In many ways, I’m here to set the record straight. As of right now, Justice League sits at just under 40% on the Tomatometer for critics. On the other hand, about 85% of audiences enjoyed this movie and I have to side with them on this one. This was by no means a bad movie. It’s far from perfect and the story jumps around A LOT, but I have to commend DC on Justice League. By the time Avengers came out, 3/4 of the heroes had solo movies (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America) and only had to worry about introducing the Hulk. This was absolutely to the benefit of Marvel, because instead of introducing characters, they could focus on story and the villain. With Justice League however, we’ve only seen Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, which is only half of the League at this point. That leaves Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash, which are by no means small characters in the DC universe. These characters deserved better back stories, and at the very least, they deserved their own solo movies before DC threw them together. I understand that Hollywood isn’t always pretty and DC needed to fast track this in order to compete with Marvel. I understand all of that, but the story suffers for it.
If you can get past the fact that the movie rushes to introduce the remaining heroes, there are some well choreographed scenes that deserve praise. The dialogue and emotional scenes fall pretty flat, but boy do some of the action scenes make up for them! There are also some humorous moments in this movie that give me hope for DC’s future. I like gritty super heroes as much as the next person, but I like to laugh too! And there are just enough laughs in Justice League to keep that balance. The main villain deserves a mention and is a force to be reckoned with, but unfortunately, he’s so one-note that it’s hard to care about anything he does.
With all that said, I did enjoy this movie. Better than 40% at least. I would put it at 70%, maybe a low B if you want a letter grade. DC did a great job, considering what they had to work with. I can’t wait to see what’s next for these heroes and their story. Happy Watching!
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It’s been awhile since my last post, but I figured I’d indulge my old hobby of analyzing advertisements and movie trailers. Today we’ll be discussing the highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer and see what all the buzz is about!
Needless to say, The Avengers franchise has undoubtedly changed the superhero movie genre for the better. While many will argue that DC comics has a greater presence on TV (Arrow, The Flash, Gotham), Marvel has thrived on the big screen! However, I’m not here to argue which Universe is better because they both have their own unique characters and storylines (a point I’ll come back to later). I’m a huge fan of both comics, but today I’ll be talking about The Avengers: Age of Ultron!
Now, if that didn’t give you goosebumps I don’t know what will! Okay okay, I’ll admit I’ve seen this trailer an unhealthy amount of times, but can you blame me? Like I mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of superhero movies and when you get all these characters together something amazing is bound to happen! Although I am very excited for the film, I will try to give an unbiased assessment of the advertising techniques used in the trailer.
The Ad execution techniques are as follows: humor, fear, physical attractiveness, fantasy, drama, narration and unique selling proposition acting as the main execution technique. All of these elements work together to make the final product exactly what it is. While some of these techniques may seem unnecessary, I will explain where they all fit into the trailer and why I believe they are being used.
Humor is not exactly a prominent theme in this movie, but it is definitely present. Joss Whedon is no stranger to lightening up his movies with a little bit of comedy. I think he does this so the audience knows he’s not taking his job too seriously, and although every scene isn’t 100% serious, I think the audience appreciates the giggles in between the action. The fear technique is also apparent throughout the trailer. Ultron is threatening humanity which provides the plot for the movie and also the conflict that The Avengers must unite to overcome. Fear is usually used in advertisements to scare people into buying their product, but in this case, fear is motivating the audience to buy a ticket to the Avengers so they can root for their favorite superheroes! I don’t think I need to go into much detail about physical attractiveness. These are all A list actors portraying these characters, looks definitely played a part in their casting. Because the audience deserves a good looking group of hero’s that they can fantasize about well after they’ve saved the day. Which brings me to the next technique: fantasy. Fantasy in this case means exactly what you’d think. All of these villains and superheroes are of course not real, but with the advanced technology and vivid imagination of the movie makers today, these characters are brought to life and it’s not so hard to believe that this could actually happen! Drama also plays a huge part in believing this “superhero world” is real. Because nothing is just black and white these days. It’s not just The Avengers vs. Ultron, it’s The Avengers vs. themselves and their own personal struggles. So dramatic! Narration is also occurring throughout most of the trailer. Specifically when Samuel L. Jackson (as Nick Fury) is giving his rallying speech that The Avengers so desperately need and always seem to get at the perfect time.
Now all of these elements are great selling points for this movie by themselves, but when it’s all put together we call it a unique selling proposition. The reason it’s unique is because there’s not going to be an off brand Avengers crew in theaters this summer along with the real Avengers we know and love. That may be an extreme example, but what I mean is simple: If you want to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron, you’re not going to settle for some chick flick or even another action movie for that matter. Because after seeing this trailer you know what to expect (more or less) and there is not a single movie that will be anything like this. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll see Batman vs. Superman as well. Not because it has superheroes so it’s a sufficient substitute for the Avengers, but because it has it’s own unique selling prop that I’m anxious to see! Thank you for listening to me ramble on! I hope you learned something and I’ll see you May 1st!
