As the world's most watched super blockbuster in the summer, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (Avengers: Age of Ultron) caused a frenzy of public opinion as soon as it was released in China. "Avengers 2" had an impressive North American box office performance, with a first weekend of $187 million making it the second-highest opening film in North American history, setting multiple records one after another.
A Qualifying Popcorn Movie
The soul of sci-fi movies lies in magical high-tech. "Avengers 2" does not deliberately explore a profound philosophical proposition, but as the plot progresses, it allows viewers to see the two sides of high-tech. The maverick genius Iron Man Stark tried to use a self-aware scepter to create an artificial intelligence robot, that is, Ultron, for the benefit of mankind.
Who would have thought that the scepter had created a destructive supervillain Ultron by himself. Invincible, he beat many Avengers to pieces. And Ultron is a thoughtful and aspiring villain. He wants to see the scene of the asteroid hitting the earth, hoping that all life forms on earth will be extinct. And only the Avengers stand in the way of its plans. It has to destroy them. It formed a robot army, created a super mechanical life form Vision, and also won over the Massimov brothers and sisters with superpowers - Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
A fierce battle is inevitable.
Science fiction films are divided into two categories. One is to discuss grand themes such as human nature and human destiny under the guise of science fiction, such as "2001 A Space Odyssey" and "Blade Runner". One is not to burn the audience's brains, but to conquer the audience with cool and advanced technology, such as "Avatar", "The Matrix", etc., winning by means of high means.
If a sci-fi movie is not going to win on ideas, it should at least put more effort into technological wonders. In all fairness, "Avengers 2" is quite satisfactory in these two aspects, and it is not as shocking and surprising as the first one. Even so, it is still a good summer popcorn movie.
Unequivocal hero competition
Now science fiction movies are not ambiguous about playing high-tech, whether it is cosmic wormholes, time travel, or super-powerful artificial intelligence and universal networks. The audience may not know what these are, but at least they think it's awesome and cool. It's like seeing a magic wand turning a little mouse into a horse and a pumpkin into a carriage. Therefore, we will understand why there is no Batman or even Spider-Man in this alliance, because their combat effectiveness is still at the level of the last century.
Since it is a superhero movie, and it is still a hodgepodge, the competition between combat power and coolness is inevitable. The popularity king Thor, the god of fire, has made a final decision with one hit. The invincible Hulk was stunned even by God, like a wild beast, unstoppable. Iron Man has both intelligence and high-tech armor, making it easy to earn fans screaming. Black Widow Scarlett Johansson is both coquettish and ferocious, which is simply sultry, and the three newly added superheroes are even more powerful, and they have all accumulated a lot of characters in their "prodigal sons"...
In comparison, Captain America is simply too weak. When Captain America rushed to the battlefield, he joked with American humor, "I am still proud that I have represented the highest level of technology!" In addition to the charming appearance, it is indeed difficult to accumulate popularity only with a big shield.
Sensational elements as embellishments
Even the coolest Hollywood commercial blockbuster has an element of sensationalism.
Whether it's Hawkeye's affection for her family, the Scarlet Witch's brotherhood to Quicksilver, or the fearless humanitarian spirit of the heroes who sacrificed themselves to protect and save the earth, they are all impressive. The emotional scene between Black Widow and Hulk in the film is the most moving. The Hulk is confused because he can't control his superpower, and Black Widow has been living in the shadow of the past, so the relationship between them Sparks rubbed off. When the fierce battle was in full swing, the Hulk was still thinking about staying away from Black Widow and disappearing into the crowd. But the ego must be sacrificed, and the righteousness must help the world. They fought side by side and cherished each other.
However, these emotional scenes are actually embellished for the heroism of the whole movie. Compared with the intensive scuffle scene, the feelings are not deep enough and pale. Even when Kuaiyin, who had rehabilitated, sacrificed himself in order to save Hawkeye and the child, the tragic music sounded, the audience still did not recover from the dark war just now, but felt a bit baffling.
Lack of innovation leads to aesthetic fatigue
Hollywood commercial blockbusters are always unavoidable for superheroes to save the earth, and justice finally defeats evil, and "Avengers 2" is also unavoidable.
In a good film full of tension, not only the heroes, but also the evil villains are the most brilliant. The worse they are, the more attractive they are. Blowing up a city is a small case. This time, the villain wants an asteroid to hit the earth, and life will be mass extinct. The taste is not bad.
However, the audience always felt that it was not enough after watching it. Compared with the previous work, the sci-fi scene of the second part is more than a street worse. This time, instead of fighting the alien army, it was downgraded to a robot.
The Ultron robots kept attacking, the superheroes fought hard, and there were three more hero characters, but the audience was numb. Just like playing CS, these robots are very weak in combat. They were even smashed by Iron Man, Captain America's shield, Thor's hammer, Hawkeye's arrow, and Scarlet Witch's shock. Broken... The scene is chaotic and keeps repeating.
In the past Hollywood commercial blockbusters, there were countless scenes of heroes and robots fighting, and the audience naturally had no sense of freshness. The "Transformers" alone has already made the audience's aesthetic fatigue. Now it's here again, and it's not as good as "Transformers". level.
last part under pressure
Director Joss Whedon, who has directed two "Avengers", is best at science fiction and fantasy. He is the screenwriter of "Future Water World", "X-Men" and "Alien 4". Buffy the Ghost Slayer, Angels and Firefly have a solid, professional sci-fi fan base comparable to Star Wars, and are dubbed the "George Lucas of TV."
Speaking of "Avengers 2", he said, "I have been under tremendous pressure in the past two years, as if I originally drew sketches, but now I am asked to paint oil paintings, and every decision is hanging up. $100 million. Sometimes I really want to forget about it all." We may be able to complain about the various disappointments of this sequel, but as a crossover director, it's good to be able to direct such a sincere film. "Avengers 2" will be the last "Avengers" film he directed.
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson are the hottest first-line stars in the film industry today. The Avengers franchise is going the fan-movie route. Because the first film has a good reputation, and anyone who is slightly interested in American comics will not be unfamiliar with these heroes, and if they get together, no one will buy it. Going to the cinema to see how they save the earth is the happiest thing for anyone who still harbors a heroic saving plot. There is no doubt that even if the director changes and the hero changes roles, the third, even the fourth and fifth films will emerge as the times require.
Heroes are justified as long as the world isn't perfect, and movies like the Avengers franchise have always had legions of fans, and they're enduring.
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