Conventional wisdom about writing is conventionally wrong.
Love this. And it rings true.
AGE OF ULTRON was an expensive monster that didn’t scare of thrill me. And I adore Josh Whedon as a writer and director. The first AVENGERS movie was great.
It’d be fun to see a director’s cut on Blu-Ray, knowing that studio execs had heavy hand in the editing room. Show us what got cut, Josh–give us the good stuff you had to leave out.
1) It’s funny, and not in a forced way, like a Saturday Night Live skit that repeats the same joke seventeen times.
The actors seem natural and relaxed.
2) The director lets this scene play out.
Today, that’s rare, with directors eager to bust out the CGI and blow up more stuff that only exists as pixels on giant servers.
Josh Whedon figures he has enough excitement packed into the movie and gives us a long, funny breather. Which is wonderful, because not rushing the payoff for this scene makes is far more powerful.
3) That payoff is amazing, and a completely different emotion than how the scene started.
Ultron showing up like this is not only a surprise, but a shock, and his lines are simply perfect. Unsettling and dark and wonderful.
Well done, Josh the Whedon, well done. A far better trailer than the usual Michael Bay explosion-fest that’s required of every big-budget action movie.
Top 11 posts about the Big Screen and Such, Because Top 10 Lists are Common and therefore Boring:
The Red Pen of Doom dissects every Batman movie IN HISTORY
Top 5 reasons EDGE OF TOMORROW works — and why it redeems Tom the Cruise
THE WOLVERINE proves Writing Law #1 – Less is More
Seattle superheroes challenged by supervillain Rex Velvet
Hollywood: Sidekicks do NOT need their own stupid sidekicks
Seven movie clichés that must be NUKED FROM ORBIT
MAN OF STEEL and the Invincible Hero Problem
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: Why it works
Big, Beautiful Movies with Sad, Stupid Endings
THE AVENGERS + THE BREAKFAST CLUB = AWESOMESAUCE
Like Godzilla in Tokyo, PACIFIC RIM smashes all expectations
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Reformed journalist. Scribbler of speeches and whatnot. Represented by Jill Marr of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
The Red Pen of Doom 