Avengers: Age of Ultron

[Atreides]

I just came back from seeing it. I liked it, but I liked the first one better. I can't quite place my finger on why I didn't like this one as much. Maybe too much action for the sake of action? Also, Joss Whedon's skills as an action director aren't quite so hot. There were a couple cool action shots but most of them were shot too close up and too fast.

[lea1977]

Going to see it hopefully today and we are those geeks that are hoping the a Star Wars trailer will be shown beforehand.

[Mutagen]

I got a Star Wars trailer!

As for the movie itself, I also liked this one a little less than the first Avengers. The first movie passed the "three great scenes and no bad ones" test, this one... not so much. It was more of a "random events plot" than the first one.

Number one on my list of bad scenes was <<pretty much all the scenes with Hawkeye's wife. I. DON'T. CARE. Good god. I have to believe Whedon put those scenes in as "STFU" to Jeremy Renner over his alleged bitching about his small part in the first movie. I can't imagine it was for legitimate story purposes.>>

As for the romance <<between Black Widow and Hulk, I didn't hate it, but I thought it could have been done a lot better. I actually thought Mark Ruffalo was the one ScarJo had the most interesting chemistry with in the first Avengers, so it makes sense to me that they went there. But it was really rushed and awkward. >>

I also kind of want a whole movie of Steve and Thor going on an excellent adventure. Thor was my personal MVP of this movie -- Chris Hemsworth, in addition to his many other assets, has KILLER comic timing. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was also a nice surprise as Quicksilver.

[lpatrice]

I was seriously underwhelmed. They tried to cram too much in, way too much. They should have cut out all of that nonsense about Hawkeye and I don't think Elizabeth Olsen or ATJ added much, aside from awful Russian/Eastern European accents. And while they crammed too much in, it was also lacking in something I cannot quite put my finger on. Maybe it was Hiddleston, because about 1/2 through the movies, my nephews starting asking where Loki was.

There was some awesome trailer game though:
Star Wars
Jurassic World
Batman V Superman
Pixels (ugh)
Tomorrow land

[Augustus]

Agreed on the not-so-great as the first sentiment. I saw it last Friday, and I couldn't care less about Hawkeye.

[Mutagen]

The Jurassic World trailer looked great. I loved the sound of approval that went through my theater when BD Wong appeared for a brief second.

The script really just needed to be cut by like... 30%.

[Witchie]

I give it a 8.5. Could have done without the BruceNat stuff. I'm sorry to those who like them, but wtf? There was no basis for it, other than Joss & Mark Ruffalo thinking there was a spark between Nat & Bruce during the Avengers. Felt very Marty Sue wish fulfillment. Nat doesn't chase any man, unless she's about to kill him.

Also the Hawkeye family stuff was meh. Totally unneeded, though I appreciated the fact that Clint was used and was an active member of the team.

Also meh and give me a break worthy, Bruce Banner. Dude...stop your whining about being a monster. For fuck's sake, we get it. You're tortured. Who the fuck isn't?

I loved Vision. Paul Bettany can get it any time. Spader also had me cracking up. I loved his evil, evil soul.

There were far too many times I wanted to beat the ever living shit out of Tony Stark. Good God, man!

I really liked Thor this time around. He was hilarious.

Steve & Nat were their usual awesome selves.

I did like the twins, but their accents were bad. Bordering on awful.

All the cameos were terrific. Needed more War Machine & Falcon. Brothers gotta represent.

Lastly, as a Whedon fan, I am glad to see his backside. I think this film was a bit too much for him to handle. Too many moving parts and character moments that he couldn't handle. Someone on Tumblr said we have outgrown Joss' brand of feminism. We've evolved beyond it and him. After this movie, I believe it.

[Babycakes]

May 2, 2015 21:22:33 GMT -4 Witchie said:

I give it a 8.5. Could have done without the BruceNat stuff. I'm sorry to those who like them, but wtf? There was no basis for it, other than Joss & Mark Ruffalo thinking there was a spark between Nat & Bruce during the Avengers. Felt very Marty Sue wish fulfillment. Nat doesn't chase any man, unless she's about to kill him.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm already rolling my eyes, and booing in my head at this turn of events. Where was this alleged spark in Avengers I? The scene with them in India? In that cabin? What?! Are they on crack? I've seen Avengers multiple times, and not once, did I think there was enough chemistry to put Black Widow with the Hulk. Widow and Hawkeye? Obviously. Captain? Sure. Loki? Possibly. Ugh. I need the head-banging smiley back. I actually saw a clip of BW calming Hulk down in the new movie. She's his "connection" to his humanity, and can snap him out of Hulk mode with tender touches and coy smiles. I almost threw up in my mouth. This one is going to wait a bit before I see it. I knew it was going to be a downgrade, but with this level of fuckery? No thanks.

[Mutagen]

I actually thought they had decent chemistry in the first Avengers -- not blistering hot UST or anything, but enough to theoretically build on. But the way it was written in Age of Ultron was just bad.  I feel like I've read fanfiction with better characterization and nuance.  

[Witchie]

May 2, 2015 22:57:02 GMT -4 Babycakes said:

May 2, 2015 21:22:33 GMT -4 Witchie said:

I give it a 8.5. Could have done without the BruceNat stuff. I'm sorry to those who like them, but wtf? There was no basis for it, other than Joss & Mark Ruffalo thinking there was a spark between Nat & Bruce during the Avengers. Felt very Marty Sue wish fulfillment. Nat doesn't chase any man, unless she's about to kill him.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm already rolling my eyes, and booing in my head at this turn of events. Where was this alleged spark in Avengers I? The scene with them in India? In that cabin? What?! Are they on crack? I've seen Avengers multiple times, and not once, did I think there was enough chemistry to put Black Widow with the Hulk. Widow and Hawkeye? Obviously. Captain? Sure. Loki? Possibly. Ugh. I need the head-banging smiley back. I actually saw a clip of BW calming Hulk down in the new movie. She's his "connection" to his humanity, and can snap him out of Hulk mode with tender touches and coy smiles. I almost threw up in my mouth. This one is going to wait a bit before I see it. I knew it was going to be a downgrade, but with this level of fuckery? No thanks.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. I rolled my eyes quite a bit with them. It was so clunky and ridiculous. It actually pissed me off when I found out Ruffalo wrote to Whedon asking for the romance. Umm, you have Betty Ross, why are you trying to hijack the Widow? That's not to say it wasn't a good movie. I truly enjoyed it, but that bullshit was just too much. Especially when you see what the Russo brothers did for Natasha in Winter Soldier.

ETA: Actually Hawkeye's family came from one of the comic versions, but it's so obscure very few people knew about it. Everyone assumed they'd go with Hawkeye & Mockingbird, but they put her on AoS and paired her with another character.