Avengers: Age of Ultron
First things, first. If you liked this film, I envy you your experience, but I certainly don't begrudge you it. If you had fun and loved this film, good for you. The fact is that I did what I should never do and actually looked forward to seeing this film with great excitement and anticipation. Even after a few friends of rare good judgement (visionsbeyond for one) told me to lower my expectations, it was too late and I still gleefully went off to the cinema expecting a good film, a bit darker perhaps, a little uneven in how the characters were written, but ultimately a film that would live up to my expectations of quality in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Alas, what I saw was a an extremely unbalanced film that was a disservice to nearly all the main characters and failed sadly in finding a heart to the story and developing it so that it could matter. There was no weight to the sacrifice. No understanding to the relationships. I expected, perhaps wrongly, to see the Avengers getting torn apart after coming together in the first film and then fighting against Hydra for the past year. And I got that as they work together in the beginning in Sokovia, taking down Strucker's castle and afterwards as they relax after the party at Tony's and tease one another about Mjolnir. But that was it. After that, there is simply dissension, disagreement and a deplorable sense of defeat.
The entire film had an air of weariness and dreary carelessness.
It is astounding to me that this film was allowed to be released when it is as unremittingly weak as it is. This film does less than any of the other films that have come before it (except possibly Thor 2). Marvel is a cinematic universe that has had so much effort expended to create a series of films that connect and can intersect on a grand scale like this. But there is little point in doing an ensemble film of this nature if it does not serve the greater plot and characters of the individual stories.
Tony and Clint "quit"/ retire. There is the New Avengers sqaud. Banner runs off. Pietro dies. What is the point to any of this? The audience already knows (or if they have an interest in knowing they certainly will have long ago found out) that Tony and Hawkeye are in Civil War/ Cap 3, Banner will certainly be coming back, and we barely knew Pietro before he was pointlessly dispatched.* None of these changes or surprise decisions or actions carry any weight. They will have no effect on the world in-universe and absolutely none on the audience whom all are aware that these decisions are impermanent and can thus be ignored. A death can only matter in so far as we know the person who dies, care about them and that death has a purpose within the narrative. Depending on how quickly you attach to characters, Pietro Maximoff might well qualify for the first two requirements, but he cannot for the crucial third one. His death is shown to have no ramifications or effects on anyone, not even his sister. There is no mention made of him or his heroic choice. There is no grieving or mourning shown from Wanda after her going after Ultron. She just merrily goes off to joing the New Avengers. Sure, Hawkeye gives his new son Pietro as a middle-name in a blink-and-you-could-miss-it-photo that is shown, but there is literally no purpose to Pietro dying other than that is was red herring for Hawkeye. Whedon said that he had set up the film to make it appear as if Clint, the token "vulnerable" human with the family and child on the way, would be the one to be killed and then, "Bet you didn't see this coming!", he is right as rain and the newcomer has been killed off. To what end?
Vision: I was confused by him pretty much the whole time so ????? Is Jarvis still around? Or does he only now exist in a mutated form in Vision?
Ultron: A pretty good villain. A bit too snarky. Like Hades but non-stop. One of the most believable aspects of this film is that Ultron decided humanity needed to be purged after checking out the internet. One thing that I wondered about was how much of this plan Strucker was involved in. Did he set the twins after Stark or was that entirely their own vendetta? Did Strucker have enough access to know that Stark was planning on creating the Ultron AI and used Wanda to set things to their advantage? It seemed as if some of Ultron's plan for replication and such had already been set in place there at Strucker's castle. Not sure?
Natasha: She was so poorly written that there is no excuse. After three films of expertly avoiding the triteness of being a Love Interest, she has barely anything to do in this film except be in love with Bruce Banner. I would like to point out that I am not opposed to seeing Natasha with someone or even Bruce, but it matters how that relationship is shown. In this case, there is literally no build-up. My sister and I turned to each other first at the Lullaby and then when we hit the bar flirting and said "What is going on? Where is this coming from?" We are supposed to understand that the Avengers have all gotten to know and care about each other in the year that they have been raiding Hydra bases, but that fails to work on an emotional level if you do not demonstrate that at all. You have to show Natasha and Bruce getting to know each other on a more personal level if you want us to believe in this relationship or give a flying cucumber about it.She is such an interesting character, who has been well written and had such an integral prescence in CATWS. We saw her leave at the end of that film after showing all her secrets and misdeeds to the world when she dumped SHIELD's files onto the internet. She said she had to go figure out who she was because she had blown all her covers and had to go figure out a new one. There is no continuity, no further exploration of that journey or any ramifications for her actions. No reaction to the world knowing who she is and what she has done.
What is Natasha's function in this film? She calms down the Hulk. She flirts with the Hulk. She wants to run off and live quietly with the Hulk. There is that embarassing flirting scene at the bar at the party. Ugh. There is Bruce falling on top of Natasha with his face on her breasts. Very, very necessary, obviously. How else would we cue onto the fact that these two have a tendre for one another? And if the lack of purpose and complete lack of a continuation of her personal journey was not entirely missing from this film, there is the fact that she even gets the "damsel in distress" role. She is the only team member captures and imprisoned. Does she escape on her own? An extremely well-trained and highly effective spy and assassin, the person whom we have seen go to the rescue of others on numerous occasions, just gets to sit and listen to Ultron's complaints and waits to be rescued. And who should do the rescuing but Bruce Banner? Again, how we could we possibly understand that these two have a deep personal connection unless he should rescue her. The fates forfend that Natasha could rescue herself. (We have been clearly shown she is more than capable of it.)
Also, one of the reasons thrown out by Kevin Feige for their being no plans for a solo Black Widow film, is that she has been given instrumental roles in the MCU films to-date and that Avengers: Age of Ultron would more thoroughly explore her backstory. I fully expected to see her past fleshed out some. All we got was a very brief flashback to her training in the Red Room and the sterilization that they forced on her and the other Widows as part of their graduation. Not a paltry piece of information, but this one bit of her past is used primarily as part of her romantic plot with Bruce Banner as it is only discussed with him when she tries to convince him to leave with her. Why did something of this magnitude not come up ever with Clint or Steve? People that she has gone through hard times with and with whom she has close friendships? Also, is that really the thing that bothers her most? It is heartbreaking and a deep violation, but it is tied into her being taken and used and corrupted from her childhood. From start to finish, what was done to the trainees of the Red Room was monstrous and intended to strip away their humanity.
So, that is it. She has no other role. No other development in a film where she should have stood out as she continued her journey of bravely facing her past, having acknowledged her actions , and choosing to forge her own future.
Things I liked:
Things I liked:
Thor: Buddy, you were smart. At least they did not mess with your character much. But what did he even have to do in this film? My basic complaint for everyone it seems. He basically throws Mjolnir around some, uses Mjolnir to Frankenstein Vision to life, and has a vision/dream of what I took to be Ragnarok. A foreshadowing of the next film where he leads his people to death and destruction. Okay. Is that a fear or a vision? What was going on with the pool and his dreams? How did he know Vision was "worthy"? Thor has no history in the films of foresight or prognostication. Where is this coming from? Also, how very convenient that a special pool was just hanging about to be used for this purpose.
I can only hope that Ragnarok will be an immense improvement.
He is not shown to have strong ties or friendships with any of the other Avengers, not even Steve. (I was rather hoping they would hit it off - they have a history of friendship and deep respect in the comics. Also, I was irritated that Vision can wield Mjolnir, but Steve can barely make it budge? *sigh*)
Tony Stark: Arguably the main character of the film and definitely the protagonist. The whole plot revolves around him, his fears and his past actions. His obssession with his legacy, his need to make everyone safe via technology, his arrogance in believing that he knows best, his inability to listen to those around him with other perspectives. His weapons were used in Sokovia and orphaned Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, resulting in their seeking vengeance for the deaths of their parents. As much as I have liked Tony in the past, I spent the whole film frustrated by his blindness and conceit. I mostly just wanted someone to smack him. Honestly, while I understand what Tony was doing here and why he did it, after Iron Man 3, I was really hoping that he would have grown past some of these faults. Learned from his mistakes. A little teeny bit. And after the disaster that is Ultron, why would you immediately turn around and make another AI? Banking randomly on the idea that this one won't succumb to the same problems? Who does that?
So, he leaves at the end. Essentially retires from the Avengers.
Things I liked:
Things I liked:
"No one would ever know."
Perhaps the single best deliver line.
Steve Rogers: Well, on the one hand, he was not too ill-written. A bit joyless and I was disappointed that after his searching for a home and a purpose, this film essentially has him saying that he will never get a home and so will just keep working for SHIELD. Any plans for a life after the war were obviously torn apart when he woke up seventy years later, but he seems to have resigned himself to never getting a life. He is going to keep fighting a war that never ends. If he can also manage to find a sense of home and purpose having made that decision and not looking forward to a period after, but embracing the experience and life that he has before him now, well and good. However, that is barely expressed in this film.
The philosophical differences between him and Tony were expected and lay the foundation in many ways for their upcoming battle of idealogies in Civil War. Yet, a great part of what made that storyline epic was the fact that Cap and Tony were actually friends split by this issue. Here, they are more like distant work colleagues. You might share a beer after your shift is done, but you have no investment in them once the job is done and you will likely never keep in touch once you go your separate ways. There was absolutely nothing in this film that indicated these two were good friends, much less close enough to warrant the drama that unfolds when they choose opposite sides.
Things I liked:
Maximoff Twins: They were simultaneously all that I had wanted and not. The characters were wonderful and much better than I had hoped they would be, but they either needed to be the main characters or be given more screeen time to develop them. I pretty much loved everything about these two.
I thought it interesting that neither are ever called by their superhero names at all in the film. They are merely enhanced in the MCU rather than being mutants due to the copyrigt issues. So, rather like Cap, they volunteer for genetic experimentation/modification under the guise of helping their country.
I recognized the guy from CATWS who refused to listen to Frank/Hydra who was on the hellicarrier with Fury! A nice touch. I leaned over to point him out to my sister.
Caught the mention of Wakanda and Serkis is being set up as the big bad from the comics as the nemesis of Black Panther. There are going to be far too many characters and threads in Civil War, though. It is going to be very hard to balance the plot again versus the needs of the emotional arcs for the characters.
Ok, lastly, here are some things that got cut or changed: Found these at this interview and this post (all direct quotes are from that post)
Marvel originally had planned for a romantic relationship between Natasha and Hawkeye, which explains why everything in every previous film points toward that. Whedon apparently did not want to take this route because he wanted to show that men and women could be friends without having sex. Ok. Fine. What does turning around and pairing her up with Bruce prove?
Alas, what I saw was a an extremely unbalanced film that was a disservice to nearly all the main characters and failed sadly in finding a heart to the story and developing it so that it could matter. There was no weight to the sacrifice. No understanding to the relationships. I expected, perhaps wrongly, to see the Avengers getting torn apart after coming together in the first film and then fighting against Hydra for the past year. And I got that as they work together in the beginning in Sokovia, taking down Strucker's castle and afterwards as they relax after the party at Tony's and tease one another about Mjolnir. But that was it. After that, there is simply dissension, disagreement and a deplorable sense of defeat.
The entire film had an air of weariness and dreary carelessness.
It is astounding to me that this film was allowed to be released when it is as unremittingly weak as it is. This film does less than any of the other films that have come before it (except possibly Thor 2). Marvel is a cinematic universe that has had so much effort expended to create a series of films that connect and can intersect on a grand scale like this. But there is little point in doing an ensemble film of this nature if it does not serve the greater plot and characters of the individual stories.
Tony and Clint "quit"/ retire. There is the New Avengers sqaud. Banner runs off. Pietro dies. What is the point to any of this? The audience already knows (or if they have an interest in knowing they certainly will have long ago found out) that Tony and Hawkeye are in Civil War/ Cap 3, Banner will certainly be coming back, and we barely knew Pietro before he was pointlessly dispatched.* None of these changes or surprise decisions or actions carry any weight. They will have no effect on the world in-universe and absolutely none on the audience whom all are aware that these decisions are impermanent and can thus be ignored. A death can only matter in so far as we know the person who dies, care about them and that death has a purpose within the narrative. Depending on how quickly you attach to characters, Pietro Maximoff might well qualify for the first two requirements, but he cannot for the crucial third one. His death is shown to have no ramifications or effects on anyone, not even his sister. There is no mention made of him or his heroic choice. There is no grieving or mourning shown from Wanda after her going after Ultron. She just merrily goes off to joing the New Avengers. Sure, Hawkeye gives his new son Pietro as a middle-name in a blink-and-you-could-miss-it-photo that is shown, but there is literally no purpose to Pietro dying other than that is was red herring for Hawkeye. Whedon said that he had set up the film to make it appear as if Clint, the token "vulnerable" human with the family and child on the way, would be the one to be killed and then, "Bet you didn't see this coming!", he is right as rain and the newcomer has been killed off. To what end?
Vision: I was confused by him pretty much the whole time so ????? Is Jarvis still around? Or does he only now exist in a mutated form in Vision?
Ultron: A pretty good villain. A bit too snarky. Like Hades but non-stop. One of the most believable aspects of this film is that Ultron decided humanity needed to be purged after checking out the internet. One thing that I wondered about was how much of this plan Strucker was involved in. Did he set the twins after Stark or was that entirely their own vendetta? Did Strucker have enough access to know that Stark was planning on creating the Ultron AI and used Wanda to set things to their advantage? It seemed as if some of Ultron's plan for replication and such had already been set in place there at Strucker's castle. Not sure?
Natasha: She was so poorly written that there is no excuse. After three films of expertly avoiding the triteness of being a Love Interest, she has barely anything to do in this film except be in love with Bruce Banner. I would like to point out that I am not opposed to seeing Natasha with someone or even Bruce, but it matters how that relationship is shown. In this case, there is literally no build-up. My sister and I turned to each other first at the Lullaby and then when we hit the bar flirting and said "What is going on? Where is this coming from?" We are supposed to understand that the Avengers have all gotten to know and care about each other in the year that they have been raiding Hydra bases, but that fails to work on an emotional level if you do not demonstrate that at all. You have to show Natasha and Bruce getting to know each other on a more personal level if you want us to believe in this relationship or give a flying cucumber about it.She is such an interesting character, who has been well written and had such an integral prescence in CATWS. We saw her leave at the end of that film after showing all her secrets and misdeeds to the world when she dumped SHIELD's files onto the internet. She said she had to go figure out who she was because she had blown all her covers and had to go figure out a new one. There is no continuity, no further exploration of that journey or any ramifications for her actions. No reaction to the world knowing who she is and what she has done.
What is Natasha's function in this film? She calms down the Hulk. She flirts with the Hulk. She wants to run off and live quietly with the Hulk. There is that embarassing flirting scene at the bar at the party. Ugh. There is Bruce falling on top of Natasha with his face on her breasts. Very, very necessary, obviously. How else would we cue onto the fact that these two have a tendre for one another? And if the lack of purpose and complete lack of a continuation of her personal journey was not entirely missing from this film, there is the fact that she even gets the "damsel in distress" role. She is the only team member captures and imprisoned. Does she escape on her own? An extremely well-trained and highly effective spy and assassin, the person whom we have seen go to the rescue of others on numerous occasions, just gets to sit and listen to Ultron's complaints and waits to be rescued. And who should do the rescuing but Bruce Banner? Again, how we could we possibly understand that these two have a deep personal connection unless he should rescue her. The fates forfend that Natasha could rescue herself. (We have been clearly shown she is more than capable of it.)
Also, one of the reasons thrown out by Kevin Feige for their being no plans for a solo Black Widow film, is that she has been given instrumental roles in the MCU films to-date and that Avengers: Age of Ultron would more thoroughly explore her backstory. I fully expected to see her past fleshed out some. All we got was a very brief flashback to her training in the Red Room and the sterilization that they forced on her and the other Widows as part of their graduation. Not a paltry piece of information, but this one bit of her past is used primarily as part of her romantic plot with Bruce Banner as it is only discussed with him when she tries to convince him to leave with her. Why did something of this magnitude not come up ever with Clint or Steve? People that she has gone through hard times with and with whom she has close friendships? Also, is that really the thing that bothers her most? It is heartbreaking and a deep violation, but it is tied into her being taken and used and corrupted from her childhood. From start to finish, what was done to the trainees of the Red Room was monstrous and intended to strip away their humanity.
So, that is it. She has no other role. No other development in a film where she should have stood out as she continued her journey of bravely facing her past, having acknowledged her actions , and choosing to forge her own future.
Things I liked:
- Two words: Auntie Nat. Those two words reveal so much about Natasha's relationship with Clint and his family. She appeared to have been the only one other than Fury to know about his family and clearly has visited enough to have become a favorite with the kids.
- Her working with Steve and using the shield :)
Things I liked:
- Hmm, well, his "When I help create a murderous robot" line was amusing. Sorry, otherwise I really lacked any interest in what they did with his character. Also, just because Vision turned out all right, I am still ticked at him for helping Tony again after the colossal mistake that was Ultron.
Thor: Buddy, you were smart. At least they did not mess with your character much. But what did he even have to do in this film? My basic complaint for everyone it seems. He basically throws Mjolnir around some, uses Mjolnir to Frankenstein Vision to life, and has a vision/dream of what I took to be Ragnarok. A foreshadowing of the next film where he leads his people to death and destruction. Okay. Is that a fear or a vision? What was going on with the pool and his dreams? How did he know Vision was "worthy"? Thor has no history in the films of foresight or prognostication. Where is this coming from? Also, how very convenient that a special pool was just hanging about to be used for this purpose.
I can only hope that Ragnarok will be an immense improvement.
He is not shown to have strong ties or friendships with any of the other Avengers, not even Steve. (I was rather hoping they would hit it off - they have a history of friendship and deep respect in the comics. Also, I was irritated that Vision can wield Mjolnir, but Steve can barely make it budge? *sigh*)
Tony Stark: Arguably the main character of the film and definitely the protagonist. The whole plot revolves around him, his fears and his past actions. His obssession with his legacy, his need to make everyone safe via technology, his arrogance in believing that he knows best, his inability to listen to those around him with other perspectives. His weapons were used in Sokovia and orphaned Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, resulting in their seeking vengeance for the deaths of their parents. As much as I have liked Tony in the past, I spent the whole film frustrated by his blindness and conceit. I mostly just wanted someone to smack him. Honestly, while I understand what Tony was doing here and why he did it, after Iron Man 3, I was really hoping that he would have grown past some of these faults. Learned from his mistakes. A little teeny bit. And after the disaster that is Ultron, why would you immediately turn around and make another AI? Banking randomly on the idea that this one won't succumb to the same problems? Who does that?
So, he leaves at the end. Essentially retires from the Avengers.
Things I liked:
- His greatest fear was getting all his friends killed because he did not do enough to keep them safe. Granted, he was working on Ultron long before the vision, but clearly his concern for the other Avengers (which is never really shown otherwise - thanks for nothing) is a motivating factor.
- I liked his talk with Fury. It is one of the rare moments where we see some real emotion from him.
Things I liked:
"No one would ever know."
Perhaps the single best deliver line.
Steve Rogers: Well, on the one hand, he was not too ill-written. A bit joyless and I was disappointed that after his searching for a home and a purpose, this film essentially has him saying that he will never get a home and so will just keep working for SHIELD. Any plans for a life after the war were obviously torn apart when he woke up seventy years later, but he seems to have resigned himself to never getting a life. He is going to keep fighting a war that never ends. If he can also manage to find a sense of home and purpose having made that decision and not looking forward to a period after, but embracing the experience and life that he has before him now, well and good. However, that is barely expressed in this film.
The philosophical differences between him and Tony were expected and lay the foundation in many ways for their upcoming battle of idealogies in Civil War. Yet, a great part of what made that storyline epic was the fact that Cap and Tony were actually friends split by this issue. Here, they are more like distant work colleagues. You might share a beer after your shift is done, but you have no investment in them once the job is done and you will likely never keep in touch once you go your separate ways. There was absolutely nothing in this film that indicated these two were good friends, much less close enough to warrant the drama that unfolds when they choose opposite sides.
Things I liked:
- I really liked Steve's interaction with the Maximoff twins, especially the comment he made to Hill about how awful to choose to volunteer for experimentation to help your country.
- Overall, I just liked Steve. His flashback was so sad. So much pain lingers.
Maximoff Twins: They were simultaneously all that I had wanted and not. The characters were wonderful and much better than I had hoped they would be, but they either needed to be the main characters or be given more screeen time to develop them. I pretty much loved everything about these two.
I thought it interesting that neither are ever called by their superhero names at all in the film. They are merely enhanced in the MCU rather than being mutants due to the copyrigt issues. So, rather like Cap, they volunteer for genetic experimentation/modification under the guise of helping their country.
I recognized the guy from CATWS who refused to listen to Frank/Hydra who was on the hellicarrier with Fury! A nice touch. I leaned over to point him out to my sister.
Caught the mention of Wakanda and Serkis is being set up as the big bad from the comics as the nemesis of Black Panther. There are going to be far too many characters and threads in Civil War, though. It is going to be very hard to balance the plot again versus the needs of the emotional arcs for the characters.
Ok, lastly, here are some things that got cut or changed: Found these at this interview and this post (all direct quotes are from that post)
Marvel originally had planned for a romantic relationship between Natasha and Hawkeye, which explains why everything in every previous film points toward that. Whedon apparently did not want to take this route because he wanted to show that men and women could be friends without having sex. Ok. Fine. What does turning around and pairing her up with Bruce prove?
- Whedon decided to kill one of the Twins because he believed killing a young character would be more striking, and he chose Quicksilver because he didn’t want to kill the only other female superhero in the movie.
- In the original cut, the pool that Thor and Erik Selvig locate is a way to speak with the Norms. Thor goes into the pool and is possessed by them, allowing Selvig to question them about Thor’s visions, with them responding through Thor
- Originally, Thor would have two visions, with the second one being him conversing with Loki in a burning Asgard.
- Marvel Studios executives didn’t want to include the team’s visions and Hawkeye’s farm. The latter was once left in when Whedon agreed to cut the cave subplot to the mininal requirement to move the plot along. (Don't blame them - even the stuff kept in was too much and too unconnected)
- Whedon regrets not having a longer final cut so the movie could breathe a little more, and feels he overstuffed it a bit. (Yes, it was hugely overstuffed.)
- Whedon wanted the Avengers to go to Sokovia still at odds with each other, and only truly come together in the church, and felt that Vision proving himself by lifting Mjolnir was the best way to explain why they’d let him accompany them.
- There’s an alternative ending whereQuicksilver survives the barrage of bullets andrecovers with Dr. Cho’s medical technology, and later joins the New Avengers aloingside Wanda in a new uniform.