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Avengers: Age of Ultron |OT| If you open this thread, you're an Avenger
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Extra Sauce
Member
Could more people (who have seen the film) kindly comment on the editing? I'm terrified about a potential overabundance of quick cuts.
Laieon
Member
There was quite a bit of quick cuts. Not nearly as bad as Transformers though.
Extra Sauce
Member
Never seen Transformers. How does it compare to Quantum of Solace?
maquiladora
Member
Editing was mostly fine I thought. There were a few moments where it descended into a whirling blur of CGI but for the most part I think the action was shot/edited pretty good compared to most films like this.
Laieon
Member
I've only seen Quantum of Solace once and it was awhile ago, so I can't remember. I'd say it was worse than Fast and Furious 7 though, if you've seen that.
I watch a lot of blockbusters and I can't really say there was an overabundance. I could make out quite clearly everything that was happening and that was while watching it in mediocre 3D.
There are quite a deal of quick cuts but speaking as someone who even saw it in some pretty shitty 3D (the contrast was so murky) I never had trouble deciphering what was going on. Each cut has a pretty significant beat of note, it just sometimes doesn't give you a lot of time to think about them.
I think it would have made (film spoiler)
Thor's side quest to find more information less confusing and out of place if he'd had a glimpse of Loki as well as Heimdall.
Eh that whole scene
was about the gems so I don't think his inclusion would have made any difference. If he had any idea that at some point he had access to not one but two gems along with a possible third in such a short amount then I think he'd commit sudoku.
The whole thing was kind of stupid though.
Just got back. Film was sort of a mess. I'm definitely disappointed, although it was still entertaining. I'll get the good stuff out of the way first - Vision was fantastic, Ultron was good, Scarlet Witch was pretty awesome, there are pretty cool comic moments, and lots of team action. But that aside, it was filled with poor editing, bad lighting, poorly conceived fights, and a narrative bogged down by trying to fit everything and the kitchen sink in it. There are so many subplots and scenes which serve no purpose at all in the core narrative, but exist simply to set up future films. It is obvious and artificial, and the movie is worse for it. This is the exact thing which dragged Iron Man 2 down, and Marvel has done it again.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Haven't seen AoU yet but
Top
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Winter Soldier
Avengers
Iron Man
Mid
Iron Man 3
Low
Captain America
Thor
The Dark World
Iron Man 2
I really don't like the Thor movies.
Top
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Winter Soldier
Avengers
Iron Man
Mid
Iron Man 3
Low
Captain America
Thor
The Dark World
Iron Man 2
I really don't like the Thor movies.
This is basically my reaction in a nutshell. The editing particularly stood out to me, especially following the party scene. You really get the sense that it was a much bigger film that got cut down.
Not bad list but iron man 3 should be low as well ;p
Freewheelin'
Member
TV spot quote!
Thor's bath, the Red Room, Hawkeye (although that adds to the character somewhat), dismantling Hydra, Claudia Kim (sort of useful for introducing the Vision), and I feel like there might be one or two more
Just curious, what don't you like about the Thor movies?
They're definitely the lowest part of my list too, and a huge part of it has to do with the fact that I can barely give two shits about any of the characters in them.
Thanks ! Spot on !
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
that was good.
that was good.
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared
Member
That its really good but everyone acts like its shit?
Freewheelin'
Member
I'd say the first one is the only irrelevant one.
I suppose Klaue as well, but vibranium is pretty important to what happens
This is almost exactly my ranking. I just put Avengers in the okay category too. The rest are crap as on your list.
I think I probably won't mind Age of Ultron as much as some people. I thought the first was basically Transformer's level, and the most it has going for it is the novelty of seeing so many superheroes on screen at once, so I expect more of the same with the sequel. I think it'll be alright since I know what to expect.
Winter Soldier, I think, is the closest Marvel has gotten to making a great blockbuster. I'm hoping CA3 isn't affected by too many characters, since that could be the one. Good to know Cap is still as badass in this as he was in TWS. They made him look like a fool in the first Avengers.
I'll rather talk about the details in the spoiler thread, but I felt that quite a number of stuff especially in the first half of the film, really did nothing for the actual story in the film, but slowed the pacing down a lot.
I agree with this. There are so many strong scenes and great things in this movie, and I really like it, but it still somehow feels like a filler movie, instead of feeling like huge event and a culmination of Marvel phase 2.
Said it before but I think Civil War will be have a greater influence on the MCU.
More or less yeah.
Or everyone think's it's great at first but proceed to shit on it once they realize it didn't live up to their standards a few weeks later.
For the record, I still liked TDKR even if it was clearly a step down from its predecessor.
sti4thewin
Member
Bane was just a straight up G.
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Thoroughly enjoyed Vision, Ultron, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. All newcomers nailed the characters, as well as the costume designers hitting the nail on the head. I felt there were a few scenes were problems arose and then were resolved instantly, like they were made to just stick into a trailer and say "check this out, come watch!".
Opening sequence was really good too. I don't really have a preference on 3D, I think The Phantom Menace is the only other 3D film I've seen, but the 3D here was much better than that. I don't think it's necessary, you certainly wouldn't miss anything without it, but I enjoyed it.
Can't really go into details without spoilers, but the film felt like it was the second film in a trilogy. Whether that's good or bad is up for everyone to decide, but I really liked it.
Obligatory list: Cap 2 > IM > AoU > Avengers > Cap > GOTG > Thor > IM3 > IM2 > Thor 2 > Hulk
Opening sequence was really good too. I don't really have a preference on 3D, I think The Phantom Menace is the only other 3D film I've seen, but the 3D here was much better than that. I don't think it's necessary, you certainly wouldn't miss anything without it, but I enjoyed it.
Can't really go into details without spoilers, but the film felt like it was the second film in a trilogy. Whether that's good or bad is up for everyone to decide, but I really liked it.
Obligatory list: Cap 2 > IM > AoU > Avengers > Cap > GOTG > Thor > IM3 > IM2 > Thor 2 > Hulk
Sounds like I will like it. I do not mind it being a "part of" instead of a standalone film. I view MCU as a big budget series brought trough several mediums.
loved that as well. And judging from the Marvel one-shots, chances are we will still get the real Mandarin.
loved that as well. And judging from the Marvel one-shots, chances are we will still get the real Mandarin.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Same for me as well, but I also found them to be not exciting. They just didn't keep my attention, I don't mind Thor in the Avengers, but I still find him to be the weakest character in it.
maquiladora
Member
Yeah I actually thought the story was pretty....straight forward.
maquiladora
Member
I know what you mean but I don't think thats the case here. If anything, AOU improves on the first film.
Eh. I definitely feel like the sub-plot add to the density of the story, and that's partly due to wanting to address everything (which I attribute to Joss Whedon).
For instance,
Ultron trying to acquire nuclear launch codes is a sub-plot. If you had access to all computer infrastructure and wanted to destroy the world of course that's where you'd start. So it is addressed by having Jarvis subconsciously scramble the nuclear launch codes every time Ultron finds them. It adds fairly little in addressing something that could be seen as a plot-hole, but with a film this big they will occur. So, instead, Ultron decides that he likes the idea of a meteor and uses that instead (for no good reason). It over-complicates the plot, I think. And you have that with Claudia Kim's character, Klaw, the Red Room etc.
It's not bad, but it just makes the film feel over-saturated story-wise.
Freewheelin'
Member
Is that a sub plot? I'd argue that's part of the main plot. Bruce/natasha stuff and Thor stuff are sub plots.
Eh. I mean, it's all arguable but there's a lot of it. Taking a longer path to what would be the same conclusion, and that adding up after having happened multiple times.
It makes the plot itself obscured and messy.
That said I think this is becoming a little too detailed for the non-spoiler forum.
It makes the plot itself obscured and messy.
That said I think this is becoming a little too detailed for the non-spoiler forum.
Not bad, more memorable than the typical MCU film, but some of the usage is hit or miss. When it works it works really well, when it doesn't it feels like it tried too hard to make a scene more "serious" or "dramatic".
Mind if I ask a couple of questions?
-- How does Ultron rank compared to other Marvel villains, in that was he merely serviceable or do you think he will be remembered as a standout example? I'm kind of cautious that the early trailers with the "no strings on me" painted an impression of the character that isn't true in the movie.
-- Does every main character feel involved in the story, or were they just "there" like Hawkeye in Avengers 1? I assume this could be related to your complaints about too many sub plots, since maybe they are trying to make sure everyone feels involved?
Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Elfman did a good job, there was no big, climatic Avengers Assemble sort of moment, but it did the job. I'd say a couple of the tracks were memorable but nothing standout.
Ultron was well done for what the film allowed the character to be. Spader definitely didn't phone it in, there was good character work in the portrayal. But it just feels sort of lost in everything else. It's weird to describe it because as far as the story goes, Ultron is really the only villain, but yet I never really felt that he was driving the movie. Maybe a bit like Loki in the first Avengers. A lot of the action and major beats just felt like noise.
Every Avenger definitely gets their moments in the film, I think this is where Whedon tried really hard to make it more "balanced" than the first Avengers was. I don't think all of it worked though. A+ for effort, but the execution ranges from B- to C-.
Just saw it, loved it.
Is it perfect? Not at all, it's well overstuffed and needs to be about 15-20 minutes longer, and there's a few questionable plot points for sure, but it's great fun and much better as an actual film than The Avengers. They definitely went overboard cutting in the editing room.
It perhaps doesn't have the same simple giddy highs as the first one, but for character, pacing, even dialogue, it's far better. All the inter-relations amongst the Avengers are a lot more fleshed out than before.
Ultron could have done with more actual screentime, but when he was there, he was really good. Spader is kind of hilarious, more than expected. Quicksilver is fine, but Scarlet Witch and Vision were great. Couldn't have pulled both of them off better, really. Klaue, for a small role, was quite memorable and I'd be happy to see him as the villain of Black Panther.
One review said it doesn't reach the highest highs of the first one, but is more consistently good, and that seems accurate.
Is it perfect? Not at all, it's well overstuffed and needs to be about 15-20 minutes longer, and there's a few questionable plot points for sure, but it's great fun and much better as an actual film than The Avengers. They definitely went overboard cutting in the editing room.
It perhaps doesn't have the same simple giddy highs as the first one, but for character, pacing, even dialogue, it's far better. All the inter-relations amongst the Avengers are a lot more fleshed out than before.
Ultron could have done with more actual screentime, but when he was there, he was really good. Spader is kind of hilarious, more than expected. Quicksilver is fine, but Scarlet Witch and Vision were great. Couldn't have pulled both of them off better, really. Klaue, for a small role, was quite memorable and I'd be happy to see him as the villain of Black Panther.
One review said it doesn't reach the highest highs of the first one, but is more consistently good, and that seems accurate.
Maninthemirror
Banned
RT is 81, IMDB is 8.8 and Meta is 72
I hope it stays that way before I see it on midnight, dont want to go in with a negative mindset. For anyone who has seen it, does it reach TWS and IM1 level because those are the kinds which I watch repeatedly
I hope it stays that way before I see it on midnight, dont want to go in with a negative mindset. For anyone who has seen it, does it reach TWS and IM1 level because those are the kinds which I watch repeatedly
Shame, it sounds like he just became background noise for the hero team which is a pitfall for a lot of Marvel villains.
The aspect about juggling a huge cast is probably going to stay a problem for Marvel given how many characters are now in their team movies. I wonder if it would be better to take an X-Men approach where the story is isolated to a couple of main characters with everyone else just being there to fill out a roster for things like action scenes. Granted, it would be much better if they cycled the "main characters" each movie so that everyone would eventually get the spotlight in one movie or another.
I think I need to watch it again.
There's a break before the final act where they through in so many new plotlines to a point where it's downright confusing, there's stuff that must hint at the next Thor (otherwise it has no purpose) and then a bunch of babble about infinity stones, then a whole lot of Civil war prep, before going back to the main Ultron plot. Knowing that it touches on all this might be an easier watch the next time.
There's a break before the final act where they through in so many new plotlines to a point where it's downright confusing, there's stuff that must hint at the next Thor (otherwise it has no purpose) and then a bunch of babble about infinity stones, then a whole lot of Civil war prep, before going back to the main Ultron plot. Knowing that it touches on all this might be an easier watch the next time.
It doesn't but it's still good and in the upper half of Marvel movies.
maquiladora
Member
No memorable motifs or themes really, just generic din-din-din-din-shit-is-happening-din-din-din! But I never went in expecting anything other than that tbh.
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