Age of Ultron Avengers 2: Rotten Tomato Watch (No Spoilers l Spoiler Free Zone) - Part 1

[flickchick85]

See, I'm in the minority in that I find Winter Soldier and Loki to be a bit on the boring side as well. Loki is saved by Hiddleston's charismatic performance, but the writing for both of them was nothing special to me. Winter Soldier was just a faceless terminator for most of the time, and Loki was NEVER threatening, nor particularly funny. He was just your basic "inferiority complex" villain, but a kinda likable one, and that's down to Hiddleston. But if I'm honest I'll admit I'm already kind of sick of him, and I'm ready to see some other Thor villains take the spotlight. I was glad he didn't show up in AoU as originally planned.

Ultron and the Kingpin are the only two standout villains of the MCU for me.

 

[Fosterson]

My asking to get rid of her is mostly to do with the actress and less to do with the character
I also think Jane Foster deserves some closure, she was imo the best love interest in Phase 1 movies, but after watching TDW and rumours of Portman being dissatisfied after the first director was sacked, and her doing Thor movies only because of contractual obligations, I can't bear to watch her sleepwalk through another Thor movie

Those rumours are, to this day, completely unsubstantiated (a bit like the Thor/Jane breakup rumours in AOU). I think the problem with Jane in TDW was more how her character was written than Portman's performance. I mean, you can hardly blame Ms. Portman for the fact that Jane was literally asleep for a significant chunk of the movie, and a plot device for the rest of it. Blame the writers or Feige, rather than the character or the actress who plays her. In fact, Natalie is very good in a few of the deleted scenes (such as when she apologises profusely to Thor about Frigga's death etc).

One thing that people always conveniently ignore when saying how Portman was reluctant to return is the fact that she was heavily involved in shaping the character of Jane for the first movie (she may have even been the one to suggest that Jane should be a scientist, instead of a nurse, although I'm not sure). As someone who was in the Star Wars prequels, she will have been well aware of the open-ended nature of films like this when she signed the contract. It will hardly have been a surprise or shock for her when Marvel asked her to come back and do a second one.

 

[Fosterson]

I was never mad ha. But the Marvel one shot on the Thor TDW Blu Ray fixes the issue for people that had a problem with it.

I interpreted "All Hail the King" as Feige and Co. admitting that they had made a mistake in IM3 and desperately attempting to appease hardcore fans. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. With no future Iron Man solo flicks in the works (not to mention that RDJ's contract expires after IW), I really can't see the "real" Mandarin appearing any time soon. Also, the fact that Marvel are done with making One-Shots would make me question whether "All Hail the King" even qualifies as canon anymore.

 

[def28]

See, I'm in the minority in that I find Winter Soldier and Loki to be a bit on the boring side as well. Loki is saved by Hiddleston's charismatic performance, but the writing for both of them was nothing special to me. Winter Soldier was just a faceless terminator for most of the time, and Loki was NEVER threatening, nor particularly funny. He was just your basic "inferiority complex" villain, but a kinda likable one, and that's down to Hiddleston. But if I'm honest I'll admit I'm already kind of sick of him, and I'm ready to see some other Thor villains take the spotlight. I was glad he didn't show up in AoU as originally planned.

Ultron and the Kingpin are the only two standout villains of the MCU for me.

I could see that pov with Winter Solider for sure. I just thought there was a strong enough physical presence with the character and emotional tie to Cap that he works really well. Plus that design just looks awesome.

With Loki he is up there with Joker and Magneto as far as my favorite film comic villains. He just demands the attention of the audience. To each their own though.

I was glad Loki wasn't in this film, felt he has been steeling the attention away from Thor too much. It was nice to see him not having to deal with the dramatic relationship of his brother for once. Thor was handled much better in this flick.

 

[flickchick85]

Oh yeah, Thor was definitely much better in this film. And honestly, I liked him better in this film than in his own sequel.

 

[def28]

Agreed

 

[Bayne]

You know, I usually agree with the general opinion about MCU movies like TIH and the Thor films, and even understand (but don't agree with) the criticisms of AoU, but to this day I don't understand why people hate IM3 so much. I always enjoy watching it.

Mainly because it completely undermined all its attempts at humor by having Tony so PTSD that he wasn't funny anymore, yet still clung for dear life to irritating slapstick which completely undermined any chance the movie had at making an interesting serious story, all while running a plot about Tony needing to regain confidence in himself by recognizing that he doesn't need the suits resulting in an ending which completely negates the entire plot. Tony does need the suits - all he does on his own is get captured - and his newly regained confidence comes from absolutely nowhere as he has pretty much 0 part in actually defeating the villain. Also, the Mandarin was weird, in your face and different - he felt like a fresh villain who was going to absolutely rock once the final act came around, but instead he was replaced by yet another evil arms dealer with an annoying entitlement personality. Why does every IM movie have to come back to the evil arms dealers?

 

[Fosterson]

Oh yeah, Thor was definitely much better in this film. And honestly, I liked him better in this film than in his own sequel.

Well, that really isn't saying much when you consider how TDW was more about Loki, than it was Thor...

 

[Mjölnir]

Well, that really isn't saying much when you consider how TDW was more about Loki, than it was Thor...

I've never understood that argument. Thor has much more screen time than Loki, he is an active protagonist while Loki is not, Thor has the most important deeds in the movie, he changes more than Loki, etc.

Of the movie had been about Loki we would have seen something of how he came to be on the throne. Right now he's just downplayed except when Thor needs him.

 

[take3]

I mean, you can hardly blame Ms. Portman for the fact that Jane was literally asleep for a significant chunk of the movie,

ofc you can, that what's acting is about

 

[Raiden]

I've never understood that argument. Thor has much more screen time than Loki, he is an active protagonist while Loki is not, Thor has the most important deeds in the movie, he changes more than Loki, etc.

Of the movie had been about Loki we would have seen something of how he came to be on the throne. Right now he's just downplayed except when Thor needs him.

I think the problem in TDW is that Loki has an arc in the movie, regarding the death of Frigga and his agreement to help Thor afterward, whereas Thor did not seemed to be affected by his mother's passing quite as much. I blame it on the screenplay, which should've focused more on Thor instead of Loki. Hopefully they will find a better balance in Ragnorak.

 

[Fosterson]

ofc you can, that what's acting is about

What. The. Actual. ****.

Portman didn't write the screenplay. Therefore you cannot blame her for being knocked unconscious for most of the movie. People don't blame Christopher Eccleston for how awful Malekith was in the movie; they blame the writers and Feige instead. I don't see why Portman shouldn't also be given the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Suzanne78]

Y'know? Alexander Puerce ranks really high on my villain list. I'd probably rank them as follows:

Wilson Fisk (number 1 w/ a bullet)
Loki
Pierce
Stane
ULTRON
Crossbones
HYDRA
Ronan
Red Skull
Zola

BIG GAP....


Whiplash
Malekith

Did I forget any of the main baddies? I cannot include Thanos yet b/c he's not been the movies much.

 

[TeeKay]

You forgot Killian.

 

[Fosterson]

Y'know? Alexander Puerce ranks really high on my villain list. I'd probably rank them as follows:

Wilson Fisk (number 1 w/ a bullet)
Loki
Pierce
Stane
ULTRON
Crossbones
HYDRA
Ronan
Red Skull
Zola

BIG GAP....


Whiplash
Malekith

Did I forget any of the main baddies? I cannot include Thanos yet b/c he's not been the movies much.

Honestly, I'd put Ronan and Red Skull on the same level as Malekith and Whiplash. They really weren't much better IMO.

 

[Spiderdevil]

Loved IM3, but found Ultron to be much more interesting and entertaining then Killian.

Entertaining? Maybe, More menacing? Definitely not

 

[Spiderdevil]

Yeah. Besides Loki, Winter Soldier, Kingpin and Ultron I just have not found the rest of the villains that entertaining or interesting.

Edit: I thought Pirece was a great villain as well. Just didn't have the theatrics, but was a solid villain nonetheless and always had my attention.

No love for Stane?
I think he is a very underrated Villain, along with Dafoe's Goblin

 

[Suzanne78]

You forgot Killian.

WTF... I actually had him on the list and I guess he got accidentally deleted... LOL!

He's probably above Red Skull for me. I really loved him, and the Mandarin Twist. But Killianm was just great!

For me, there have onlybeen two weak Marvel villians: Malekith and Whiplash. The others have been varying degrees of fun/good/great. Fisk and Loki, I feel, are already iconic. But I don't think Pierce gets his due at all. Redford's so wonderful and dry and droll in the part.

 

[Spiderdevil]

See, I'm in the minority in that I find Winter Soldier and Loki to be a bit on the boring side as well. Loki is saved by Hiddleston's charismatic performance, but the writing for both of them was nothing special to me. Winter Soldier was just a faceless terminator for most of the time, and Loki was NEVER threatening, nor particularly funny. He was just your basic "inferiority complex" villain, but a kinda likable one, and that's down to Hiddleston. But if I'm honest I'll admit I'm already kind of sick of him, and I'm ready to see some other Thor villains take the spotlight. I was glad he didn't show up in AoU as originally planned.

Ultron and the Kingpin are the only two standout villains of the MCU for me.

Absolutely agree with the Loki part, I might get eaten up but I think he is overrated and nowhere close to the awesomeness of Ledger's Joker or Molina's Ock

About The Winter Soldier, I loved him, he gave Captain America a run for his money, a lot more than Ultron infact, I would like to believe that his story is yet to be completed. His emotion ties with Steve, the relentless pursuit and some of the scenes (His 'Torture' his, the final 'You are my mission' scene) made his very memorable

 

[Spiderdevil]

I interpreted "All Hail the King" as Feige and Co. admitting that they had made a mistake in IM3 and desperately attempting to appease hardcore fans. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. With no future Iron Man solo flicks in the works (not to mention that RDJ's contract expires after IW), I really can't see the "real" Mandarin appearing any time soon. Also, the fact that Marvel are done with making One-Shots would make me question whether "All Hail the King" even qualifies as canon anymore.

"All hail the king" was a hilarious attempt at backtracking
When you have made a decision, you must stick with it

 

[metaphysician]

I like IM3 a lot, but I got the criticism. Still do really. I also get the criticism for AoU. But it is so much better then the first film imo.

I understand the fact of the criticism, more or less. What boggles my mind is the *intensity* of the criticism. If it was a lot of people going "Dang, I liked the Fake Mandarin version", or "I was really hoping for a rings and kung fu Mandarin", that would be one thing. The number of people screaming with burning hate about how it was the worst movie ever and that Marvel should be sued for consumer fraud? That is something else.

The fact that quite a few people complained about how Pepper was handled, using phrasing and arguments that could not be described as anything but misogynistic? Doesn't help.

 

[Fosterson]

"All hail the king" was a hilarious attempt at backtracking
When you have made a decision, you must stick with it

Exactly

 

[JP]

See, I'm in the minority in that I find Winter Soldier and Loki to be a bit on the boring side as well. Loki is saved by Hiddleston's charismatic performance, but the writing for both of them was nothing special to me. Winter Soldier was just a faceless terminator for most of the time, and Loki was NEVER threatening, nor particularly funny. He was just your basic "inferiority complex" villain, but a kinda likable one, and that's down to Hiddleston. But if I'm honest I'll admit I'm already kind of sick of him, and I'm ready to see some other Thor villains take the spotlight. I was glad he didn't show up in AoU as originally planned.

Ultron and the Kingpin are the only two standout villains of the MCU for me.

Oh wow, I totally agree.


Was just checking RT...

75% Certified Fresh, 6.7/10 average rating, and 90% of users liked it. That's pretty terrific.

 

[Mr.T]

Netflix Kingpin is Marvel's best villain to date. Of course, the writers were able to flesh him out over 13 hours.....

 

[Iceman]

Loki is nowhere near Joker for me even though Hiddleston did a great job. I want to see some Thor films without him after Ragnarok (if they keep going).