This movie is exactly as good as you think it will be.
Remember how you were wondering how they could pull off such an ambitious movie like the Avengers and then they did some how? Well that, but again, and it is still excellent.
(this review gets a little into details, but nothing really spoilery)
When Tony Stark, a man who thinks he is justified to do anything in the name of protection shockingly goes too far and creates Ultron, a murder bot who loves murder. Ultron, who is basically evil Tony, is very quippy. But this being a Whedon flick, everyone seems really quippy (don't worry, it's not as annoying as that sounds).
One of the best things about this movie is the destruction that you see happening in the action scenes. Something about the other Marvel movies never really made the people seem in danger when everything was exploding, but there are people everywhere in these scenes, screaming in horror as the super people punch the murder robots. Many innocent bystanders die in this one. Easy. Some of the other movies just seem too "clean", no sense of danger.
I also really liked the characters in this one. The other Marvel movies always seem like maybe one or two supporting characters from the other movies show up, but this movie has so many people in it. All your favourites!
Also, it had a really great "adventure continues" vibe. This movie starts with Avengers action and ends with Avengers action. There is no more "how they came together" or "this changes the very foundation of the universe". It was an awesome addition to what is now a serial story. More of this and less of origin stories!
So in conclusion, check out this sweet indie Whedon film, you might not have heard of it but it's pretty cool.
Whether you like or dislike this movie, the ridiculously unrealistic portrayal of the CIA, tropes or uncomfortable situations, there is one thing you can't deny:
The female protagonist -Lauren- is not ridiculed or slutshamed, despite having had relationships in the past and considering sleeping with/dating two guys. (And rightfully so!) Neither the two men in question nor anyone else thinks of that as slutty or bad, which should be a given but ends up being one of the redeeming factors of an otherwise mediocre film. It's sad, but it's also true: I found it positively refreshing how they never questioned or judged her.
I do have huge issues with the actual love-triangle, though. Regardless of the Beauty-and-the-Beast nature of the relationship between Lauren and Chris Pine's character, there is also the fact that both guys used their CIA technology to spy on her and, truthfully, stalk her. To find out where she was, what she liked, whom she had been with in the past. - I don't care how unrealistic it was, or how it was just a plot-decide and a comic relief. It's not acceptable, period.
Lauren and Tom Hardy's character, too, made me slightly uncomfortable. They weren't Beauty-and-the-Beast material, but did the writers need him to be with his ex-wife again after Lauren's final rejection? Was that really necessary? Yes, I, too, wanted him to have a happy ending, giving his sweet and genuine (and stalker!creepy) nature, but that was just too easy, and frankly also too predictable.
Had a few laughs, predicted most of the plot (was surprised one or two times) and overall enjoyed it enough. For a chic flick, it'd probably deserve about 7 stars - IF you're drunk like I was while watching it.
I know that this is an adaption, but come on at least /try/ to do the comics justice! I was expected something quite near to the comics, with all the characters introduced to pull of one of the best comic adaptions in cinema history. The comics are awesome so I expected an awesome movie! Rumlow being killed off so fast irked me, as Crossbones is a pretty key factor in Cap's death at the end of his arc in the Brubaker comics, and Sharon was not nearly included enough, and when I saw little to no romantic interaction between her and Cap, I knew that it was not going to play out like the comics.
I was looking forward to some character development, but there was none. Here we have Bucky, who is an awesome candidate for epic character development, but he had very little. Stark seemed very angry all the time, and they did not really justify his stance on the issue originally. Cap seemed a little out of character. I know he's all about 'freedom' and the 'american way,' but it got on my nerves how little he trusted his fellow avengers. (Oh and yes, Clint's character is still being treated like shit by the writers. Do they even know who Hawkeye is? Where the fuck is that character development?)
I'm confused. Evans has one movie left on the contract, but since they've taken majority of this storyline from Brubaker, would it not be fitting to kill him off in the same way? Also, Sebastian Stan has 6 movies left on his devil's deal with Marvel... which is yet another reason I expected some bigger, world turning stuff. Where's my character development? Where's the plot that is not just an excuse to introduce Parker and T'Challa? Where the plot that is not just an excuse to have some crazy, unjustified action scenes?
Marvel, you just did Winter Soldier, and it is one of my favourite movies of all time, but you have really blown it with this one. What the hell was your budget? You could afford Downey and other big stars, but you could not even find any good writers?
