AVENGERS 2 REVIEW!!!
You should know by now I love the MCU movies; comic book movies in general, actually. So, I went to see AoU the day it came out, the first big movie that I haven't gone to a midnight release in a long time. I have to be honest, I might never go see a movie on a midnight release or at night in general, ever again. I went to see it at 3 PM and it was AMAZING. There were three people in the auditorium, other than my girlfriend and I. You know what that means? No one was near us, no one talked, no CRYING BABIES, no one on their phones....and if they were on their phones, I couldnt care because I couldnt hear them. Everyone that wanted to see it was ACTUALLY there, so no one was just there because they couldn't find shit to do. I loved it. Moving on, I have to write something ACTUALLY interesting after my horrible(not so bad but still not so good so on the internet that makes it rated horrible)mock draft, which was rushed, got like 10 views, since I didnt share it anywhere. I wouldnt like to say I need to stick to reviews but they are definitely my strong suit at the moment. So, while I work on improving my skills on other things, I'll continue to keep pushing out the stuff that everyone loves.
Before I start, I wanted to mention something, I got yelled at by some random reader in a former article, that I spoil too much in my reviews and that I should either mention that there are spoilers in my review or try to leave them out altogether. See, this is because people dont think, "hey....here's a guy who has seen/read/listened to something that I havent and about to write his thoughts on it and explain why he feels that way....perhaps I should hold back on reading this until I have also seen/read/listened to it as well."
Nah....not in the age of immediacy that we're in now. Though, I cant hate, I do want more readers and I do want it to be easy for readers to come and read a review without having to worry about me ending the world for them. So, in respect to all of those people, I have decided that I will no longer....
QUICKSILVER DIES!
and I never have to worry about it ever again.
Alright I swear that's the only one, I'm sorry. Okay, you just CANT trust me; I admit it. However, it's the time you've all been waiting for. The words that you have been skimming and scanning all the other words(because who gives a poop about the intro right?)to get to all this time.
Let the reviewing begin...
Im going to get the stuff everyone has come to know out of the way. Joss Wheedon is back for his final Marvel film before handing it over to the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony. Marvel movies are very consistent; AoU follows that consistency. Age of Ultron is the follow up to the original Avengers movie, along with Cap 2, Thor 2 and Iron Man 3. There is actually a very close connection between the beginning of Age of Ultron and the episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from a week before. (of course, I cant comment on that, because I have never watched AoS; at least not yet. I only know about the connection because someone notified me of it.) So, because of that, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L Jackson, Jeremy Renner and many more return to fill their roles.
After the introduction of the film, you see that Tony Stark(Downey) is trying to build a much better A.I. to help protect the world. However, things dont turn out exactly as he expects when the A.I., Ultron(James Spader), decides the best to protect the human race is to end the Avengers(OH COME ON THAT IS NOT A SPOILER....THAT'S LIKE BAD GUY 101 GET OFF MY BACK!). After one upping them early on, the Avengers must find a way to take him out before his evil plan is fulfilled.
All the great things about the other Marvel films are still here. The cast has great chemistry, you get the feeling they really are the real thing and that their interactions with one another are genuine. Connecting back to what was said earlier, Marvel movies are VERY consistent. You almost feel like everything in this movie is just natural and that the cast isnt even acting, yet still giving such distinguished performances. The costumes look great and are very colorful. The atmosphere of the film matches the mood in each scene. I actually didnt pay much attention to the music for once, surprisingly, but I guess that's not such a bad thing since I was so immersed in the film itself.
Joss Whedon and his crew have continued to do a great job putting all of this together, which makes it really sad to see him go. I know we've all seen this before, but it's still really awesome. As a
comic book reader, seeing them in a live action movie still hasn't
gotten old to me. In fact, it's just the opposite, I want more. However,
I am wondering when it's all going to end. That's not because of me
wanting it to, but because I'm worried. We're already past all the
standalone Iron Man movies, technically, but when will we be done with
all the other films? We all get older, time flies, contracts
end.....what happens after that? Anyway, not to get all doom and gloomy...that isnt the point...and Im sure the Russo bros will do just fine(Cap 2 is my second favorite MCU film). The greatness will continue on, Marvel knows how to make great films and pay great homage to the original comics.
There were some things here and there that are different from the comics. Quicksilver(Taylor-Johnson) isn't a mutant, Ultron is created by Tony Stark, so on and so forth, but as mentioned before, the movie still does very well. Ultron being created by Stark does have some understandable changes to his demeanor. In the film, he's a lot like Jarvis and Tony Stark mixed into one. He is very brilliant, but a condescending smartass too. Even though I liked the change, it was harder to take him as serious as I should. Ultron's plan feels a bit rushed and at times it just felt like he was....there; being the bad guy just to be the bad guy. I felt the same in another recent Marvel film "Guardians of the Galaxy"(which I wrote a review for here)about Ronan the Destroyer. However, in GotG I could understand it, as they needed to establish the heroes and you could only fit so much into a 2 hour or so movie. At the end of the day, they got the point across with Ronan. I also acknowledge that in my review, I mentioned that this could have to do with my desire to see Thanos. Perhaps, I feel the same way about Ultron for the same reason. Overall, I prefer Ultron to Ronan, though. Perhaps, that's because of how much I love his attitude, since it's so much like Tony Stark's. This might be a spoiler but I mean I wouldnt take it as one.....we all know the good guy wins and the bad guy loses whatever, who cares? Can we move on? No...fine...skip to the next paragraph and continue reading there...but if youre not a sissy, read on. I feel like he's beat too soon and way too easily. In fact, Ultron himself didnt seem like a HUGE challenge at all. The problem he causes, yes, I could see that as a challenge, but in a bout between him against the Avengers, I feel like Thor couldve took him on his own and the movie wouldve been done with early on. This is something I really hope that they step up in future films, especially since Thanos is OBVIOUSLY coming.
Although there are a lot of occurrences in the film that you could tell are nods to future films, AoU doesnt feel like JUST a set-up film. Sure, Captain America(Evans) and Iron Man argue here and there, plus there is an obvious little rivalry between the two throughout the two films....if you are just a casual fan and dont follow the news, nor read the comics much, I dont think you could really predict "these two are going to be going at it big time eventually". Even after all the Marvel movies have been released, AoU has enough on its own to be watched without requiring someone to see the next or previous film. Just like you dont need to watch Episode 4 or 6 of Star Wars to enjoy Episode 5. At least, that's just my honest opinion.
Something AoU actually does WAY better than the first film is making more of the heroes roles important. Hawkeye and Black Widow felt like the Yamcha and Krillin of Marvel, in the first film. In AoU theyre more like Tien and Piccolo or someone like that. Hawkeye definitely feels more important with the moves they do in the film. They give him a good sense of humor, a wife and two kids with another on the way. He gives a helpful speech to another character. He saves a life. He holds his own in a war of insults with his allies. It was very respectable and not-Krillin like. It just made that "if someone had to die, Id want it to be_____" decision a lot harder, you know?
They kind of tried doing the same thing with Black Widow(Johansson), by trying to develop a romance between her and Hulk...this makes no sense because you know what they say
Once you go green
youll have a destroyed bean
or something like that. So of course, you know Banner(Ruffalo) wasnt having any of that...and honestly, the fans wanted none of it either. Maybe heroes just have commitment issues and they use their powers as excuses though, because *SPOILERS skip the paragraph* he pretty much flies right into the ocean while his could be girlfriend is talking to him EVEN AFTER the guy who did the SAME exact thing around 7 decades before, completely recommends otherwise. Like I said, no one really wanted them two together anyway. I dont necessarily care, but even I must admit, it feels a bit forced. I mean it does seem now that we have to do anything to not seem sexist and I guess it's trying to make women seem weak when women need love or some man to help them, I guess...honestly, love as a whole, is getting seen as a horrible fake thing no one wants to see in movies..I dont know what the thought behind it is. Yet, whatever it is, it definitely isnt the issue here, if anything, Hulk/Banner and the team need Black Widow more so than her needing him. It doesnt develop much and I think they were just using it to sort of try and show that Bruce needs love too but ultimately cant be happy....and him not being happy is pretty much what makes him, him in the first place. That's just how things are supposed to be, right? Furthermore, when they didnt have Black Widow to do the lullaby it leaded to pretty much the best part of the movie anyway.
The second best part in the movie, in my opinion, is where theyre all trying to lift Mjolnir. The importance and foreshadowing(for another part of the film and future films) of this scene is covered up by making it seem like they just wanted to have something fun in the movie but to any person who reads the comics knows what Steve Rogers sliding Thor's hammer will lead to. Little pieces like that really made AoU great.
My last topic is the two new characters. It's a real shame that Quicksilver is owned by FOX because I would've liked to see Marvel's Flash in the future films. I guess that's why they really didnt do much with him since there wasnt much they could do anyway. Scarlet Witch(the only Olson sister people care about anymore), on the other hand gets developed REALLY well. Early on she has a slightly spooky vibe in how she carries herself; the way she moves out of a room, the way she stalks her victims. As the movie continues, you see how how human she really is and that she just wants whats best for everyone around her. The epitome of her heroism is shown near the end of the movie. Plus, she is really cute and has a lot more to offer than Yamcha, I mean Piccolo, I mean Black Widow.
In conclusion, AoU has its flaws, but it is still truly amazing. I dont know if I feel it's better than the first, and I definitely dont think it was better than GotG...but as I stated before it definitely holds its own in the MCU. With that being said, I cant wait for future films!
Avengers: Age of Ultron receives an 8.75 out of 10.
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