Avengers: Age of Ultron - thoughts
I know, I usually post exclusively J&A, but I need to talk about this. It's a one-time deal, promise.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, watch it and then come back and talk to me? :D
Scarlet Witch's visions of everyone's greatest fear.
Tony's and Steve's are pretty straightforward.
Thor's vision, the Asgardian feast. I don't get it. I don't know if that's because I didn't pay attention or because it's deliberately vague. I remember talk of Thor being Odin's son and Heimdall blind, but not more.
Natasha's flashback to her Red Room days. I wouldn't have understood the whole impact just from it (apart from the general vibe of "since my childhood I've been trained") but luckily we have two additional sources. One is the movie itself, when Natasha talks to Bruce about her infertility. The other is an interview with Scarlett Johansson, in which she says "the Widow, [...] she's realizing [...] 'I've never made an active choice. I'm a product of other people's imposition.'" See "Natasha, Bruce and monsters" below.
Bruce' and Hulk's visions aren't shown. I think they each had their own, Bruce to bring out the Hulk, Hulk to really get him going. Bruce' vision, well, I guess it was as straight-forward as Tony's and Steve's: he loses control, the Hulk kills. Hulk's vision though, that one intrigues me. What is Hulk afraid of? In an interview, Mark Ruffalo said, "Hulk is as afraid of Banner as Banner is afraid of Hulk." That's a fascinating thought, and one I'd love to see explored.
Natasha, Bruce and monsters. Natasha calls herself a monster not for her dirty work as a spy but for her infertility. I'm not sure about the nuances here: does she blame herself for agreeing/not stopping the Red Room when they sterilized her? Does she accept that she was forced to do it but now feels un-human because she can't give life? Is it that she used to think that it was one or the other, mother or spy, until Clint showed her that the two are not mutually exclusive, and now she feels like a monster for dismissing the possibility of a family without ever questioning it (and maybe realises that she didn't shake the Red Room's programming even long after she had changed sides and fears how much influence it may still have on her without her knowledge)?
Bruce doesn't specify what makes him a monster in his talk with Natasha. Maybe he is talking about Hulk, but I have an alternative theory. The moment that stuck with me is when he tells Wanda that he is past anger, and that he could snap her neck without turning green. It seems that in order to control Hulk, Banner has trained himself out of feelings, at least the ones that make his pulse go up. That kind of emotional numbness I find so much scarier, especially in an Avenger. Great power, clinic rationality and no compassion? That mixture gave us Ultron. And while Bruce Banner might not have physical power, he is a genius scientist and has great influence on the Avengers, especially Tony Stark. I think one could even argue that Bruce' rationality was one of the reasons he gave in to Tony and they launched Ultron: it seemed Bruce didn't feel good about the project, but realised the rational, logical necessity for a defense system - and the rational side won out. Was that just the scientist Dr. Banner speaking, or was that also the keeper of Hulk, who refuses to have passionate arguments?
Bruce and Natasha. It worked for me. I don't actually remember how exactly Natasha explained it but I remember thinking, yes, I get that.
Bruce' adamant refusal makes sense if it's about his fear of the Hulk making an appearance, especially if he and Natasha are getting intimate, but I think it makes even more sense if, again, looked at from the no emotions angle. A serious relationship would mean Bruce has to allow feelings. During their talk at the farm Bruce throws out the no-sex-no-family at some point, but it sounded to me more like he was trying to weasel his way out. I don't think it's about sex, not primarily, I think it's more about emotions in general.
Hulk. The hammer, the shield, the suit, the Hulk - in previous movies, Hulk was a weapon, but now. Is Hulk scared of Banner? Why? What does Hulk think of the Avengers? Of Natasha, whose lullabies make him recede? And, most importantly, the ending. I didn't even realise it at first but it's not Bruce leaving, it's Hulk. I'm so intrigued. With Age of Ultron, Hulk has turned into a character, and one that I'm eager to see explored.
The Mind Gem. What exactly is the Mind Gem? I don't think it has a mind on its own. I interpret it as something like a blank brain, a structure to upload a mind onto, enhance it and project it. That would make sense in how it worked for everyone. Loki used it to project his mind unto others. Tony had a code for Ultron, similar to Jarvis, and the Mind Gem had the infrastructure to run it. (That was probably explained in the movie but if it was, it was too fast for me to fully understand.) Vision uses it the same way, it is the brain that processes the mix of Ultron's and Jarvis' code.
Vision. How can he fly? What is that random beam from the Mind Gem and the end? The hammer lift thing is funny and a quick and simple way to assure us that he's one of the good guys but a hammer's judgement alone is not enough for me.
Vision is too powerful to be an unknown. I want to know more about his powers and his morals, but it's a data and stastics thing. For some reason I'm not really curious about him as a character.
Clint. Love the focus on him, he was the Avenger with the least character development so far. I liked the drumsticks, and his little speech to Wanda about doing a job. Clint with a family came as a shock, I think when the pregnant woman hugged Clint every single jaw in the theatre dropped.
Pietro. Noooo, just when I started to like him! His sacrifice to save Clint left me a bit unsatisfied. We all wanted Clint to come back to family but Pietro didn't know about that. Why was he so ready to die for a random guy? Simple generic heroism? I'd have liked an answer to that. Still, he has the doubtful honour of being the first main character to die for realz in MCU. (Or did he?)
Steve. Love his reaction to Hill scoffing at the Maximoffs volunteering for von Strucker's experiment.
Homes and happiness. I really liked the theme and that we got to explore what the Avengers want to come home to. I liked that they all found different answers. Steve's especially, because it doesn't equate happiness with a wife and kids. I still don't know Thor's, though. I can take a guess but compared to everyone else, his ambitions were left fairly dark.
Thor. Chris Hemsworth in an interview: "On a similar note, Hemsworth found it strange not to be working closely with Tom Hiddleston for the first time. "I was interested to see what was gonna be his conflict or his motivation, because he was sort of driven by that relationship previously." " Well, I am interested in that, too, but Age of Ultron doesn't answer these questions (or maybe it does and I just don't get it). The greatest fear vague, no dreams of the future. Thor and Mjölnir did provide a lot of comedic relief, though, and, as Hemsworth points out in another interview, Thor is the one who sees the bigger picture, i.e. the Infinity Stones, and thus ties the movies together. A mighty role. Who knows, maybe Thor's vision will make sense in connection with later movies.
Sets. I love the interiors of the Avengers tower and the farm. Also I'm curious whether there are parallels between Tony's vision of the fallen Avengers and the monument in the credits.
All in all. Avengers: Age of Ultron left me with some questions (most notably about Thor, Pietro and Vision) but it was long enough as it was and I recognise that there are too many players now to nuance every one of them. Also it did give me things to think about (most notably Natasha, Bruce and Hulk). The action scenes were good; I liked the the ones in Sokovia (first and last fight scenes) best. Though not one of the best in the series, it's still a good movie.
Thoughts? Anything stick out to you? I'd love to hear it!
If you haven't seen the movie yet, watch it and then come back and talk to me? :D
Scarlet Witch's visions of everyone's greatest fear.
Tony's and Steve's are pretty straightforward.
Thor's vision, the Asgardian feast. I don't get it. I don't know if that's because I didn't pay attention or because it's deliberately vague. I remember talk of Thor being Odin's son and Heimdall blind, but not more.
Natasha's flashback to her Red Room days. I wouldn't have understood the whole impact just from it (apart from the general vibe of "since my childhood I've been trained") but luckily we have two additional sources. One is the movie itself, when Natasha talks to Bruce about her infertility. The other is an interview with Scarlett Johansson, in which she says "the Widow, [...] she's realizing [...] 'I've never made an active choice. I'm a product of other people's imposition.'" See "Natasha, Bruce and monsters" below.
Bruce' and Hulk's visions aren't shown. I think they each had their own, Bruce to bring out the Hulk, Hulk to really get him going. Bruce' vision, well, I guess it was as straight-forward as Tony's and Steve's: he loses control, the Hulk kills. Hulk's vision though, that one intrigues me. What is Hulk afraid of? In an interview, Mark Ruffalo said, "Hulk is as afraid of Banner as Banner is afraid of Hulk." That's a fascinating thought, and one I'd love to see explored.
Natasha, Bruce and monsters. Natasha calls herself a monster not for her dirty work as a spy but for her infertility. I'm not sure about the nuances here: does she blame herself for agreeing/not stopping the Red Room when they sterilized her? Does she accept that she was forced to do it but now feels un-human because she can't give life? Is it that she used to think that it was one or the other, mother or spy, until Clint showed her that the two are not mutually exclusive, and now she feels like a monster for dismissing the possibility of a family without ever questioning it (and maybe realises that she didn't shake the Red Room's programming even long after she had changed sides and fears how much influence it may still have on her without her knowledge)?
Bruce doesn't specify what makes him a monster in his talk with Natasha. Maybe he is talking about Hulk, but I have an alternative theory. The moment that stuck with me is when he tells Wanda that he is past anger, and that he could snap her neck without turning green. It seems that in order to control Hulk, Banner has trained himself out of feelings, at least the ones that make his pulse go up. That kind of emotional numbness I find so much scarier, especially in an Avenger. Great power, clinic rationality and no compassion? That mixture gave us Ultron. And while Bruce Banner might not have physical power, he is a genius scientist and has great influence on the Avengers, especially Tony Stark. I think one could even argue that Bruce' rationality was one of the reasons he gave in to Tony and they launched Ultron: it seemed Bruce didn't feel good about the project, but realised the rational, logical necessity for a defense system - and the rational side won out. Was that just the scientist Dr. Banner speaking, or was that also the keeper of Hulk, who refuses to have passionate arguments?
Bruce and Natasha. It worked for me. I don't actually remember how exactly Natasha explained it but I remember thinking, yes, I get that.
Bruce' adamant refusal makes sense if it's about his fear of the Hulk making an appearance, especially if he and Natasha are getting intimate, but I think it makes even more sense if, again, looked at from the no emotions angle. A serious relationship would mean Bruce has to allow feelings. During their talk at the farm Bruce throws out the no-sex-no-family at some point, but it sounded to me more like he was trying to weasel his way out. I don't think it's about sex, not primarily, I think it's more about emotions in general.
Hulk. The hammer, the shield, the suit, the Hulk - in previous movies, Hulk was a weapon, but now. Is Hulk scared of Banner? Why? What does Hulk think of the Avengers? Of Natasha, whose lullabies make him recede? And, most importantly, the ending. I didn't even realise it at first but it's not Bruce leaving, it's Hulk. I'm so intrigued. With Age of Ultron, Hulk has turned into a character, and one that I'm eager to see explored.
The Mind Gem. What exactly is the Mind Gem? I don't think it has a mind on its own. I interpret it as something like a blank brain, a structure to upload a mind onto, enhance it and project it. That would make sense in how it worked for everyone. Loki used it to project his mind unto others. Tony had a code for Ultron, similar to Jarvis, and the Mind Gem had the infrastructure to run it. (That was probably explained in the movie but if it was, it was too fast for me to fully understand.) Vision uses it the same way, it is the brain that processes the mix of Ultron's and Jarvis' code.
Vision. How can he fly? What is that random beam from the Mind Gem and the end? The hammer lift thing is funny and a quick and simple way to assure us that he's one of the good guys but a hammer's judgement alone is not enough for me.
Vision is too powerful to be an unknown. I want to know more about his powers and his morals, but it's a data and stastics thing. For some reason I'm not really curious about him as a character.
Clint. Love the focus on him, he was the Avenger with the least character development so far. I liked the drumsticks, and his little speech to Wanda about doing a job. Clint with a family came as a shock, I think when the pregnant woman hugged Clint every single jaw in the theatre dropped.
Pietro. Noooo, just when I started to like him! His sacrifice to save Clint left me a bit unsatisfied. We all wanted Clint to come back to family but Pietro didn't know about that. Why was he so ready to die for a random guy? Simple generic heroism? I'd have liked an answer to that. Still, he has the doubtful honour of being the first main character to die for realz in MCU. (Or did he?)
Steve. Love his reaction to Hill scoffing at the Maximoffs volunteering for von Strucker's experiment.
Homes and happiness. I really liked the theme and that we got to explore what the Avengers want to come home to. I liked that they all found different answers. Steve's especially, because it doesn't equate happiness with a wife and kids. I still don't know Thor's, though. I can take a guess but compared to everyone else, his ambitions were left fairly dark.
Thor. Chris Hemsworth in an interview: "On a similar note, Hemsworth found it strange not to be working closely with Tom Hiddleston for the first time. "I was interested to see what was gonna be his conflict or his motivation, because he was sort of driven by that relationship previously." " Well, I am interested in that, too, but Age of Ultron doesn't answer these questions (or maybe it does and I just don't get it). The greatest fear vague, no dreams of the future. Thor and Mjölnir did provide a lot of comedic relief, though, and, as Hemsworth points out in another interview, Thor is the one who sees the bigger picture, i.e. the Infinity Stones, and thus ties the movies together. A mighty role. Who knows, maybe Thor's vision will make sense in connection with later movies.
Sets. I love the interiors of the Avengers tower and the farm. Also I'm curious whether there are parallels between Tony's vision of the fallen Avengers and the monument in the credits.
All in all. Avengers: Age of Ultron left me with some questions (most notably about Thor, Pietro and Vision) but it was long enough as it was and I recognise that there are too many players now to nuance every one of them. Also it did give me things to think about (most notably Natasha, Bruce and Hulk). The action scenes were good; I liked the the ones in Sokovia (first and last fight scenes) best. Though not one of the best in the series, it's still a good movie.
Thoughts? Anything stick out to you? I'd love to hear it!