Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

After supposedly taking down the last HYDRA base, Tony Stark creates Ultron in order to protect the world. Unfortunately Ultron has a different idea of what that means.

Hype was probably the only problem this movie had. It certainly lives up to it, but it certainly didn't exceed it (granted my hype may have been greater than most). Regardless, this movie is great. It doesn't waste any time showing off the Avengers as the movie starts off with the storming of a HYDRA base. It does a great job exploring the personal relationships between the Avengers and we even got to see the other Avengers (War Machine and Falcon) get some screen time as well as some cool moments. Lastly, James Spader as Ultron is truly a treat. Unlike Loki, Ultron can definitely hold his own against even the mightiest Avengers and has some of the funniest moments in the film.

I feel I must address the two main criticisms I have heard in other reviews that are so wrong that it bothered me. Iron Man's "retirement" at the end of Iron Man 3 is easily explained as the motivation behind the Ultron project. How these critics missed that shocks me. The other issue deals with Thor's "spirit quest". Without spoiling anything, it is definitely not pointless. It informs the other Avengers what the infinity stones are and sets up the next Avengers movie and possibly other Marvel films.

How does it relate to the TV show, Agents of SHIELD? As of this review, I haven't seen the episode that is supposed to tie-in to this movie (it will air April 28, 2015), but the TV show does tease Baron Von Strucker and Dr. List - the latter being more prominent in the TV show - who are the main HYDRA leaders seen in the movie. Not much else. Thor and the other Avengers are still certainly clueless about Coulson's resurrection. I'm not sure if Quicksilver or Scarlet Witch may be Inhumans - they are simply Strucker's experiments in the movie. SHIELD does play a role in the movie, but none of the actors show up in the movie - which makes me wonder how Fury acquires a certain BIG item.

There is a mid credit's scene which is going to make you wish it were 2017 already, but there is no end credit's scene.

Between the action, the character's relationships toward one another, as well as the welcome additions of Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision; this movie rocks. It should also be mentioned that Hawkeye finally gets the attention that was sorely missed in the first Avenger's movie. The plot was fantastic and the visuals were stunning. At two and half hours, I forgot how badly I needed to use the restroom. With that said, my only complaint -besides wanting more- was that Captain America's last line of dialogue was cut mid-sentence. When you see the movie, you'll know what I mean -especially if you're a huge Marvel fan. I'm sure it was done on purpose, but regardless, this is truly one of the most fun experiences I had for a movie, and I'm sure you'll love it too.


I give this 4 stars out of 5

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1 star = I hated it. Avoid it at all costs.
2 stars = I didn't like it, but you might.
3 stars = I liked it. Doesn't warrant a repeat viewing.
4 stars = I really liked it. Has rewatchability.
5 stars = I loved it. Make plans to watch it.

Social Justice

While I've been watching videos of modern day philosophers and political commentators, I have been noticing them spending a lot of time denouncing the concept of white privilege and feminism. I was half tempted to title this blog post as feminism, but I don't want to confuse feminism with what these people are purporting. Feminism is supposed to be equality for both genders basically a woman should be able to do everything that a man is able to do. A sentiment that I agree with. What these social justice warriors are calling feminism is really promoting a hatred toward men. The hatred being justified due to prior injustices.

Just like the Black Lives Matter movement that believes the system is against black people, these so called "feminists" believe that the system is against women. They point to easily debunked notions such as the gender wage gap and an anonymous evil power known only as the patriarchy (as a former conspiracy theorist, they may as well say the Illuminati). Ironic, that the vehicle promoting equality is named after women while the force promoting inequality is named after a man. Regardless, what has been happening now is an unholy alliance between the two where racism and sexism toward white men is now being called social justice. Their disgusting sense of equality is disenfranchising white men while promoting equality for all. Pointing out this fallacy is only met with being shouted down as a white male instead of any kind of intelligent response.

The numerous fallacies of the movement are astounding. Take safe spaces for example, black social justice warriors are literally wanting a separate space from white people. Basically, they want the exact same thing the racists wanted back in the 1960's versus the desegregation civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King preached. Female social justice warriors want special entitlements to allow them to better compete with men essentially admitting an inferiority to men instead of empowering themselves to compete with men directly. There are other examples, but their underlining fallacy is that they are confusing equal opportunity with equal outcome. I can go on with trigger warnings and microaggressions, but the ideas are so ridiculous, I'll just link their Urban Dictionary definitions instead.  

Wanton destruction is never just nor promotes equality.

I'm not exactly sure when all of this started, but reflecting on my White Privilege post, I think I was witnessing the seeds being planted, but my fellow classmates and I were too preoccupied with our studies to notice. My fear with all of this is that I eventually believe this may be used to justify violence. The moment you paint a group of people as the reason for all of your woes, then they become your enemy. Virtually, every evil power rises up with this power. The communists blamed the bourgeoisie, the Nazis blamed the Jews, and now social justice warriors are blaming white men. These social justice warriors just need to accept the fact that sometimes life isn't fair.