Avengers: Age of Ultron

[Gaidin]

I have a feeling I made a good choice by avoiding all these trailers except the first one, this is starting to be a bit unnecessary extensive.

If you're trying to avoid spoilers the tv spots are actually good. I'm just saying. I think between them they have a collective 2 minutes of material.

[Gaidin]

[Knight of Heaven]

In fact, oftentimes moreso than (somewhat talented) English native speakers, who are usually the ones with the worst accents. I'm pretty sure that I can pronounce Portuguese better than a Spaniard (they are terrible at foreign languages, anyway), and Spanish better than a Frenchman.

hehe that is true Spaniards are usualy terrible with languages, in contrast to us neighbours next door. Portuguese are knowned to be Polyglots or a tendency to understand other romantic languages. Spanish people ( depeding where they come form exactly) often have an issue with understanding Portuguese, but we can understand, Spanish, and even italian at ease most of the time, i remember my grandparents usualy watched Spanish TV. Of course there are always the exceptions to the rule.
The French and that i know because i had a French Girlfriend in the past, they refuse to talk in another language then French. ( allthough i think it is more the older people, people my age and such had no problems in converse with English, or even Spanish) Maybe it is a generational thing.
The practise of dubing any foreign film constantly in this countries ( Spain, France, and even Germany) does not help the issue imo.
We in Portugal we rarely dub any films, unless is cartoons. Films like Frozen, or shrek etc, and even so it usualy there is two versions on the theatre, the original version, and the dub portuguese version. anything else, is always in the original form with subtitles. We kinda learn to read subtitles since very litle, generaly speaking.

[Påsan]

Press release is tonight Yank time. Expect reviews to hit as soon as it ends.

[The Despondent Mind]

Damn 22 April takes so damn long.

[Ulysses S. Grant]

Midnight showing in two hours. So much anticipation. (Especially for the Vision).

[The Despondent Mind]

I saw it, I guess I liked it but it didn't blow my mind like I hoped.

As far as marketing goes Ultron was a bit "different" in the movie. Let's just say if Tony Star is Robert D.Jr. if he was a engineer-billionaire then Ultron is James Spader if he was a super AI in robot armor.

[Knight of Heaven]

Its what reviews are saying. It is nice, but not great. Basicaly.

[TheDarkKnight]

Is it at least better than the first Avengers movie?

[The Despondent Mind]

Hmmm, no, they are kinda equal. I mean it feels more like an "episode" than a game changing sequel. It's enjoyable beyond belief but the endings of Thor 2 and Cap. America 2 were kind of more "important" in the marvel universe.

Another thing, don't bother paying for 3D, this is the last time I gave Marvel extra money for 3D, it's just stunning how mediocre it is. So far only the Guardians were kind of 3d-ish. Everything else just a pure money grab.

EDIT: So far I was far more hyped for Avengers than Star Wars, but now I'm pretty sure that Star Wars will make more of an "impact" on me, I'm not saying it's gonna be better but it will probably do "more".

[Knight of Heaven]

Just watched, meh, it is overall a bad movie, average in the best of days. I think it gets a pass in some measure, because it is avengers and ocasionaly funny, and fun ( specialy if you are into this kind of movies), and its a sequel of the avengers.
Because otherwise...

Nonsense plotline, CGI/action, explosion fest for the most part of the movie.
bAllthough, i think the action sequences, specialy in the first initial part of the film, are nicely done. It is downhill from there on though.

The winter soldier by far were much more epic, complete and satisfying then this.

The mainplotline overal was bad, very rushed, and convoluted even for a marvel movie, individualy scenes were ok, save for Thor scenes, wich were basicaly very dumb, or they just didnt had time to expand on that sadly. Another convinient plot to have thor doing something, that there was no need for it to happen in the first place. I think they just jamed that in there so they could have Thor doing something in this movie on their own... sad.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I mean what is the point of having thor going to a mystical lake, to have a vision of vision, so that the ultimate porpuse is to have a scene of thor lightining Vision into existence ( sort of speak) waste of time, and characters ( Selvig, and thor) Thor talks about the risks of what he is about to do, and the audience doesn't get to see what happens when he takes that risk. Hence, it does nothing for the audience, it is a set up, that never ends up paying off in any meaningfull way.

I felt they try to set up a lot of stuff at the same time, without ever paying off though, wich was disapointing.

Character exposure was nice, and fun enough for me in most cases, even if kinda never serves the film plot, and when it does, it doesnt make me care one bit about it.
The Maximoffs were terrible, Wanda ends up working a bit better as the movie wents on, but Quicksilver is a terrible character in this film.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

However
Im ok with the Character development and exposure of Banner and Black widow, even though ( i think they chose to ignore the 2008 hulk movie, and betty, as they chose to ignore the end of iron man 3, they never go into whats up with tony, he is just there with avengers and thats it, the final scene of tony didnt made much sense for me either, why he is leaving? vacations? lol ... weird for me), Black widow/Hulk dynamic i think it was one of the few archs were Whedon managed to set up something, that pays off in some measure at the end. At least made me care enough about it.

I dont know there is so manny things i want to "complaint" about but ill do it later on. Overall it is a fun movie to watch ( i enjoyed it enough because im into comic books, and we always get some kicks about seeing this characters. Plus side, Some scenes were even straight off from the comic book page... Cap im looking at you and your wooden log ... but strictly speaking it isnt a very good movie.

But for people that goes ocasionaly to see this kind of movies... i think it will be hard for them to see the difference between this movie, and insert generic summer blockbuster movie...



The 2012 avengers movie is by far a better film, even with all its faults.

Other thing is Ultron...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There is no Ultron in this movie, there is James Spader.
Wich i like dont get me wrong, but it was james spader that i wacthed, it was raymond reddington in a robot suit without giving me the "scares".... not ultron. Imo ( they failed the menacing vibe that Ultron character should give. Instead was a joke. Sometimes funny, but never menacing.

[Gaidin]

Other thing is Ultron...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There is no Ultron in this movie, there is James Spader.
Wich i like dont get me wrong, but it was james spader that i wacthed, it was raymond reddington in a robot suit without giving me the "scares".... not ultron. Imo ( they failed the menacing vibe that Ultron character should give. Instead was a joke. Sometimes funny, but never menacing.

He said he literally wrote that role for James Spader. Some people will get that from Spader's sarcasm, some people won't and will just see the next James Spader role. Personally, I enjoy the living hell out of Spader's sarcasm, have since Boston Legal. Each there own.

[Knight of Heaven]

He said he literally wrote that role for James Spader. Some people will get that from Spader's sarcasm, some people won't and will just see the next James Spader role. Personally, I enjoy the living hell out of Spader's sarcasm, have since Boston Legal. Each there own.

As i said, i like James Spader. but what we get wasnt Ultron. It was just the usual James Spader. For that ill rather watch the blacklist, you get a better James Spader there.

Ultron was a joke... too much of a joke, and became what he becomes, way too fast. It wasnt a villain, in a sense that it was no counterpoint, or a real threat to avengers. At least that sense of threat it didnt existed.

In fact most of the movie was a run of action CGI, lasers and explosions, and more lasers, and ultron bots made of "lego"... and recurrent cheesy witty one liners.
It wasnt Batman and Robin level, but....
Guardians of the galaxy handled humor better then this imo.
I can see this movie is already very devisive, not as consensual as the first avengers that is for sure.

I for me i can say, i liked some parts of this movie , but the movie as a whole? not so much.
The point being as marvel movies go, i dont think Age of Ultron is very memorable. Quite the contrary.

An interesting review.
http://www.ign.com/blogs/juniorknoxv...age-of-ultron/

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The avengers team reunites for a second outing on the big screen in a movie that undeniably ups the stakes. But still falls in to many of the same holes that its predecessor did.
Age Of Ultron's story revolves around artificial intelligence and the reformation of a group of heroes who are pushed to the brink of their capabilities. Even from the opening action scene of the movie it is clear that Age Of Ultron intends to one up Avengers Assemble, and the scale of the film throughout is undeniably impressive. However whilst the narrative is given more thought this time around, it still boils down to a story which makes very little sense and requires some major jumps in logic. This would be okay if the movie did enough to make these jumps un-noticeable, but major issues with pacing and tone lead to a film that has enough good ideas but never brings them together in a meaningful way.
Once again, it is clear, that jumping from plot twist to plot twist is taking the place of a meaningful story here.

The two main story threads of the film struggle to work well together, The Avengers themselves go through a journey from major highs to major lows, but even at their lowest points there is a sense of unity and friendship, a feeling of hope and positivity. This directly contrasts the story of their antagonist, Ultron who, despite facing some struggles, goes from strength to strength. The two often feel disconnected and the constant jumping between these two angles of the same story feels messy and inconsistent both tonally and thematically. To top this off Ultron never really becomes the villain the audience want to see him be, instead he simply fits in to the template of "wise cracking but powerful bad guy". And, despite the film making it clear he is omniscient and omnipresent at many stages, it does little more than to make him feel like a powerful but fallible leader, rather than an overwhelming force.

The returning characters are the best part of the film, their character arcs are much more rounded and the dynamic between them feels far more polished. Robert Downey Jr is still just as charismatic as ever but he is matched this time round by Hemsworth and Evans whose characters feel far more consistent and whose arcs are noticeably improved. The film also manages to maintain the balance of screen time given to each main character very impressively. Whilst the narrative focuses on a specific few characters, each of the protagonists gets enough significant time on screen (even if it's just spent fighting) that almost none of the ten main characters feels pushed aside.

There is, however one returning character which is a major sticking point for the movie, Black widow. Scarlett Johansson's character, despite having one of the most potentially interesting stories to tell, goes through a tour de force of every cliché possible for a woman in her role. From hopelessly in love to damsel in distress to parent issues to boob jokes, it's all here and all of it feels tired and unnecessary. Whether it’s the boring parts she plays in the main story or some of the honestly embarrassing dialogue she is given to work with, the biggest thing I felt leaving the cinema was: Black widow deserved better than that.

The film struggles with many aspects such as contrasting story threads, inconsistency of its themes and tones, newer characters feeling less well rounded in comparison to their established counterparts and major issues in pacing. All of this comes together to mean that key moments in the film lack any form of narrative punch or emotional significance. Too often throughout the film bad pacing, and misplaced humour, (although it must be said that the humour is better written in this film than the previous) cut through moments where tension could have been developed. This leads to a finale where the audience breathe a sigh of exhaustion rather than a sign of relief.
Visually the film looks a lot more generic than the first with much darker, brooding shots detracting from the more vibrant colourful look of the first film. All of which culminates in a final battle which has incredible scope and scale, but looks for the most part to be constructed of dull shades of grey and brown. Compared to its peers the avengers is still a bright film, but it doesn’t feel quite as unique anymore.

Overall Avengers: Age Of Ultron is a better effort than the first Avengers film, generally more rounded characters and more balanced screen time make for a more enjoyable experience. The narrative has been given more thought this time around, but still not enough thought to avoid major jumps in logic and an issue of integrating hanging, inconsistent story threads together. The humour and action are written to a higher standard and are much more enjoyable but bad pacing undermines their effect on the story as well as their effect overall. On top of all this lazy writing means that a genuinely interesting character is left with boring, overused character concepts that leaves them flagging behind the rest of the film.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron is yet another "leave your brain at the door" kind of movie. unfortunately, it didn’t need to be.

[The Despondent Mind]

I wouldn't have mind James Spader Ultron so much if the marketing prepared us for him, but they were really pushing the darkness the menace, almost hinting the Avengers getting wrecked and some of them killed, but this it feels more like an episode of Avengers with a James Spader as a guest.

Still a good movie, just could have been way way better .

[ggsimmonds]

As i said, i like James Spader. but what we get wasnt Ultron. It was just the usual James Spader. For that ill rather watch the blacklist, you get a better James Spader there.

Ultron was a joke... too much of a joke, and became what he becomes, way too fast. It wasnt a villain, in a sense that it was no counterpoint, or a real threat to avengers. At least that sense of threat it didnt existed.

In fact most of the movie was a run of action CGI, lasers and explosions, and more lasers, and ultron bots made of "lego"... and recurrent cheesy witty one liners.
It wasnt Batman and Robin level, but....
Guardians of the galaxy handled humor better then this imo.
I can see this movie is already very devisive, not as consensual as the first avengers that is for sure.

I for me i can say, i liked some parts of this movie , but the movie as a whole? not so much.
The point being as marvel movies go, i dont think Age of Ultron is very memorable. Quite the contrary.

An interesting review.
http://www.ign.com/blogs/juniorknoxv...age-of-ultron/

This is why I am not a huge Marvel/Avengers movie fan. It is too much like action porn for my tastes (with a huge dose of witty one liners in between). There is nothing wrong with action porn, its just not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the previous Avengers film because Loki is so damn enjoyable as a character. The solo movies are more enjoyable because we get better character development and backstory.

[Gaidin]

As i said, i like James Spader. but what we get wasnt Ultron. It was just the usual James Spader. For that ill rather watch the blacklist, you get a better James Spader there.

Not according to the arguments I've had...I mean, not that I disagree. Don't get me wrong. I thing James Spader is a lot better in The Blacklist.... But not according to the arguments I've had...

[Warcrafthero]

Watched it yesterday in 2D, overall i liked it, in my opinion it is better than Thor 2 but a bit lower than Captain America 2. The plot seemed to me a bit rushed (i hope for an extended edition). Ultron made me laugh with his disney quotes Now i hope that Infinity War will be better, Thanos is coming!.

[Påsan]

Just got back from the cinema. I thought it was pretty good, a bit better than the first one which I have less regard for than most people. It was funny, great action scenes and its always good to spend more time with characters you've gotten to know. It also had some new characters, none of which I disliked. (I thought I was gonna dislike the Slovakians, but I didn't)


That said, it was a pretty standard blockbuster fare. I went to the cinema to be entertained, and I was. Good movie, worth the money.

Oh yeah I saw it in 3D, but 2D would probably be a better choice. I agree that Guardians was the only Marvel movie where 3D actually enhances it.


Just because I want to I'm gonna add a list of my fav Marvel movies so far.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Captain America 2
3. Avengers 1
4. Avengers 2
5. Iron Man 1
6. Thor
7. Iron Man 3
8. Thor 2
9. Iron Man 2
10. Captain America 1
11. Hulk

[Gaidin]

The latest Agents of SHIELD episode apparently sets up for it in a cool way.

[The Despondent Mind]

Slovakians?