Avengers: Age of Ultron

I am an old and conservative man who is no longer fast enough for the pace of Michael Bay's hypnagogue sessions, and I am increasingly enjoying wooden characters who constantly need to feed their egos. I can laugh at all that and forget about the absolutely tragic love cooing of a rookie and Russian, which I would without hesitation call one of the biggest directing failures in the history of Marvel. Again, the Avengers are not getting anywhere and are working with the same (and not completely fresh) model of action, and I do not see any exorbitant escalation in them. I enjoyed it, for example, because for the first time in the history of Marvel films, I was afraid for the life of one of the characters, and also because it is the first solo for Hawkeye, who knocked me on my ass from the back lines. I got what I came for. A slow, lightly leather and conservative costume event, which is starting to be particularly intimate in its grandeur, because it is basically a party of friends who long for rest. (04/30/2015)

The same thing over and over again. Unfortunately, there is a lack of coherence and it lacks the dynamism of the first film. Among all the comic-book clichés, the only things that remain are the well-developed characters and the sharp emphasis on the supporting, not so powerful, yet very interesting figures (Hawkeye, Black Widow). The could have spared the nonsense with the Hulk, as well as the cheap action just for the sake of it, but those smooth digital sequences are cool, right? (even though they look lilke Zack Snyder’s stuff.) Joss Whedon doesn’t deliver anything revolutionary, he just pockets a lot of money because he does what works the most: a little bit of everything, so no one gets offended and everyone gets their fill. I wonder how many dozens of comics with the same plot narrative and framework Hollywood will have to make before audiences realise that it's all the same? Then a creator like Nolan will have to come in and rewrite history again. (04/30/2015)

As with the first episode, I give it an awkward three stars and save any more for the DVD version. It's not that I didn't like the second Avengers, there were just so many things to fault in it that the film doesn’t deserve a higher rating from me right now. I was disappointed by the underutilization of Baron Strucker (and he was played by Thomas Kretschmann!), Joss Whedon's annoying need for someone to say or do something at least a little funny every now and then, a bland Ultron who was not scary (and who of course also had to say things that were supposed to be funny), and the near absence of suspense. But I liked the scenes like the hammer raising (really funny) and the conversation between Black Widow and Dr. Banner (dramatic, touching, it had everything), I was thrilled by the Hulk and Hulkbuster duel, ILM's special effects were a joy to behold (except for the first Hulk and Black Widow tranquilization scene, which is actually topped by any King Kong - even the oldest one) and, so I don’t forget, Vision was the best of all. (05/08/2015)

So after watching this movie, I wondered if I were crazy, thinking that all these comic book adaptations are all very much the same in the last few years, so I decided to give The Guardians of the Galaxy another try after the second Avengers. And it really had it. It had what I really missed in this instalment of the Avengers. And this essential thing is nothing but the humor that the first instalment still somehow kept going. And that’s too bad, because Age of Ultron would have had the characters for it. Iron Man and Thor are clearly a pair of top catchphrase makers and here it’s as if someone deflated their ego. I have a feeling that it is humor and catchphrases that make comic books into movies that will create an extraordinary experience for the viewer, to which they will be happily returning. And now I know that I will definitely not return to this film. It is not just about humor, but also about the villain, who not only does not have the charisma (which is difficult to have by default in robots) but mainly one is not afraid of him, let alone respect him. Technically, it’s handled well, including action scenes that are exquisite. But everything else just doesn’t work here. In fact, this film accurately describes the type of comic book adaptations that I would prefer not to be repeated, but of which there are more than enough in recent years. As far as content repetition goes, I hope that the next episode will be called Avengers vs. X-Men to experience a complete Marvel recycling. (10/19/2015)

The sequel to the first film, stripped of the element of surprise and enriched with a more capable villain. The action is less bloated, fits into the plot better, and expands the universe with new characters. Anyway, the predictability is even more tiring than the rest of the Marvel movies. Unless there's a major shift in Civil War, there's no point in looking at it any other way than in standby mode. (08/21/2015)