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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
It's like cheese sauce. It's delicious. But when you have too much, it makes you wanna throw up.
My various fanfics.The main thing that got me with AOU is that it was a constant stream of quips and jokey moments. Like when Baron Strucker was punched down by Captain America and gave out that goofy groan, the mook who was knocked down by the sedation dart with the exchange "Good talk" "No it wasn't!", the "Language!" Running Gag, etc. Even the entire Hulkbuster fight was a bunch of one-liners and visual gags, the ONE moment that was taken seriously (Hulk climbing out of the rubble and realizing what has happened) was capped off with another joke (off-screen punch to the head).
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I liked the "Good talk" bit. I always like when the mooks get funny lines.
I agree with the Hulkbuster fight, though. This is a critical scene for Banner, as we see later in the film, but it's kind of undercut by Tony's constant one liners. Maybe it have worked better if it had held on the Hulk's realization of the destruction he caused a little longer, it would have worked better.
edited 1st Jun '15 5:49:46 PM by KarkatTheDalek
Oh God! Natural light!I appreciate the Whedon banter, as it makes his films feel more unique than other blockbusters, but there were places in the film where it felt like the momentum just stopped dead for a joke. One such example is the Ulysses Klaw scene.
He's a brutal arms dealer, meets the twins, they try to intimidate him, he doesn't care if they try, shows how tough he is and... cuttlefish? Cuttlefish imitation? Awkward noises? Anyway, as he was saying- Quicksilver steals candy? Everyone stares blankly... anyway, as he was saying...
Too much banter can also make a situation feel too lighthearted and diminish the stakes. We don't care about Hawkeye thinking over his remodeling plans, we want to see the lives in his care make it out safely. Ultron feels like a menacing mystery at first, until he stumbles over words and it feels like they forgot to edit a flub out. Sometimes it's better to leave a funny gag for the blooper reel or riffing. Quicksilver superspeed stealing a candy might have made me laugh in a parody skit. In the movie itself not so much.
edited 1st Jun '15 5:50:46 PM by Tuckerscreator
@Zarek: Yeah. It comes out of nowhere for seemingly no reason and is gone just as quickly as it appeared. It seems to exist solely so they can include a shot of Quill and Gamora leaning in for a kiss in the trailers.
And hey, look at Thor 2. Besides Malekith being an inanimate object, you know what one of the biggest failing points of the movie was? The awkward Thor and Jane romance scenes. And the only real reason in-universe for their romance is because she once hit him with a car.
And Winter Soldier didn't have any romance unless you count the silly kiss scene which is clearly meant to be humorous, not romantic. And many people consider it one of the best films in the MCU.
I mean, sometimes it works. Like, in the first Iron Man his moments with Pepper felt like natural development of both their characters, didn't feel shoved in, and helped actually serve the narrative of Stark's transformation from an irresponsible jackass to slightly less of an irresponsible jackass. Or Steve's budding romance with Carter made his endgame sacrifice much more poignant since we knew there was someone he'd be leaving behind, and may very well have struck close to home in regard to wartime losses, even if the circumstances are a bit fantastical. It served a purpose beyond titillating the romance crowd.
edited 1st Jun '15 5:51:56 PM by Anomalocaris20
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!
Well, yes, but in that case, the danger had passed, and the serious bit was over. It's the end of the movie, after all.
In the Hulkbuster scene's case, it's in the middle of the movie, and doesn't seem to hold on the serious bits enough. I actually felt that they managed to hold on the serious bits in the first movie long enough to make them work.
Of course, I mostly enjoyed Ao U's humor - I just wished they had cut down on it in a few places.
Oh God! Natural light!I don't have a problem with humor, but it seems like the Marvel movies rely on humor to carry the weight of the movies, which has the result of making everything seem insincere. The first Iron Man movie knew when to put the humor on pause, which is why the whole sequence with Tony building the Iron Man armor in a cave with a box of scraps was so epic. It would've carried no weight whatsoever if Tony was cracking jokes the whole time.
Heck, even Guardians of the Galaxy had moments like Star Lord's mom dying of cancer and Groot's Heroic Sacrifice. But with Age of Ultron, it's like, "Oh, an evil robot's threatening to destroy the world, but none of the characters seem particularly bothered or upset by it, so I guess everything's fine. Whatever."
edited 1st Jun '15 5:57:18 PM by spashthebandragon
I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.I still can't believe people are saying that banter is the only thing Joss is good at.
Look: during the Buffy the Vampire Slayer days, there were people saying that as well, that Joss only wrote really snappy dialogue. So Joss wrote an entire episode mainly void of dialogue ("Hush") and it was one of the best episodes of television ever.
So no, banter isn't the only trick Joss has.
edited 1st Jun '15 5:56:29 PM by alliterator
But, like... that's what makes the jokes work. It's the dissonance of Hawkeye detailing his remodelling plans while an entire country crumbles around him that makes that funny.
It's the fact that you expect Ultron to be this deep, baritone EVIL ROBOT that makes him just being Tony Stark's son fucking hilarious.
"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."
I suppose the question is, are those places good places to have jokes, or are they moments that ought to be more serious?
x5 Okay, but not everyone agrees that the jokes work. And even so, it's basically trading away catharsis and emotional attachment to the story for the sake of a quick laugh, which, like I said, makes it all seem insincere. Which in turn makes the movies seem like cheap popcorn flicks made for general audiences to chuckle at rather than genuinely compelling storytelling.
edited 1st Jun '15 5:59:33 PM by spashthebandragon
I've got fanfics for Frozen, Spectacular Spider-Man, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro the Dragon.Meh, I thought the banter was fun.
I liked Tony!Ultron.
Cause of the stuff he does?
edited 1st Jun '15 6:00:48 PM by Bocaj
Forever liveblogging the AvengersThat's the joke, though. The joke is the Avengers are so hyper-competent and professional at what they do they can have a chat about pointless stuff when they get some free time during a battle.
Plus, most of the time during the actual Ultron fights they're not chatting while fighting. I think they only do that in the first fight, and that's against HYDRA mooks that die in one hit.
edited 1st Jun '15 6:02:50 PM by Zarek
"We're home, Chewie."That's a good point. When the heroes are constantly making quips when the stakes are supposed to be monumental, are there even any stakes at all? Do they even care if Ultron gets away? Or will they just beat him up again?
Yeah, but when things were supposed to be serious, they were serious. Peter's dance-off was specifically a distraction, and the rest of the cast treated it as the weird insanity that it was, rather than participating.
edited 1st Jun '15 6:02:53 PM by SonOfSharknado
My various fanfics.

I guess that's also the reason for the sudden family.
Which, hey, some good things came out of it then!
Forever liveblogging the Avengers