A Movie and Dinner

As opposed to dinner and a movie, I guess. ☺  For a portion of this post, my whirly-bird hat is planted firmly on the top of my head as today we trekked to the local Cineplex and watched the latest Avengers movie: The Age of Ultron (first for three of us; second time for Ben).

I liked the movie; thought it was very good and well executed.  I'll have to admit that I didn't have the same feeling of wonder this time as I did with the first movie, but then, achieving that same level is a very difficult goal to accomplish.  There are certain things that happen in a first movie that just cannot be duplicated in a sequel no matter how hard the director may try.  The first time I saw Darth Vader enter the crippled rebel ship; the first time Peter Parker began to climb a wall; the first time the Avengers truly assembled to take on the threat to the earth.  No matter how hard a filmmaker tries, it is very difficult to duplicate the thrill of those "first" moments, because once they've been seen for the first time, everything afterward doesn't quite measure up.  The second and third and fourth (if it reaches that far) movies, can go one of two ways: either mail it in and cause the audience to immediately think, "ho-hum," or work to offer new moments that can recreate, to the best of the filmmaker's ability, the feelings of the audience to the "first" movie without ripping off those prior moments.  As far as I'm concerned, the quality of the succeeding films is is based more on giving us new moments to enjoy rather than ripping off old moments and attempting to repackage them as new.  Based on this definition, I think Joss Whedon succeeded with this sequel.

I guess the thing I missed a little bit was the humor.  Yes, there was the running joke about Captain America and his "language" comment, but for me none of the humorous moments reached the same level as the first movie.  But then, I'm not sure anyone would be able to top the scene in the first Avengers movie when Hulk slams Loki against the floor of the Stark building like a rag doll.  The unexpectedness of Hulk's reaction and the visual of him misusing the "puny god" was amazing.  It would be difficult to even begin to match the hilarity of that scene.  I hadn't laughed that hard during a movie in so long that I can't even recall the circumstances of the last situation. ☺  Plus, I've never been a big fan of the Hulk, but when he grabbed Loki by the ankle and began slamming him against the floor I nearly fell out of my theater chair I was laughing so hard.  Loki so needed to be humbled in that way that there was no feeling sorry for him.  Honestly, I'm not sure there would be any way possible to match or top such a moment.

James Spader was a great choice as the voice of Ultron.  He has such a smoothly menacing voice in this movie.  The special effects for these movies are improving by leaps and bounds.  Ultron seemed to be a truly integrated part of the action.  I thought the creation of the Vision was executed well.  Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were fully realized.  I admit being disappointed by Quicksilver's death.  It was set up well in the sense that he died saving Hawkeye and the child, but, still it was a bummer.  My conclusion is that just as Iron Man and the others needed Phil Coulson's death in the first movie to trigger the team to "avenge" his death, Scarlet Witch needed Quicksilver's death to do the same.  I understand the reasons, but that doesn't mean I completely like the results.  Still, as I said, I enjoyed the movie.  Plenty of action; the Hulk-buster suit; a quiet moment to get to flesh out Hawkeye's character; Nick Fury is back from "exile;" and the Infinity War is set up.  All good stuff. ☺

The "dinner" part was our annual trek to Outback.  I gave a more detailed description of the origin of this family tradition last year.  In fact as I re-read the post, I was reminded that last year's trip was a movie and dinner as well (Captain America: The Winter Soldier; the set-up for this movie).  The one moment that made this year's trip a bit melancholy was my realization that this will be Ben's last time with us for at least two years (possibly more).  When I said my realization out loud, Jennifer got a little misty eyed and Ben became a bit embarrassed. ☺  Next time we go, Ben will be serving somewhere as a missionary.  He has begun working on his papers and hopes to have them completed soon.  It will be a little different for him in that he will need letters from his orthopedic and rheumatology doctors as well as all the other important components, but we are hopeful that he will be able to serve the Lord as a missionary.  It is an exciting thing to contemplate, but also a bit sad to realize he won't be physically with us.  The moment passed when the food was served and we had a great time together re-living the movie and enjoying our time together participating in one of our favorite traditions. ☺