Avengers : Age of Ultron

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 10:23am

Opened Across Australia earlier today.

 

Lets start with, the 3D adds nothing, you don't need to stay to the end of the credits, just stay till the end of bonus scene at the start of the credits!

 

I hated nearly every thing about this overblown, bloated, excruciating bore of a film, it's a mess of storytelling, lacking of humour and even the actors looked bored.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 10:28am

I hated nearly every thing about the first overblown, bloated, excruciating bore of a film, it's a mess of storytelling, lacking of humour and even the actors looked bored, but not as bored as I was.

Only Mark Ruffalo managed to rise above it -- the great moment when he said, "You don't understand, I'm always angry" was the highlight of the film.  The rest of the film is a compelling argument for the extinction of the human race.

[Fantod]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 10:40am

That doesn't surprise me. I saw the first one and it made me swear off all comic book movies. 

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 10:50am

I loved the first one.

Which surprised me because I hadn't cared for any of the stand alone movies leading up to it.

This one isn't getting good reviews. One of my movie sites really panned it.

The best thing in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe is ScarJo.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 11:43am

I liked the first one. It was nice to see a comic book movie that was actually fun. Instead of the brooding and dark trend we've been subjected to recently thanks to Christopher Nolan.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 12:22pm

I enjoyed the first one a lot, and was looking forward to this. I'm sorry to see that it's getting negative reviews.

[tazber]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 3:36pm

EW gave it a B-

[Taryn]

Posted: 4/23/15 at 5:12pm

It's currently got an 81% on RT, which is respectable.  The first one had a 91%, though.  I'm looking forward to it, although not as much as I would have a few years ago.  There's several specific items that have already come out that I've been very :| about.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/24/15 at 12:18pm

People....go see it....and make your *own* opinion.

[Taryn]

Posted: 4/24/15 at 4:37pm

I'm seeing it!  I've got my tickets for Thursday.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/24/15 at 5:21pm

I enjoyed the first one when I saw it at the movies, but cannot remember a single scene from it. I caught some of it on TV the other day and turned it off after half an hour, it's so unremarkable. I love me some ScarJo so I'll probaly end up seeing it and forgetting about it again.

[Gink]

Posted: 4/24/15 at 8:22pm

Those of you who saw it, how was Quick Silver? Evan Peters was so funny, and I know this is a slightly different character take, so maybe you can't compare the two.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/24/15 at 9:21pm

"People....go see it....and make your *own* opinion

 

 

Agree 100 percent , just cause I hated it, in now way means others won't 

 

[Showface]

Posted: 4/25/15 at 12:32pm

I enjoyed the first one; I'm looking forward to seeing this one. 

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/25/15 at 7:17pm

Moderately enjoyed the first one but thought it had a tough time juggling all of the characters and the ending was the loud, crashing, incomprehensible muck that has made me hesitate to see any Hollywood action film.

I love the cast, but I'm not dying to see this one.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 4/26/15 at 1:05pm

"and the ending was the loud, crashing, incomprehensible muck that has made me hesitate to see any Hollywood action film."

Trust me, Man of Steel was even worse.

[James885]

Posted: 4/26/15 at 1:16pm

""and the ending was the loud, crashing, incomprehensible muck that has made me hesitate to see any Hollywood action film."
Trust me, Man of Steel was even worse."

 Oh god, Man of Steel was absolutely awful. The first Avengers at least was entertaining.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/27/15 at 1:27pm

I mostly enjoyed the first Avengers film though I did find it overstuffed and too long.  It needed a lot of trimming.  And agree about ScarJo.  But then, I love her in anything.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/2/15 at 7:22pm

The interwebs are calling it THE AGE OF DULL-TRON.

[Taryn]

Posted: 5/2/15 at 9:01pm

Okay, gonna share my spoilerific thoughts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• I overall had fun at the movie.  It was full of those obnoxiously manipulative GASP moments that were nevertheless entertaining in exactly the way they were meant to be.


• I am pissed about Pietro.  At least he didn’t ****ing kill Wanda like I thought was going to also happen.  But PIETRO.


• I am – not actually pissed about the sterility conversation?  It was the one thing I had spoiled for me, but without any context, so I didn’t even know who it was going to come from.  My take on it was very much that Natasha’s grief was about her bodily and mental autonomy being horrifically violated.  I’m also confused that none of the reactions I’m seeing to it are talking about how the forced sterilization of women is actually a current real-life problem.  But at the same time, I do see how the conversation as it’s structured in the movie opens itself up to some really problematic readings and totally respect the strong feelings it has brought up for others.


• The movie was terrible at pulling in threads from previous movies or laying groundwork for future movies.  I am so confused at them ending with Tony and Steve literally at the best place they’ve ever been.  What is happening in Civil War?  Does Tony somehow get a free pass because doing one reckless thing taught him that he should just try it again until he gets it right?  LIKE I MEAN THIS WAS STILL SUPER IRRESPONSIBLE TONY.


• There is no dramatic weight to characters disappearing or retiring that we already know are appearing in future movies.  It’s like, why even try.  I don’t know.


• Hawkeye’s family was so random wth.


• I fought and screamed that Loki’s scepter and Vision’s gem weren’t Infinity Stones.  I am at least glad it’s a different color.


• Am very concerned for Vision’s welfare in the next movie when Thanos comes around for the Stones.  


• I was kind of cool with Bruce/Nat except that it centered the whole weight of her story on him.


• Was WILDLY RELIEVED that Wanda was not another repeat of Joss’s favorite ‘crazy waif’ trope.  Actually liked both her and Pietro well enough despite them bearing pretty much no resemblance to their source material.


• However I am kind of really okay with the possibility of Vision/Wanda.  I just rambled about this in tags for some art of it, but basically: she is caring but deeply wounded by humanity, and he sees the deep wounds humanity can inflict yet also sees its great potential.  I like the idea of them bringing out something beautiful in each other.


• Tony literally learned nothing and that’s why he’s my favorite trash.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:01pm

Not spoilers: I loved it. It's fun. Scarlet Witch/Wanda, one of my favorite Marvel characters, works really well onscreen. I didn't expect that. Scarlett Johansson steals the film, again, and this time gets a lot more to work with. They added a lot of depth to the characters through Wanda and it was a conceit that pulled me in. Ultron is also one of my favorite villains, as well, so it was like this film was made for me.

Regarding Quicksilver vs Pietro, I preferred Quicksilver. It comes down to material. I like the reimagining of Quicksilver in Days of Future Past more than the traditional but with no connection to Magneto version in Age of Ultron. I do prefer the visual effects for Pietro to Quicksilver's slow-motion conceit. Pietro seems more frenetic and uncontrollable, which is truer to the character.

---Spoilers Follows---

Taryn, regarding your spoilers, I guarantee you it was because of the cinematic rights issues with Pietro and Wanda/Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. There's no way Marvel wants to split focus between two different franchises on Pietro/Quicksilver and killing Pietro in Avengers damages Quicksilver for Fox. Pietro's death is more memorable than anything Quicksilver did in Days of Future Past and now Fox will have to tread lightly to not receive negative comparisons in their use of the same character. Fox will also probably back down from even using Scarlet Witch since she's now set-up as a main player for the next Avengers film.

And the Natasha controversy is beyond me now, too. Feels like grasping at straws to me. I thought the context made it clear that she views herself as a monster because she's a remorseless killing machine, not because she was sterilized at her assassin graduation. It's like saying A Tale of Two Cities is a bad book because Dickens swears it's the best of times in the first sentence but then bad things happen. The focus is so myopic in that line of critique.

What I do still find valid is the whitewashing of Wanda and Pietro argument. They're clearly playing with the Eastern European/displaced and marginalized persons perspective that is so perfectly encapsulated in their Romani/Jewish heritage. Why not take the time to cast actors who fit that type? It's not like Elizabeth Olsen or Aaron-Taylor Johnson are such huge stars that they added to the marquee value. More diversity wouldn't have hurt the film in the least bit.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:11pm

Modern 3D never has done anything to better a movie. I do not go out of my way to see something in 3D.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/3/15 at 9:30pm

As Zach Galifinakis put it, "I'm an adult, I don't need s**t flying in my face to enjoy a movie."

S. Zacharek's pan of the movie is a brilliant illustration of why I don't see action/comic-book hero movies anymore

 

[Taryn]

Posted: 5/3/15 at 11:42pm

---Spoilers Follows---
Taryn, regarding your spoilers, I guarantee you it was because of the cinematic rights issues with Pietro and Wanda/Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. There's no way Marvel wants to split focus between two different franchises on Pietro/Quicksilver and killing Pietro in Avengers damages Quicksilver for Fox. Pietro's death is more memorable than anything Quicksilver did in Days of Future Past and now Fox will have to tread lightly to not receive negative comparisons in their use of the same character. Fox will also probably back down from even using Scarlet Witch since she's now set-up as a main player for the next Avengers film.

Eh, I find it a whole lot more likely that Whedon had to do his usual "kill off someone" and Pietro was the easiest target.  He has no franchise in the history, he doesn't have a rabid following that's going to be big enough to raise an uproar, etc.  (Despite the fact that he was a major Avenger for like forty years.)  A friend of mine has speculation that this was somehow a secret agreement between Marvel and FOX to each basically claim one of the twins, which I also think is pretty unlikely.

I also disagree that Pietro's death was more memorable than anything Peter did in DOFP -- he was kind of the surprise hit of that movie and very well-liked, despite early skepticism.

What I do still find valid is the whitewashing of Wanda and Pietro argument. They're clearly playing with the Eastern European/displaced and marginalized persons perspective that is so perfectly encapsulated in their Romani/Jewish heritage. Why not take the time to cast actors who fit that type? It's not like Elizabeth Olsen or Aaron-Taylor Johnson are such huge stars that they added to the marquee value. More diversity wouldn't have hurt the film in the least bit.

Yeah, and it was super frustrating that whenever people would bring up their heritage before the movie even came out, the response from Marvel has always been about not being able to use their comics backstory.  And I'm like -- is Magneto the only Jewish father around?  Is he the only Jewish man?  Is Magda the only Romani woman?  Do you realize you can have a Jewish parent without him being a mutant terrorist who can bend metal?  Hell, they could even go for a Romani man and a Jewish woman!

[bethnor]

Posted: 5/4/15 at 1:37am

don't understand the love for the DOFP quicksilver at all.  he literally existed as a plot device to create one visual gag and was then summarily dismissed.