I appreciate honest reviews like this a lot. Hope to see it soon!
Thanks, hope you like watching it!
I generally agree with most of these points. Near-constant quipping does fit someone like Tony, but when Thor starts to quickly backpedal on something he meant as a compliment or delivers a prolonged lampshade during an intense fight with Ultron, it just feels out-of-character.
I don't mind the Hulk/Black Widow romance as such, but I do think that their interaction in Hawkeye's house wasn't done very well. On Banner's side we have 'I can't be with you, because, you know, Hulk' that has already been explored at length in his two movies. On Widow's side we have a revelation of incredibly tragic backstory. While this reveal hardly can be called coming-out-of-nowhere, it does feel not being explored with sufficient gravity and thrown in just to give Natasha some more things in common with Bruce. Add in the fact that it happens during the long action-less second act, and it feels like an unnecessary drama.
Speaking of the Incredible Hulk movie, you'd think Betty Ross would bear a mention. Did she and Bruce break up offscreen? A single line would be enough to handwave it, but nope. In fact, come to think of it, any IH character aside from the big guy himself is yet to appear in any other MCU movie. I get it, they aren't going to do sequel any time soon, but if IH is still supposed to be a part of the MCU, you'd think they'd find some use for these characters, so that their plot lines wouldn't just be left hanging.
But overall, it's a very good movie. The fight scenes are cool, the villain is interesting, the new characters fit right in (well, except for baron Strucker, who is kind of a waste) and the overall plot is good and entertaining. Not on the level of the first one, but still good.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on the "determination to save civilians" part.
The Avengers have consistently shown a total lack of regard for collateral and just because nobody sees or talks about the doubtless casualties does not mean they're not there.
What would the avengers have done if Nick Fury hadn't shown up to save all of those civilians from that city being vaporized?
At what point did they show a former enemies how they can repent and help the world like them? (Never mind that the only reason the avengers "help" the world is because it's a movie and regular humans are helpless).
At no point does the film make the avengers look like people to look up for. They only succeeded because of SHIELD and the fact that Ultron's drones were apparently made of peanut brittle.
I'm sorry, but the film utterly failed to develop any themes. The only point where I got the message that humans are beautiful is when Vision literally says it, with nothing to back up his words.
I suppose there is the theme of "What gives heroes the right?" But it in no way argued that they're a force for good except by basically begging us to assume it.
Fine second draft is a very, very kind way to describe Age of Ultron.
This too shall pass.
Yeah, Nick Fury showing up was a Deus Ex Machina evem if he was shown to be alive earlier in the movie.
But here's the thing: without that help, how were they meant to save anyone on that rock? There was nothing they could have done outside of beating Ultron half an hour earlier than they did, "not caring" be damned. It's a shame that they couldn't save that chunk of the city, but it had been turned into a flying ship/artificial "comet" and they tried their best to lessen the impact.
I saw this movie recently, and I honestly enjoyed it more than the first one. Even with its downsides.
Come sail your ships around me, and burn your bridges down.
a total lack of regard for collateral; What would the avengers have done if Nick Fury hadn't shown up to save all of those civilians from that city being vaporized?
There's a big difference between a lack of regard and not having a plan. All the Avengers were going out of their way to rescue civilians; this is shown throughout the entire battle. But they had to plan on the fly because they had no idea Ultron was going to lift the city into the sky.
But to their credit they started with the evacuations first, and when they feared they wouldn't be able to get everyone off in time, Widow and Cap presume they'll stay behind and die too. They'll take responsibility for their failures, they won't prioritize themselves over civilians, and nor will they cut their losses and say "oh well, at least we saved the rest of the world." Because that is what supervillains do; it's exactly what HYDRA justified their actions with in The Winter Soldier, and it's not too dissimilar from what Man of Steel did. A good superhero story shouldn't stop its problem merely by punching it.
Yes, Fury and the Helicarrier calvary edges toward a Deus ex Machina. But quite honestly, while watching this movie I don't really care that it is; I'm still thrilled. Because if I'm out to see a film that would motivate me to be a hero, I'd rather see the film where the heroes commit to doing their absolute best even if it isn't enough (and so get a bit of divine mercy), than the film where the hero figures "eh, good enough, one smashed city isn't even one percent of the whole world".
At what point did they show a former enemies how they can repent and help the world like them?
Hawkeye's speech to Scarlet Witch, naturally. And in a way, Vision joining the Avengers, as they're wary he might just be a second Ultron.
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Too much of a good thing is still a good thing
One can almost hear Joss Whedon writing the script while going "And cut to... actually that's a good quip. Now cut to- ...wait, that's also a good quip. Okay, now cut to... nah, here's another good quip..." They're all still good quips, but after the first 80 or so, they get exhausting, because every scene starts to feel lighthearted and every character sounds the same. When even your 3-minutes-max side characters start quip warring with the villain, there might be a problem.
The same happens with the action, which feels more oddly paced and harder to follow than the previous film. Plus, equalizing an enormous climax with an equally long second act spent all at one quiet place doesn't quite seem like a balance. It's not bad action by any means, but it ends up feeling less than the near-perfection we've gotten in previous films. Unfair comparing, I guess.
But where the film really pays off is in the themes. This film takes the question that has come up in discussion of Man of Steel or Birdman, i.e. "do superheroes deserve to be looked up to if they wield just as much authority on the populace as villains do? What gives them the right?" But when we fear that the heroes can only minimize damage from the bad guys, hope returns when we see the Avengers' determination to save civilians, not sacrifice thousands for millions, and show former enemies how they can repent and help the world like them. Those are superheroes we want to look up to, not merely look up because they happen to be flying above us.
The only part I think needed a full rewrite, not just some trimming, was the Hulk/Black Widow arc. We've seen Banner worry over and over again about if the Hulk should be used for good; doing it again is just repetitive. As for Black Widow, her chemistry with Banner is there, but the relationship still feels like it came out of nowhere. Not to mentions there's a few uneasy implications in this "woman beauty taming violent manbeast" relationship, and a "Distressed Damsel 101" moment occurs that feels less justified the more I think about it.
Age of Ultron is a fine second draft, but seems to have come out rough while in the editing room. But Whedon's second drafts are still better than some directors' final drafts. See it, have fun, and don't mind thinking for a while.