It felt a little too childish to be a five star, but it's understandable since this is intended for children.  I just wanted more Vision, and I got that.   When Thor takes Vision to Asgard to gain a better understanding of friendship, they're thrown for a loop when Ultron shows up - and commanders the Destroyer.   

Thor, Vision, and the rest of their friends in the Avengers have to band together to save the day.   

Still, yay, Vision.   

When I was growing up, one of the comics I enjoyed reading most was The Avengers. I always enjoyed seeing a team of superheroes matching up against threats too powerful for any one of them to defeat, and foremost among them was the indestructible robot Ultron. For a while I even spent the money to collect the old issues featuring his early storylines, and while I don't have them anymore the character is one close to my heart. In spite of this, it has taken me some time to get around to reading Brian Michael Bendis's Age of Ultron series. Largely this has to do with availability; usually I read comics only after they have been published in collected form. Yet it wasn't until I was perusing the shelves of my local library that I spotted this and decided that it was time to read it.

And i have to say that I was underwhelmed. The premise is that a group of not-quite-as-clever-as-they-think supervillains come across a piece of alien tech, It turns out to be Ultron, who after years of spreading misery on Earth decided to take his brand galactic. He emerges, decides that now is the time to get serious about the whole "wiping out humanity" thing, and the the comic jumps eight days forward to show a Earth experiencing widespread devastation from Ultron drones, with Earth's surviving outmatched heroes scrambling for a way to defeat the robot before it's too late.

My first problem is with the plot that I've just described. The overall story isn't a bad one, but the idea that Ultron's previous plans to destroy humanity (including an epically badass story where he wipes out the population of an entire country) were not real efforts seems a collective slap in the face of every previous writer of an Ultron storyline. I get the impression that Bendis has a major ego, and this is the starkest example of it yet.

Yet this is minor to my main complaint: for a story called "Age of Ultron" in which Ultron essentially wins, there's an astonishing lack of Ultron. Basically he makes an appearance in the beginning, a somewhat longer one in the end, and that's it. The rest of the book consists of superheroes either 1) attacking Ultron drones, and 2) engaged in indirect efforts to defeat him. Where are the face-to-face match-ups? The showdowns that are a hallmark of Ultron stories? The ones that matter here are all off-panel; we hear about a lot of heavy-hitters being killed, but they're described rather than shown. Is this really why Bendis thinks people read a series in which superheroes fight Ultron?

This is not to say that there weren't enjoyable elements of it. I thought that Bendis's use of time travel was decent (thought marred by the retrofitting in of a Neil Gaiman character that Marvel felt it necessary to pick up) and the alternate world stuff was interesting. But I finished it with an unavoidable sense of disappointment at the missed opportunity that Age of Ultron represented. Marvel has done some great "supervillain triumphant" storylines before (such as Emperor Doom and The Kang Dynasty), but this isn't close to measuring up to those superior efforts.

After the sloppy, undercooked mess that was Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War is a gourmet meal that’ll cleanse your palate and leave you wondering when the heck DC’s gonna get their act together. Put it this way: people are still divided about BvS. You either love it or hate it.

No one’s gonna be divided on this movie. It’s everything it needed to be.

It’s been said before and will always be said: the main reason the Marvel movies work is because the audience has had the time to become fully invested in the characters. CA: CW introduces two “new ones”- Black Panther and Spiderman- and you’re brought along for the ride with them. Buckle up.

***MINI-SPOILERS AHEAD*** You know the plot: a year after the destruction of Sokovia in Age of Ultron, the Avengers are viewed as running rampant across the globe. Many of the world governments come together to declare the Avengers are in dire need of supervision… or else. (FYI: this isn’t a new idea; in the comics the Avengers operated under the auspices of the US Government.) For reasons both pragmatic and personal, Stark agrees but along those same veins, Cap doesn’t. Both have valid arguments. As the UN ratifies the Sokovia Accords, a terrorist attack leaves many delegates dead, including the King of Wakanda. Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, is identified as the prime suspect and the hunt for him begins. Bucky professes innocence to Cap, who supports his friend despite the pressure to bring him down and the lines are drawn.

There’s no real twists to this story; you can tell the whole time where it’s headed, but it’s a fun ride all the way. Even the prologue scene is framed so that if you didn’t intuit its significance right off the bat they still handed it to you on a platter almost immediately anyway.

In typical Marvel movie fashion, it’s the subplots and asides that made the movie shine. Scarlet Witch and Vision’s budding relationship, Peter Parker’s conversation with Tony Stark (and Marisa Tomei as a sexy MILF Aunt May!), Steve and Bucky reconnecting, even a seemingly throwaway line by Stark during the climactic fight at the end- all good stuff that put heart and soul into an action movie.

The villian’s arc also helps to sell the story. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote: show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy. The same hold true for the bad guys; it matters more when it’s personal and nothing’s gonna change their course. His entire history is inextricably linked to the whole- both the Avengers as well as Hydra- and makes for a good character arc in its own right.

The much anticipated big fight at the airport was surprisingly pretty good. Everyone got their moments to shine in the scene, even Spiderman and Antman making big contributions to the cause. Got a little choppy on the editing, but nothing too distracting.

As for the climactic fight between Bucky, Cap and Shellhead, it was satisfying both emotionally and visually, a dynamo of action and drama that brought the plot full circle.

Not that there aren’t a few warts here. The inciting incident at the beginning was clumsy and kinda dumb; I had a hard time believing anyone, even a rookie like Scarlet Witch, could’ve made a mistake like hurling an explosive device INTO an occupied area, especially when if you let it explode in the air- where it already was- you’d have been fine. But plotwise that was simply the icing on the cake anyway.

I thought T’Challa/Black Panther’s intro could’ve been built up a little more but they did a fine job of his development and juxtaposing him as an almost literal anti-Stark character: similar resources yet different personalities and motives.

The Peter Parker/Spiderman intro scene needed more explaining as to how Tony found him but you can roll with it. Spiderman was everything he should be- an anxious kid in way over his head yet eager to prove himself to the adults, and talking too much the whole time to cover up his nervousness. An excellent addition to the movie.

On a side note the Agent Carter story arc is also wrapped up, and given the ambiguous state of the tv show, it doesn’t look like a good sign.

CA: CW is a great comic book movie and fantastically entertaining. This is one you really need to see, not only for continuity but for the fun of it. 5/5 stars.

One question: how’s Tony calling Spidey ‘Underoos’ when in this world there weren’t any superheroes to make Underoos from…? lol

Mostly because Hank Pym showed up a couple months ago in Uncanny Avengers.   Pym's fate was shown in Rage of Ultron and I'm not going to spoil it, but I couldn't remember the exact details: the whys.   I wanted to get a handle on it, so Rage of Ultron again. 

I'd forgotten how much familial issues this dealt with: is the son what the father wants, or just a reflection of Pym himself?   Vision is clearly not who Ultron wanted him to be, but we're dealing with three generations, all literally in one fight.   The mini-schisms between each of them combined with the larger statement about family makes this a compelling read.   I said it before, but the family issues that Vision has is complex, but can also be heady stuff if done properly. 

Remender plays this all perfectly, combining a story of superheroes and super villains - all action and machismo - with a plot about how this broken family works against each other. It's amazing how much is put into a work so short, and how well it works. 

I still love this.   I still think this is a five star read.   The art is lush and painterly, and the writing is top notch.   More angst than humor, but it all works towards an ending that I didn't see coming, but felt like I should have because it was somewhat inevitable.   

This is one of my favorites.  I see myself rereading it quite a bit. 

Well, I had a hard time getting into the first story, but the second one won me over, even with all the WTF moments.   I mean, the story didn't make sense, and left me chuckling at the ridiculousness more often than not - but I now officially ship Vision/Jocasta.   (At least this version.)

Yup, Vision sleeping with his suddenly not evil stepmom just did it for me.  Go figure.   

That being said, where the hell is her waist?

It took me so long to figure it out - because she has no place for her internal organs.   Awesome. 

Deathcry had a major crush on Vision, though, so I kinda loved her for that point alone.   Her misunderstandings of English idioms felt forced, though, so did not like that. 

Really, not worth reading - unless you're a Vision fan.