avengers: age of ultron thoughts
I do have a detailed write-up of the race (which was AMAZING) in the works, but I saw "Avengers: Age of Ultron" today and I wanted to get my impressions down first. That's the fannish thing to do, right? Overall I liked it, but I had a couple of big problems which I suspect are common problems to have.
First off, I will say that I'm only familiar with Ultron and Vision in a general sense, so I can't compare the MCU take to the comics version. I'm also not feeling as emotionally connected to the Marvelverse at the time being, so my reactions might have been a little different a couple of years ago. Mostly I went into it expecting to be entertained, and I was. Here we go:
--It had those things of which I am a huge fan and which Joss Whedon happens to do so well, which is why I'm a fan of him: Team as Family! Funny banter! Tandem fighting! I'm not sure I even caught all the one-liners, they were so rapid fire. Favorite being the recurring riff on "Language!" (particularly the payoff; you kiss your mother with that mouth, Rogers?).
--Re: Team as Family, they really did seem like a cohesive unit. I especially caught an impression of camraderie between Steve and Thor with not that much said, which is nice work on the part of the Chrises. There were also numerous callbacks to the Steve-Natasha relationship which played so beautifully in WS. That being said, I feel like Steve-Tony is the least developed relationship. Which is odd for two reasons: their comics history, and the fact that they've got "Civil War" coming up. I was not expecting Tony to just roll on out at the end like that; the repercussions of him creating Ultron and Vision felt like a dropped thread.
--But Tony's characterization overall is still very strong. I see his need to protect everyone as atonement for the damage he did before he became Iron Man; having the Maximoff parents being killed by a Stark missile really brought that home (although I feel like they deleted or forgot a scene with the twins squaring with that, in all the hubbub at the climax).
--More character relationship stuff: I could not have loved the Clint-Natasha BFFery more. Clint's secret family really worked for me for some reason, and it was wonderful to see that the Clint-Natasha relationship extended to his wife and kids as well. How often do you see a male-female AND a female-female friendship like that in a big action blockbuster.
--On that note: along with everybody else, I was sure that Barton was marked for death as soon as we got to that farmhouse. Nice fakeout with him ignoring his wound at the end, guys. Overall it was nice to see so much development of Clint after he had basically nothing to work with in "Avengers" (even if he isn't Matt Fraction's Clint).
--On a separate note: I guess here is where we talk about the Nat/Bruce storyline. Here's the thing: I like the idea of Nat/Bruce, I enjoy how the actors work together, and I don't think introducing a romance into the team is inherently a bad idea. It was the execution that was the problem. It actually worked for me in the beginning. Starting off with the song stuff showed their connection even in Hulk form, plus the Avengers gossiping about them, helped to sell the idea that they'd been dancing around this for awhile prior to the film. Their bar conversation at the party was sexy, and Bruce falling into her boobs cracked me up. It was that scene in the Barton house where it all went pear-shaped. First of all, why'd you bring up babies, Bruce? WHO was talking about babies? Second of all, WHY DID THEY TEASE GENETIC ENHANCEMENT IN THE RED ROOM AND THEN TURN IT INTO 'NAT CAN'T HAVE BABIES'? I was convinced they were going there; the flashbacks seemed to be set in an earlier time period, and the "graduation ceremony" was clearly alluding to the serum storyline. And then she said she was sterilized. I'm sorry, WHAT? Why go with that tired trope? Even the babies conversation could've maybe worked if they had done what they should have - then everyone can be conflicted about being genetically altered and unable to live a normal life (including Steve, who is currently the only person who should be having that conversation with Bruce). It was just bizarre, and weird, and off-putting. That was the biggest flaw in the movie, IMO, and it made me side-eye Whedon hard. I always thought those rumors about what went down when Charisma Carpenter left "Angel" were anti-fan tinhatting, but now I'm not so sure. It isn't enough to put me off Whedon entirely because I love so much of what he does (unlike Christopher Nolan's habitual fridging for example) but I definitely think he has an issue now.
--Another issue I had: there was a real disconnect between this film and what's transpired in the past few years. I thought "Avengers" built really well on all the intro films, bringing the characters together. But here it was so strange to have had all these solo films where they had to pretend the other Avengers didn't exist, and this one where they had clearly built a strong team but there was so much from the solo films missing. I mean, is Loki still ruling Asgard wearing Odin's face? And more importantly (to me), this Steve didn't feel like WS Steve, despite the cameo from Sam (YAY SAM) and the offhand reference to Bucky. Which was jarring because I felt that CA Steve --> Avengers Steve --> WS Steve was a well-done and logical transition.
--Related: all the dream sequences worked except for Steve's and Thor's. It wasn't entirely clear where they were going with Steve's fears - it seemed like it was about him not knowing what to do without having a war to fight, which makes sense with him training the SHIELD recruits in the end, but it wasn't explicit or developed enough. With Thor, having Heimdall as the only recognizable Asgardian threw me out of it completely. I realize it's incredibly difficult to wrangle such disparate characters and casts in an ensemble piece, but Thor's universe is the most complete and well-developed out of all of them, so having his fears feel so ungrounded in it also read like a dropped thread.
--I know I go on and on about characterization and MOAR STEVE because that's what's important to me, but to return to plot, I liked what they did with Ultron and Vision and the twins. It made sense in the storyline and the actors were great. Loved the little moments of humor with Ultron. How incredible did Paul Bettany look? I mean DAMN. Wanda was much better developed than Pietro which somewhat lessened the impact of his death, but that's okay, we have another Quicksilver in the X-verse. They were super twincesty which apparently is a thing in Ultimates so the actors did it on purpose. Their interpretation + Joss Whedon was a good match. That one bit where he touched her face and kissed her temple, for fuck's sake!
--The action setpieces mostly worked for me, although I was sitting too close to the screen to follow them as well as I would have liked. I'll have to see it again to determine if they drag for me - a lot of action does these days, especially on second viewing, but the fight scenes in "Avengers" don't.
--There was a lady doctor and she didn't get killed off! Yay! She was even non-white!
--Steve's new costume was a vast improvement over the first one - not nearly so pajama-like. Sorry, Coulson. Thor's disappearing sleeves amused me. Lots of scenes of hot dudes crossing their arms to properly enhance their massive manly chests, which pleased me. So did the lingering shots on Ruffalo's chest hair. I can deal with that look, too.
--Peggy and Steve getting their dance broke my fucking heart. TPTB really love Hayley Atwell, don't they? Don't we all?
--That being said, I did miss Pepper. I was so hoping she'd show up in the Rescue suit next to War Machine. My feelings on Jane remain conflicted.
--The Hulkbuster scene did not disappoint.
I think that's most of my separate points. Overall I enjoyed it a lot and want to see it again. The Natasha character inconsistency was the biggest flaw, though with the Russo brothers directing "Infinity Gauntlet," perhaps they'll bring her back in line. I have to say that I could feel the enormous strain Whedon must have been under, the whole time I was watching the film. He can do the team stuff and witty banter in his sleep, and he's a fair hand at directing engaging action sequences, but it didn't all gel quite as well as the first film. You could see the cracks. I'm not surprised he bowed out of the conclusion.
First off, I will say that I'm only familiar with Ultron and Vision in a general sense, so I can't compare the MCU take to the comics version. I'm also not feeling as emotionally connected to the Marvelverse at the time being, so my reactions might have been a little different a couple of years ago. Mostly I went into it expecting to be entertained, and I was. Here we go:
--It had those things of which I am a huge fan and which Joss Whedon happens to do so well, which is why I'm a fan of him: Team as Family! Funny banter! Tandem fighting! I'm not sure I even caught all the one-liners, they were so rapid fire. Favorite being the recurring riff on "Language!" (particularly the payoff; you kiss your mother with that mouth, Rogers?).
--Re: Team as Family, they really did seem like a cohesive unit. I especially caught an impression of camraderie between Steve and Thor with not that much said, which is nice work on the part of the Chrises. There were also numerous callbacks to the Steve-Natasha relationship which played so beautifully in WS. That being said, I feel like Steve-Tony is the least developed relationship. Which is odd for two reasons: their comics history, and the fact that they've got "Civil War" coming up. I was not expecting Tony to just roll on out at the end like that; the repercussions of him creating Ultron and Vision felt like a dropped thread.
--But Tony's characterization overall is still very strong. I see his need to protect everyone as atonement for the damage he did before he became Iron Man; having the Maximoff parents being killed by a Stark missile really brought that home (although I feel like they deleted or forgot a scene with the twins squaring with that, in all the hubbub at the climax).
--More character relationship stuff: I could not have loved the Clint-Natasha BFFery more. Clint's secret family really worked for me for some reason, and it was wonderful to see that the Clint-Natasha relationship extended to his wife and kids as well. How often do you see a male-female AND a female-female friendship like that in a big action blockbuster.
--On that note: along with everybody else, I was sure that Barton was marked for death as soon as we got to that farmhouse. Nice fakeout with him ignoring his wound at the end, guys. Overall it was nice to see so much development of Clint after he had basically nothing to work with in "Avengers" (even if he isn't Matt Fraction's Clint).
--On a separate note: I guess here is where we talk about the Nat/Bruce storyline. Here's the thing: I like the idea of Nat/Bruce, I enjoy how the actors work together, and I don't think introducing a romance into the team is inherently a bad idea. It was the execution that was the problem. It actually worked for me in the beginning. Starting off with the song stuff showed their connection even in Hulk form, plus the Avengers gossiping about them, helped to sell the idea that they'd been dancing around this for awhile prior to the film. Their bar conversation at the party was sexy, and Bruce falling into her boobs cracked me up. It was that scene in the Barton house where it all went pear-shaped. First of all, why'd you bring up babies, Bruce? WHO was talking about babies? Second of all, WHY DID THEY TEASE GENETIC ENHANCEMENT IN THE RED ROOM AND THEN TURN IT INTO 'NAT CAN'T HAVE BABIES'? I was convinced they were going there; the flashbacks seemed to be set in an earlier time period, and the "graduation ceremony" was clearly alluding to the serum storyline. And then she said she was sterilized. I'm sorry, WHAT? Why go with that tired trope? Even the babies conversation could've maybe worked if they had done what they should have - then everyone can be conflicted about being genetically altered and unable to live a normal life (including Steve, who is currently the only person who should be having that conversation with Bruce). It was just bizarre, and weird, and off-putting. That was the biggest flaw in the movie, IMO, and it made me side-eye Whedon hard. I always thought those rumors about what went down when Charisma Carpenter left "Angel" were anti-fan tinhatting, but now I'm not so sure. It isn't enough to put me off Whedon entirely because I love so much of what he does (unlike Christopher Nolan's habitual fridging for example) but I definitely think he has an issue now.
--Another issue I had: there was a real disconnect between this film and what's transpired in the past few years. I thought "Avengers" built really well on all the intro films, bringing the characters together. But here it was so strange to have had all these solo films where they had to pretend the other Avengers didn't exist, and this one where they had clearly built a strong team but there was so much from the solo films missing. I mean, is Loki still ruling Asgard wearing Odin's face? And more importantly (to me), this Steve didn't feel like WS Steve, despite the cameo from Sam (YAY SAM) and the offhand reference to Bucky. Which was jarring because I felt that CA Steve --> Avengers Steve --> WS Steve was a well-done and logical transition.
--Related: all the dream sequences worked except for Steve's and Thor's. It wasn't entirely clear where they were going with Steve's fears - it seemed like it was about him not knowing what to do without having a war to fight, which makes sense with him training the SHIELD recruits in the end, but it wasn't explicit or developed enough. With Thor, having Heimdall as the only recognizable Asgardian threw me out of it completely. I realize it's incredibly difficult to wrangle such disparate characters and casts in an ensemble piece, but Thor's universe is the most complete and well-developed out of all of them, so having his fears feel so ungrounded in it also read like a dropped thread.
--I know I go on and on about characterization and MOAR STEVE because that's what's important to me, but to return to plot, I liked what they did with Ultron and Vision and the twins. It made sense in the storyline and the actors were great. Loved the little moments of humor with Ultron. How incredible did Paul Bettany look? I mean DAMN. Wanda was much better developed than Pietro which somewhat lessened the impact of his death, but that's okay, we have another Quicksilver in the X-verse. They were super twincesty which apparently is a thing in Ultimates so the actors did it on purpose. Their interpretation + Joss Whedon was a good match. That one bit where he touched her face and kissed her temple, for fuck's sake!
--The action setpieces mostly worked for me, although I was sitting too close to the screen to follow them as well as I would have liked. I'll have to see it again to determine if they drag for me - a lot of action does these days, especially on second viewing, but the fight scenes in "Avengers" don't.
--There was a lady doctor and she didn't get killed off! Yay! She was even non-white!
--Steve's new costume was a vast improvement over the first one - not nearly so pajama-like. Sorry, Coulson. Thor's disappearing sleeves amused me. Lots of scenes of hot dudes crossing their arms to properly enhance their massive manly chests, which pleased me. So did the lingering shots on Ruffalo's chest hair. I can deal with that look, too.
--Peggy and Steve getting their dance broke my fucking heart. TPTB really love Hayley Atwell, don't they? Don't we all?
--That being said, I did miss Pepper. I was so hoping she'd show up in the Rescue suit next to War Machine. My feelings on Jane remain conflicted.
--The Hulkbuster scene did not disappoint.
I think that's most of my separate points. Overall I enjoyed it a lot and want to see it again. The Natasha character inconsistency was the biggest flaw, though with the Russo brothers directing "Infinity Gauntlet," perhaps they'll bring her back in line. I have to say that I could feel the enormous strain Whedon must have been under, the whole time I was watching the film. He can do the team stuff and witty banter in his sleep, and he's a fair hand at directing engaging action sequences, but it didn't all gel quite as well as the first film. You could see the cracks. I'm not surprised he bowed out of the conclusion.