Well I saw Avengers opening weekend (something I rarely do) and had a good time, although the movie is crowded with characters and feels jumbled at times. First of all, if you had told me as a kid that there would be an Avengers movie, and that it would be so popular, I'm not sure I would have believed it. So it's awesome that these movies even exist, and are so popular. This one was a blast in a lot of ways, although it's not as good as the first one.
This one starts off great, with the Avengers assembled and we get to see the team in action right off the bat. I also enjoyed the party scene and the interactions of the team members- my favorite part of the movie. The character development and quiet moments are the best parts for me. It's just not as good as the first one- but it's still a lot of fun.
WHAT I LIKED:
Captain America- I thought he was good in this movie. Chris Evans plays him spot on, he owns this role now.
The twins- Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. I thought Elizabeth Olsen was great as Scarlet, I liked how she utilized her powers, and I surprisingly liked Quicksilver as well. They were a highlight of the film for me, even if Scarlet did mess with the Avengers' heads a little too much (how did she get so close to Natasha without being detected?).
Ultron looked great, although his motivations were pretty lame- destroy humanity. Blah blah, nothing new here. But I guess that's the villain so whatever.
Black Widow- kicks butt as usual. A big part of the movie, and in spite of all the controversy, I liked her in this movie. Not entirely happy with her character arc- see below- but she's one of the best parts of the movie.
More Cobie Smulders- she could do so much more. How about just replacing Nick Fury with her.
WHAT I DIDN"T:
Tony Stark. I'm pretty tired of the way he is portrayed- and I'm kinda over Robert Downey Jr. in the role. Don't get me wrong Downey Jr. is largely responsible for the success of these films and I thought he was a good casting choice- but after all the snark only goes so far. Tony Stark certainly bears responsibility for creating Ultron (and hiding it from his teammates, deceiving Thor, etc). This will no doubt continue in Captain America: Civil War where he and Cap will be on opposing sides. I just wish they weren't going there.
Not enough Thor- Hemsworth is a great Thor, very underused here.
The Vision didn't work for me. I was really curious how they would do and while I give a lot of credit for what they achieved, I just didn't think he looked that good. A tough character to do.
Bruce Banner and Natasha. This came way out of left field, and it felt forced and not natural at all.
I'm happy to see the Russo brothers directing the next Avengers movies. They did a great job with Captain America: Winter Soldier. So bottom line for me- this is a fun movie, it's way too crowded- but it's an Avengers movie so you gotta see it.
I wasn't sold on the Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner relationship either. :( I guess we'll see what comes of it.
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought Age of Ultron was good but I think about everything you had qualms with I would agree with. :)
It is a fun movie, and I did enjoy it in spite of my quibbles. :) It's just nice to see all the heroes on the screen. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI haven't seen this yet but I'm planning to! I like your review.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Not enough Thor? That might be a deal-breaker for me :)
Thank you. I'm not sure if everyone would think there was too little Thor, I was just hoping to see more. he does do some important things in the movie. I think you'll like it, it is a fun movie. :)
DeleteI totally agree with the Natasha/Bruce thing. I thought they were a cute couple and it had potential, but I never really saw her as one to run away from anything even for love. But I agree with you, I like the way she was portrayed in this one. And I totally agree with their not being enough Thor. I know Whedon wanted more on the cave scene and I think the move would have profited if they'd allowed him to do that. I'm a bit miffed he couldn't think of a tangible way to incorporate Loki and have it work...I mean he already had the dream sequence, just have the guy lounging on the throne. I actually rather liked Ultron, but I agree his motivations were a bit obvious. I just liked having the two representations of Tony Stark on the screen. I wasn't expecting him to be so degraded mentally, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I agree with the way Vision looks as well. I was curious to see how they would do the makeup seeing as the comics make him look more metal than organic, but despite some issue with his costume I think Bettany did a good job with the introduction. He did some phasing with the suits when he pulled them a part, but yeah there wasn't very much of it there. I'm just curious to see if they are going to have the Witch/Vision relationship come into play later. I loathe Scarlet Witch though, but I thought she was done really well. I just felt on edge everything she's on screen because I was basically just waiting for her to lose it and screw up reality.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it was a good movie. There were some problems, but it was definitely a good movie. I'm actually surprised at how exaggerated the response was to the problems and I have a bone to pick with a few friends, lol.
Yes, the response has been way overdone- have you seen some of the tweet he got? I mean I disgaree with some things he did, but good grief people are going a little crazy over it. And yes Loki should have been in it- if you can have Heimdall, you can squeeze Loki in.
DeleteThink you might be right about Vision, now that I think about it. I wasn't sure if he was phasing the suits or just pulling them apart- maybe he WAS phasing. I'll have to watch again. :) And Scarlet- her character has changed so much over the years, in the old days she wasn't like that, but once they started having her wreck everything, I think a lot of people got sick of that.
I wanted more Thor too. I thought he and Cap played well off each other, and there were no moments between him and the Hulk this time... :( It was a good movie tho, and just fun to see all these characters together.
Yeah, I did see those tweets. It was totally uncalled for. People can be incredibly cruel sometimes.
DeleteIt's definitely a movie I'm going to have to watch again, and probably pick up some older comics when I can to see what some of the characters are like in the comics.I've honestly only had experiences with Scarlet ruining everything, so I probably came into comics at the wrong time for her. There for a while it seems like she was somehow responsible for a lot of the major story arc screw ups, even one of the more recent ones had her name on it (with Dr. Strange).
Yeah they went a little crazy with Scarlet, she used to be a pretty stable member of the team. I liked her. She was actually the only one who could take out Ultron at one point- her probability altering powers made him malfunction basically and Thor finished him off. She wasn't all powerful then. When they ramped her powers up to be "reality altering" and then she went nuts and blew everything up, I was done with the character. Clint used to have the hots for her too- pretty funny. :)
DeleteAnyway I want to see it again too, and see all the stuff I missed.
I have yet to see this, I'll probably wait until it's available for livestreaming. There have have been hints of a romance between Natasha and Bruce so that doesn't surprise me but hearing that she wants to run away from something? That does surprise me. Some of characters mentioned are new to me so my expectations for them won't be as high as the ones I've come to know and like.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this movie.
Elizabeth Olsen - not Mary Kate or Ashley? Was She in the Agents of Shield TV Show?
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