...not as good Captain America: Winter Soldier which remains top of the ever growing Marvel cinematic heap IMHO
Overall I enjoyed it - the film is an effective sequel to the Avengers in that it fulfills my "good sequel" rule of doing something different with the characters.
With the addition of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and The Vision, we are probably approaching hero overload and it's notable that most of the scenes focus on the Avengers themselves. I missed the backdrop of Shield grunts from the first movie.
My only real grumble is that the action scenes start becoming a bit Michael Bay. It's not quite that bad, but it does get difficult in places to work out who's hitting whom.
Standout newbie is Scarlet Witch and I look forward to seeing her in future installments. The beating heart of the franchise though remains Scarlet Johansson. She continues to impress and for me, is the most rewarding character to follow.
Verdict - Entertaining but not a tough act to follow for the other BIG movie of the year.
To be fair, with so many characters on screen, there's not much chance to do more than a huge action spectacle, unless you end up in the 3+ hour running time (which they did, Whedon said his initial cut was 3.5 hours, but Feige made him cut it to 2.5).
Compel wrote: One of my mates went to a midnight showing. He didn't tell me much aside from "it's awesome" but he did add this.
There is NOT an End Credits Scene. There IS however, a mid Credits scene.
- Can anyone confirm that? It's 2 hours until I see it myself.
What cinema were you in?
Automatically Appended Next Post: I also wonder what happened to Ulysses Klaw? We saw him have that 'Incident' with the big U and then dissapeared for the rest of the movie
However Serkis did do an Excellent portrayal of Ulysses Klaw
(Not spoilers as everyone knew he was in it)
I loved it (but then again, I'm biased towards anything MCU), and Scarlet Witch gets top-marks for making me the most scaroused (well, not exactly scared so much as feeling 'she knows she's powerful, and she owns it when she's mad') I've been this year. I wouldn't want to piss her off, but my God I could sit back and watch her all day if someone else did it.
Agree with most of what's been said here (especially the part about winter soldier being the best mcu film so far )
Thought they did a good job giving everyone something to do, especially considering how many characters are in it now. Having said that, I really just want more Hulk. We really need a standalone film for him (Or maybe a duo film with him and black widow....?)
I mentioned to some one that it seemed a bit darker than the first one, and wasn't sure if it would be as a big a success with kids this time, but he pointed out we all watched empire strikes back as kids (which is way darker), and loved it, so maybe I'm wrong there!
Was quite pissed off there was no end credits scene tho - waited around for nothing!
slight spoilery stuff:
Spoiler:
was surprised we didn't get a coulson appearance - everyone else turned up! Suppose they would had to waste time explaining why he was still alive for people who hadn't watched agents of shield...
But was equally surprised we didn't get any Loki action, and was glad of it. time they moved on. They needed more engaging bad guys other than him, and thought ultron was great as this.
Need to go watch the trailer again, cos I think they hid a spoiler in plain sight - when the helicarrier turned up to save the day at the end, there was a gak of a woman looking out of a window at it, and you could see the carrier in the reflection of the glass - I def remember seeing that shot in the trailer, but didn't notice the reflection - need to go check too see if it indeed was there in the trailer!
So yeah, Avengers 2 was awesome. Not to the levels of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' 'Cap 2' or 'Avengers 1', but still, awesome.
And Scarlet Witch... Well, to be crass for a bit, the whole characters style during the film wasn't really my type (described as goth/punk), but, well, wow, she was hot. I don't use the word Breathtaking often, but... yeah, breathtaking.
Watched it with my wife yesterday, we were both dissapointed.
For me, the movie failed to deliver what was promised in the trailers, which had a very dark and desperate vibe. I could feel none of that in the movies.
Also, Ultron was acting like a mastermind half of the time, the other half like a child. Is he like that in the comics?
The Avengers had an awful lot of bad written dialogues like
Spoiler:
Hawkeye with Wanda: The city is flying, etc.
And finally:
Spoiler:
Quicksilver's death was totally unnecessary and he was introduced that bad, that I couldn't care less about him dying.
Maybe after Winter Soldier and Guardians we had our expectations up too high, but I found AoU very mediocre.
It's okay: the other countries are inferior, so they needed this little nugget of joy earlier than us to feel worthwhile/equal to America.
Also, you'd probably enjoy it better if you weren't watching it on a torn, stained sheet with a crappy old projector. Dumb England and its backwards ways.
*its 5 in the damn morning, and I was up for work at 3:45. If you hate my post, attribute it to you being butthurt, aka I'm tired.
Just saw it. Great fun. Looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow.
First one was better.
was surprised we didn't get a coulson appearance
Really? That surprised you? Agents of SHIELD is the most vestigial and superfluous aspect of the MCU. It might as well be in a different universe for all the impact and importance it has.
To the collective consciousness of most people, Coulson was that quirky Agent from Iron Man 1, 2 and Thor who died when Loki stuck he's staff through his chest, and that's as far as it goes.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Just saw it. Great fun. Looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow.
First one was better.
was surprised we didn't get a coulson appearance
Really? That surprised you? Agents of SHIELD is the most vestigial and superfluous aspect of the MCU. It might as well be in a different universe for all the impact and importance it has.
To the collective consciousness of most people, Coulson was that quirky Agent from Iron Man 1, 2 and Thor who died when Loki stuck he's staff through his chest, and that's as far as it goes.
Well, it was more the fact that every other side charachter turned up - falcon, agent hill, stellan starsgard's scientist, the geeky shield operative bloke who refuses to launch the helicarrier at the end of winter soldier.... But no coulson!
Thought they could have used it as an excuse to actually tie agents of shield back into the mcu a bit more, but no, as you say it seems like that series is just gonna exist as its own little thing now. Shame.
Nicky J wrote: Thought they could have used it as an excuse to actually tie agents of shield back into the mcu a bit more, but no, as you say it seems like that series is just gonna exist as its own little thing now. Shame.
Oh it is a shame. A damned shame. AoS has such potential, a grand spectacle that ties the universe together just sitting there waiting to be utilised... but they don't, and probably never will. Hell, the biggest Hydra bogeymen in Agents of SHIELD hardly get a look in during Age of Ultron. One of them even dies off screen FFS!
I expect it'll tie in a bit more before Cap 3: Civil War. Because that seems something that a propped back up SHIELD would be involved in. But technically they are still rebuildiing and Fury is still dead to everyone in AoS (cept Coulson?) so I'm not surprised it's still fairly seperate.
I also think the show is going to transition from a Shield v. Hydra v. Other Shield show to a more dealing with the beginning inhumans (which is already happening) and or lesser powered ones once SHIELD is back up. But expect that not to really swing heavy that way till somewhere probably in season 3.
timetowaste85 wrote: It's okay: the other countries are inferior, so they needed this little nugget of joy earlier than us to feel worthwhile/equal to America.
Also, you'd probably enjoy it better if you weren't watching it on a torn, stained sheet with a crappy old projector. Dumb England and its backwards ways.
*its 5 in the damn morning, and I was up for work at 3:45. If you hate my post, attribute it to you being butthurt, aka I'm tired.
Im not butthurt, i am offended
Reported for offensive material
This forum doesnt need your kind
timetowaste85 wrote: It's okay: the other countries are inferior, so they needed this little nugget of joy earlier than us to feel worthwhile/equal to America.
Also, you'd probably enjoy it better if you weren't watching it on a torn, stained sheet with a crappy old projector. Dumb England and its backwards ways.
*its 5 in the damn morning, and I was up for work at 3:45. If you hate my post, attribute it to you being butthurt, aka I'm tired.
Im not butthurt, i am offended
Reported for offensive material
This forum doesnt need your kind
Not sure if serious. TTW was clearly joking (as if the emoticons weren't enough of a giveaway), but I'm not sure if you are or not.
One theory I read about his death was it might have something to do with Fox using him in the X-Men movies, and neither studio wanting confusion about the character or the separated franchises. So Marvel use him in the introduction with Scarlet Witch, but then only keep Scarlet Witch, and let Fox have Quicksilver.
Yeah, I mean, that makes sense really, didn't think people were too unsure about that. But, on Quicksilver again...
Spoiler:
The Hawkeye bait-and-switch was brilliantly done. - The rumours being released before hand. - Really clever.
They even did all the tropes that hinted at certain death. The pregnant wife, him looking at the picture of his wife and kids. - These are all classic signs in films of imminent death.
timetowaste85 wrote: It's okay: the other countries are inferior, so they needed this little nugget of joy earlier than us to feel worthwhile/equal to America.
Also, you'd probably enjoy it better if you weren't watching it on a torn, stained sheet with a crappy old projector. Dumb England and its backwards ways.
*its 5 in the damn morning, and I was up for work at 3:45. If you hate my post, attribute it to you being butthurt, aka I'm tired.
Im not butthurt, i am offended
Reported for offensive material
This forum doesnt need your kind
Not sure if serious. TTW was clearly joking (as if the emoticons weren't enough of a giveaway), but I'm not sure if you are or not.
Yeah, if you thought I was actually serious, I have a really small, crappy island in the Atlantic to sell you.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Fraz, I have an Alamo Brewhouse nearby too! In Yonkers. Real popcorn with real butter for the win!!
timetowaste85 wrote: It's okay: the other countries are inferior, so they needed this little nugget of joy earlier than us to feel worthwhile/equal to America.
Also, you'd probably enjoy it better if you weren't watching it on a torn, stained sheet with a crappy old projector. Dumb England and its backwards ways.
*its 5 in the damn morning, and I was up for work at 3:45. If you hate my post, attribute it to you being butthurt, aka I'm tired.
Im not butthurt, i am offended
Reported for offensive material
This forum doesnt need your kind
Not sure if serious. TTW was clearly joking (as if the emoticons weren't enough of a giveaway), but I'm not sure if you are or not.
Yeah, if you thought I was actually serious, I have a really small, crappy island in the Atlantic to sell you.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Fraz, I have an Alamo Brewhouse nearby too! In Yonkers. Real popcorn with real butter for the win!!
Alamo Drafthouse is the best.... I have one really close to where I live, I can't wait for AoU to get here!
KiloFiX wrote: Wait, and sorry don't mean to digress, but Winter Soldier was good?
I skipped it thinking it was meh. Guess I should go pick it up.
Yes, it's notable for having an actual plot, rather than a lot of exposition between action scenes. I also thought it would be meh and skipped it at the cinema (along with most of phase 2), but was pleasantly surprised when I watched it on digital release.
Saw Age of Ultron this afternoon, found it to be very enjoyable. Probably not quite as good as the likes of Cap 2 or Guardians of the Galaxy and in many ways a touch formulaic but still very entertaining.
When I saw the initial trailer I was excited, yet honestly, I was just bored with the ridiculous amounts of comedic bits they have to put in. Yeah, a quick witty line I enjoy every now and again, but they've really overdone it such as the examples below:
Spoiler:
When they're interrogating the arms merchant, and suddenly he blurts out how he doesn't like cuttlefish followed by an awkward silence.
The guy in the Helicarrier trying to say the dropships have been deployed and fumbling his words.
Seriously, what a way to kill the tension built up. That was my main gripe with it, that and the fact that I was expecting Ultron to be this utterly invincible killing machine capable of forecasting any and all forms of attack against him, yet he spent half the time acting like a bumbling child.
While many of the comedic moments were good, including the running joke throughout the film.
I will have to agree, a lot of them felt a bit like Joss Whedon standup partway through it, as opposed to something the characters were actually saying.
There's no Buffyspeak, if that's what you mean. - Is that the same as Whedonspeak?
It's more, there's a gag or two that's there for the sake of being a joke. Not like something a character would actually rationally say, if that makes sense.
Compel wrote: It's more, there's a gag or two that's there for the sake of being a joke. Not like something a character would actually rationally say, if that makes sense.
Thor in particular has a shocking one of these. In fact Thor is just poorly handled the whole film. His little sub plot came out of nowhere and
Spoiler:
provided literally divine guidance so he could show up and Frankenstein Vision to life. Not so much a plot hook as a plot harpoon.
And yes, as someone said, Ultron is a bumbling fool.
Spoiler:
No back ups anywhere is just too difficult to accept.
Spoiler:
Also it really bugged me the way Wanda was able to get the drop on almost the entire team, to within a few inches of them, except Hawkeye. And why not kill any of them? Especially Stark? Wasn't that her entire motivation? And for the love of Jeff Hawkeye if this woman has just taken down your entire team DO NOT use a frakking taser arrow on her- she has demonstrated she's a clear and present threat.
And of course Quicksilver is in there just enough to be annoying but never dangerous. With a straight razor he could end Hawkeye, Cap and Widow in the same breath. And Stark if he was dumb enough to get out of his suit and go traipsing around an enemy compound completely unarmed. Oh wait, that happened too. I guess Stark was just lucky Wanda wanted to mess with him instead of kill him- you know excluding that whole scene where she talks about how badly she wants to kill him.
It's still worth watching but I expected more from Whedon.
Ultron DID have a whole bunch of backups, all over the place. But, when Vision did his internet purge thing, all those outside the general area went poof.
I dunno if that was stated or the idea or whatever, but that's the impression I got from it.
I'd more say, Ultron was rather... inconsistent. Sometimes he was like, "this is what I want to see from Megatron in transformers." Othertimes, yeah , it's weird. But, I think it's intentiona in any case.
The first comment situation was a bit weird, yeah. It just came out of nowhere.
Spoiler:
And I still have no sodding idea what that pool thing was, they just mumbled it when getting into a car and poof, weird oracle pool.
In still, saying that. The film is still damn awesome.
KiloFiX wrote: Wait, and sorry don't mean to digress, but Winter Soldier was good?
I skipped it thinking it was meh. Guess I should go pick it up.
Yes, it's notable for having an actual plot, rather than a lot of exposition between action scenes. I also thought it would be meh and skipped it at the cinema (along with most of phase 2), but was pleasantly surprised when I watched it on digital release.
Cap 2 was my fave. Now, I don't think it was really the "complex political thriller" it was sold as, even if they shoehorned Robert Redford into it to make that point. But it did have a plot, and didn't treat the audience like a bunch of popcorn-chewing lemmings. I'm also a huge fan of the Winter Soldier source material. I easily could have been very grumpy about their handling of the character, and I wasn't at all.
I haven't seen Avengers 2 yet, but I grew concerned about it after reading that interview with Feige in which he talked about timing action sequences in movies with a stopwatch, and how Avengers 2 was going to come out on top in that department. That's a pretty terrible approach to filmmaking, and positively Bay-like.
I'm also generally a Whedon fan. I was never crazy about Firefly like some folks, but I think the guy obviously has a genuine gift for dialogue. However, he also has a tendency to overdo the banter at times. I feel like he uses it to spackle over rough spots. So it's not surprising to me that there might be some glib overload in this film.
I'll still go see it. Maybe I'll enjoy it a little more since now I'm going in with expectations reset.
Also it really bugged me the way Wanda was able to get the drop on almost the entire team, to within a few inches of them, except Hawkeye. And why not kill any of them? Especially Stark? Wasn't that her entire motivation? And for the love of Jeff Hawkeye if this woman has just taken down your entire team DO NOT use a frakking taser arrow on her- she has demonstrated she's a clear and present threat.
Spoiler:
I thought it was pretty obvious she was using telepathy to hide herself in plain sight. Hawkeye also pretty plainly states that he knew she was there after dealing with Lokis staff induced mind control. It's easy to assume he had a little niggle in his head that told him something was wrong.
Maybe she wanted to toment Stark before killing him? She seemed pretty shocked when he managed to break out of the dream. By then they needed to get out.
As for not killing her, that's just standard MCU. Outside of final movie fights, heroes rarely, if ever, actually kill major nemesis.
I thought it was pretty obvious she was using telepathy to hide herself in plain sight. Hawkeye also pretty plainly states that he knew she was there after dealing with Lokis staff induced mind control. It's easy to assume he had a little niggle in his head that told him something was wrong.
Maybe she wanted to toment Stark before killing him? She seemed pretty shocked when he managed to break out of the dream. By then they needed to get out.
As for not killing her, that's just standard MCU. Outside of final movie fights, heroes rarely, if ever, actually kill major nemesis.
Spoiler:
See I'd buy the telepathy thing if she had brazenly walked up to them, or muttered a line from the shadows or done *anything* to indicate that was the case. But she sneaks up, hits them, then vanishes quick smart. Her presence is obviously felt. Hawkeye spotting her I would put down to him being Hawkeye, he's supposed to be extremely observant/perceptive. Most of them had no idea what happened to them even after being hit- only Thor seemed aware of what was done (though he incorrectly assumed he'd resisted it).
I know that killing Stark outright would be terrible for the plot, but that's kinda why he can't just go gallivanting around an enemy stronghold- one on combat alert no less- as an unarmed civilian. Like the possibility of running into a mook with a machine gun was nonexistent? That the tremendously valuable and important scepter might have, on I don't know, a guard? Or heaven forbid an Enhanced? But that's what makes it such a dumb move, and that dumb move needs to be covered up by 'well maybe she wants to torment him' when we also get a speech about how badly she wants to kill him. The right way to write that scene is to have the Iron Man suit follow Tony, have her get into his head a bit, then have the suit- not at all fooled by her mind games as she can't sense machines- show up to drive her off. Having Tony snap out of the dream doesn't drive her off- unarmed Stark is woefully underpowered compared to her. Worse yet, when her brother is killed she virtually erupts in power. Confronted with the killer of her parents... meh.. just play with him. It's inconsistent character portrayal.
It felt like the characters in this film were invulnerable. From Stark being untouched by Wanda or his battle with Hulk, the bad guys being unable to hit a downed stationary Hawkeye or Black Widow sitting with him (despite *just* hitting that location), to Cap being able to take a full five beam hit from Ultron dead center and not even get knocked off the speeding truck he's on. I get it's a super hero movie but it felt.. unheroic. Having named bad guys who expressly tell you they want to kill someone, giving them the opportunity and then not just cements that. The plot was going one way and nothing was going to stop it.
That probably makes me sound like I hated it way more than I did. I overall didn't mind it, and much of my irritation is probably due to failed expectations. It's still worth seeing but it's not nearly as good as the first.
thedarkavenger wrote: For those referencing the Thor subplot. It's setting up the major tie in film. Called The Infinity Gauntlet.
My biggest issue with it wasn't what it's supposed to lead up to, but how it was worked into AoU.
Spoiler:
It felt like a chunk of plot had been cut and not replaced, and came across as little more than 'Thor had an idea, wanted the scientist's help, and then suddenly magical dream pool'.
What it sets up doesn't factor in to the point that Thor's wandering off in AoU was pretty badly handled, and ideally needed more focus on what he was doing the entire time to explain his actions and disappearance. As it stands, he walked off, went skinny-dipping, and then suddenly reappears and knows what to do without anybody really knowing why. It felt a bit like a lazy deus ex machina, which is why it needed more screen-time: to explain why it isn't.
Avatar 720 wrote: It felt like a chunk of plot had been cut and not replaced...
Because it has. This is a 3.5hr film with an hour cut out of it. The DVD release apparently has an extended cut that restores some of the missing stuff.
Decent fun, it wasn't Winter Soldier but then I'm not expecting any super hero movie for a while to measure up. Maybe the extended cut will help it a bit.
Still good fun, but
Spoiler:
I wonder how much the mob with the X-Men license had to pay them to kill who they killed ha
Avatar 720 wrote: It felt like a chunk of plot had been cut and not replaced...
Because it has. This is a 3.5hr film with an hour cut out of it. The DVD release apparently has an extended cut that restores some of the missing stuff.
I probably wouldn't watch it for 3.5 hours. I like Ultron and Vision. Mostly because Ultron is a better basically Iron Man in that film. Except he has personality beyond his archetype.
Avatar 720 wrote: It felt like a chunk of plot had been cut and not replaced...
Because it has. This is a 3.5hr film with an hour cut out of it. The DVD release apparently has an extended cut that restores some of the missing stuff.
I probably wouldn't watch it for 3.5 hours. I like Ultron and Vision. Mostly because Ultron is a better basically Iron Man in that film. Except he has personality beyond his archetype.
With 2-parter movies being made and still selling tickets and releasing 13-episode seasons all at once for the explicit expectation of being binge-watched in one sitting, I think people are a but more tolerant of a 3.5 hour movie than you might think. If anything, the restriction on runtime would be more on theaters who want 5 showings per theater per day opposed to 3. If it came down to it, I would probably pay extra money to have seen the 3.5 version in theaters opposed to a potentially disappointing version which is later made whole by a DVD.
Anywho... Sounds like it will be a 'good enuff' popcorn flick. I don't expect perfection, but I am not superhero fan. Ready to see it Friday!
nkelsch wrote: I think people are a but more tolerant of a 3.5 hour movie than you might think.
Not in a theater with those uncomfortable seats, they aren't. 2.5 hours is about the maximum people care to sit for, with 2 hours even being closer to optimum. Now, when you're at home on your comfortable couch or recliner, it's another story. Then that's why those special editions sell so well, isn't it?
nkelsch wrote: I think people are a but more tolerant of a 3.5 hour movie than you might think.
Not in a theater with those uncomfortable seats, they aren't. 2.5 hours is about the maximum people care to sit for, with 2 hours even being closer to optimum. Now, when you're at home on your comfortable couch or recliner, it's another story. Then that's why those special editions sell so well, isn't it?
Speak for yourself, I´d have no problems with a 4 hour movie.
Saw it, loved it! Everything is fantastic, the character balancing and dialogue is every bit as good as Avengers, and the newcomers to the MCU fitted in perfectly.
Vision stole the show, though, right from the moment he
Spoiler:
Casually picks up Miljnor and copies Thor's cape to his annihilation of the final Ultron.
Nice to see Rhodey and Falcon turn up as well, although I do feel they missed a trick not putting Phil Coulson on the helm of the Helicarrier.
Verdict - Entertaining but not a tough act to follow for the other BIG movie of the year.
Couldn't agree more. This felt like a visual effects movie first and foremost. Which were good but.. meh.
Also nothing bugs me more than inconsistent depictions or poorly used abilities.
It wasn't Spider-Man 3 bad was it? I'm not going to see the movie opening weekend because I want to make sure it's worth seeing. This was my fear.
Not even close. While some parts were cut awkwardly for a shorter runtime, it was still an enjoyable movie with lots of stuff going boom, and some great character beats along the way. The story was fairly simple, but you need that with so many characters.
At worst, it feels like a middle movie in a franchise.
It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
One thing I really liked was the bit near the end about how the fight wasn't about beating the villain, it was proving they were better than him, and the insistence on protecting innocents. Even when fighting the Hulk, Stark was clearly making an effort to save people caught in the destruction and keep the fight away from populated areas. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it's easy to read that as a reaction to Man of Steel's final battle.
Nah, they did the same thing in the first Avengers too, trying to protect people first and get them out of harms way. First fight in this even had the legion deployed to the city to try and get them away, that one just didn't work very well.
Elemental wrote: It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
One thing I really liked was the bit near the end about how the fight wasn't about beating the villain, it was proving they were better than him, and the insistence on protecting innocents. Even when fighting the Hulk, Stark was clearly making an effort to save people caught in the destruction and keep the fight away from populated areas. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it's easy to read that as a reaction to Man of Steel's final battle.
I think Ultron was perhaps intentionally erratic in this cut at least, somewhere between man and machine, mind and AI, adult and child, evil and (in a way) innocent. It certainly works like that, deliberate or otherwise, and though I felt James Spader was outperformed by Vision and the Twins, his performance was exceptional in the role. Not quite as good as Loki, Ledger-Joker or Fassbender Magneto, but certainly up there.
Must admit I was expecting some mass casualties and maybe even some failure on the Avengers' part, which would take the place of the 'Stamford Incident' in the MCU Civil War, but instead the body count was surprisingly low, compared to the battle of NY or even the fall of Shield in Cap2. I agree that that was the point in some ways, and fits in nicely with the film's concept, but I'm now wondering how Civil War is going to kick off, especially since Cap and Stark parted on relatively good terms, and the new Avengers (which is actually an awesome lineup!) seeming very much 'official'.
I wonder if they will do some sort of 'what if?' ending to Civil war to prevent damaging the franchise by taking it to its logical conclusion. Yeah a giant "it was all a dream" ending would be a big screw you, but would allow them to take the movie down the darker path, Kill Capt and then return the franchise to status Quo.
Just Ant Man... Which I doubt will feature mass civilian death, but you never know!
I'd guess now that Civil War might be started by something these new Avengers muck up at the start,prompting Stark to come back in from the sidelines and bring on the SHRA.
The movie was fun. Hawkeye is awesome, talk about a well-adjusted super hero... No wonder he gets free guac at Chipolte. Best line in the movie was "I am out here with a bow and arrow, none of this makes sense."
The whole Thor visonquest which is supposedly going to be on the directors cut was seriously missed... but didn't detract from the fun of the movie.
Saw it tonight. I enjoyed it. I'm not really sure if I like it more or less than Avengers 1 and Guardians of the Galaxy. Probably a little less, but to be honest I'm not that concerned about it. It was enjoyable, and I'll probably watch it again at some point.
I really liked The Vision and was glad that Warmachine and the Hulkbuster suit both got some screen time.
Elemental wrote: It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
Ultron's plan is, was, and always will be to save humanity by turning them into robotic minions.
Took my daughters to see it yesterday and we enjoyed it, and my younger daughter was especially happy to see "HULK SMASH!"
Overall, I enjoyed it; it was clever, well paced, and the action was spectacular, though I did think it was a little more "serious" than the previous outing (thankfully nowhere near what appears to be the level of "seriousness" of Dawn of Justice). I will probably go see it again sans children (they had to go to the bathroom during the movie and got a little antsy due to the long run time).
Also, I think this was the best line of dialogue in the movie:
Spoiler:
"The city’s flying; we’re fighting an army of robots; I have a bow and arrow; none of it makes sense." -Hawkeye
Elemental wrote: It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
Ultron's plan is, was, and always will be to save humanity by turning them into robotic minions.
Saw the film tonight and enjoyed it very much. However, one thing that came to me after seeing the end credit scene was....
Spoiler:
could we see an Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy team up film in the future? The Avengers have the Mindstone in Vision and the purple Infinity Stone is currently in the possession of the Nova Corps on Xandar Prime thanks to the Guardians and their defeat of Ronan. It's probably not going to happen but, man oh man, it would be cool.
Zathras wrote: Saw the film tonight and enjoyed it very much. However, one thing that came to me after seeing the end credit scene was....
Spoiler:
could we see an Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy team up film in the future? The Avengers have the Mindstone in Vision and the purple Infinity Stone is currently in the possession of the Nova Corps on Xandar Prime thanks to the Guardians and their defeat of Ronan. It's probably not going to happen but, man oh man, it would be cool.
My guess it'll go something like this:
Spoiler:
Ant man gives the first look at a post-Ultron world, but remains largely unrelated to the wider MCU
Civil War splits The Avengers down the middle, effectively ending the team until the ultimate threat of Thanks brings them back together
GotG2 sees Thanks begin hunting down the Infinity Gems himself, taking the Earth gem from Xandar and the Aether from Knowhere, and possibly introducing one of the missing Gems (Soul or Time). The Guardians try to take him down, and fail in the attempt.
Black Panther and Spiderman remain unrelated.
Ragnarok plays out similar to the comic/myth, seeing Asgard destroyed and most of the Asgardians slain in the final battle, before some reappear in mortal form across the universe. Thanos takes the Tesseract from the ruins of Asgard.
Dr Strange or Captain Marvel possibly introduces the last gem.
Thanks comes to Earth for Vision and the other gem.
There were WAY too many heroes. Four plus Hawkeye and Black Widow as sidekicks definitely seems like the magic number. The original cast plus Scarlet Witch, plus Quicksilver, plus Vision, was serious hero overload. I will say though that my favourite part of the movie was Scarlet Witch making the whole team freak out. I think a lot more could have been done with that, and would have gone a long way to making the movie a lot more personal than the last one. I also feel like a lot more could have been done with the team while they were at the house. I actually really liked that Thor had to leave to figure himself out, and thought it would have been great if they all had to conquer their inner demons on their own before coming back to kick some ass, but instead they just sit around playing house with Hawkeye's family.
Ultron was an incredibly lame villain. I think he would have been great in a standalone Iron Man film, and he would have been a lot more interesting than the villains in the last two Iron Man movies, but he just didn't fit the bill for me for an Avengers movie. He just didn't have his gak together and seemed like he was totally out of his league. The movie was also amazingly anticlimactic. I really got the sense that they were building up for an awesome showdown where Ultron takes them all on at once, but that's not what happens. They just fight his goons, then Scarlet Witch shows up and rips his heart out. So. Dull.
Unfortunately it seems like future installments are going to be piling on even more characters, so it's very unlikely I'll enjoy Infinity War. Ah well, still have X-Men Apocalypse to look forward to.
I feel the team ups are the weakest TBH, way to many Char to actually drive development. Action is what they need.
Now. I loved Hawkeyes speech to Scarlet Witch, SO COOL.
Scarlet witch is awesome.
I also felt confused about infinity stones.
1: The Ether
2: Lokis staff
3: Tesseract
4:???? I know one appeared in GOG, but does he know.
I also dont like the new line up, Except Witch.
1. Tesseract (Space stone) 2. Scepter (Mind stone) 3. Aether (Reality stone) 4. Orb (Power stone) 5. Soul stone (probably in Doctor Strange) 6. Time stone (probably in either Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or Captain Marvel)
How can you not like War Machine or Falcon? Both have been fantastic, though War Machine keeps getting the short end of the stick in terms of development. Don Cheadle stole that party scene.
I dont feel they have the force of personality like the main 3(4, maybe hulk)
But I get that, but Thor should only know of 3, Space, Mind, reality. He shouldnt know of the orb.
And as far as I can tell GoG takes place AFTER thor 2, so he wouldnt know that the collector had one.
It seems that people in the MCU that know about Infinity stones know there's 6.
Remember that Guardians took place in 2014, going by when his mother died and how many years later he found the Orb. Could be that Ultron takes place significantly long enough after Guardians for word to filter through intergalactic channels to the Asgardians that the Orb was found and contained an Infinity stone.
There were WAY too many heroes. Four plus Hawkeye and Black Widow as sidekicks definitely seems like the magic number. The original cast plus Scarlet Witch, plus Quicksilver, plus Vision, was serious hero overload. I will say though that my favourite part of the movie was Scarlet Witch making the whole team freak out. I think a lot more could have been done with that, and would have gone a long way to making the movie a lot more personal than the last one. I also feel like a lot more could have been done with the team while they were at the house. I actually really liked that Thor had to leave to figure himself out, and thought it would have been great if they all had to conquer their inner demons on their own before coming back to kick some ass, but instead they just sit around playing house with Hawkeye's family.
Ultron was an incredibly lame villain. I think he would have been great in a standalone Iron Man film, and he would have been a lot more interesting than the villains in the last two Iron Man movies, but he just didn't fit the bill for me for an Avengers movie. He just didn't have his gak together and seemed like he was totally out of his league. The movie was also amazingly anticlimactic. I really got the sense that they were building up for an awesome showdown where Ultron takes them all on at once, but that's not what happens. They just fight his goons, then Scarlet Witch shows up and rips his heart out. So. Dull.
Unfortunately it seems like future installments are going to be piling on even more characters, so it's very unlikely I'll enjoy Infinity War. Ah well, still have X-Men Apocalypse to look forward to.
There are practical reasons they didn't do this. Namely, the movie would be about six hours long. Also, the emphasis on "just playing house with family" is literally the essence of the movie's theme. The whole point of the movie is that everyone wants to retire and live in peace, but the they're not sure if the things they do fighting for that peace makes them monsters, or if they themselves could ever put down the shield and live in peace.
With the ability to teleport to Asgard at will. It's not out of the realm of possibility that someone has been keeping him updated with Asgardian and galactic news.
I didn't watch any promo past the initial teaser released on M:AoS so I had no expectations going in. Overall I had a really good time but you could tell it was edited from a much longer film. I would still recommend it with the caveat that one can tell they edited out a bunch of stuff.
Apparently the first cut was 3.5 hours, the Blu Ray will be 3 hours, and the theatrical version is 2 hours and around twenty minutes or so. Considering the Disney Cash Grab™ they will release the Blu-Ray soon (Ant-Man time probably) then maybe around Christmas release the unedited version.
Spoiler:
@-Loki-: Don't forget that Thor told Scarlet Witch he [reacted differently] to her power. It gave him a vision and he had to go to the unknown lake (edited?) with some item (edited?) with Stellan Skarsgård to relive the vision. It revealed to him, in the film, all the stones and that someone is manipulating events surrounding them. Considering their importance to history of the universe, and being the son of Odin, he probably had heard of them before at very least.
I have to admit I didn't expect end up feeling slightly sad for the character Ultron. Maybe it was just the wierd childlike nature to him mixed with the Pinocchio aspect I think played to great effect.
The movie did feel chopped up. Some how because of the good faith that has been built up so far I'm just giving the benefit of the doubt. When I buy the unedited version at a later date I think a solid movie will be greatly enhanced.
I saw it yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a bit peed off that they cut and edited so much of it though. I could happily sit for 3hrs of Avengers.
Ultron was awesome though and his way of wanting to "save" the world was unexpected as he usually goes about it a different way.
It'll be interesting to watch Agents of SHIELD and Ant Man in a post Ultron setting.
Elemental wrote: It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
Ultron's plan is, was, and always will be to save humanity by turning them into robotic minions.
But at the end, he seems to have given up on that part of the plan, skipping straight to "rocks fall, everyone dies". Though it is quite fun to imagine him looking over the wreckage of Earth after succeeding and then going "Aw, damn it, I knew there was something I meant to do first!"
My biggest issue with the film remains just how rushed it was. I mean, there's pacing a film with a lot of cut scenes, then there's a movie which is obviously mission its connective tissue (Ultron escapes on the Internet... and then is in Sokovia with that new body... eh? What happened in between?).
The overly-rapid also meant that we didn't get much Vision. I know for a fact that the Vision/Thor fight was longer when it was shot, and there are parts in the trailer (be they lines or shots) that just aren't in the final movie.
I looking forward to seeing a restored/completed version.
Albatross wrote: I honestly thought it was one of the worst films I've seen in quite some time.
Are we talking worse than Return of the Jedi Bad or Worse than Twilight bad?
Hang on, what the heck is wrong with RotJ? Aside from the Ewoks, I mean?
Right! It's well established that RotJ is the weakest of the Original Trilogy, but nowhere near as bad to be used as a standard by which other bad films are judged.
Albatross wrote: I honestly thought it was one of the worst films I've seen in quite some time.
Are we talking worse than Return of the Jedi Bad or Worse than Twilight bad?
Hang on, what the heck is wrong with RotJ? Aside from the Ewoks, I mean?
Right! It's well established that RotJ is the weakest of the Original Trilogy, but nowhere near as bad to be used a standard by which other bad films are judged.
I've generally prefered ROTJ to A New Hope..
Then again, I actually like the Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith so...
I feel if anything things like the poster are more likely to be just in jokes for the crew and the ever alert horde of people with too much time on their hands.
However, I do hope DD shows up in Civil War, he's a pretty integral part of Cap's team in the comic (although isn't Danny Rand DD at that point, while Matt is off doing something with the Hand in Japan? Either way, I want DD in CW! )
Watched it last night with a friend and both she and I thought it was awesome and easily on a par with the first Avengers film.
Pretty much flawless in terms on plot, characterisation, style and humour - fight scenes were brilliant - the whole Hawkeye story was so well done Can't actually think of a bad thing in it.....
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
There were WAY too many heroes. Four plus Hawkeye and Black Widow as sidekicks definitely seems like the magic number. The original cast plus Scarlet Witch, plus Quicksilver, plus Vision, was serious hero overload. I will say though that my favourite part of the movie was Scarlet Witch making the whole team freak out. I think a lot more could have been done with that, and would have gone a long way to making the movie a lot more personal than the last one. I also feel like a lot more could have been done with the team while they were at the house. I actually really liked that Thor had to leave to figure himself out, and thought it would have been great if they all had to conquer their inner demons on their own before coming back to kick some ass, but instead they just sit around playing house with Hawkeye's family.
Ultron was an incredibly lame villain. I think he would have been great in a standalone Iron Man film, and he would have been a lot more interesting than the villains in the last two Iron Man movies, but he just didn't fit the bill for me for an Avengers movie. He just didn't have his gak together and seemed like he was totally out of his league. The movie was also amazingly anticlimactic. I really got the sense that they were building up for an awesome showdown where Ultron takes them all on at once, but that's not what happens. They just fight his goons, then Scarlet Witch shows up and rips his heart out. So. Dull.
Unfortunately it seems like future installments are going to be piling on even more characters, so it's very unlikely I'll enjoy Infinity War. Ah well, still have X-Men Apocalypse to look forward to.
There are practical reasons they didn't do this. Namely, the movie would be about six hours long. Also, the emphasis on "just playing house with family" is literally the essence of the movie's theme. The whole point of the movie is that everyone wants to retire and live in peace, but the they're not sure if the things they do fighting for that peace makes them monsters, or if they themselves could ever put down the shield and live in peace.
If the idea couldn't work without being five or six hours long, then frankly it shouldn't have been turned into a movie. They should have gone with something that more easily fit into a two and a half hour medium, instead of giving us something that felt like it would've been better off as a miniseries. As to playing house being a central theme, yeah sure I can get behind that. The point I was trying to make (poorly it would seem) is that they could've done much more interesting things than lounging around the house while still dealing with the doubt of ever being able to retire, or wondering if they themselves are creating the problems they're facing.
EDIT: I think, to summarize my own feelings about it, it just feels like a serious missed opportunity. I really liked the themes they were playing around with, dealing with their fears and what not, but the execution left so much to be desired. I may also have liked the movie a lot more if we had a better villain.
Saw it. Loved it.
Scarlet Witch was definitely the coolest new character.
Hawkeye was surprisingly cool in this and probably the most grounded and stable of the Avengers.
Can't wait to see Klaw in "Black Panther." That dude had screen presence!
James Spader was brilliant as Ultron.
I wanted to see Falcon in the climax. :(
Hulk vs Iron Man fight was worth price of admission alone.
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
Indeed - that was one of very many clever and understated moments - Hakweye's often world weary asides worked really well. The whole BW/Banner story was nicely done and a bit of a surprise.
Its films so its always subjective but I do feel that to make a good "dark "moment or film - humour is required as a counterpoint.....- I am hoping that DC gets a humour transplant soon.
Anyone feel that the Avengers Movies follow a similiar thread?
1: Small Action at the beggining(Loki Invading, The avengers attacking strukers compound)
2: Small intermediate action(Loki in germany, Ultron appearing)
3: Big Fight Scene(The Heli Carrier assaulted, The boat/ city fight scene
4: The avengers getting sad and down
5: Final Big Action scene(New York. South Korea and the fight on the floating city. Im counting those as one because there is a 5 min gap)
I just feel that the Avengers movies Lack the ability to do anything but action. Maybe a few char moments
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
Indeed - that was one of very many clever and understated moments - Hakweye's often world weary asides worked really well. The whole BW/Banner story was nicely done and a bit of a surprise.
Its films so its always subjective but I do feel that to make a good "dark "moment or film - humour is required as a counterpoint.....- I am hoping that DC gets a humour transplant soon.
Well, notice the jokes in the final action scene. there where like 3 for it. They have to understand that breaking action is required or we get bored of it.
To an extent. However, there are a) enough difference that you don't feel like you're watching the same film twice, and b) you're not really watching for the plot structure, so much as the development of the various sub-plots, strands from previous/future films, and and the visually epic action.
That said, AoU definitely had enough twists that it didn't ever feel predictable, or boring.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Anyone feel that the Avengers Movies follow a similiar thread?
1: Small Action at the beggining(Loki Invading, The avengers attacking strukers compound)
2: Small intermediate action(Loki in germany, Ultron appearing)
3: Big Fight Scene(The Heli Carrier assaulted, The boat/ city fight scene
4: The avengers getting sad and down
5: Final Big Action scene(New York. South Korea and the fight on the floating city. Im counting those as one because there is a 5 min gap)
I just feel that the Avengers movies Lack the ability to do anything but action. Maybe a few char moments
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
Indeed - that was one of very many clever and understated moments - Hakweye's often world weary asides worked really well. The whole BW/Banner story was nicely done and a bit of a surprise.
Its films so its always subjective but I do feel that to make a good "dark "moment or film - humour is required as a counterpoint.....- I am hoping that DC gets a humour transplant soon.
Well, notice the jokes in the final action scene. there where like 3 for it. They have to understand that breaking action is required or we get bored of it.
Dude you're watching a movie about a comic book group. If you want drama, plot etc. you have to see a real movie.
Age of Ultron was good, very good. IMO, it suffered from two main problems.
First off, it was crowded. There was a menagerie of main characters and it just felt over-crowded, though this offered some cool, comic-book shots.
Second, Ultron was too human. Ultron's lips and face emoted far too much for what is supposed to be a machine. This killed any intimidation Ultron was supposed to present, which left him relying on his imposing stature alone.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Ok, I will go watch. The Winter Soldier, Great Plot, Or Ohh, How about the drama that was Thor 2?
Considering Thor 2 was setting the stage for one of the Infinity stones, it is worth a watch. It was basically an entire film designed to introduce the RED MacGuffin and show it got handed off the 'the collector' which was then after the PURPLE MacGuffin from GotG.
So we basically know what/where 4 of the 6 MacGuffins are. Red, Blue, Yellow and Purple.
Another interesting thing... every 'nemesis' bad guy of the heroes is killed directly by the infinity stone:
Red Skull (cap's nemesis) was destroyed by the Blue Infinity stone
The hammer badguy from GotG was destroyed by the Purple Infinity stone
The Dark Elf King (thor's Nemesis) was destroyed by the Red infinity stone
Ultron (ironam's nemesis) was explicitly killed by the Yellow infinity stone
So that leaves room that Thanos possibly has those villains captured in the stones and can be brought back by them. Imagine a one-on-one recap of the series villains.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Ok, I will go watch. The Winter Soldier, Great Plot, Or Ohh, How about the drama that was Thor 2?
Considering Thor 2 was setting the stage for one of the Infinity stones, it is worth a watch. It was basically an entire film designed to introduce the RED MacGuffin and show it got handed off the 'the collector' which was then after the PURPLE MacGuffin from GotG.
So we basically know what/where 4 of the 6 MacGuffins are. Red, Blue, Yellow and Purple.
Another interesting thing... every 'nemesis' bad guy of the heroes is killed directly by the infinity stone:
Red Skull (cap's nemesis) was destroyed by the Blue Infinity stone
The hammer badguy from GotG was destroyed by the Purple Infinity stone
The Dark Elf King (thor's Nemesis) was destroyed by the Red infinity stone
Ultron (ironam's nemesis) was explicitly killed by the Yellow infinity stone
So that leaves room that Thanos possibly has those villains captured in the stones and can be brought back by them. Imagine a one-on-one recap of the series villains.
Ronin the Accuser is the "hammer badguys" name.
Played by the same dude that portrayed the annoying elf king in the Hobbit series. It blew my mind when I found that out.
Ultron (ironam's nemesis) was explicitly killed by the Yellow infinity stone
Whilst I agree with the other suggestions IIRC we don't actually see him kill him right ?
.. and he did say earlier he didn't want to kill/end him as he was/is unique or something yeah ?
I figured it was a nice way to perhaps leave him free to return in someway/someday to battle the Avengers again.
.. which in essence is more or less what you're saying of course. .. ..course when Stark loaded up his "Friday" new IA y'all saw one of the other files was called Jocasta right ?
Frazzled wrote: Dude you're watching a movie about a comic book group. If you want drama, plot etc. you have to see a real movie.
You say a lot of ignorant things Fraz, but 'see a real movie' might be the biggest you've said in a while.
Thats nothing. You should have heard me shouting at a Canadian a few minutes about the cash management for a client. Ignorance, + BS + outright bullying = PROFIT!
Seriously though. This is a Marvel comic book movie. The "quiet moments" are only there for a break in the action scenes. Its not even on the deep level of a Spiderman or Batman movie, much less something truly great like Das Boot or African Queen. That doesn't make it bad, thats just not its thing. After all, you don't go watch Titus or She Stoops To Conquer and expect a $200mm CGI budget.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Ok, I will go watch. The Winter Soldier, Great Plot, Or Ohh, How about the drama that was Thor 2?
Considering Thor 2 was setting the stage for one of the Infinity stones, it is worth a watch. It was basically an entire film designed to introduce the RED MacGuffin and show it got handed off the 'the collector' which was then after the PURPLE MacGuffin from GotG.
So we basically know what/where 4 of the 6 MacGuffins are. Red, Blue, Yellow and Purple.
Another interesting thing... every 'nemesis' bad guy of the heroes is killed directly by the infinity stone:
Red Skull (cap's nemesis) was destroyed by the Blue Infinity stone
The hammer badguy from GotG was destroyed by the Purple Infinity stone
The Dark Elf King (thor's Nemesis) was destroyed by the Red infinity stone
Ultron (ironam's nemesis) was explicitly killed by the Yellow infinity stone
So that leaves room that Thanos possibly has those villains captured in the stones and can be brought back by them. Imagine a one-on-one recap of the series villains.
I actually think the Tesseract didn't destroy Red Skull, but transported him to Sanctuary for a bit of time with Thanos. I think he'll make an appearance in the Infinity War films for sure.
Frazzled wrote: Dude you're watching a movie about a comic book group. If you want drama, plot etc. you have to see a real movie.
You say a lot of ignorant things Fraz, but 'see a real movie' might be the biggest you've said in a while.
Thats nothing. You should have heard me shouting at a Canadian a few minutes about the cash management for a client. Ignorance, + BS + outright bullying = PROFIT!
Seriously though. This is a Marvel comic book movie. The "quiet moments" are only there for a break in the action scenes. Its not even on the deep level of a Spiderman or Batman movie, much less something truly great like Das Boot or African Queen. That doesn't make it bad, thats just not its thing. After all, you don't go watch Titus or She Stoops To Conquer and expect a $200mm CGI budget.
I actually kind of agree with you here, Fraz. It just felt like I was watching someone else play a really expensively produced next-gen console game, the source material for which I needed an intimate knowledge of in order for it to be anything other than a noisy spectacle.
hotsauceman1 wrote: Anyone feel that the Avengers Movies follow a similiar thread?
1: Small Action at the beggining(Loki Invading, The avengers attacking strukers compound)
2: Small intermediate action(Loki in germany, Ultron appearing)
3: Big Fight Scene(The Heli Carrier assaulted, The boat/ city fight scene
4: The avengers getting sad and down
5: Final Big Action scene(New York. South Korea and the fight on the floating city. Im counting those as one because there is a 5 min gap)
I just feel that the Avengers movies Lack the ability to do anything but action. Maybe a few char moments
Well, you're not exactly the first person to notice that Marvel films are exceptionally formulaic.
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
The two biggest laughs in the theater both times I saw it this weekend was first when Cap almost lifts the hammer and Thor's jaw drops in the background, and then when Vision picks it up. Since Cap is my favorite character, I like the shout-out, and I like that they expand on his flaws a little. He's a soldier, through and through, and doesn't know how to live a peaceful life, and that scares him. I'd bet that's why he's almost, but not quite, worthy.
Most movies follow it, you just don't realize it yet. A lot of very good movies are very good because they play with the forumla in interesting ways while retaining the elements that make the forumla work in the first place.
Kanluwen wrote: I enjoyed it. I liked Hawkeye getting as much screen time as he did.
I also enjoyed Vision's introduction, and Thor just going along with it once Vision handed him Mjolnir.
That was the best part of the film for me. Especially after the raging debates between the other heroes about being "worthy." All in all, I felt like it was better than the first film and that Ultron was actually a better villain than Loki, but then again I am a Loki-hater, partly because his rabid legion of foaming at the mouth fan girls is rather tiresome.
The two biggest laughs in the theater both times I saw it this weekend was first when Cap almost lifts the hammer and Thor's jaw drops in the background, and then when Vision picks it up. Since Cap is my favorite character, I like the shout-out, and I like that they expand on his flaws a little. He's a soldier, through and through, and doesn't know how to live a peaceful life, and that scares him. I'd bet that's why he's almost, but not quite, worthy.
Frazzled wrote: Dude you're watching a movie about a comic book group. If you want drama, plot etc. you have to see a real movie.
You say a lot of ignorant things Fraz, but 'see a real movie' might be the biggest you've said in a while.
Thats nothing. You should have heard me shouting at a Canadian a few minutes about the cash management for a client. Ignorance, + BS + outright bullying = PROFIT!
Seriously though. This is a Marvel comic book movie. The "quiet moments" are only there for a break in the action scenes. Its not even on the deep level of a Spiderman or Batman movie, much less something truly great like Das Boot or African Queen. That doesn't make it bad, thats just not its thing. After all, you don't go watch Titus or She Stoops To Conquer and expect a $200mm CGI budget.
Subjective - I see the recent Batman movies as just a series of reasonable action scenes spliced together - zero character, terrible / laughable plots, very little humour - nothing deep about them in any way......part for the mind numbing length.
I actually kind of agree with you here, Fraz. It just felt like I was watching someone else play a really expensively produced next-gen console game, the source material for which I needed an intimate knowledge of in order for it to be anything other than a noisy spectacle.
You may be extravagantly accurate on that. At this point I'm in "pass' mode on this one. I hope everyone who sees it has a good time though. I did get a line on a trilogy of vengeance films out of Korea. May have to track those down.
Frazzled wrote: I did get a line on a trilogy of vengeance films out of Korea.
Not a trilogy, a tryptic or whatever. What I mean is the stories are completely unrelated. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Old Boy (←that one is based on a Japanese manga though, and one can feel it in the story, I would say) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. My favorite is the first one. Really depressing, you will feel bad for the characters.
On Cap almost lifting the hammer...there is a theory going 'round that Cap actually could lift the hammer but chose not to when he realized that he could since that would undercut Thor for no good reason.
Frazzled wrote: I did get a line on a trilogy of vengeance films out of Korea.
Not a trilogy, a tryptic or whatever. What I mean is the stories are completely unrelated.
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Old Boy (←that one is based on a Japanese manga though, and one can feel it in the story, I would say) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. My favorite is the first one. Really depressing, you will feel bad for the characters.
I enjoyed it for what it was. An fun action movie that brought a bunch of my favorite characters in movies currently together.
I like the new "line-up". Vision and Scarlet Witch are highlight and were pretty awesome in the movie. Little sad about Quicksilver but oh well.
Hawkeye being the well adjusted and down to earth dude was well done and really expanded on his character quite a bit.
Overall a fun movie even if you could tell it had been cut up a bit. I definitely prefer the more solo movies as the action once you get past 4-6 characters feels a bit more like a highlight reel and they tend to be less about the smashing but it was good.
I do wonder how they are going to transition away from RDJ and Evans and to a lesser extent Hemsworth. RDJ and Evans feel so much like the glue that hold it together for me. Though Bettany as Vision I have hopes for.
Well, Cap has a comic book history of wielding Mjolnir. So...totally would have been okay with him lifting it. But it would have taken away from the feeling of Vision, if just "anybody" could lift it. Of course, we all knew Stark wasn't gonna lift it. Lol
I kindof can't wait for Falcon to take up Cap's costume and shield. Am I the only one who feels that coming?
Also, I was disappointed that Falcon didn't show up for the final fight. Sure, it was crowded, but they let Warmachine come!
Pretty sure Bucky/The Winter Soldier will be the next Man In The Flag, as there's a precedent in the comics (but then, same with Falcon) and is on a 9-film contract. But I'm fine with that, Falcon can stay awesome as Falcon!
I think Cap being unable to lift the hammer (only shift it a little) will play a bigger role come Infinity War. I'm sure that Thanos will shatter Cap's shield, and in response Cap will find himself able to wield Mjolnir, right when they need it most.
H.B.M.C. wrote: I think Cap being unable to lift the hammer (only shift it a little) will play a bigger role come Infinity War. I'm sure that Thanos will shatter Cap's shield, and in response Cap will find himself able to wield Mjolnir, right when they need it most.
That, or Vision will just wield the shield and Miljnor and smack Thanos around the place and the rest of the team will just watch from Hawkeye's farm... 'Puny alien!'
Vision: Infinity War, coming soon!
Although sadly,
Spoiler:
I have a funny feeling Vision is going to be the first casualty of the war, since Thanos will be after the Mind Gem...
I was pretty impressed with the whole movie. To say it had so many heroes, they all got plenty of screen-time it didn't feel too crowded.
Hulk vs. Iron Man had to be the highlight of the movie, the mix of action and humour made it an excellent fight scene.
I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
I don't think there is much I can complain about, more Andy Serkis was needed (that guy got big for this movie!) but apart from that it was a great sequel!
Hulk vs. Iron Man had to be the highlight of the movie, the mix of action and humour made it an excellent fight scene.
I did feel very sorry for one family in the cinema that left (presumably to take their kid to the loo) just as the Hulkbuster deployed, and returned just as Stark got the last punch in! Poor guys!
I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
I can't complain if IM3 gets forgotten! I guess it is simply a case of him realising he was still needed after Hydra reemerged and became a global threat.
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
I know. I get so much more excited about this kind of movies than about the DCU or MCU.
Have you also heard about how Park Chan-Wook (director who did that trilogy) took the book Thérèse Raquin, written by famous French writer Émile Zola in 1867, transposed the story into modern day Korea, added vampires to it, and got the movie Thirst? I am not even kidding. Another cool movie you could look forward .
hotsauceman1 wrote: Ok, I will go watch. The Winter Soldier, Great Plot, Or Ohh, How about the drama that was Thor 2?
Considering Thor 2 was setting the stage for one of the Infinity stones, it is worth a watch. It was basically an entire film designed to introduce the RED MacGuffin and show it got handed off the 'the collector' which was then after the PURPLE MacGuffin from GotG.
So we basically know what/where 4 of the 6 MacGuffins are. Red, Blue, Yellow and Purple.
Another interesting thing... every 'nemesis' bad guy of the heroes is killed directly by the infinity stone:
Red Skull (cap's nemesis) was destroyed by the Blue Infinity stone
The hammer badguy from GotG was destroyed by the Purple Infinity stone
The Dark Elf King (thor's Nemesis) was destroyed by the Red infinity stone
Ultron (ironam's nemesis) was explicitly killed by the Yellow infinity stone
So that leaves room that Thanos possibly has those villains captured in the stones and can be brought back by them. Imagine a one-on-one recap of the series villains.
I actually think the Tesseract didn't destroy Red Skull, but transported him to Sanctuary for a bit of time with Thanos. I think he'll make an appearance in the Infinity War films for sure.
Probably a silly question, but are the main Avengers cast - RDJ, Evans, Renner et all going to be back for the Infinity War? I also seem to recall some rumors about the GotG crew showing up as well to help take on Thanos?
I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
I can't complain if IM3 gets forgotten! I guess it is simply a case of him realising he was still needed after Hydra reemerged and became a global threat.
Even within Avengers 2, it can be seen that he is, and has been, working towards retiring as Iron Man (the existence of the Iron Legion, the Ultron project as well, etc.). Anyway, something that caught my attention from the end credits scene:
Spoiler:
Thanos picking up the Infinity Gauntlet. But, last we saw, it was in Odin's vault. And then I read online that Kevin Feige confirmed that there are two Infinity Gauntlets. The one in the vault, and the one Thanos has. I'm interested to see how that plays out. Who will wield the other gauntlet?
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug
It has all been scrubbed- Marvel even did a one shot where Trevor Slattery (the man pretending to be the Mandarin) was replaced by the actual Mandarin. By all rights Stark should be miles from any battlefield, controlling his drone legion via the immersive tech he uses in IM 3. He's got Pepper to keep happy, he's got drones with excellent AI and his suits are no longer powered by his arc reactor. To say nothing of the stupidly obvious benefits of miles from any battlefield.
As for the Infinity Gauntlet, the one in Asgard is a right handed one. That's all I'll say.
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
Tell me more about comics continuity .
DC tends to reboot its comic universe, while Marvel doesn't reboot but instead chooses to ignore stories or chunks of history that they don't want to deal with. And it seems that they apply the same approaches to their respective movie "universes."
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug
It has all been scrubbed- Marvel even did a one shot where Trevor Slattery (the man pretending to be the Mandarin) was replaced by the actual Mandarin. By all rights Stark should be miles from any battlefield, controlling his drone legion via the immersive tech he uses in IM 3. He's got Pepper to keep happy, he's got drones with excellent AI and his suits are no longer powered by his arc reactor. To say nothing of the stupidly obvious benefits of miles from any battlefield.
The fact that Stark gets down and dirty is part of his character. Remember he became Iron Man Specifically because felt bad. He caused some much destruction and death. Why did he make vision and ultron? To make things right.Same reason he fights.
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
Tell me more about comics continuity .
DC tends to reboot its comic universe, while Marvel doesn't reboot but instead chooses to ignore stories or chunks of history that they don't want to deal with. And it seems that they apply the same approaches to their respective movie "universes."
They also have shifting timelines too. Everything takes place in the present, with things in the past happeneing "A Few years Ago"
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
You've seen Iron Man 3 right? Wouldn't you want to brush it under the rug?
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
You've seen Iron Man 3 right? Wouldn't you want to brush it under the rug?
Lol I don't think it matters if he blew them all up. Feels like he can have them made pretty damn quickly since he's got A LOT of automated fabricator kit in the Avengers tower.
Commander Cain wrote: I'm not sure if this has been explained somewhere else but how come Stark still has all his suits and whatnot? Iron Man 3 seemed to depict him retiring and all that seems to have just been brushed under the rug.
You've seen Iron Man 3 right? Wouldn't you want to brush it under the rug?
Lol I don't think it matters if he blew them all up. Feels like he can have them made pretty damn quickly since he's got A LOT of automated fabricator kit in the Avengers tower.
Even at the end of IM3 he took away his robot arm and it was pretty clear that he was going to keep on building stuff - as that's a big part of who he is.
If he had somehow built a fully functioning robot defence system - he would still be flying around in his suit for kicks and to build stuff in difficult areas and promos and the like - cos he can.
I would rather have seen another cameo from Pepper or indeed Jane than Coulson and co....... GP and RDJ are so great together in those roles.
I did enjoy the whole - "my girlfriends better than yours" talk between Thor and Tony............just another great bit of humour which the Marvel films are so great at.
Ahtman wrote: They said Golum's mark was that of "Thief" in Wakanda, but he wasn't still in Wakanda and the scene wasn't in Wakanda, sadly.
Exactly, the whole fight happened in 'Africa" which as we all know is just one small country with a few huts, some elephants and lions and such.
Which reminds me, they said it means theif in AN AFRICAN DIALECT.
African is not a language.
Amharic is a language (and a really cool one too).
Zulu is a language.
French is a language.
They have dialects.
"African" does not.
"African dialect" is one of those phrases that drips of colonialism. It's bascially a message that these African folks, they don't speak proper language, not like us, they speak dialects, just some sort of ugga-bugga stuff that's good for saying 'a lion is eating my foot' but not a language per se.
Now maybe the phrase was picked on purpose to show Banner's contempt for Africa, but I don't get that feeling. No it just felt like lazy writers who can't even be arsed to think of a country in Africa to set their movie in.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Which reminds me, they said it means theif in AN AFRICAN DIALECT.
African is not a language.
Amharic is a language (and a really cool one too).
Zulu is a language.
French is a language.
They have dialects.
"African" does not.
"African dialect" is one of those phrases that drips of colonialism. It's bascially a message that these African folks, they don't speak proper language, not like us, they speak dialects, just some sort of ugga-bugga stuff that's good for saying 'a lion is eating my foot' but not a language per se.
Ah, I remember Red Scorpion. You would have loved their take on “African culture” .
Y'know the cyber lips didn't bug me, I think one of the many sub plots that wasn't really fleshed out is that Ultron really, really wanted to be a real boy.
So naturally his mecha bodies had lips.
Looking closely he even had little metal sliding bits for them.
A Russian KGB agent is sent to Africa to kill an anti-Communist black revolutionary. However, he has a change of heart when he sees how the Russians and their Cuban allies are killing and repressing the locals, so he switches sides and helps the rebels.
From now on when someone writes "Africa" I'll just assume they mean downtown Cairo.
And one day I will write a story where someone goes to 'Europe' a small country where the Eiffel Tower, Kremlin and Big Ben are all on the same street.
And it will still be more accurate than most stories set in 'Africa".
To be fair, for most people the distinction between dialect and language is pretty meaningless. It's far less egregious than the technobabble nonsense in the films. If engineers and physicists can turn off their brains enough to not care where the sudden increase in physical mass come from when the hulk transforms, or how Iron Man's metal suit can punch through metal far heavier-duty than what little armor the suit would realistically be able to contain, then we can ignore them using the wrong linguistic phrase.
A Russian KGB agent is sent to Africa to kill an anti-Communist black revolutionary. However, he has a change of heart when he sees how the Russians and their Cuban allies are killing and repressing the locals, so he switches sides and helps the rebels.
Yeah, it is one of those movies that are so bad they are fun to watch ^^. Their geopolitics are top notch, as you can imagine .
gorgon wrote: Well, you're not exactly the first person to notice that Marvel films are exceptionally formulaic.
Or that many big budget films follow a similar formula.
But that ignores that execution of the formula matters, and makes a tremendous difference in quality. Compare either Avengers film to a typical Michael Bay movie, and the difference will probably be obvious, though the elements are basically the same.
Squidmanlolz wrote: Age of Ultron was good, very good. IMO, it suffered from two main problems.
First off, it was crowded. There was a menagerie of main characters and it just felt over-crowded, though this offered some cool, comic-book shots.
Second, Ultron was too human. Ultron's lips and face emoted far too much for what is supposed to be a machine. This killed any intimidation Ultron was supposed to present, which left him relying on his imposing stature alone.
From what I gather, Spader would have refused to play Ultron if he weren't allowed to do any facial, tonal, or gestural acting.
I don't think Tom Kane's Ultron (from Avengers: EMH) would have been able to carry a movie quite as well.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also I think people who dismiss the movie for being too funny/not gritty/not DEEP enough are snobs whose opinions should never be consulted for anything. Boring Oscar bait movies where everybody has a stick up their ass and directors trying too hard to be artsy bore the gak out of me.
Elemental wrote: It's probably something lost to cutting, but I didn't really feel clear on what Ultron's plan actually was. First he wants to save humanity, then he wants to transform humanity (I think?), then he decides to just kill everyone and start over. Maybe that was intentional, given how twitchy and unstable he seemed, like extravagantly rewarding soon-to-be-Klaw, and then ripping his arm off in a fit of pique.
Ultron's plan is, was, and always will be to save humanity by turning them into robotic minions.
But at the end, he seems to have given up on that part of the plan, skipping straight to "rocks fall, everyone dies". Though it is quite fun to imagine him looking over the wreckage of Earth after succeeding and then going "Aw, damn it, I knew there was something I meant to do first!"
Ultron is basically a petulant child with untold power at his fingertips.
Also, to those complaining about there being too many characters. Remember the time when Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant Man, Hawkeye, She Hulk, Wolverine, and Spidey were all New Avengers? Alongside the Avengers? And the Secret Avengers? At the same time!
Cause I don't know how gamma-infused muscle mass might work, but sure as @#$% know that 'Africa' is neither a country nor a language!
And like I said, pet peeve cause it's a bit of sloppy writing I see way, way too often.
I don't really think that by saying it's an "African dialect" is implying that African is a language. I took it to mean that it's a dialect of an African language, of which there are obviously many. Just as if someone said something was a European dialect I would take that to mean a dialect of a European language - not that "European" is a language. But I speak a language that includes several different dialects so maybe I'm just desensitized to the term. I also really like dialects so to me the word dialect already has a positive connotation, not a negative colonial one, but I could see why you might feel different about that.
And don't get me wrong, it annoys me off to when I hear someone talk as if Africa is a country or African is a language - I just don't get the "African is a language" implication from someone referring to an "African dialect." To me, African dialect implies that they know that African isn't a language.
I agree with you though that they should have just picked a country though. I was trying to think of what flags the police officers had on their uniforms in those scenes, but I can't remember.
Being a DC fan, I sat through the entire movie wishing that it was about the Justice League combating Brother Eye and the OMAC project... but that's just me. I even came up with ways to include T.O. Morrow into the plot, replacing the Vision with Red Tornado, etc, etc...
Squidmanlolz wrote: Being a DC fan, I sat through the entire movie wishing that it was about the Justice League combating Brother Eye and the OMAC project... but that's just me. I even came up with ways to include T.O. Morrow into the plot, replacing the Vision with Red Tornado, etc, etc...
You know it's gotten bad for DC fans when they sit through Marvel films wishing they were DC films.
thedarkavenger wrote: Also, to those complaining about there being too many characters. Remember the time when Vision, Scarlet Witch, Ant Man, Hawkeye, She Hulk, Wolverine, and Spidey were all New Avengers? Alongside the Avengers? And the Secret Avengers? At the same time!
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