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I'm Alive! - An Age of Ultron Impression


On 04/28/2015 at 03:08 PM by V4Viewtiful

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Hey folks, I've been away for a while but I've been a ghost on the sight. Blame work.

Due to staff leaving they pulled me in for extra hours and I haven't the time or energy to blog, i'll get my regular shifts soon so I'll keep you updated, I've got a huge back log of comics to get through your throats, I've watched almost all my Favourite Anime movies (some twice). and I've almost finished Virtues Last Reward (that game, geez).

So lets get my impressions of this years Blockbuster Marvel epic. Spoiler 3

Short Version - It's sooo much better than the first and I loved it. See it by any means!

Long Version - I know Whedon became less enthused in this sequel but in my opinion t doesn't show that often. This was a dense intense, joyful and well crafted experience.

The music is some of Danny Elfman's best, when I saw the credits i was like "wait, this was his work?" it's not that I think he's bad but his music tends to have little personality at times but here? I could very much identify the melody and it complimented each scene giving the movie more character. Gregory Porter's Liquid Spirit is played as one of those liscense music plugs like Season in MOS but less obscure, which brings us one of the best Stan Lee cameos ever.

The plot is again simple but AI trying to destroy the world while teamates fight eachother, many say it's cliche but at least this time it's not of their own character flaws that outrightly caused it. It actualy contains many plot threads and little stories between characters, and everyone gets a decent if not very good amount of screen time. On that note of plot threads, this movie is littered with references and plugs for other characters movies and in movie plot developments, Like that scene with Thor's hammer which seemingly was just for fun, however there are references to Infinity War, Black Panther, Civil War and Ragnarok. Things only fans would outright identify. The funny thing is even though the heroes caused the problem given the nature of the main villain and hydra he would have happened regardless but in a different form or name. I only say this because Stark wasn't really liked much in the country there where in in the first action scenes so if people find out where Ultron came from it would be an element towards the Civil War movie.

The opening scene though a bit of cheese with the heroes momentarily lined up is still frikkin amazing in motion and well choreographed... till we get to the final scene and it's better than the first movie, it's like a less scary Terminator movie but with superheroes. However the fighting scenes as a whole was well composed showing off every ones talents, familiarity with each other and teamwork. My older brother who's a Hulk fan will love the Hulk Buster fight till it's finished, but during it's quite thrilling.

The Villains are good, It's a shame one had to go but the rest was cool, Klaw a BP villain played by Andy Serkis, though I never imagined what he would sound like he does give the guy a cool "voice" and I can't wait to see him in the next movie. Strucker I would have liked to see more of. Ultron is odd for me, though he's possibly the best Marvel villain after Loki, I didn't like always being aware this was "James Spader", people feel that way with Stark but understand they're both very much the sameTongue Out saying that Ultron being created by Iron Man share many character traits so it all works, Just for me I suppose I wanted a less human less familiar enemy. 

The heroes as a whole are wonderful, Idris as Hiemdhall has a little scene which I liked, War Machine though has good scenes and shows his capabilities it urks me a little how he feels and is played as almost a second Banana, he isn't but the implication is both funny and conflicting. I was a little worried at first that this movie was going to feel like Iron Man & His Friends but everyone has there time to shine. My favourite character was Quicksilver though, he was so much fun to watch. Vision could have used more screen time to develop but then his joke at the end would have lost a little something (it was a good one too), the way he earns their trust is problematic for some but inthe context on the nature of his powersource and intentions I can handle it plus it was a scene everyone laughed at because of an earlier scene. And if the viewing public could find that funny, it seems well done.

A Superhero movie should be fun and the Heroes are having fun, that's what I like to see in these types of movies that even in the darkest hours there's some joy, this film has more running jokes than the last but I see it as everyone being comfortable unlike how uncomfortable everything was in MO--nooo! We aren't going there. It may not be as "Deep" for some but it doesn't miss the mark in entertainment, visual engagement and full characters.

Watch it, it's worth every penny.

Oh I saw a version of the Mad Max movie. Ooooooooooooooooooooh my flippin god that was insane!

 

That's it for now, it took too much energy to do even THIS, i'm going to finish off a game and read some new comics


 

Comments

mothman

04/28/2015 at 06:01 PM

I would love to see this one. I also love Elfman and have since Oingo Boingo.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

05/04/2015 at 09:48 AM

Just saw Age of Ultron yesterday with the Mrs.  I walked away quite satisfied and reassured that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a lot of life still left in it.  I had no idea Danny Elfman was involved in the musical score.  I'm not super famliar with his past works other then Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Batman (plus the 90's animated series' theme tune).  Nonetheless, I feel like I neede to go back and watch the movie again just to appreciate the music.

Hulkbuster fight scene was impressive.  I remember being worried that the previews had shown me too much (espeically with the H.Buster suit), but I came to find out that I hadn't seen jack until the actual movie.  And yeah, that Stan Lee cameo is now my favorite, and best one they've done so far. I also appreciated that the movie more or less spent equal time with all the Avengers, we got to learn a little more about some of them, yet it never dragged the movie down to slow crawl.  I must say though, looking back on it, I think Hawkeye really made the  movie for me during the last half of the film.  I was quite surprised.

I can see why you may have had a bit of difficulty with James Spader voicing Ultron.  I was kinda bummed when it was first announced because all I could picture was "Red" from the Blacklist (a charcter played by Spader), and I'm just inot his "know-it-all cool guy" persona.  But I think it worked well for a movie adaption of Ultron, and you can tell spader definitely had fun with role and it played well off the other Avengers.  In fact, I personally feel that Ultron was the best villain of the one's we've seen in Phase 2 of the MCU (besides maybe Winter Soldier).  He was a legitamately threatening force and not just some mad-man you already knew was "really just the #2 guy" to the real villain you'll never get to see fight the heros in this movie (I'm looking you Ronin in Gaurdians of Galaxy).

I was suprised by how much I ended up enjoying seeing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.  They were more than just secondary characters only there for filler.  And while, yes, Vision's screen time was short, Joss Wheldon still managed not to make him feel like he was just shoehorned into the movie.  The setup for his arrival really helped because there was less that needed to be explained about how he got there.  I loved his character-- he didn't waste time being "lost" and having to find his way in the world.  Really glad they avoided that trope. Dude--I loved the way he earned the team's trust!  As a comic book fan, i had no issues with it.  Definitely one of the coolest moments.  In fact, about half the audience brooke out in applause, others at least laughed with delight. I love when the audience "gets it".  And, like you, I loved his little quip at the end which added a bit more legitamicy to fact of his short screen time.

Overall, I was pleased with the movie, especially considering that it was not based on the Age of Ultron in the comics.  Proves that comic book movie can still be good even if it isn't 100% parallel to the written work.  Definitelty getting this on BluRay.

Cary Woodham

05/04/2015 at 07:26 PM

I enjoyed the movie but I don't think it was better than the first, just more of the same.  But the first was a fun action flick so that made this one fun, too.  Although if you showed me a clip from the first movie and a clip from the second, I probably couldn't tell you which one each clip was from.  Kind of like the Lord of the Rings movies.

I don't know who is in charge of the Avengers, whether it be Captain America or Eye Patch Man, but they need to make a new rule.  They need to require all new recruits to the Avengers to wear name tags that say "Hello, my name is..."  That way, I won't have to make up my own names like "Guy Who Goes Fast" or "Girl Who Shoots Red Things."

Of course, know that I'm not big into comic books and all my Marvel knowledge comes from Marvel vs.Capcom and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video games.

Speaking of the Avengers, you've got to go to YouTube and do a search for The Aveggies: Age of Bon Bon.  I liked that better than the movie!

NSonic79

05/19/2015 at 02:21 PM

i'll probably wait till it comes out on netflix before I see it. I did with the first movie so might as well. though I am curious how they'll pull off civil war. 

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