I'm backkkkkkk......
It has been a long time since I have done a movie review as I have been concentrating an all things baseball and baseball cards but I decided to get back into these once the summer movie season was upon us but in a little different format this time around. Flipping the calendar page from April to May brings us to the 1st and the biggest (money wise) movie of the year (my prediction) Avengers The Age of Ultron. Time to geek out!
Instead of me "reviewing" movies in a "traditional" sense per se I will be going over highlights and low lights among other thoughts and opinions. I seemed to be lacking in the traditional way so I thought I would try a new direction. We shall see how it goes.
Highlights :
- Is anyone worthy to pick up Thor's hammer? Probably my co-favorite scene of the whole movie.
- The Hulk and the "Hulkbuster" Iron Man fight scene would be the other. The Marvel movies keep raising the bar on fight scenes and this one does not disappoint as we get to witness a classic and brutal fight on the big screen
- The budding Black Widow and Hulk relationship.
- The growing dissension between the big 3 aka Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. Foreshadowing of things to come in the upcoming Captain America movie appropriately titled "Civil War".
- Finally seeing Hawkeye showcased. The forgotten one finally gets his moment to shine.
- Another name drop/Easter egg (Wakanda)
- Great final battle set piece.
- Avengers going their own way post fight in a more interesting way compared to the ending of 1st Avengers movie.
- Final scene with Captain America feels like Avengers issue #16 from the 60's.
- Post credit scene with big baddie that ties in the 1st Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy movie and sets up Avengers 3 (and other movies).
Low Lights :
- Scarlet Witch's and Quicksilver's accents. Source material calls for them to have European accents but in the case of Scarlet's it is hard to accept.
- While the humor was appreciated and enjoyed Ultron's less than "robotic" nature was disappointing. I believe he was too humanized for the movie when compared to the comics.
- Nick Fury's back for little more than window dressing...
- ... which probably is because there are too many characters to give equal screen time to.
- Death of an Avenger even though you "knew" one had to bite the bullet.
- Avengers 1 - fight lots of aliens, Avengers 2 - fight lots of robots. Could have used a little more variety.
- Lack of a post credit new character reveal.
As with most "geeks" going in I had high expectations and for the most part they were met and in some cases exceeded them. Knowing this is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle helps that this movie (and most Marvel films for that matter) doesn't have a "true" ending. What happens here will spill into the Captain America, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy et al with all of those being connected to the 2 part Avengers 3 movie. Not to mention the Netflix shows which may or may not be involved in the movie universe. For the casual fan good luck catching up.
Tensions are rising among the ranks and budding love relationships are only complicating matters. Seeing battles on the big screen that we thought we could only see on the printed comic page is a big thrill and this movie is not short on them. The humor between foe and friend alike is presented in a perfect way and only once did I see it as over the top. Knowing what is coming up in the next 4 years worth of movies makes seeing the seeds of it being planted in this and other Marvel movies that more enjoyable and fulfilling.
Even with almost 2 and half hours of mayhem there doesn't seem to be enough screen time to give equal time to other characters other than the core group and it's only going to get worse as more and more characters have and will be introduced. For this genre the plot isn't all that bad but some of the dialogue could have been tweeked in some parts. If you are a Marvel fan you will be seeing this movie no matter what reviews are out there. If not you will probably feel a tad lost but if you just want to see big action scenes with lots of banter between characters you will enjoy this film even if you don't get all the inside jokes and references.
Final Grade : A-/B+
Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin
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