Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1st, 2015)

[LexiKon318]

I just saw it a second time. Hulks on top speared through the abdomen and dying(breathing heavily), Widow underneath already dead, Hawkeye dead but sitting up beside her, Thor below them, Cap at the bottom.

Going for my third and I still swear I saw one extra person. Ha

 

[Deckard]

I thought it was interesting because of the way they say that's reality to come but has nothing to do with Ultron. They're killed by alien tech in the vision and Tony sees more Chitarui invading Earth. As in it's not necessarily prevented by the end of the movie(Like Vision's... vision). I'm guessing we will actually see that play out in Infinity Wars and most of the characters will die, forcing a totally new Avengers team to take center stage. Obviously they'll all get revived by the end of it, but it'd be a good way to show the new team could function without any of them once their contracts are up. Also hinting Thanos will once again use Chitauri for his army.

 

[PopCultKid]

I really dug this. But I’m of the opinion that ALL the movies in this saga are like pizza or sex; even when they’re bad they’re still pretty friggin’ good. So knowing that’s where my head’s at, you can choose to read on or not

I think the main and nearly only flaw is how this obviously suffers badly from cut scenes and editing. That’s probably the main reason why many of us walked out not being completely wowed like we did with pt.1 and some of the better movies of this saga. It’s a shame because all it would have took was another 15-30 minutes to smooth out a lot of the rough edges. I’m praying that we get the director’s cut we should have seen on screen

I also agree with those who said the score lacked a little. It definitely didn’t drive the movie like a score should. All of the previous instalments had a score that really powered the film, of course especially Guardians with the music being a big part of the story. (Also, the volume was turned kind of low in my theater which isn’t usual. I prefer when movies have the volume cranked up a bit so maybe that weighed in on my perception. Hopefully they’ll pump it up tonight)

I felt the movie was dark and did keep pretty close to the tone that the trailers were selling. I just wish that they didn’t alter certain things that were shown in the trailer; The Ultron MK I speech at the after party comes to mind. I felt it didn’t end up being as powerful as the trailers suggested.

I love how they handled Ultron but there wasn’t enough of him (again, probably time constraints & cuts). The personality works, great villain, great design(s) but just lacked a scene or two to certify his badassery

I'm ok with the fast jump into action, please, I don't want to see Peter Parker become Spiderman again.

Actually, I think that sums up a lot about this movie. We have to keep in mind that this is the ELEVENTH instalment of an unprecedented cinematic saga. Jumping right into it (with or without the SHIELD ep.) is how this should start! This isn’t the same team from when Tony told Loki “it takes a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one”. This is a well-oiled, kick ass unstoppable machine which has probably been doing this for at least a couple of years now (something said at the end suggests this).

Aside from that it’s probably really easy to duplicate PT. 1 all over again, and despite what some think, I feel that this had a different approach. To me, it had great action as it should but it was more story heavy than action heavy, and that’s thanks to things like the party, the farm house, the dream sequences, etc. I’m glad they steered away from following the same exact formula as PT. 1 and thought that this formula worked well.

Having said all that, here’s a few things that I think could have been added to deliver that “blown away” feeling that this kind of lacked (this is aside from the obvious parts that they should have not cut short):

Spoiler

After Thor crushed Ultron MK I, there should have been a sequence something along the lines of showing his consciousness “travelling” thru the internet and attacking (like a virus) some type of plant where he could take over all of the machinery, kill all human workers and not only build his army, but HIMSELF. No, the self-construction of Prime wouldn't have been anything new; we've seen similar building scenes it in plenty movies like Robocop or Iron Man, but it would have made his full reveal in the church much more powerful, and would have made his and his army’s existence…. make sense.

He also needed to be more dominant. Once he created the Ultimate body, he should have been a much tougher foe. We got a taste of it when he was putting the smack down on Thor, but I don’t feel it was enough. Same goes for the Sentries. They should have been handled similarly to the Chitauri. Give a good fight and serve some lumps, but ultimately get whooped by the team. Even the Chitauri had they’re moment of overcoming the team with sheer numbers. The bots needed that.

Ideally, instead of them tearing thru the army of bots like wet paper, I would've liked to have seen the team finish them all off after a hardcore struggle, then Ultimate comes down to take advantage of their weakened state. After he has them all bested and beat, Vision somehow saves the day. After that they could still have kept their last encounter together as it was. All of this would have made both Vision and Ultron greater characters than they were.

 

[PopCultKid]

I'm serious!!

Goggle image: AMC Lowes Fresh Meadows Seats

View attachment 183461
View attachment 183462

Your TV is remarkable!!!

Good Lord! For that price that chair better vibrate!!

In NY, that would be at least 10 bucks more

 

[ronri]

Spoiler

After Thor crushed Ultron MK I, there should have been a sequence something along the lines of showing his consciousness “travelling” thru the internet and attacking (like a virus) some type of plant where he could take over all of the machinery, kill all human workers and not only build his army, but HIMSELF. No, the self-construction of Prime wouldn't have been anything new; we've seen similar building scenes it in plenty movies like Robocop or Iron Man, but it would have made his full reveal in the church much more powerful, and would have made his and his army’s existence…. make sense.

He also needed to be more dominant. Once he created the Ultimate body, he should have been a much tougher foe. We got a taste of it when he was putting the smack down on Thor, but I don’t feel it was enough. Same goes for the Sentries. They should have been handled similarly to the Chitauri. Give a good fight and serve some lumps, but ultimately get whooped by the team. Even the Chitauri had they’re moment of overcoming the team with sheer numbers. The bots needed that.

Ideally, instead of them tearing thru the army of bots like wet paper, I would've liked to have seen the team finish them all off after a hardcore struggle, then Ultimate comes down to take advantage of their weakened state. After he has them all bested and beat, Vision somehow saves the day. After that they could still have kept their last encounter together as it was. All of this would have made both Vision and Ultron greater characters than they were.

Very fair points there, and I agree in that some of the scenario-writing in the final battle could have elevated the overall impression of certain characters (Ultron especially, who had better showings in his previous forms, despite being noticeably less durable). Regarding scenes being deleted though, I do recall certain scenes from the trailers that weren't present in the film. One moment even seemed to imply that we might have actually gotten a scene where Ultron builds his body after the Mark I sequence. I really hope we get a director's cut, it would be a real shame as I would love to see more of the character buildup and I feel that it would have fixed some of the choppy pacing.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

how do you know they didn't and it got cut out?

 

[pturtle]

AMC Fresh Meadows is like 5 minutes from me. Even matinee is expensive there

 

[ronri]

how do you know they didn't and it got cut out?

Didn't what?

 

[Sundowner]

Very fair points there, and I agree in that some of the scenario-writing in the final battle could have elevated the overall impression of certain characters (Ultron especially, who had better showings in his previous forms, despite being noticeably less durable). Regarding scenes being deleted though, I do recall certain scenes from the trailers that weren't present in the film. One moment even seemed to imply that we might have actually gotten a scene where Ultron builds his body after the Mark I sequence. I really hope we get a director's cut, it would be a real shame as I would love to see more of the character buildup and I feel that it would have fixed some of the choppy pacing.

How much did they cut? 30 minutes? I think half the scenes from the trailers weren't in the movie

 

[crows]

I admire Whedon for speaking up now that he has fulfilled his contract with Marvel. Between this and Edgar Wright/Antman it seems like they are not particularly pleasant to work with. Hopefully Gunn won't have a similar experience on GOTG2.

The Russos? I don't know, I think they could be in for a few years of hell.

dont forget the director of iron man calling it quits too.... it keeps happening.
is it that the directors want to make the movies more personal to them? or that marvel is just way too controlling?

That's our crows! He's still slamming Five Armies in that thread.

well to be fair the video I posted had just come out, I stood away from that thread for a long time, for months even lol,
just like ill stay out of this thread in the upcoming weeks

It's ok, i'm still slamming MOS everywhere, today wil be in the Godzilla thread.

Oh see, Jye brings a good point. Man of Steel is STILL being talked about in threads sometimes. I remember the Dark Knight Rises was trashed for like a year after it was released. I didn't even think about it
Pacific Rim was still being trashed when Godzilla came out by a couple of people.

 

[moose]

I am hoping that we do not see a repeat of this in infinity war I do not want to see Thanos and his new minions whoever they are take on the avengers, why not get up Thanos like the comics recent incarnations with a team of lieutenants to take on the team. It would be more satisfying then some mindless robots or clones

 

[IXI Nick IXI]

what if thanos used the reality stone and brought back enemies like red skull and loki and stane to be his lieutenants so to speak... cool or no?

 

[ronri]

How much did they cut? 30 minutes? I think half the scenes from the trailers weren't in the movie

Supposedly 1 whole hour was cut....

 

[cilantropants]

dont forget the director of iron man calling it quits too.... it keeps happening.
is it that the directors want to make the movies more personal to them? or that marvel is just way too controlling?



well to be fair the video I posted had just come out, I stood away from that thread for a long time, for months even lol,
just like ill stay out of this thread in the upcoming weeks



Oh see, Jye brings a good point. Man of Steel is STILL being talked about in threads sometimes. I remember the Dark Knight Rises was trashed for like a year after it was released. I didn't even think about it
Pacific Rim was still being trashed when Godzilla came out by a couple of people.

No one cares about the movie being trashed, water off a duck's back. But your relentless campaign to make everyone feel as meh about it as you do is tiresome. You can stop trying to change people's minds now.

what if thanos used the reality stone and brought back enemies like red skull and loki and stane to be his lieutenants so to speak... cool or no?

I would not like that at all. Hokey, even for a comic book movie. Besides, with all that gem power he's not going to need anyone to do his work.

 

[crows]

Supposedly 1 whole hour was cut....

how much is going to be added?

 

[jye4ever]

Ah your nuts Pacing was much better in the first and not slow at all... Quickest 2 hr and 10 min on film.. (Ok I don't know if it's the quickest but whenever I watch it I can't get over how fast it goes by)

That came out wrong. I love the pacing in the first one. What I was trying to say is that i'm happy both movies have their own unique pacing instead of them just trying to make a carbon copy of the first.

If Vision is still alive for Infinity Wars. He's powered by one of the gems afterall.



Paul steals the movie the second he's born. All I could think with that shot was that they out-Supermanned Superman.



I just saw it a second time. Hulks on top speared through the abdomen and dying(breathing heavily), Widow underneath already dead, Hawkeye dead but sitting up beside her, Thor below them, Cap at the bottom.

So true about out Supermanned.

Cap wakes and lifts all of the avengers on his back. Punches a moon. It kills Thanos.

Agreed, the Hulk's facial animation during the Veronica sequence was SO good. I like that the premiere "money shot" of Avengers 1 was that single take of all the Avengers fighting throughout New York and that Avengers 2 OPENS with a similar shot as they charge HYDRA. Talking about upping the ante the very first minute. And then that moment where they are all defending the core is just beautiful. Iron Man and Vision flying in and out of frame, just awesome.

I really REALLY like Ultron. To me he's a really conflicted character. He has his prime directive or whatever you want to call it to bring peace which according to his computer mind means whiping everyone out but he also clearly favors companionship and stimulating discussion. Even his opening line about killing Jarvis "not my first call, he was a good guy" or whatever it was. And he obviously feels "pain" at losing his world and so forth which ignites a desire for revenge but doesn't make him go all emo or boo hoo-ey about it. He was just cool.

Whedon's a baby for whining to the press over studio input on the film. Boo hoo, your dream job of making superhero movies into global events requires you to play with others. Go invent your own characters if you want final cut Joss. Let's see how they do.

well said, all of it.

I really dug this. But I’m of the opinion that ALL the movies in this saga are like pizza or sex; even when they’re bad they’re still pretty friggin’ good. So knowing that’s where my head’s at, you can choose to read on or not

I think the main and nearly only flaw is how this obviously suffers badly from cut scenes and editing. That’s probably the main reason why many of us walked out not being completely wowed like we did with pt.1 and some of the better movies of this saga. It’s a shame because all it would have took was another 15-30 minutes to smooth out a lot of the rough edges. I’m praying that we get the director’s cut we should have seen on screen

I also agree with those who said the score lacked a little. It definitely didn’t drive the movie like a score should. All of the previous instalments had a score that really powered the film, of course especially Guardians with the music being a big part of the story. (Also, the volume was turned kind of low in my theater which isn’t usual. I prefer when movies have the volume cranked up a bit so maybe that weighed in on my perception. Hopefully they’ll pump it up tonight)

I felt the movie was dark and did keep pretty close to the tone that the trailers were selling. I just wish that they didn’t alter certain things that were shown in the trailer; The Ultron MK I speech at the after party comes to mind. I felt it didn’t end up being as powerful as the trailers suggested.

I love how they handled Ultron but there wasn’t enough of him (again, probably time constraints & cuts). The personality works, great villain, great design(s) but just lacked a scene or two to certify his badassery



Actually, I think that sums up a lot about this movie. We have to keep in mind that this is the ELEVENTH instalment of an unprecedented cinematic saga. Jumping right into it (with or without the SHIELD ep.) is how this should start! This isn’t the same team from when Tony told Loki “it takes a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one”. This is a well-oiled, kick ass unstoppable machine which has probably been doing this for at least a couple of years now (something said at the end suggests this).

Aside from that it’s probably really easy to duplicate PT. 1 all over again, and despite what some think, I feel that this had a different approach. To me, it had great action as it should but it was more story heavy than action heavy, and that’s thanks to things like the party, the farm house, the dream sequences, etc. I’m glad they steered away from following the same exact formula as PT. 1 and thought that this formula worked well.

Having said all that, here’s a few things that I think could have been added to deliver that “blown away” feeling that this kind of lacked (this is aside from the obvious parts that they should have not cut short):

Spoiler

After Thor crushed Ultron MK I, there should have been a sequence something along the lines of showing his consciousness “travelling” thru the internet and attacking (like a virus) some type of plant where he could take over all of the machinery, kill all human workers and not only build his army, but HIMSELF. No, the self-construction of Prime wouldn't have been anything new; we've seen similar building scenes it in plenty movies like Robocop or Iron Man, but it would have made his full reveal in the church much more powerful, and would have made his and his army’s existence…. make sense.

He also needed to be more dominant. Once he created the Ultimate body, he should have been a much tougher foe. We got a taste of it when he was putting the smack down on Thor, but I don’t feel it was enough. Same goes for the Sentries. They should have been handled similarly to the Chitauri. Give a good fight and serve some lumps, but ultimately get whooped by the team. Even the Chitauri had they’re moment of overcoming the team with sheer numbers. The bots needed that.

Ideally, instead of them tearing thru the army of bots like wet paper, I would've liked to have seen the team finish them all off after a hardcore struggle, then Ultimate comes down to take advantage of their weakened state. After he has them all bested and beat, Vision somehow saves the day. After that they could still have kept their last encounter together as it was. All of this would have made both Vision and Ultron greater characters than they were.

Great recommendations.

Oh see, Jye brings a good point. Man of Steel is STILL being talked about in threads sometimes. I remember the Dark Knight Rises was trashed for like a year after it was released. I didn't even think about it
Pacific Rim was still being trashed when Godzilla came out by a couple of people.

 

[Sundowner]

Supposedly 1 whole hour was cut....

So it should be as long as the Return of the King? geez, an hour of extra footage can make a huge difference

 

[crows]

I am hoping that we do not see a repeat of this in infinity war I do not want to see Thanos and his new minions whoever they are take on the avengers, why not get up Thanos like the comics recent incarnations with a team of lieutenants to take on the team. It would be more satisfying then some mindless robots or clones

im really curious about this as well. we all know thanos will be the most powerful villain ever to be faced, but what will that mean in terms of a story? will half of the avengers die in the first movie?

 

[IXI Nick IXI]

obviously thanos with the stones wouldnt need help by anyone...but 10-15 characters cant just fight one guy the whole2-3 hours...

 

[Darth Snoopy]

No one cares about the movie being trashed, water off a duck's back. But your relentless campaign to make everyone feel as meh about it as you do is tiresome. You can stop trying to change people's minds now.

He's not changing anyone's mind about this movie (whether for or against)...except for maybe the 9 year old booger eating kid.