Age of Ultron
POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Saturday, April 28, 2018 03:51
VIEWED: 8604
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I've seen some threads about snarky comments, reviews, smackdowns, largely publicity functions.
Not much about the film, any story it might possess.
I had not really planned on seeing it in cinema, but conjured I would likely see it after a few weeks. But then I noticed I have not been able to catch films that way recently. When I go looking for a film that was showing a week before, I find the film has left the theater run.
Now I notice that Elizabeth Olsen is in Ultron, so I will need to remember to see it. I understand this means I will not be able to avoid Downey unless I can find a way for the theater to fast forward through his scenes. But I did manage to not see Godzilla, largely because the promotional material failed to adequately make clear that Elizabeth was in it.
I can admit that I prefer Bana Hulk to any other.
I have not bothered with the comics, in case these shows are following them.
Is Cobie Smulders still in Ultron?
Natalie Portman seems to be only in the non-Avengers part of Thor's life. Plus I hear she does not even want to be in any other Thor films.
So who is really wanting to see the film?
Who might see it, but only if convenient?
Who will wait for DVD? Or budget/bargain cinema?
I also note that ScarJo may be dwindling down her roles, and Elizabeth Olsen seems more than capable of taking over any roles that ScarJo or Maggie Gyllenhal pass up.
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I don't think you need worry that Age of Ultron will be out of theaters quickly. You can bet it will still be playing in some theaters into July. It will be the highest grossing film of the summer for sure, and the only other film this year that might surpass it is Star Wars 7.
I think you're a little naive if you think that the majority of people who visit this site aren't very eager to see this. It is Joss after all, even if it isn't really his film, but rather Marvel's. I will see it opening weekend, maybe even on Thursday.
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Yep, Joss. Another good reason to see it. Even that wasn't quite enough to overcome the Downey factor for me.
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Quote:Joss Whedon's sequel is a fun summer spectacle, but wasn't he aiming for more?
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
Yep, Joss. Another good reason to see it. Even that wasn't quite enough to overcome the Downey factor for me.
To some extent, the presence of a well-respected and high-integrity auteur like Whedon mitigates the ambivalent atmosphere of calculation, condescension and cynicism that surrounds so many nine-figure Hollywood productions. The “Avengers” franchise is more than a huge cash grab. It’s mythic; it’s “ambitious.” No one involved needs to apologize to their artsy friends, or to feel that their L.A. hillside mansions and terraced swimming pools and BMW 6 Series convertibles were paid for with dirty money, the way they might after working on a Michael Bay movie.
But this is a big movie whose cultural ripple effects are very small. I feel no coming groundswell of media thinkpieces or social-media debates.
Ultron is like every pseudo-demonic villain -- he yearns to perfect the human race by exterminating it. Such is the essential and insuperable problem of the summer movie and such is the challenge Whedon has set himself.
How much distinctive or idiosyncratic flavoring can a writer/director impart to a set of characters as well defined as this assemblage of Marvel superheroes, and to a story that must progress from original sin to existential crisis to redemptive action climax, with very little room for variation? There is honor to this quest, and maybe even a kind of selflessness – if work whose craftsman is paid millions can ever be called selfless. Whedon is trying to meet the expectations of comic-book fans head on, and satisfy them in full, while proving to them and to us that these movies – the fundamental economic basis of the American film industry, at this point — don’t have to be careless and juvenile and entirely bereft of psychological insight and adult emotion.
This may be a perverse response, but I enjoyed “Age of Ultron” more than its predecessor, despite the fact that it’s almost exactly the same thing. This was probably a result of adjusting my expectations: I wasn’t sitting there waiting for Whedon to revolutionize the genre, or to turn an overdetermined comic-book movie into a Noel Coward comedy. He delivers a clean and capable entertainment, with a handful of distinctive flourishes stuck to the margins.
Whedon does well with the darker edges of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, whose degree of repentance for his war-criminal past is always ambiguous. Whedon adds sparkling notes of screwball comedy, and even tragedy, to the incipient romance between Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Mark Ruffalo’s Dr. Bruce Banner (who, like so many lovable men, has a big, green, ugly side).
Once we get to the supposedly climactic showdown with Ultron the movie is pretty boring; how many ways are there to threaten the planet with CGI destruction and then CGI-save it? Whedon’s complicated setup, however, offers intriguing hints of subtext. (I could write the same two sentences about almost any superhero movie.)
www.salon.com/2015/04/27/joss_whedons_doomed_struggle_age_of_ultron_an
d_superhero_cinemas_decadent_phase/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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I'll admit I never really liked RD Jr, either, but I think he probably is the perfect person to play Iron Man, just because he HAS a past that's not squeaky clean and it translates well for the development of the character.
I too, do not like to give second chances to people that have it all and blow what the rest of us could only wish for, but at this point fighting it is counterproductive anyway...
PS What is the deal with Elisabeth Olsen? Why do you like her?
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Quote:Joss Whedon & Elizabeth Olsen Interview
Originally posted by Wishimay:
PS What is the deal with Elisabeth Olsen? Why do you like her?
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
I'll admit I never really liked RD Jr, either, but I think he probably is the perfect person to play Iron Man, just because he HAS a past that's not squeaky clean and it translates well for the development of the character.
I too, do not like to give second chances to people that have it all and blow what the rest of us could only wish for, but at this point fighting it is counterproductive anyway...
PS What is the deal with Elisabeth Olsen? Why do you like her?
I have seen her work, or at least some of it. She can steal some scenes, but really she embeds herself in the roles, it never seems like she is acting. Maybe also because she didn't seem to ride the coattails of her famous siblings, who I don't really follow. I saw a clip of Ultron with her, and she looks wierd in that black outfit and hair, but I am willing to watch what she brings to the overall film.
I think she has great potential, promise. By now she must be older than Abigail Breslin who also absorbs the characters, but she really marinates in roles better than ScarJo ever has. I think Elizabeth's star is still on the rise, so it feels to me like watching Natalie Portman, Lisa Jakub, and other good actresses grow.
I think a better Iron Man could be found in Michael Beihn, Matt Damon, Karl Urban, Eric Bana, Tom Hardy, Jensen Eckles, Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher, Gary Sinise, and others. Unless, are you intending to imply that Tony Stark is supposed to be completely unlikeable?
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As I remember Tony Stark in the comics, he was like Elon Musk, boy genius, and Kevin Kline. Smooth, suave, debonair and a decent fellow (despite being a stoopid rich tycoon), think Batman but without the brooding Dark Knight vibe going on.
He seemed like the type of guy that we would hang out with, if he was a working glass dude. His best friend was his driver and his secretary, er, excuse me, administrative assistant. Downey has almost totally transformed him into a super-rich version of himself (that seems redundant), I did kind of liked him in the original film, but he has turned him into a wisecracking, scotch drinking version of, well, himself. Only thing that is somewhat saving him is the wonderful script that Joss & Co. wrote for the Avengers, and Joss's sense of humor.
I find it kind of boring to have Iron Man wisecracking throughout the film and not really take on the gravitas of Tony Stark's situation. Can you tell I was an Iron Man fan from way back; also Thor. I'm good with Hemsworth as Thor, he gets it. But Downey, well sometimes you could almost catch him looking in the mirror at himself with that smirk on his face saying "Damn, I'm good." The director, I would imagine, has to reign him in at times. Although I really can't hate on him too much because I saw a story about him visiting a sick kid (dying of something) and he didn't seek publicity (it was only through Twitter, posted by the kid's mother). Good for him.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
I'll admit I never really liked RD Jr, either, but I think he probably is the perfect person to play Iron Man, just because he HAS a past that's not squeaky clean and it translates well for the development of the character.
I too, do not like to give second chances to people that have it all and blow what the rest of us could only wish for, but at this point fighting it is counterproductive anyway...
PS What is the deal with Elisabeth Olsen? Why do you like her?
I have seen her work, or at least some of it. She can steal some scenes, but really she embeds herself in the roles, it never seems like she is acting. Maybe also because she didn't seem to ride the coattails of her famous siblings, who I don't really follow. I saw a clip of Ultron with her, and she looks wierd in that black outfit and hair, but I am willing to watch what she brings to the overall film.
I think she has great potential, promise. By now she must be older than Abigail Breslin who also absorbs the characters, but she really marinates in roles better than ScarJo ever has. I think Elizabeth's star is still on the rise, so it feels to me like watching Natalie Portman, Lisa Jakub, and other good actresses grow.
I think a better Iron Man could be found in Michael Beihn, Matt Damon, Karl Urban, Eric Bana, Tom Hardy, Jensen Eckles, Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher, Gary Sinise, and others. Unless, are you intending to imply that Tony Stark is supposed to be completely unlikeable?
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Gonna catch it with my son and some of his friends, most likely on Monday to avoid the crowds.
SGG
Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
I've seen some threads about snarky comments, reviews, smackdowns, largely publicity functions.
Not much about the film, any story it might possess.
I had not really planned on seeing it in cinema, but conjured I would likely see it after a few weeks. But then I noticed I have not been able to catch films that way recently. When I go looking for a film that was showing a week before, I find the film has left the theater run.
Now I notice that Elizabeth Olsen is in Ultron, so I will need to remember to see it. I understand this means I will not be able to avoid Downey unless I can find a way for the theater to fast forward through his scenes. But I did manage to not see Godzilla, largely because the promotional material failed to adequately make clear that Elizabeth was in it.
I can admit that I prefer Bana Hulk to any other.
I have not bothered with the comics, in case these shows are following them.
Is Cobie Smulders still in Ultron?
Natalie Portman seems to be only in the non-Avengers part of Thor's life. Plus I hear she does not even want to be in any other Thor films.
So who is really wanting to see the film?
Who might see it, but only if convenient?
Who will wait for DVD? Or budget/bargain cinema?
I also note that ScarJo may be dwindling down her roles, and Elizabeth Olsen seems more than capable of taking over any roles that ScarJo or Maggie Gyllenhal pass up.
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Quote:Tony Stark in the most recent comics is Tony Stark from the movie.
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
As I remember Tony Stark in the comics, he was like Elon Musk, boy genius, and Kevin Kline. Smooth, suave, debonair and a decent fellow (despite being a stoopid rich tycoon), think Batman but without the brooding Dark Knight vibe going on.
He seemed like the type of guy that we would hang out with, if he was a working class dude. His best friend was his driver and his secretary, er, excuse me, administrative assistant. Downey has almost totally transformed him into a super-rich version of himself (that seems redundant), I did kind of liked him in the original film, but he has turned him into a wisecracking, scotch drinking version of, well, himself. Only thing that is somewhat saving him is the wonderful script that Joss & Co. wrote for the Avengers, and Joss's sense of humor.
I find it kind of boring to have Iron Man wisecracking throughout the film and not really take on the gravitas of Tony Stark's situation. Can you tell I was an Iron Man fan from way back; also Thor. I'm good with Hemsworth as Thor, he gets it. But Downey, well sometimes you could almost catch him looking in the mirror at himself with that smirk on his face saying "Damn, I'm good." The director, I would imagine, has to reign him in at times. Although I really can't hate on him too much because I saw a story about him visiting a sick kid (dying of something) and he didn't seek publicity (it was only through Twitter, posted by the kid's mother). Good for him.
SGG
From Avengers #44, this month's comic. Tony Stark shows that he can be a nice guy to little children, but he can also infuriate the rest of the Universe because of his arrogence.
Scene: Texas, lunchtime at the Burger Shack. In their civilian clothes, Ironman and Captain America are sitting at a booth next to the windows. They are discussing the fate of the Universe. Ironman is in very deep trouble with the President, other world leaders, the U.N. etc. It is just another day for Tony Stark, who quips, "The entire U.N. . . . It's a wonder that I can sleep at night."
TONY STARK: So that's it, Steve, isn't it? The very heart of it. You really do think I'm a bad guy. That your friend is gone, lost, and has been replaced by whatever I am now. You should take a closer look at the kind lady who has brought you your food.
STEVE ROGERS: Why would? I didn't recognize . . . Is that you, Tamara?
TAMARA aka CAPTAIN UNIVERSE: Yes, I'm Tamara. Have we met? Of course we have. Why else would you know my name? You'll have to forgive me. I had an accident in my memory . . . Well, it ain't all there. My sweet daughter is having to remind me of all kinds of things all the time. No miracle under the sun quite as special as someone looking out for you.
ROGERS: You found her daughter.
STARK: I did. Wasn't that monstrous?
ROGERS: No, it wasn't. It's the kind of thing that used to blow me away. Billionaire sweat the small stuff. The important things. Are we really going to find some way out of this?
STARK: I know we can.
TAMARA: Don't lie. Don't do that.
Tamara begins the transformation into Capt Universe, the voice of the Universe.
CAPTAIN UNIVERSE: Don't seed hope where there is none. You promised us a great machine of salvation, yet built no such thing. Do you know what lasting thing you built, Anthony Stark? Nothing. A house built on lies. I am dying Stark. The universe is dying. We all are. And you have known it all along.
Even the Universe hates Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. is simply playing Tony Stark as he is written in the comics.
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