There was a lot of "character development" that felt shoehorned in.

And everyone's got buddies but Tony. Rhodey is someone who's been around forever, but relationships with constant needling never struck me as pleasant.

Though Tasha asking Steve if he was done gazing into Tony's eyes was amusing.

But Tony always seems like he's on the defensive. I was sorry to see The Science Bros break up.

Amen to the more plot, less fight. I wish Joss had fought for that.

Enjoyed Joss' dialogue as always.

Re Ultron, I think there was too much movie in that movie. While it was interesting to meet the Hawkfamily, I don't think it was strictly necessary. Except that it provides a reason for him to retire from the Avengers.

I went with a huge group of friends and most of them decreed that Ultron, as a villain, was boring. The consensus on him was "meh." I mean, what villain reads the internet for 5 seconds and decides humanity needs to die?

Things I did enjoy were the Hawkeye/Quicksilver byplay. Even to the very end. ::sob:: The group ragging on Steve for his "language." Thor's "if you're worthy" and the look on his face when Vision picked it up. And! I had no idea this movie was going to show the creation of the Vision. And that, of course, Paul Bettany would play the part. I stayed off of IMDb and I'm very glad for it.

There was some questionable stuff that bugged, the main one being when Natasha says she can't have kids either, because she's a monster. Oh, wow. Yeah, all women who can't have kids are monsters. I'm pretty sure that's not the way Joss meant that to be read, but that's what some of my friends took away from it.

All things considered, though, I thought it was a good popcorn movie: enough plot, enough action, good characterization; I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I don't think Natasha believed her speech, I think she was just repeating what she'd been told, explaining how she'd been taught to see herself. The sterilization was something done to them because they didn't deserve to have children, and, as a practical matter, it does cut potential ties.

edit: When the city started rising, I'm afraid I said to myself, "They already did that on Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes!" And the whole "I must destroy you to save you" thing is pretty cliché by now.

At least Loki was straightforward megalomania. It's a classic.

Tony never did fix the tractor. Unless that was a plot to get him to see Fury. And since when does Fury care so much about Tony?

There should be something in that bar a la Iron Man 2. Though Clint would not appreciate a repulsor powered tractor.

All things considered, though, I thought it was a good popcorn movie: enough plot, enough action, good characterization; I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

On a regular movie scale I could give it a 4, but by both my standards for Joss and for the Marvel movies in general, I can't give it more than a 3.

I mean, what villain

Actually, when you put it that way, it makes more sense. Ultron must have read the comments .

That's what we figured. Too bad they couldn't have sent him to sit with the Dalai Lama for a while. Or maybe he watched too much Buffy, "Hey, Ken, wanna see my impression of Ghandi?"

Now that I've had a little time to process, the other thing I disliked about it was there wasn't NEARLY enough Hulk smashing things, especially in the third act. Overall he probably got more screen time in Ultron, but there was nothing as satisfying as the Hulk taking out the Chitauri leviathan, or going all Tex Avery on Loki.

Did anyone here (lazy, not clicking previous) talk about what was effectively a rape joke coming out of Tony's mouth? Because that's effectively what primae noctis is, and it has bothered me since I was watching the clips that they were releasing. It's one thing to have your bad guy effectively call a female character a whiny cunt, but wow. Ick. And again, ick.

The more I think about it, the less I like the aspects I disliked most. It takes a lot of head wrangling to even get to an interpretation that minimizes the shit that skeeved me the fuck out.

I went into some of the why at length here [link]