Channel Awesome
Does one of the biggest sequels ever live up to the hype? Doug takes a look at Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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Agreed. Didn’t have quite the impact of the first one but still an enjoyable movie. The climax also felt similar where they were fighting an army lead by one person. It was good but we probably should have gotten a different movie.
i am suprised that you didn’t mention anything about the major downcut. Appearently it originally had alot more like the cabins scenes. And you could defintly see that is originally was longer considering how jarring some of the cuts and editing was in some scenes.
The party scene. Man, I could listen to the Avenger’s just talk and hangout for hours.
They couldn’t put Spiderman in it because the day after production for the movie was done, the Marvel/Sony deal was made. Joss Wheadon was upset by this cause he wanted to stick him in a scene or after credits(for real, not like the fake one!).
The Iron man and Hulk fight scene, especially when Iron Man punches out Hulks tooth and instantly regrets it
The party has to be my favorite scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Just watching the Avengers talk and hang out is really interesting! Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded the whole movie being like that! If I had just watch that scene, and that scene alone, I would’ve been completely satisfied (though, I did also watch for the action, so, maybe I wouldn’t have been completely satisfied, but, my point still stands).
Personaly, I loved the movie. Although some scenes like Thor in that well felt VERY out of place, I think the movie managed to amp up several aspects. My favourite was the villain. Good lord, the writers finaly madea villain we can RELATE to, with aspects of personality we can actualy see and understand. Some lines he sai at the same time I though, specialy when the Hulk enterd the plane and his reaction was just “oh, for the love of…”. We rarely see a villain with such realistic personality.
That’s probably because Ultron’s personality is meant to be based off of Tony Stark’s personality, like he’s an extension of Tony’s ego. Which is an amazing concept, but, sadly, one that is pretty underused in the film in general.
Re: Dethhollow, Yeah, I have to agree there, too. There was a great set-up for this dark father-son relationship between Tony and Ultron but the film did nothing with it. We got one freak-out from Ultron over being compared to Tony, and a comment from Vision about how Ultron hates him the most, but that was pretty much it. It really is too bad.
Agreed on Ultron, his motivations could’ve used some work but he was my favourite part of the movie. It’s kind of ironic that the MCU has often given us such a slew of generic, far-too-serious baddies, and yet here, with a villain who is literally a robot, we got way more personality and life to him. And James Spader’s voice was the perfect fit with just the right balance of intelligence, bitterness, humor and hostility.
I know some fans were upset that Ultron was depicted as more human in his character, but I thought that was a great decision on the writers’ parts. We’ve seen the emotionless automaton with no love or conscience before; we’ve been seeing it for decades, but a feeling machine overwhelmed with anger, guilt and a need for companionship? That is fresh.
I feel that Age of Ultron was let down compared to first Avengers. That’s how good first Avengers was and that’s how big impact it that had that sequel could not have same impact. They also cut lot of material from Age of Ultron that could had made it so much better. Like once about Black Widow’s past and reason why she said that she is also monster and not because she can’t have children.
Age of Ultron is following on the heels of Guardians of the Galaxy and Winter Soldier as well as being a sequel to the highest grossing comic book superhero movie of all time. That is some f**king large shoes to fill. And I think that Marvel managed to fill them, but just barely. Age of Ultron is good. Really good. The problem is that Really Good has become the standard for Marvel movies, and as being a sequel to Avengers goes, it’s pretty much More of the Same with a few new twists. I personally love the idea they had to transform JARVIS into Vision, the death of Quicksilver was a ballsy but understandable move, and like you said, it built up a lot of their characters.
I actually see this as the segway to the final act. They’re setting up the infinity stones, they’re setting up the final films for Thor and Cap, they’re getting as many of the superheros together in one spot as possible, it’s just preparing those that we already for the coming finale. I think we’ll get more of a “new avengers” movie out of the upcoming Civil War movie, which the directors have literally described as being “Avengers 2.5”, and the following Avengers movie is so grand that they’re actually splitting it into two separate films. I don’t know about you, but I’m honestly hyped as hell to see how all of this ends.
My geuss is that there playing safe because they have 2 more avenger movies coming out so the don’t want to give to much to soon
I also give ultron a pass be cause he was built in 3 days and it shows he has conflicting moral
I mean he’s quoting Darwin and God to very conflicting ideas
But for me hulk vs hulk buster was worth admission
To me the fav scene is the first, his awakening where he kills one of my favourite !characters! of the Iron Man franchise and overall Marvel Universe to gain his independence.
fuckin nerds and geek culture really piss me off. The main knock on this movie seems to be that it is just a movie. Hey geeks how about you guys stop looking to a fuckin movie to define you. Cant you just enjoy a well made and entertaining movie? for fucks sake…!
Also Doug, they clearly said in the movie that Ultron was a program Tony and Bruce were already working on but couldnt get to work. The mind gem looked to hold the key to get it to work.
Tony “forgot to overlook”? So does that mean he remembered?
Doug, when you buy a Hershey bar, you expect it to taste like a Hershey bar, and you buy it because of that flavor. I saw ULTRON with that sort of expectation, and my entertainment appetite was sated. Having grown up in an era when superhero movies and tv shows were for the most part cheap and crappy, I am thrilled to see movies with competent actors in good costumes in terrific action scenes with great special effects.
I saw this with my sister last summer and we both enjoyed it, she having never seen any of the previous marvel movies. We both rolled our eyes at the part when black widow seems to insinuate she’s a monster because she can’t conceive. That was a bit silly.
We also both agreed Vision was awesome and was under-utilized in the film.
She says that she is a monster after saying she can’t conceive but I think it was pretty clear that she thinks she is a monster not because of that but because of the stuff she said before that, that she was raised to be a remorseless killing machine
That’s the impression I got. Then again, I’m not a reactionary tool that looks for reasons to complain.
No, you’re a “reactionary tool” who gets outraged at fairly mild criticisms of comic book movies?
2:39- I know he’s got super speed but he doesn’t have super strength. Wouldn’t he at least hurt his hand if he tried to punch Cap in the face?
My biggest problem with the movie was the scale. The whole city has a giant machine beneath it, and there are hundreds – no – THOUSANDS of Ultron clones. Never mind where he got the resources (even stolen that shit takes time to acquire) how did he BUILD that so fast? Even with thousands of hands doing 24 hour shifts that would takes YEARS! Plus he did it all with none of the people in the city noticing!
I also thought the very end was awkward. “Avengers…a-” Why not stop after the pause? Cutting of ‘assemble’ just felt off.
Cap is not invulnerable, his shield is. And even then, Quicksilver probably is able to tolerate high-speed impacts- it would be dangerous, even suicidal, to use his powers otherwise.
you are overthinking a marvel film
And then they build up the scale and cop out REPEATABLE. The wast majority of those on-par with Iron Man, Ultron copies, were made of cardboard in practice. It just ruins everything where there are so many of them, and they have to make them inconsequential because it means by extension the one copy they are all fighting in the middle is also made of cardboard, and they are just being incompetent in taking this copy down.
2 things about this movie ruin it for me. I usually don’t let plot holes get to me but this one had 2 huge ones.
1. In the final battle they make it such a HUGE point that Ultron can’t get away because if even ONE of them does then it would all be for nothing because he would just make more of him self. The thing is that they are screwing around at the farm while ultron is making his army, so why didn’t this super smart robot who knows literally EVERYTHING about humanity and its history… why didn’t he send like 10 of himself to lay in hiding as a contingency plan if he were ever beaten. Literally makes no sense that he didn’t do this. He had tons of time, he had the know how etc etc. You can give the bullshit hubris answer but that’s a crappy cop out.
2. The Thanos “fine, ill do it myself” scene. …. Just…. WHAT? This makes zero sense. It implies that Thanos’ plan was to have loki defeated and allow hydra to get the staff, then have them killed and fall into the avengers plan, then have ultron created. Then somehow he was in contact with ultron trying to beat the… avengers and get the mind stone…? So when ultron dies he says “Fine, I’ll do it myself” as if he knows exactly whats happening on earth and is the mastermind behind it. Just… what ?? People say this was in reference to guardians of the galaxy or something? Why the fuck would you put a snippit of a reference to a different movie that is misleading when it comes to big events of this movie (ultron dying) and Thanos responding to that. It’s so… god damn, my brain hurts just thinking about how dumb it is.
I actually do enjoy Avengers 2, but those 2 things destroy any sort of suspended disbelief I had.
Those arent plot holes especially the Thanos one. It has nothing to do with the plot of the movie. Ultron was concentrating on making the new body for himself the whole time, which became the Vision.
1.) Its entirely possible he did do that, but that was the point of Vision cutting out his wireless connection and “burning him out” of the internet. Doesn’t matter how many back ups he’s got tucked away, now he’s got no way of getting into them without a physical connection. He’s got to actually reach them instead of the body-hopping he did earlier, and he can’t do that if you destroy all the bodies he currently has access to
2.) I think less a case of “everything is going according to my plan!” and more “oh come on, you people keep messing around with my stuff!” I mean, generally when someone says “fine” like that it means they’ve lost patience or have got tired of watching other people do stupid shit. Seems its more a case of him having a few opportunities to get things how he wants them, those chances not turning out how he wanted and now him just throwing up his hands in exasperation and deciding to just get shit done himself
“Fine, I’ll do it myself” is because everyone keeps failing to mess up Earth and defeat the Avengers. He’s watched Loki, Thor 2-Guy, and Ultron all screw it up, even with armies and Infinity stones… so he’s going to show how an invasion should be done properly.
Pretty good review and I liked this movie but I probably prefer the first one to this. I found ultron to be a pretty awesome but I’m glad you barely talked about his character(nice) 🙁
I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed you didn’t really talk about Ultron in this review. James Spader really knocked it out of the park and stole the show for me. I did really like the party, but…well…I couldn’t really appreciate the Cabin, in part because I really hated Natasha/Bruce, but also because I really just wanted to get back to Ultron
Is it just me or have virtually all of Doug’s reviews of the Marvel films during Disneycember been pretty much along the same lines? Cautious hesitant praise. I feel like a drinking game could be made by taking a shot every time he says “Kinda” or “Don’t get me wrong” 😉
Or maybe a Mad Libs?
From the start of the movie I knew it was just masturbating the fan-boys out there, as it drug on the fan boy stroking of the movie just reached a Point I couldn’t take it any more, so I walked out. It’s a terrible movie and is one of the many, MANY prime examples I have of Disney/Marvel putting no effort into their movies other than getting the fan boys off on cheap overused tropes set to the tones of bad story telling, plot holes, wooden acting, lack of plot or direction, lack of character development, but honestly I still don’t consider it the worst of the second phase, at least it wasn’t predictable, boring, and a literal waste of time like Winter Soldier is.
Once again you throw out the word trope as if that’s some sort of inherently negative thing. With how much you repeat the same nonsensical complaints over and over again I’m starting to think you’re little more than a troll.
Since you seem to hate everything and never seem to have anything positive to say, I’m actually curious now, what is your favorite movie and why?
I don’t think Quicksilver’s death will be permanent. First of all we get to see regenerative medicine used on Hawkeye at the beginning of the movie that COULD have saved him, or at least repair his body, but then the next Thor movie is called Ragnarock. In the comics Thor HAS gone to Valhalla where he met fallen heroes (and I believe he brought Captain America back with him from it at least once) so I think in the next Thor movie we will either get a cameo from Quicksilver in Valhalla or Thor might even be able to bring him back from it as a way to save the day. I also LOVED that party scene, the part where everyone was trying to pick up the hammer was hilarious, and when Steve Rogers was able to budge it a tiny bit the expression on Thor’s face was PRICELESS.
Why does Doug say HELL very often, during these reviews?
Whenever there’s a break of some kind, he says: ”Hell, …” and then continues talking.
Is that a common expression in America?
Hell is often considered a more “socially acceptable” substitute for the word “fuck” in American language. Not so much in meaning, as in the way people use an expletive for flavor or to punctuate a statement.
Example “Fuck, took you long enough” becomes “Hell, took you long enough”.
Keep in mind, like all things language, this is not a hard and fast “rule” so much as a general trend I’ve noticed over the years.
I’d just like to say regarding this and Ironman 3… After the events of the first Avengers film Tony is suffering from PTSD, and I feel in the Ironman 3 review you kinda brushed that aside, but I feel it is a *really* important plot point that relates to his character and his motivations.
Tony is constantly analyzing his role in fighting crime, coming up with “what if?” scenarios, and then applying his genius to solving any problems he sees. The first movie, each iteration of the Ironman armor is refining the base principals of the suit. The second movie, he’s already solving what-if scenarios; What if he suddenly needs Ironman, but is away from the suit? Portable briefcase armor. In Avengers, he goes further; what if the briefcase is not available/practical? Remote launched armor that can track him, and ‘suit up’ automatically. Ironman 3 starts with him refining the tech from Avengers – the tracking wristbands are a physical thing that can be taken from him or damaged so; microchip implants. By the end of the third movie we see all of the various suits he’s developed to solve a wide range of problems.
But Avengers showed him a problem so vast that he can’t wrap his head around it; alien invasion. On an individual level he could probably out-maneuver and beat any alien fighter, but the invasion of New York proved that even with a single (relatively) small entry point, he and a team of heroes were barely *containing* the invasion, and after flying the nuke through the portal, he saw that what they fought was only a *fraction* of the enemy fleet. A serious invasion that had more than a single entry point would be far more devastating.
So Tony was desperate to apply his genius in some way, ANY WAY, to help prevent another invasion-type event similar to or worse than New York. And if he was applying his genius recklessly in this pursuit before Avengers 2, being shown a “vision of the future” only served to push him further into the “at any cost” mindset, blind to the possible consequences of his own actions.
So Tony i give a bit of a pass to – I can see his actions making sense *to him*. But Banner helping him create Ultron? I could see him being convinced by Tony… it’s the whole trusting Tony a second time (which ultimately worked out) that I don’t get… Also, the Thor ark that resulted in him helping to create Vision was a little rushed and confuzed. Felt like a lot of the Thor stuff was cut for time.
Doug, aren’t these supposed to be YOUR opinions? I’m getting tired of hearing you say what “Audiences” wanted or were expecting.
Personally, I felt that Age of Ultron was a fitting sequel to the Avengers and that helped progress the characters and introduce new ones – for us to be interested in. What Ultron lacked in unique motivations he made up for by having a good chunk of Tony Stark’s personality. Isn’t frightening to think that this is what Tony would be like if he was off the rails?
I’m certainly not saying it’s a perfect movie by any stretch, but there is a greater whole here. I was hoping to see. The first movie, the aliens presented the threat, but it was Loki who motivated it – because he wanted to break something Thor loved. It was that simple. A simple idea you didn’t seem to see. In all your criticisms, have you become so heady. so jaded, that you can’t see the forest for the trees?
I do hope you read these, I haven’t logged in here in forever, though I’ve been watching, and watching. You have a lot of good opinions and valid points, why do you have to hide the rougher edges when your opinion contradicts the popular flow? I had to stop watching your “most offensive joke ever” video from long ago because it hit a point I couldn’t take it. It was beyond tasteless to me, but I see where you were going with it.
I can’t stand wrestling, but I could listen to Spoony talk about it for hours (because he has) and he’s able to well articulate WHY he does or doesn’t like something, the passion there is amazing. Okay, you’re not Spoony, but in some ways, you used to be. If you’d stand firmly by your feelings in off the cuff reviews like this, I would have more respect for your opinions. And that’s not saying you can’t mention things like “When the reviews came out this was X” but it has to tie into how it made YOU feel. Not because you were obligated to… because you know who makes your schedule? You do. You’re self employed in a field of dreams, and those dreams couldn’t be possible without your viewers, but if you’re afraid of losing one or two in the short term by compromising your integrity, you will lose out in the long term.
I thought that this movie was great. The only complaint that I have is that Ultron’s turn to the dark side or whatever was too quick. Besides that, NO COMPLAINTS. Oh, also, I think that the Spiderman thing was more recent so that wouldn’t have happened.
Is’nt it a bit pointless to give this little advice in the end, saying you should watch it”? I mean, everyone wanting to know your opinion on the movie probably watched it anyway.
I think all Marvel sequels are a bit fun but just not great.
I disagree about the Black Widow/Banner romance. The last time we saw Natasha, she had set out on a quest to find her true self. In this film, finding her “true self” boiled down to finding herself a man. And there is little to no chemistry between the two. The only thing that makes any sense to it in my mind is if Widow was just using her old KGB training to keep the Hulk under control.
Also, what the crap was up with Cap and the “Language!” thing? In previous films, Cap is a bit of a potty mouth himself, so why the sudden pietism? It makes no sense.
I agree. I enjoyed the movie, but at the end I left with the feeling that it wasn’t just as good as the first one. I think that I expected the stakes to be a lot higher this time, and they weren’t. Ultron was a good villain, he was funny and all, but he couldn’t compare as much as Loki– not because Loki was more powerful, but because he was bringing ALIENS with him. He was bringing the cosmic-verse with him. He had ties with Thanos, for crying out loud. Ultron simply doesn’t measure. (Maaaaaaybe if he conquers a planet of robots and starts conquering technological advanced planets like in Annhilation: Conquest it’d be a bit more interesting, but I really doubt that’ll happen in the MCU).
And this film kinda feels like a filler until we finally get to the Infinity War. We get introduced to Thanos at the end of Avengers, but we still don’t get to actually see him do something. I guess that it’s a bit disappointing. I don’t mind the slow set up, but in this case it made me expect more from this movie, and… yeah, in the end it felt a bit disappointed. But it’s a good movie, I enjoyed it.
Liz Olson as Scarlet Witch, come on!