Want 4 reasons to see Age of Ultron? You got it slim....but first the annoying stuff
Age of Ultron opened last weekend and while it didn't top it's freshman outing in box office opening totals it did have the 2nd biggest opening ever. Not too bad I guess, right? You've probably already heard a slurry of early reviews and naysayers exclaiming the second outing isn't nearly as good as the first. However, I'm one of the few that look past politics and psychology and can tell you that the sequel is a better film. Sure its not without its faults, but what it does possess , or better yet what it 'lacks' is the "urgency" for an Avengers movie. Marvel studios was trying so hard to push out the first Avengers movie, I think it fell flat in assembling the proper entertainment and story that it deserved. It was a good film but I think it could have been better. With Ultron, Marvel was able to make an Avengers movie that felt more like it was a 'Marvel's Avengers' movie (e.g a comic book movie) and less like a frenzied introduction (the first flick)
There have been stories EVERYWHERE that Whedon and Marvel did not see eye to eye on parts of the movie, but overall, the outcome was fantastic. There were however some plot points I would like to get out there that could have been better and would have made it an even better outing.
Be warned... there will be some spoilers, but nothing you probably didn't already know, I hope
GRIPES!
Ultron-
While James Spader did a fantastic job voicing Ultron, but the actual character felt a bit missed in origins. Comic fans have come to know Ultron as a creation of Hank Pym (the original Ant-Man), while movie goers will have to accept that Ultron was a creation of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. It's a history change that at first glance seems necessary (as a story arc that makes Stark ultimately responsible for the death and destruction unleashed by Ultron) but seeing as Ant-Man IS coming as well this Summer it would have been nice to see Hank Pym have a role in creating Ultron. We still may see this happen based on my next point.....we don't know HOW Ultron came into being. Stark stumbled upon and Alien A.I lifeforce and it was just what he needed to create 'Ultron'. A theory he had been working on that could control all of his Iron Legion (currently helmed by J.A.R.V.I.S) He talked Bruce Banner into helping him with trying to extract the A.I into becoming a "new" J.A.R.V.I.S. that would ultimately safeguard the planet. We can only 'guess' that this created Ultron but as they were unsuccessful and had yet to properly begin Ultron's creation, Ultron could not yet have came into being. Ultron simply 'came online' suddenly despite failed previous attempts. Stark at one point left it to JARVIS to continue working on Ultron as he couldn't seem to "crack the code". In the next scene hear dialogue of Ultron w'waking up' and as he did JARVIS was also confused as to "what triggered" his creation. If JARVIS was left to run tests and HE didnt even know how Ultron became Ultron, I can only deduce that 'assuming' JARVIS or Stark ultimately did it, would be premature and incorrect. I felt like I missed something when in fact I didn't. It may still possibly be that Hank Pym secretly had a hand in Ultron's creation but I would have liked to see this in the movie. I mean, most movie goers will get the 'gist' of how he was created, or just assume it was Stark or JARVIS but following the dialogue we learn that nobody knows. Its just a mystery that doesn't feel like one. It feels like a bad edit or major secret. I could just be over thinking it and "Ultron was so smart, he simply created himself before Stark could", but that seems a bit too out there for a movie like this. Its a comic book movie, Not "Momento". What we do know is hes a robot and his mouth emotes flawlessly with his words. How or why this is? I don't know. Dumb aesthetics I guess, which I could have done without but not a deal breaker. (I blame LOST for forcing me to seek out answers to every unanswered question)
Overload-
Age of Ultron is PACKED with characters. More so than the first. It can make for a great movie but it can also make for a shitty movie if not done properly. Thankfully it is done well, for the most part. Unfortunately with a cast so large, you cant focus on everything you need to, so every single character loses something. It's evident with Thor and his 'small' sidestory. I wont get into it but it involves events leading to Thor's next solo film, 'Ragnarok' I'd assume. Its bits and pieces of partial dream sequences and a small side mission by Thor that were extremely cut down to fit more of everyone else into the movie. This may be due to overload, or the differences between Whedons vision and Marvel's. Its hard to stuff so much into one film and make it cohesive, and like the first Avengers, AoU has the same problem, only more so in this department. This also leads to overkill in fight scenes. See the still above/right? its loaded with visuals. You will have to dissect it for a while before you can grasp all its beauty, which is a terrific part of Comics. The pictures don't move, so throw as much as you want into it. Ill have all the time in the world to marvel at its greatness. As for FILM its a different story. With a group of Avengers, all fighting on screen at once, you miss SO MUCH of the action. You can only watch one section of a scene that features a SHIT TON of action and you end up missing everything else going on IN that scene. There are fight scenes that look almost exactly like the photo above but you'll have no idea whats going on because you cant follow all that moving crap all at the same time... then its gone... on to the next shot. This wouldnt so much be a gripe in regards to Age of Ultron abut simply more in regards to these ensemble action films we're getting as a whole. Id like to see more singularly focused cinematography so I can appreciate great fight scenes more. Otherwise these Avenger films are the type of films you'll have to see a few times to fully grasp/appreciate all its cinematography. I guess that's not too bad unless you're forking over $18 a pop for IMAX.
Those are the main petty complaints that struck the biggest chord, If I missed something and you find the answers, please feel free to let me know. Otherwise, I think the movie was done extremely well. It suffered some headaches (WHY Stark would create Ultron out of unknown alien A.I. in the first place) but I guess we wouldn't have a movie if he didn't. I can overlook that for now. This is a LARGE Marvel cinematic universe, so getting everything perfect just isnt going to be possible. If you can accept that, than you'll enjoy these movies just fine. As for 4 great parts of the film, see below....
4. Hulkmance
One pretty cool thing Whedon did in AuO was to throw in a love story. The film features a blossoming romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner. Its apparent in the opening fight scene when we learn that Widow has learned to "lullaby" the Hulk back into Bruce Banner. With a few choice words ("Hey big guy....the suns getting real low") and a tender touch, Widow has found a way to safely get the Hulk to stabilize back into Banner. The intimate relationship between Black Widow and Hulk soon spreads over to Natasha and Banner with Nat explaining (in regards to finding a boyfriend) all her friends have been fighters...hes the only one who is...well...just a dork.
Some have shared their distaste for the addition of this story arc. The Interweb has gone batshit crazy, intending to ruin Joss Whedons life for portraying Black Widow as a typical "Damsel in distress"....calling him misogynistic and sexist. Its been SO BAD that Whedon quit social media entirely, thanks to thousands of angry Twitter followers, in search of attention from Joss Whedon as they throw absolutely disgusting comments at him through Twitter. Its sickening as to what the internet has done to some people. Its full of evil, vile trolls, only out to bash anything they feel offends them in the most mean spirited way possible in hopes to get attention from said entity. ....In any event, I for one embraced this addition to the movie. Its a fresh change.
Nobody said it better than Mark Rufalo himself when some troll tweeted to Whedon on Twitter.- "He turned natasha into nothing but a love interest who needed saving. hows that internalized misogyny?". Ruffalo repied- "Weird I thought he turned Banner into the love interest that needed saving". I couldn't have said it better myself. The entire romance between Banner and Nat doesn't play off like a sexist move to bash women to me whatsoever (people just need to find something to bitch about, they created this). I see it as Black Widow being the only one willing and who can help Banner. The Banner/Hulk relationship is so shrouded in chaos, Banner cannot save himself. But with the inclusion of this 'love' being harbored by Widow for Banner, its easily perceived that Natasha has become the Hulks one saving grace. She doesn't see Hulk as the weapon he is, but as Banner struggling to balance an unbalance-able force. For those who take this as the Hulk 'saving a damsel in distress' , I can only say 'you obviously didn't get it.'. Its the exact opposite and I thought it was great.
3. Comic relief
This movie is simply PACKED with comic relief. Everyone gets in on the action. I honesty have to say, I was laughing throughout the entire movie. Oh, don't worry... its action packed and serious, but Whedon knows how to throw in jokes when you wouldn't expect a joke and still keep the tone serious. It's all "tongue in cheek". If youve ever seen "Firefly" you know how good Whedon is with this. I'm not even sure why this isnt #1 because it was a major highlight of AoU, far more so than 'The Avengers". One of my favorite quotes comes from Hawkeye in the climax of the movie. While held up in a building with Scarlet witch, she exclaims her confusion to the entire situation while trying to grasp whats happening.. Hawkeye chimes in with "The city is flying! We're fighting an army of robots! And I have a bow and arrow! None of this makes sense!" That's just one of hundreds of great one liners packed into this movie. That's all I have to say about it oddly. um, yeah, so...............yeah
2. the Vision
The Vision was such a great addition to this movie. His origins are spot on. Ultron, in an attempt to create himself a more humanoid and improved body, creates the vision using a 3D skin graph machine and synthetic 'vibranium'. Ultron intended to inhabit this body himself but the avengers stole him and Stark managed to bring the Vision online using J.A.R.V.I.S, a little help from Thor (Frankenstein-esque) and the Infinity Stone that was left from Loki's scepter. Paul Bettany who voiced J.A.R.V.I.S now portrays the Vision excellently. Seeing as his base code 'IS' J.A.R.V.I.S it makes perfect sense that the Vision sound like him, so why not have Bettany portray both beings. The Vision is simply a joy to watch and has quite a few funny scenes to boot thanks to Whedon. I will admit I would have EXTREMELY liked the Vision to have been a total surprise in this film, but his addition was announced long ago along with photos so we kinda knew exactly what the deal was. Other than his tweaked color scheme, hes spot on. Blue and purple, green and yellow... its all good. He looks exactly like the Vision despite this change so I really can't complain.
1. Hulkbuster(Veronica) vs Hulk
What can I say but the Hulk vs Hulkbuster scene is hands down the best of this film. Even with a majority of it being released in promo before the films release, its still simply amazing to watch. the Hulk being bewitched by the Scarlet Witch translates pretty damn good thanks to ILM who did an amazing job making Hulk look (for lack of a better word) "drugged". He appears as if he was just pepper sprayed and it suits the scene well. This enchantment sends Hulk on a rampage that destroys part of Johannesburg. Iron Man, in an attempt to end his onslaught, calls in 'Veronica'. A flying mechanism launched from space, that contains an "emergency" suit created by Stark AND Banner. Known as "the Hulkbuster armor" Veronica" deploys from a satellite, finds Tony and encases him in Tony Stark's most advanced armor yet. From what we hear Stark and Banner discussing earlier in the film, the armor was developed by both of them as a back up plan to control the Hulk if the reason ever presented itself. Well....it presented itself. Banner didn't sound to happy with the project but it was obvious he was on board with why it was needed. The scene is simply one of the best fight scenes to grace a Marvel universe movie to date. so much so that after the movie I was contemplating writing to Marvel to have to make an ENTIRE movie dedicated to Iron Man's Hulkbuster Armor trying to stop Hulk on a rampage time and time again. I could simply watch what Whedon and Marvel came up with over and over. Like the Vision though, I only wish this scene was a total surprise as well. I guess in this day and age, we have to get used to most of the movies we see being spoiled before hand. Back in the day, all we had was one or maybe two trailers to get all the info we could about a movie. No Internet, No IMDB, no Twitter, no place for rumors to circulate, no place for concept art to pop up. I guess it comes with the times, and it may be the reason some people are simply never satisfied with what are amazing movies.
