Bitches, Assemble!
Redheadedgirl, Elyse, and CarrieS went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron (tragically, not together). We had thoughts! Readers beware: SPOILERS SPOILERS ALL THE SPOILERS BELOW WE ARE TALKING ABOUT EVERYTHING.
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CarrieS: I thought this movie was a ton of fun, with some brilliant moments, but I also thought that it was very much a transitional, middle movie. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has gotten so big that this movie was crammed full of stuff – characters to check in with, plots to advance, etc – and it really showed. Viewers should know that it’s rapidly becoming a franchise in which everything is tangled up with everything else. Here’s some things I’ve lost track of:
- At the end of Winter Soldier, S.H.I.E.L.D. got disbanded, so who’s running all these attacks on Hydra bases? Coulson? Oh, it is Coulson – he and Maria Hill assembled the Avengers at the end of the last Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Episode. I think it’s a bad sign, though, when in order to figure out what’s happening in a movie you have to be caught up on all the other movies and the TV show.
How do the Avengers get paid? Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not a thing, how does anyone get paid? Is Coulson’s toolbox full of money? Does Tony Stark buy everyone cases of Top Ramen?- You guys know I love Banner, right? But seriously, he destroyed a huge chunk of a city. Even given Stark’s attempts to protect civilians, Hulk probably killed or injured a ton of people. So why ISN’T he arrested? I mean, I get why he’s hard to arrest, but seriously I don’t get why he gets to run around free given the fact that he wreaks mayhem. Also, we all know that Hulk is destructive when angry, and that bullets just piss him off, so WTF with everyone shooting at him all the damn time? Wouldn’t you think that by now they’d know to simply evacuate the area and maybe sing a soothing song or something until he can chill?
RHG: There’s a single or short run comic book that talks about the Avengers getting together to do the runs on HYDRA bases. Part of the deal of the MCU is that everything is interconnected, so to get the whole picture you need, well, the whole picture. (I worry about over-saturation, but I’ll keep paying money, so….) Also Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is at it’s best when it’s tied in with the large universe.
I’m assuming that Steve has something that’s been collecting interest since 1945, so between him and Tony “I pay for everything” Stark, they’re okay. Nat probably also has money squirreled away in twelve different banks under 15 different names, Clint has gold buried in the backyard of his FARM. With his WIFE. And THREE KIDS.
Elyse: IDK. Steve can’t afford Brooklyn so…
CarrieS: I have to say that I loved how Marvel acknowledged all the geek fights that come out of the weird universe (of which “how do they get funding is one” – we continued this debate off the record for quite some time). The Thor’s Hammer stuff was hysterical – and also very, very clever since it instantly established the credibility of Vision – and then went back to being very, very funny (“The elevator is not worthy!”).
About Black Widow and Banner – did you buy it as a romance for the ages?
RHG: No, but I get why she would be into him. He is different from every other dude she hangs with (“And then I dropped the tank at his doorstep!”) and I bet that’s refreshing. It would never last because, as we saw, he doesn’t trust himself to be with someone, even if she can make him take a nap.
(Cap is worthy. He chose to not pick up the hammer when it started to move. He’s a good guy like that.)
Elyse: I totally bought the romance between Banner and Nat and now I ship it so hard my ovaries hurt. It’s like beauty and the beast except the beast is really secretly very gentle and beauty can kick your ass.
Also I now understand all the Stony fic out there. While I was disappointed we didn’t get a scene where Steve was fully nude being de-virginized by Peggy in a flashback, I did appreciate the male broody UST. When Tony and Steve were chopping wood (“don’t touch my pile”) and Steve tore the log in half? Tony totally had a boner. Now kiss.
I want all these characters to be in a polyamorous relationship.
CarrieS: I want a sitcom where Loki and Ultron share a high tech jail cell and snark at each other all day.
How do you guys feel about the movie overall? Did it match the quality of The Avengers? Top it? Disappoint?
RHG: I mean, when you have ALL THESE PEOPLE in this movie, you’re not going to get a deep character study of anyone. You get more of Clint that you got before, and some of Nat’s backstory, and you got AUNTIE NAT AUNTIE NAT which is my EVERYTHING, but really you’re here for the big group movies for explosions and snarking, and we got explosions, we got snarking (“language!”) and we got James Spader who managed to chew scenery in MOTION CAPTURE. We got a trademark Joss Whedon one-er shot. We got more “found family” and, bless his pointed heart, we got heroes who were concerned about evacuations and trying to get innocent bystanders out of the way (DC, have you been listening? HAVE YOU? No? I’m never forgiving you for Man of Steel. Never).
Elyse: There was no disappointment. This was exactly the movie I expected and wanted to see.
Hawkeye totally got the best lines and the best backstory though. HE HAS A HOUSE AND A WIFE AND CHILDRENS. Clintasha was a RUSE THIS WHOLE TIME.
I loved, loved the scene where he’s talking to the Scarlet Witch when she’s freaking out and basically says it’s okay to not be a hero and she can stay there and he’ll send her brother, but he’s got shit to do and he can’t babysit her. He’s the team dad now.
Can we go back to Steve not being able to afford Brooklyn and his WWII buddies being at the party and he lived through the depression and probably saves string?
Okay. I’m done now.
RHG: Can we talk about the twins now? Can we talk about how Scarlet Witch is my EVERYTHING? And Elisabeth Olson’s hand movement were so beautifully choreographed? HATERS TO LEFT.
CarrieS: Whitewashing is bad. Elizabeth Olsen is good. New team = two women and two black guys. Am excite. But also, how are we cramming a whole new team into these movies?
I love comics but I usually limit myself to specific runs or storylines because I get frustrated with all the threads and reboots. The MCU is getting so huge that you just have to be willing to go with the flow and know that there’s a ton going on to follow on multiple platforms. I loved the little quiet moments: “I have a bow and arrow!,” the party “cough Testoterone cough,” and the hammer lifting theme. I loved Auntie Nat and snarky Ultron “I’m physically incapable of throwing up in my mouth.” I think I’d like this movie better a second time when I’m not waiting for Hawkeye to die SPOILER SPOILER (the pregnant wife and one last job is usually the kiss of death so I was glad he survived). I think it’s amazing that Whedon was able to get so much story and character into the movie but I’m also looking forward to the other solo movies, hoping they can slow down a little.
Elyse: I love that Whedon points out the ridiculous. Hawkeye: “and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.” Also Ultron pointing out that Howard Stark had vibranium and opted to make a fucking shield.
For me, it was a little visually overwhelming occasionally. The scenes where everyone is in battle and the camera pans around were too much. I want to catch all the details and I can’t because too much stuff is happening.
What did you think about The Vision? The audience at the theater I was at all gasped when he picked up the hammer.
RHG: Well, first I’m glad the Paul Bettany got to be actually there WITH everyone rather than just having to Skype his lines in. One of the things that tends to happen (and Whedon has fallen into this trap) is as a franchise goes on, the Big Bads get so big that you’re like “okay, but you did just defeat the First Evil and your universe goes on, so now what do you do?”) and there always the concern about either your Big Bad is just TOO big, and/or your Good Guy is just TOO powerful (see: Superman at times). I think they set up Vision nicely with J.A.R.V.I.S., and the hints about a super defensive hacker in Oslo, so… and the shorthand of “This guy is okay by me” with Mjolnir was perfect.
CarrieS: Elyse, I had the same problem with the action. One of the strengths of Avengers was that the action was actually something you could follow, and the parameters made a certain sense. Of course the action in Winter Soldier was a different kind of action, but again it was clear, while I thought some of the action in Ultron was incredibly clever but some of it was a fast, blurry mess (and I’m not talking about Quicksilver, although that thing with the hammer and the thing with the guards was HILARIOUS).
I like Vision! He’s a bit saintly but it will be fun to see him interact with the other Avengers in the future. A Vision/Falcon team up should be pretty fun!
RHG: I love how, if you watched Agent Carter, you see how the set-up for this movie is “Like father like son” or “GODDAMMIT HOWARD I MEAN TONY WHY DID YOU INVENT THAT.” Of course this is hinged on Tony’s fear of letting everyone down- for the first time people rely on HIM, rather than his company or his money, and he’s TERRIFIED. And of course he’s going to try to fix it in the most Stark way possible- he is his father’s son.
And if you didn’t watch Agent Carter (WHY DIDN’T YOU), you still get Tony’s fear, without the added layer of the apple and the tree.
Elyse: It’s also so tangled up in his narcissism. Tony still views himself as responsible for the entire world in a way that Natasha or Hawkeye or Banner don’t.
One thing I didn’t understand–AND I AM NOT COMPLAINING–is the Thor and the magic bath scene. I feel like things were cut that would have added context. Like what is the magic bath? Why do we suddenly have to take a magic bath? Can Steve and Tony be in the magic bath too? Was Stellan contractually obligated to be in the film?
RHG: I have no fucking idea what was up with that. I mean, we know, as of the end of The Dark World that Loki is on the Throne at Asgard pretending to be Odin, so I imagine that’s going as well as you’d expect, but I’m still unclear on what we needed a Skarsgaard for, or what the ultimate plan involved other than reversing the polarity or something.
IDK IDK IDC it was pretty.
CarrieS: I had a sense that a lot of movie ended up being cut for time – especially the Thor stuff. My guess is at some point the movie was running so long that the studio was all “Fuck it, we’ll cram it all into Thor: Ragnorak.” I have no clue what was up with the magic bath.
Re: Tony Stark – also, the end of Iron Man 3 is all about him wanting to quit the hero gig. He tells Pepper he won’t keep working on suits, but it makes sense given his character and his emotional arc that he would try to make a suit that could do the hero thing for him. On the other hand, it makes sense that Cap would be opposed to this. For one thing, all this tech stuff is totally foreign to him. For another thing, I don’t think Cap likes war or combat or glorifies it it any way – but on some level he must wonder, if he weren’t needed as a hero, who would he be? What’s his purpose? Meanwhile you have Banner, Hawkeye, and Aunt Nat trying to find their own place in the world. So it’s an interesting theme and it’s done very carefully so that you can actually buy Tony doing these things that are frankly incredibly stupid.
Elyse: Steve will always have a purpose as the object of my sexual obsession.
RHG: I mean, Steve wondering what his place is when there’s no war on is the point of the vision Scarlet Witch gave him- and knowing that he’ll never have that (HAYLEY IT WAS LOVELY TO SEE YOU THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP AND MAKING OUR LIVES BETTER/SADDER). For him, he was literally created to be a soldier, with no concern about what happens next. I mean, I don’t blame Project Rebirth for that short-sightenedness, they were working in terrible circumstances, but still.
So he goes on. Nat’s the same- who is she if she’s not an assassin? Auntie Nat can only be so much.
Elyse: Which I think ties into the overall theme of found family. The Avengers are dysfunctional and very much have each other’s backs and I think there is genuine love there.
RHG: So grade? I’m saying it’s an A-, and the minus is for the random Thor in a bath bit.
CarrieS: I’d give it a B, but I can roll with an A- for the sake of one common grade. It felt like a middle movie, but hey, it IS a middle movie. It got a job done and it was a lot of fun in the process. It had some brilliant moments. But it was also rushed, overstuffed, and frequently confusing. I had a great time but I found plenty to nipick.
Elyse: It was an A for me all the way around so, probably A- on average
RHG: Are we excited for AntMan, or are we saddling that with a resounding “meh”?
CarrieS: A resounding “meh” and yet you know I’ll go see it because I am Marvel’s Bitch. But honestly. No Falcon movie, no Natasha movie – instead we get fucking Ant Man? I so don’t care. For one thing, I hate ants and I don’t want to watch a movie with them in it because it will give me the heebie-jeebies. But I was pretty pissed that we had a movie with a talking racoon before we had a MCU movie about a person of color or a woman, and look how that turned out (ALL HAIL THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!).
RHG: We did get mention of Black Panther’s homeland, Wakanda, so that’s a tie-in.
Wondering what’s up next? We’ll see if Ant-Man can charm the very un-enthused CarrieS on July 17, 2015. Then Elyse’s boyfriend Captain America faces off against Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War on May 16, 2016. Black Panther is going to be introduced in Civil War but you’ll have to wait until July 6, 2018 for his solo movie. Captain Marvel gets her solo film November 2, 2018 and CarrieS is already completely losing her shit about it CAROL CORPS FTW! Here’s the complete run-down:
July 17th, 2015: Ant-Man
May 6th, 2016: Captain America: Civil War
November 4th, 2016, Doctor Strange
May 5th, 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy 2
July 28th, 2017: The Spectacular Spider-Man
November 3rd, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok
May 4th, 2018, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1
July 6th, 2018, Black Panther
November 2nd, 2018, Captain Marvel
May 3rd, 2019, Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2
July 12th, 2019, Inhumans
Look I am team OT6 alllll the way. I threw a giant shit fit when Bobby showed up in SHIELD NOT married to Hawkeye and I threw an even bigger one when my Green Eyed Widow theory was crushed under Clint boring wife and kids.
I was also annoyed that they turned Black Widow into the romance heroine who WAITS TRAGICALLY for her man. Give me my ass kicking Nat back.
Overall though my head canon is a polyamorous relationship and that is where it is at.
Also I would like to point out the HORROR I felt when realizing what happened to the twins. Its very clear in the comics that they are intensely connected (in 616 they have a legit incestuous relationship) and to do what they did in the movie was pretty horrific.
The problem with the Thor stuff was that it was all just there to set up Phase III projects and they should have exclusively used the fantasies and the mid-credits scene for that. Just a few minutes of teasing where Iron Man has a vision of Infinity War that also causes him to create Ultron, Thor has a vision of Ragnarok that sends him home at the end of the movie and Cap and Black Widow have different takes on Civil War instead of the character/backstory takes we had here. There’s too much table-setting for Phase III and it just adds to the clutter.
I’m rooting for ANT-MAN because I like Paul Rudd and I also feel like fanboys are slagging on Peyton Reed because he makes movies for women/girls. BRING IT ON is way better than CHRONICLE or SINISTER, yet I’m supposed to take Josh Trank and Scott Derrickson more seriously as a director? MAN OF STEEL is more visually engaging than DOWN WITH LOVE? No. It’s just male fans being dismissive of female-oriented properties.
Someone crunched the numbers on Steve Rogers’ pension, if anybody cares: http://copperbadge.tumblr.com/post/99088920346/rainnecassidy-melannen-rgfellows
Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and I liked a lot of things about it — the opening fight scene, the jokes/one-liners, the party scene with Thor’s hammer. I do want to see it again to catch all the stuff I’m sure I missed.
But I didn’t think it was as good as Winter Soldier, the first Captain America, Guardians, or the first Avengers. Those are still my favs, especially WS.
There were too many characters and too much stuff going on. It could have easily been another hour longer, and they still wouldn’t have had time to flesh everything out. And I thought some of the stuff came from out of nowhere, like Hawkeye’s family and the Widow-Hulk romance. I know a lot of folks were excited for the twins and Vision, but I just didn’t think they had enough character development/screen time to make me care about them. Overall, it felt more like a set-up for Civil War and Infinity War more than it’s own movie.
And I’m still trying to figure out Ultron’s master plan and what the point of the vibranium core was. Use Sokovia to create a giant asteroid to wipe out the planet? It just wasn’t all that clear, IMO. And Ultron just wasn’t as interesting/compelling to me as Loki was in the first Avengers movie.
Overall, I’d probably give it a B.
I’m ambivalent about Ant-Man too, but I’ll go see it. The trailer with him fighting the bad guy on the kid’s train set was pretty cool/funny.
And did you guys see that Agent Carter was picked up for a second season? That has totally made my day. 🙂
Putting on my comic nerd hat here, but Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch don’t have an incestuous relationship in the regular 616 universe. It is in the side Ultimate universe and showing their relationship that way was one of the dumbest choices made in that side world.
But one romantic relationship of the Scarlet Witch that was in the regular Marvel universe is with the Vision, who she actually married and had kids with. It was hinted at a little in the film, but I hope they go with showing us human/android loving! In the sequels!
I really enjoyed the movie, but agree wholeheartedly with all that was said — there was too much going on and it became hard to follow — from the muddled and too fast action scenes to some of the confusing set-ups — oh there’s Stellan Skarsgaard, and Thor needs him to help him take a bath why? And why didn’t Ultron just send one robot to Cape Town and one to Siberia, and one to Canada and one to — WHEREVER, so that he could survive? And why is Black Widow suddenly being defined by her inability to give live birth? I think I would have given it a B or B+, but there was SOOOO much that I loved, like the elevator argument, and Hawkeye’s speech about the bow and arrow and Tony Stark being stupid while trying to save the world. I can’t wait for Joss’ original 3.5 hour cut to come out on DVD — I assume that with the longer cut there will be room for the whole thing to make more sense.
I must say I rather liked Thor and Tony’s my girlfriend is better than yours fight at the start of the movie where they only talk about their accomplishments.
I thought it was a solid movie and gave it a B (full review: http://thearmchaircritic.blogspot.com/2015/05/avengers-age-of-ultron.html ) but I also thought it was overlong and not as exciting as it could/should have been. I also wonder if any audience member *really* believes all the characters who left won’t be back for the sequels.
Also, in the current issue of MAD Magazine (edited by Weird Al Yankovic!) they had this great observation on the Marvel movies (I’m paraphrasing here): “Thanks to their shared universe, you can’t understand one movie unless you’ve seen every movie that came before it. That’s like not being able to follow FURIOUS 7 without first seeing CARS 2 and HERBIE: FULLY LOADED.”
Even if Captain America gets the back pay and interest as calculated (without automatic promotions though, because for some reason I feel convinced his rank is captain) he still might not be able to afford Brooklyn, unless he used all of it to buy a (small) condo unit outright. He’d never pass a coop board and the banks are still scared from their whole balloon mortgage hot mess, I can see them demanding all sorts of paperwork he wouldn’t be able to provide. I guess maybe with the GI Bill?And I suppose it depends on where in Brooklyn, there are still parts he could gentrify. But I thought he was from the LES? Which he definitely can’t afford. Anyway.
I thought the movie was (shrug) whatever. It kept introducing new characters and expecting me to care about them when I’ve already forgotten why I care about the characters I know. But mostly the action sequences got really repetitive. What’s up with that? It was all let’s demolish shit because we have the budget! Which is maybe joyous a couple of times, sure, but WTF is wrong with the universe when we don’t want to see Hulk smash again/still. Building going down. Again. Oh look, there’s another one. Yawn.
Total meh.
Did anyone see the Saturday Night Live skit about what happens when Marvel finally does make a Black Widow movie? Just sayin.
I love the violence and I love the costumes, make mine Marvel all the way. An average movie is not a bad thing, but I don’t see how this is better than a C.
Oh, and here’s AGE OF ULTRON acted out by little kids — who have some pretty reasonable questions about the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ueGwgAle84
Even if Captain America gets the back pay and interest as calculated (without automatic promotions though, because for some reason I feel convinced his rank is captain) he still might not be able to afford Brooklyn, unless he used all of it to buy a (small) condo unit outright.
It’s not at all clear in the MCU. People could still call him “Cap” or “Captain America” because that’s how they’ve always known him even if he’s technically listed as a Colonel or something in the Army files somewhere.
I doubt we’ll ever get a clear canonical answer on Cap’s finances in the MCU. In the real-world scenario, he should have received a large lump sum of back pay (with or without interest) in addition to a pretty generous pension. More than enough to find a unit in Brooklyn, especially if, say, Stark is willing to co-sign something.
So you can assume the MCU doesn’t work like our reality and he can’t afford to move to Brooklyn or you can just fanwank that he found Brooklyn uncomfortable since it looks like his old neighborhood but it doesn’t feel like it or he’s enjoying the company in the Avengers Tower or he’s having some weird sticker shock issue going from Depression-era prices to modern prices.
That said, he doesn’t have enough to fund the Avengers; that’s all on Stark.
And I suppose it depends on where in Brooklyn, there are still parts he could gentrify. But I thought he was from the LES? Which he definitely can’t afford. Anyway.
MCU Rogers is definitely from Brooklyn; the Agent Carter one-shot pointedly has her saying that she’s from Brooklyn as an homage and, in CATFA, he tells Erskine that Brooklyn is his real hometown out of his multiple attempts to enlist. Comics Cap might have been from the LES.
“Thanks to their shared universe, you can’t understand one movie unless you’ve seen every movie that came before it. That’s like not being able to follow FURIOUS 7 without first seeing CARS 2 and HERBIE: FULLY LOADED.”
To be honest, I think this is overstated. If there’s something you need to know in this movie, they usually reiterate it. Not to say that you don’t get more out of it if you’ve seen all of them, but you can get by.
I do think there is a problem with Marvel teasing things for the future that they just don’t need to be bothering with in the current movie, with the drawn-out Thanos rollout being the biggest issue. That’s a thing where it really is a struggle for people who don’t know the comics character to keep up with, since it’s just been a series of info dumps that it’s hard to pay all that much attention to.
From what I understand, Whedon and the studio had quite a bit of conflict about what to include; Whedon was fighting for the Barton farm sequence and the dream sequences, while the studio insisted on the (full-length) cave scene with Thor using mystical means to figure out what was going on. They ended up with both things Whedon wanted and a shortened-to-incoherency cave scene.
Since I didn’t find the dream sequences very revelatory (except Natasha’s), I would just as soon have the full-length cave scene instead. Once the blu-ray/DVD is released, I’m sure someone will use the deleted scenes to re-edit AoU into a sort of “studio edit,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if that version is more coherent overall.
In general, I thought AoU was a bit glib and quippy considering the events of Winter Soldier, but then I’m always more into the emotional consequences of events, rather than Whedon’s focus on the age-old nerd debate “Who Would Win in a Fight: So-and-So or Such-and-Such?”
“I want all these characters to be in a polyamorous relationship” – Like Black Widow can be Anita Blake and all the superheroes can be her numerous boyfriends she has chatty orgies with?
@April B:
NO NO ANYTHING BUT THAT NO DEAR GOD NO.
Ahem. Healthy polyamorous relationship, sure. That, NO NO NO NOPE NO.
I absolutely did not think the romantic storyline hurt Nat’s character in any way. BOTH Bruce and Nat showed vulnerability, Nat was the aggressor, AND she wasn’t afraid to tell him when she “wanted the OTHER guy”….now that’s kick-ass!!
Regarding the Thor mystical bathing scene, Joss did film a whole sequence there that should, hopefully, be in the extended directors cut. Word is that is goes into some detail and the oracles lay out the whole deal to Thor so he knows what to do later…
On the *Hulk Smash* conundrum…remember that all this happened in some eastern European country, not a major US metropolis (though filming was probably in Cleveland again?). Not that this makes loss of property any less traumatic for the people, but it explains that they wouldn’t be going, “not ANOTHER city destroyed!” Because this was presumably the first time for them. And they did address the fallout in the scene on the plane later when Bruce was wallowing in guilt….
Altogether I loved it, but agree that to get the full story you have to be following all of the movies and TV series.
I liked it and will probably see it again. (Partly because my Black Widow t-shirt didn’t arrive before I saw it.)
I think the point of the Thor scenes was just to set up Thor 3, so I wish they’d used the time for something else.
I’m not sure I quite buy Nat/Banner, but I don’t feel it deminished Nat to show her exploring a more romantic side. When push came to shove*, she still stepped up and kicked ass.
All things considered, I liked the DoFP Quicksilver more. AoU Quicksilver seemed less fully developed.
I <3 Scarlet Witch and loved her here. (Dear merchandizers, I want to give you my money. How about you meet me half way and make more BW and SW swag?)
*Literally. "But right now, I need the other guy."
Oh and BTW, I don’t in any way think that Nat’s inability to have children defined her in that scene, it was her CHOICE to become who she is that defined her. What she was willing to give up (normal family life, intimate close relationships, caring for others) that defined her, and that is why she called herself “a monster”. Her relationship with Hawkeye and his family and the scene with Bruce was her reclaiming that part of herself.
Just an FYI… I believe that Carol Danvers had a cameo in this movie during the evacuation.
I will fight Elyse for Captain America. But like, not physically. Maybe like how cats will do, stare until the first person to look away loses.
Just saw it Wednesday. Loved it. Want to see it again (but probably won’t until it’s available on DVD).
I am looking forward to Ant-Man. He’s tiny, so presumably an underdog, but he communicates with animals*, and I am therefore intrigued.
*Okay, they’re extra-leggy animals, but still…
We saw it opening day, thanks to being in a small town at the time. 🙂 I have thoroughly enjoyed every Marvel project I’ve seen, and we had warmed up for it by watching FX channel’s Marvel-thon during the week, so had been reminded of the convoluted backstories.
This one, though, I think I *will* have to get on DVD because special features are needed. So much editing, so many cool things had to have been cut out.
Annoyed that Falcon and Black Widow do not get standalone features RIGHT NOW.
Seriously, my one real quibble with the thing was the title. “AGE of Ultron”? It was, like, a month.
I just want to say that, when I first glanced at the page, I thought the title was “Avengers: The Last Unicorn.”
I would totally watch that movie.
An Avengers/Last Unicorn crossover would MAKE MY WORLD. As Thor is my favorite lust object, I wouldn’t object to the bath scene if it’s only point was ‘Thor wet and naked’ (btw: ‘I don’t know, might be busy…is Thor coming?’ ftw). But I kind of enjoyed it for it’s very randomness. One of the things I like about having Thor in the Avengers is that he’s essentially crossing in from a different genre, so the fact that he’s cloaked in unexplained mythological fantasy weirdness makes me happy. I thought it was a missed opportunity that that aspect was so little explored in the first avengers, where everyone is like ‘norse gods. k.’ and goes on with their day.
And now a theory on the hammer. Spoilers.
So the husband and I were trying to figure out what Mjonir defines as ‘worthiness.’ What quality do Thor and the Vision possess, that Steve almost has but not quite, but none of the others has? Thor and the Vision are both inhuman, but Steve is profoundly human, so it can’t just be that. And it was something Thor lost when he became too arrogant and selfish, but regained by learning humility and being ready to sacrifice himself for others. But it can’t just be humility, because Steve would beat Thor on that front, and it can’t just be the willingness for self-sacrifice because all the Avengers have that. What we came up with is: the hammer is looking for absolute nobility of motivation. Which is to say, human frailty alone disqualifies you. Steve comes the closest, but even he feels temptation. He just chooses consistently not to act on it. Which means the Vision doesn’t, and most of the time neither does Thor. Sure Thor feels anger, pride, etc. but Mjonir doesn’t care, it’s operating on viking values. This has a few different implications. One is that Thor is psychologically less human than he seems. And that he is both more and less impressive than Steve.
I was definitely entertained by it! I don’t think it’s my favourite in the whole Marvelverse but it was really nice to have more Natasha AND more Hawkguy with screentime (where he is not under someone’s control for the whole time) AND some of their partners-at-SHIELD banter. I love the Hawkeye comics so I kind of made faces at the surprise!wife and kids (Kate + Clint forever) but I get that the comics are their own thing and as long as they keep making them, I’ll keep enjoying that alternate universe as well. I highly recommend them, they’re adorable. I was worried wife + family would be hurt for MANPAIN, but nah, they’re just adorable together.
I loved the hammer sequence, especially the nod to Cap and also the foreshadowing of what may happen to Thor. I think just that moment of “This is what they’re doing when they’re not Avenging or carrying on their own agendas” was precious.
I also do like that Pepper and Jane got not just nods, but like, legit nods — they’re busy with SCIENCE and BUSINESS, and too busy to run around the world chasing dudes. I really love the Thor movies and cheered during the second when Jane called him out (“Not even a phonecall?!”) so it’s nice to nip stuff like that in the bud. It’s funny the little things people remember (we had to do this in one of our games as the character’s daughter was the focal point of 5, so we wound up having a bunch of optional sequences in 6 where they check in with each other via phone, because EVERY new person to the project asked “but where’s his daughter?”), but at the same time those little things make the characters more human and easier to relate to.
I also appreciated the dream sequence stuff, y’know? It’s a bunch of very different and definitely issue-filled people who make up the Avengers and that’s awesome. Superman’s too perfect for me. I like it when they make sparks fly but how at the same time they’ve all kind of decided hey, they’ve got each others’ backs.
CarrieS, I hate ants too and I’m convinced when we make ourselves extinct in a few centuries they are going to rule the earth. When I heard antman was the next superhero movie I couldn’t figure out why anyone would make any aspect of an ant a superhero. And I don’t know if I have the nerve to watch it.
I really, really enjoyed it. I am *so* behind Natasha and Bruce. So much. Also, wet, topless Thor doesn’t need to be coherent. I also wrote a review here: http://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/05/08/mighty-marvel-besties-age-of-ultron-reviewed-spoilers/
I really loved “Age of Ultron.” I’ve seen a lot of complaints about Bruce/Natasha but I loved their relationship. I thought it was nice to see a different side of Natasha, but she was still very powerful. I hate the idea that she can’t be a badass because she has a crush on a guy or because she is upset by the fact that she has been sterilized. And, I liked that Bruce was actually the person who wanted to talk about their relationship/future (or lack thereof)/etc. It turned the gender roles around.
Also, I am a total sucker for the “found family” trope so I ate this movie up with a spoon.
Also loved: Making sure to evacuate the bystanders! (Definitely a direct slam on Man of Steel, something of which I heartily approve.) Thor and Tony bragging about how awesome their girlfriends are! (I want an all-female Marvel movie with Jane, Pepper, Maria, Natasha, Melinda, Skye, Scarlet Witch, Carol Danvers, etc. They don’t need no men!)
I did review the movie, too: http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_c30c7000-f002-11e4-a4f6-5fda8ecd6db9.html
I am not super excited about “Ant-Man” anymore; I was when Edgar Wright was the director. I do really hope that it’s good, though. After all, I was supremely unconvinced that “Guardians of the Galaxy” was going to be a good movie and it was SO AWESOME.
I was hesitant about Bruce/Nat going in, and came out sorta glad their “relationship” was a non-starter. It seemed she was into him because he wasn’t a fighter and she was getting to a point of almost wanting to run away from that life because she still doesn’t feel like a true Avenger. Bruce is a non-fighting dork, and it seems like he’s the calm she wants for herself. Their moments were cute, but I’m glad it didn’t become anything more. They’re alike in that they both think of themselves as monster, and I can see why there’s an attraction in that, but his solution to run away with (or without ) her wouldn’t solve what’s bothering her ultimately, or his issues. It’s a bittersweetness of almost but not happening.
But then, to be fair in my feelings of AoU, I hugely ship the shit out of Bucky/Nat in the comics. So it’s nice to see my waning hope for them in the MCU can still exist for Cap 3 or after.
Feh, you guys. C+, and I’m being generous.
>I was disappointed we didn’t get a scene where Steve was fully nude being de-virginized by Peggy in a flashback
DID I SAY C+ I MEANT C- DAMMIT NOW I CAN’T GET THAT WISHFUL THINKING OUT OF MY HEAD WHERE IS THE FANFIC DAMMIT.
And
>Why do we suddenly have to take a magic bath? Can Steve and Tony be in the magic bath too?
YES!!! Agreeing with both the “well THAT was incoherent” and also the PUT EVERYONE IN THE MAGIC BATH.
I found it visually exhausting and choppy and unclear from both a plot and character perspective. (Both Banner and Tony made no sense when compared to the way they’d been drawn in earlier movies and even WITHIN the movie they were internally inconsistent.) Also, I saw it in IMAX 3D and felt like I was gonna hork. So frantic. It felt like an overstuffed schwarma (and yet we get cheated out of our after-after-scene? What the FUCK, Whedon). I loved most of the quips (really, ALL these guys can do humor without overselling it, which is a great hit rate in an action movie) and yes, the scene with Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye you mentioned where he was all, you can sit out, it’s fine, but I have a duty and I can’t babysit you. Great. And I loved watching her — so preeeeeetty — and agreed about her gorgeous dance-y hands but oh god, that accent was terrible. The one truly emotional moment for me was Peggy and Cap in the ballroom, and his desperate WANTING to believe.
ALSO. I keep ranting on FB and Twitter about how it is so wrong that everybody has to be all waxed except Ruffalo. (I just typed “Fuffalo.” Like a combo of Ruffalo and fluffy in my subconscious, OBVIOUSLY.) I LIKE MY MEN WITH FUR. And Chris Evans looks so much hotter with a little roughness to him. HOW COME ONLY RUFFALO GETS TO KEEP HIS PELT. I am still in a snit about denuded Daredevil, when Charlie Cox is so deliciously fuzzy. (All my friends and my manlyman husband know I have a fetish. It’s fine. I will say no more.)
OH! I thought Cap merely budged the hammer. He is NEARLY worthy (his conversations with Tony in this movie hint at all the darkness and anger he’s repressed out of duty) but not Moljnir-worthy. (Like spongeworthy, but for gods.) it didn’t occur to me that he QUIT TRYING. But that could well be!
Hemsworth facial expressions in that scene were delightful.
Saw this movie last night and my overall reaction: satisfying. I have a few issues with it, which puts this one at “not as awesome as the first one” for me, and certainly not as tightly developed as the awesomeness that is Winter Soldier… but yeah. Fun. ^_^
I’ll be putting up a review post of my own today!
[…] movie, despite the bits that made me cranky. I’ve seen folks commenting elsewhere, such as this review on the Smart Bitches site, that there’s very much a feel of “rushed middle movie” here, and too much […]
And now my review is up, for the interested: http://www.angelahighland.com/2015/05/10/movie-review-avengers-2-age-of-ultron/
I talk a bit about some of the things that made me cranky, but I also gave shoutouts to the things I liked!