my thoughts on ultron
I had a friend of mine recently ask me what my thoughts were on the latest Avengers movie. Having seen the movie twice now, I believe I have a good enough idea about it to accurately review it.
First off, a little history. I am a big fan of the Marvel movies. I believe what Kevin Feige and his team over at Marvel Studios are doing is beyond brilliant and amazing. I remember going and seeing the first "Iron Man" movie in 2008 with my family while I was still in high school. At that time, I had no idea who Robert Downey Jr. was (which is such a shame because he's now one of my favorites) and very little about the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man. I walked out of that movie a changed man. Since then, I have seen every movie that Marvel has put out at least twice. Some more than others.
That being said, I do recognize that Marvel has its faults as well. They don't succeed every time. Case in point, I was out of the state when the first 'Avengers' came out, but I was no doubt excited for it when I got back home. I remember just sitting at home watching the movie with my family home surround system, watching Iron Man and Thor and the Hulk all fighting together on the same screen and after getting over the spectacle of it all--it was pretty underwhelming as a movie. There are parts I liked, but generally just not engaging as a whole.
When I first saw the trailer for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" I remember being very impressed. My initial reactions led me to believe that this was going to be a gritty, intense movie on par with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." It had a villain that seemed menacing and evil, a version of a Pinocchio song that was just downright creepy, and an overall ominous vibe. The pictures came out, two more trailers were released and my anticipation just kept growing.
Last Friday, my wife said that she was craving "movie theater popcorn" I got the hint. We went and saw 'Age of Ultron' opening night and the theater was packed. We watched as the film unfolded before our eyes and when it was over, we were both hushed about what we said with the over-abundance of listening ears that wouldn't want us to spoil the movie for them. We got back to the car and gushed our feelings about what we both felt about the movie.
Overall, we both liked it. It was a fun, engaging, entertaining film full of action and all the popcorn moments one can expect from a Marvel film, however, it was not my favorite Marvel film.
As I mentioned before, the trailers made this film seem so dark and ominous, but it just wasn't. The villain, Ultron, while menacing and played wonderfully by James Spader just seemed rather generic. It seems that Marvel is just trying to come up with more villains outside of their ever-popular (and sometimes overexposed) Loki, and falling short. Whiplash, Malekith, Ronan the Accuser, it seems they just can't find one and keep them around long enough to grow into their villainy.
I enjoyed the further character development and back story, as well as the subtle hints and clues, dropped for their next story, which Marvel is wont to do.
There were also frequent moments that my wife pointed out which were so heavily saturated in CGI that it resembled a video game. At times, the poor graphics took away from the movie because they were so distracting. Perhaps better attention to the details could have saved them the trouble.
Overall, the movie is great. It's a fun thrill-ride, it just wasn't what I was expecting to be. Like an 8/10. That being said I totally want to see it again and own it.
First off, a little history. I am a big fan of the Marvel movies. I believe what Kevin Feige and his team over at Marvel Studios are doing is beyond brilliant and amazing. I remember going and seeing the first "Iron Man" movie in 2008 with my family while I was still in high school. At that time, I had no idea who Robert Downey Jr. was (which is such a shame because he's now one of my favorites) and very little about the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man. I walked out of that movie a changed man. Since then, I have seen every movie that Marvel has put out at least twice. Some more than others.
That being said, I do recognize that Marvel has its faults as well. They don't succeed every time. Case in point, I was out of the state when the first 'Avengers' came out, but I was no doubt excited for it when I got back home. I remember just sitting at home watching the movie with my family home surround system, watching Iron Man and Thor and the Hulk all fighting together on the same screen and after getting over the spectacle of it all--it was pretty underwhelming as a movie. There are parts I liked, but generally just not engaging as a whole.
When I first saw the trailer for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" I remember being very impressed. My initial reactions led me to believe that this was going to be a gritty, intense movie on par with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." It had a villain that seemed menacing and evil, a version of a Pinocchio song that was just downright creepy, and an overall ominous vibe. The pictures came out, two more trailers were released and my anticipation just kept growing.
Last Friday, my wife said that she was craving "movie theater popcorn" I got the hint. We went and saw 'Age of Ultron' opening night and the theater was packed. We watched as the film unfolded before our eyes and when it was over, we were both hushed about what we said with the over-abundance of listening ears that wouldn't want us to spoil the movie for them. We got back to the car and gushed our feelings about what we both felt about the movie.
Overall, we both liked it. It was a fun, engaging, entertaining film full of action and all the popcorn moments one can expect from a Marvel film, however, it was not my favorite Marvel film.
As I mentioned before, the trailers made this film seem so dark and ominous, but it just wasn't. The villain, Ultron, while menacing and played wonderfully by James Spader just seemed rather generic. It seems that Marvel is just trying to come up with more villains outside of their ever-popular (and sometimes overexposed) Loki, and falling short. Whiplash, Malekith, Ronan the Accuser, it seems they just can't find one and keep them around long enough to grow into their villainy.
I enjoyed the further character development and back story, as well as the subtle hints and clues, dropped for their next story, which Marvel is wont to do.
There were also frequent moments that my wife pointed out which were so heavily saturated in CGI that it resembled a video game. At times, the poor graphics took away from the movie because they were so distracting. Perhaps better attention to the details could have saved them the trouble.
Overall, the movie is great. It's a fun thrill-ride, it just wasn't what I was expecting to be. Like an 8/10. That being said I totally want to see it again and own it.