Saturday Morning Musings (#11): Age of Ultron

Good morning, everyone. I've been wanting to do a post about The Avengers: Age of Ultron where I could go spoiler crazy and discuss everything that stood out to me outside of my review, since that was spoiler-free. So for today's post, I'm dedicating it to that topic. There are definitely a decent number of things that I want to talk about, or rather going into further analysis of it now that the review is out, so let's get into it. (Warning: This post does contain spoilers for Age of Ultron)

Something that really stood out to me in this film was the presentation of the Avenger's dream sequences that five of the six experienced. They allowed us to understand a little bit more about what they were keeping inside and not showing. Steve's involved elements of his PTSD and always feeling as though he was on the battlefield. He was haunted by his past, of being out of place and not within his time period. He was haunted by that last dance he promised Peggy, but ultimately, he was plagued with the feeling of being alone and an outsider since he isn't in his own time period.

Black Widow's also stood out to me. She was haunted by an event that actually happened in her life. Seeing her go through those experiences at the Red Room as she trained to be an assassin allowed you to understand why she is usually so closed off to people. It still continues to impact her in the present day, especially by having to go through sterilization. The experience as a whole is something that's very haunting to her as the things she was trained to do as someone so young were ruthless. She feels as though she doesn't belong because she was trained to kill and to not care about anything more than her mission.

Iron Man's fear revolved around not being able to save his teammates. He's scolded for not doing everything he possibly could to save them, ultimately encouraging him to go through with using the Infinity Stone to create Ultron to serve as another protector, but instead leads to destruction.

Thor's fear is the end of Asgard. He wouldn't be able to stop this end. His fear also included a glimpse of an Infinity Stone, which eventually causes him to revisit this fear where he sees the four stones that have been found already.

We don't know what Hulk's fear was, though we do know that it caused him to destroy anything in his way, as well as try to destroy Iron Man. Hawkeye wasn't attacked by Scarlet Witch in this way, though she did try and he stopped her. The irony about Scarlet Witch causing them to see these fears and haunting visions in their heads is that in the end, what's assumed to be her biggest fear comes true. Her brother is killed, and in turn, she is left without him by her side. Her only family member left was now gone, as well.

There has been a lot of debate about Natasha Romanoff in this movie. Let me start out by saying that I 100% agree with the statement Mark Ruffalo released. I don't really understand people's issue with her storyline in this movie. Her feelings for Bruce didn't diminish her strength in any way. It didn't make her appear weak like some people have felt it did, in my opinion. In the majority of situations, she was the one saving their asses. It's hard for her to do something against an entire army of Ultrons, but she did what she could. The scenes that did make her appear weaker than usual only made her appear stronger in others. She showed her insecurity with her infertility, stating that she felt as though she was a monster, and to some people, insecurities appear as a weakness, but she look for anyone's pity. She's still strong and independent. So what she has a minor love interest in this movie? Steve Rogers had a minor love interest in the first Captain America film. Clint was revealed to have a wife and kids in this film, but you never hear anything about that. I didn't find the relationship to be thrown in people's faces. It just existed, it wasn't made a bigger thing than it needed to be. Like Mark said, there are so few female superheroes that having them appear normal and showing their weaknesses bothers some people. I was not bothered by her character at all during this film. I enjoyed the fact that we were seeing her open up more to someone instead of keeping everything in.

Two funny scenes stood out to me. The first would be the one where Steve calls them out for their language. The fact that this kept up throughout the rest of the movie lets you see their bond as a group. They tease each other, they're friends. They wouldn't let him live that comment down. Each time this popped up throughout the film it got a nice laugh.

I also loved the scene with Thor's hammer. Before Ultron comes into play, you have a very casual and fun scene. You have a group of friends sitting around after having a good night and they're having a good time, questioning why Thor's the only one who can lift the hammer. It was so normal and resembled how they all are in interviews together. This also showed up again after Vision is created and is able to lift it. The look on everyone's face was great. The "elevator's not worthy" joke was also funny. Ultimately, these scenes allowed them to be themselves and normal for a little while to relax and have fun.

Of course, I wish the alternate ending was used instead of Quicksilver's death since I'm still sad he died. I think it would have been nice to learn more about his character, but he did go through the full arc of siding with evil, becoming good, and dying as a hero, an Avenger. I do wish we would have been able to get to know him further.

I think that about sums about everything I want to talk about regarding Age of Ultron. If anything else comes up that I think of, I'll probably mention it in next Saturday's post. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and happy Mother's day to all the mom's out there.

ICYMI: This week's recaps can be read here

The Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

The Avengers: Age of Ultron opened at the box office in the United States this weekend and superhero fans everywhere were preparing to see the sequel to the first film that was released in 2012. Though many countries received it earlier and the internet was filled with spoilers if you weren't careful, I managed to avoid the talk of the film before getting to see it for myself on opening night. (This post will remain as spoiler free as possible, though very minor spoilers may be present.) 

Let me start out by getting one thing out there. I guess you could call it a disclaimer. I am in no way a film critic. I'm a 17-year old girl who loves superhero-related things. I'm a fan who enjoys sharing her opinion. So with that said, let's get into the review.

The film begins with a fight scene, and it is an action film, so let's start there. The fight scenes are incredible. They're amazingly choreographed and are one of the things that brings the sets a standard. They're exciting. The movie spends time on scenes, even though they tend to be fast moving at times. I didn't have a problem following them and that's important for a viewer. When there is so much going on in a scene, it's hard to decide what to focus on, but that wasn't an issue with this film. Each Avenger is given time for individual combat scenes amidst the scenes in which they share the screen.

CGI is a must with big films like this, but the quality of it is so important to making the film good. The effects were outstanding. The technology has advanced so much that everything is so clear and appears to be so real. It's fun to watch because of the quality it has. Ultron, his army, the Hulk, Quicksilver's speed, Scarlet Witch's powers, were all so well executed in addition to the fight scenes. I think the first thing my dad and I talked about were the effects and each of us just said, "Wow." If this is what the second movie looks like in comparison to the first effects-wise, I can only imagine Avengers: Infinity War will look like when it's released in 2018 and 2019 since it will be in two parts.

Time wasn't wasted on reintroducing characters. A person who saw the movie without seeing the first would still understand who the characters were and their personalities. The movie definitely drew more attention to Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk. It's nice to see these characters get more screen time because they don't have films of their own. The romantic connection between Banner and
Natasha doesn't overpower the rest of the film. Sometimes the love interest can overshadow the true content of the movie, but that certainly wasn't the case here. It just existed. Also, I know a lot of people originally thought it would be Clint and Natasha who would get together, but this movie definitely answers the question as to why they don't and the value their relationship actually holds.

And how can you not mention the incredible cast? Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye/Clint Barton), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff), and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk/Bruce Banner) all do an outstanding job playing their roles. Each person adds something to the film, but they all work together cohesively to produce such a great team. There were times where I had to remind myself that Steve Rogers wasn't an actual person, that I was watching Chris Evans act. This goes for the whole cast. They truly embody their heroes and portray them in such a way that makes them seem as though these characters are just being themselves on a movie screen.

While that covers the six leading players, there are three others worth mentioning. The first two being the Maximoff twins. Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch) does a really great job in her role. I was very impressed. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver) was good, as well. Although I will say that I feel as though his character wasn't given much to say, rather his actions were the way the viewer learned more about his character. That's one of two things I didn't particularly like about the movie, but I understand that with a limited amount of time to tell a story, you can't dwell on things of lesser importance to the main plot. I've also only seen bits and pieces of Evan Peters in the role in X-Men, so I can't make a comparison between the two. I liked Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the role, I just wish we got to see more of him before the film was over.

Ultron (voiced by James Spader) is the big bad but he doesn't necessarily steal away the screen time from the Avengers. Though not my favorite villain, I did enjoy his role. He's the strongest version of artificial intelligence in existence, which makes him interesting. He has an ability to think for himself, but with that comes a very twisted logic.

And finally, the humor and darkness of it all. This movie was definitely a bit darker than the first, especially due to the powers of Scarlet Witch. Dark pasts and fears are revealed, allowing you to know just a little bit more about each character and what lies inside them, instead of what you see on the outside. I really enjoyed these scenes. The humor broke up these darker aspects and the action, which was needed. At times, it seemed to be a bit too much that the lines fell flat, which is my only other complaint. Other than those very minimal scenes, there was a good balance between the two.

I've been thinking about which film I like better, the first or the second, and it's definitely a tough decision. Usually, it's easy to decide, but in this case, it's harder, which to me means that it's at the same standard, at least, from my standpoint. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend buying a ticket. Overall, I think The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a great sequel. I loved it and would definitely pay to go see it again.

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The Appeal of Superheroes

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of posts this week. I've been busy with work and college visits (I was actually road tripping to and back from one as I wrote this), but I still wanted to get something up aside from the 'Saturday Morning Musings' post going up tomorrow. I said last week that I would most likely post something Supernatural related, and I will be, but that will be part of Saturday's post. Today's post, as you can tell by the title, will focus on superheroes, as well as discussing some of my personal favorites.

Superheroes are the sort of things that people either really love or don't really like. For the people who love them, it can be for a number of reasons. Personally, I love the idea and concept of them. You have someone who may be raised like any other normal person, but there's an event that serves as a catalyst for their fight for justice. Or, sometimes they're born with the power or gain it at some point in their lives. Either way, there's a very large number of people who love to watch movies/TV shows and read comics about them. There's a lot of talk as to who the 'real fans' are. Are they the people who read the comics, the ones who watch the movies/TV shows, or the ones who do both? Here's the thing, no matter what, you're a fan of the character and their story, so where you found out about them doesn't matter. I haven't read many comics, but I know about their context and plot. I'm aware that there are different things that occur in comics. Does not reading the comics make someone any less of a fan? Absolutely not. Comics can be expensive, so a person's mere support of a franchise and interest in knowing the story is good enough.

What comes to mind when someone mentions a superhero isn't necessarily just someone who has superpowers. The world vigilante comes to mind - a person in a suit tracking down the villains of the world. They're interesting people with different stories all leading to their fight against evil. It's something so interesting to look at their past and delve into their motives, their emotions, their mindset. In some ways, they're very relatable, and in other more extraordinary ways, they're different. We all have a certain superheroes we gravitate towards because they're the ones we connect with most. The following are some of mine.

I guess I should start out with the character I've loved since I was a child: Peter Parker. Spider-Man is a character that I've just gravitated towards. I can't necessarily put my finger on exactly why, but he can be awkward at times. He's a photographer. I definitely find that I relate to being a little awkward at times; I think everyone has those moments. I especially relate to that love for photography. I'm always looking for something interesting to take a picture of. This may can an issue between people, but I preferred Andrew Garfield's style of Peter Park and Spider-Man as opposed to Tobey Maguire's. With the new movie in very early production, we'll get to see another actor's take on the character. In general, Spidey's abilities are very cool, I mean, getting to shoot webs and swing whenever, wherever you want sounds like a lot of fun and he understands that he has this great responsibility with these powers, which is something anyone can learn and live by. I'm looking forward to getting to (finally) see Marvel take on the film.

Oliver Queen is probably my second favorite. You all know i'm a huge fan of Arrow, it's definitely my favorite TV show at the moment. I love his character because of his evolution. He started out as a rich playboy who was left to survive on an island (and various other places in the show) on his own. He slowly became stronger and learned how to survive on his own; he learned different values and what he needed to fight for. Stephen Amell does a tremendous job portraying the (Green) Arrow. Plus, he's a hero without a superpower; a vigilante with only a bow and arrow to fight off his enemies. He struggles with his own internal conflicts, also. He's a character that I, overall find very interesting due to all of those things.

The last I'll mention should came as no surprise, either: Barry Allen, also known as The Flash. Barry's power is something I find extremely cool. I mean, imagine having that super speed. It's be awesome to experience. I love his fight for justice and for finding his mother's killer. I also enjoy his personality as a whole. Now, there is more than one Flash, but I have grown to love Barry through the television show where he's play by Grant Gustin. He brings a type of personality to the character that is enjoyable to watch. I'm interested to see Ezra Miller's version of the character in a few years with the release of the movie.

Each actor who plays a superhero brings something different to the table, which is why seeing someone else play the role makes it interesting. Yes, we all have the actors and actresses we're partial to in roles, but seeing someone else's take provides a new look to the character. You have movies like The Avengers that have becomes these huge franchises because of their appeal, which I also love. There are still some superhero shows that I need to watch, but I hope to eventually have watched them all. There are also a ton of new movies and shows set to come out in the next few years and I'm very excited to see them when they are released. As for now, that about wraps up so I hope you enjoyed this post and I'll see you all tomorrow morning with another addition to the Saturday Morning posts.

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