the movie as a prime motivation for the other character to be involved in the fight.
Disclaimer: I think I have seen Avengers 1, Captain America 1&2, Iron Man 1,2 & 3, Hulk in two forms, Thor 1 & 2, Guardians of the Galaxy - possibly some others. At this point I am completely lost and I’m just watching these for Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s cat suit.
This is the second Avengers film and the umpteenth Marvel explode-a-thon. This time Iron Man creates a computer so advanced it gets out of control and tries to blow up the whole world.
The first film had a fun, slightly campy tone and although things are a little ‘darker’ here it’s good to see Whedon has stuck to his guns. The Avengers have a genuinely entertaining on-screen rapport, making Age of Ultron good for escapism if nothing else.
The plot is somewhat unoriginal even to the greenest of movie-goers - a computer that tries to take over the world? Really? Also, Elizabeth Olsen joins the cast but it’s unclear what her character actually does (spoiler: it’s anything that the plot requires).
Don’t write the film off because of that though. It’s a fun, well-made comic book romp. What’s actually going on is incidental; the cool special effects and really sexy funny people are a good distraction from a cold wet afternoon.
http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/11/28/avengersageofultron/
This is another one of those movies that you watch primarily for the special effects with you favourite super heroes slugging it out. It is a classical Hollywood product where the story is mostly there just as a vehicle for allowing the special effects team to do their business. As such it is a success.
The movie starts of with a display of action and the afore mentioned special effects with an attack by the Avengers on a bad guy stronghold. Not surprisingly the events sows the seeds for things to come.
The movie starts off with quite an interesting story idea with the activation of Ultron. However, once he materializes as a physical entity, it became a bit of seen that, been there and done that. Ultron just turns into yet another “standard” comic book villain a’ la Megatron running around trying to look intimidating while implementing his diabolical scheme. Okay, there was a bit of originality here and there but with the good start I kind of expected a wee bit more.
Having said that, the movie does indeed fulfil its purpose of showing off a bunch of super heroes slugging it out in a flurry of special effects and, although the story idea was perhaps not used as intelligently as I had hoped, it is not bad (for this kind of movie of course) and hangs together pretty okay. Sure, it is somewhat contrived and the means by which Ultron tries to exterminate humanity is overly complicated but it is still a decent story.
Overall the movie was entertaining and provided the necessary special effects and super hero fix for those who are inclined to enjoy those kind of movies. I certainly am and, not surprisingly, the kids liked it as well.
Joss Whedon’s follow-up to the first Avengers film lacks the novelty value that the first one had, but Whedon plays to the core strength of the first film - the dynamic between the central team. However, the push to create a series of interconnected films that are building towards a larger resolution is beginning to test the patience, especially of those without a degree in comic-book lore, and even Whedon seems to be struggling to meet these demands. That he manages to produce a film that is largely coherent and satisfying is a minor miracle especially with the wealth of characters and cameos he has included here and it is of little surprise that he has decided to move on to other things. The cast are all great and the interplay and banter between them is often more interesting than the action sequences themselves. Whedon’s penchant for quips and asides to undercut the drama is in full force here, though it has to be said not always successfully. The new additions are largely successful, with Olsen’s Scarlet Witch in particular standing out. Whilst the action sequences have their moments, even this film can’t shake the repetitive nature of some of the threats created, though the opening sequence does a great job of highlighting the teamwork and camaraderie of the Avengers and a sequence involving Iron Man and The Hulk is great. It’s also nice to see the film does at least attempt to acknowledge the destruction wreaked by these characters, with these superheroes actually trying to save people amidst all the carnage (take note, Man of Steel). No real surprises here and the film does its job and provides a couple of hours of entertainment. But the Marvel formula has been wearing a little thin for a while now and whilst the first Avengers film felt like a satisfying pay-off to the previous films, this one feels like another stepping stone to an overarching story that makes little sense at present to the detriment of the story and characters this film is focused on.
Review by echelon_fourBlockedParent2015-04-22T15:04:30Z
This movie is exactly as good as you think it will be.
Remember how you were wondering how they could pull off such an ambitious movie like the Avengers and then they did some how? Well that, but again, and it is still excellent.
(this review gets a little into details, but nothing really spoilery)
When Tony Stark, a man who thinks he is justified to do anything in the name of protection shockingly goes too far and creates Ultron, a murder bot who loves murder. Ultron, who is basically evil Tony, is very quippy. But this being a Whedon flick, everyone seems really quippy (don't worry, it's not as annoying as that sounds).
One of the best things about this movie is the destruction that you see happening in the action scenes. Something about the other Marvel movies never really made the people seem in danger when everything was exploding, but there are people everywhere in these scenes, screaming in horror as the super people punch the murder robots. Many innocent bystanders die in this one. Easy. Some of the other movies just seem too "clean", no sense of danger.
I also really liked the characters in this one. The other Marvel movies always seem like maybe one or two supporting characters from the other movies show up, but this movie has so many people in it. All your favourites!
Also, it had a really great "adventure continues" vibe. This movie starts with Avengers action and ends with Avengers action. There is no more "how they came together" or "this changes the very foundation of the universe". It was an awesome addition to what is now a serial story. More of this and less of origin stories!
So in conclusion, check out this sweet indie Whedon film, you might not have heard of it but it's pretty cool.