Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron begins without much preamble, dropping us right into the action. There are no individual superhero entrances this time around. The Avengers are a team or so the world thinks, and they are there to protect the Earth against all evil forces, alien or human. But the challenge in this thrilling sequel to The Avengers is neither alien or human. Instead they are faced with an A.I. out to ruin them all.

The key to enjoying Marvel's Cinematic Universe films is to remember that they're all connected. The movies and TV shows all borrow heavily from the comic books in which all the characters are created. So if you saw last year's Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy and followed Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter, you'd know that the evil group Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. breaking it down to its core. Only a few remain dedicated to the real purpose of keeping the world safe. The Avengers are part of the few and dedicated, only in this film their methods of getting that done comes into question.

After recovering Loki's staff from Hydra and running into new Enhanced entrants to the films (the Wonder Twins,  Pietro and Wanda Maximoff), the Avengers return back to Stark Tower thinking that the battle has been won. Wrong, the water has gotten murky.  The science brothers Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) decide, on Stark's urging, that the Ultron program must be put to the test now that the staff is in their hands. Loki's staff, in case you've forgotten from the first film, contains one part of the famed Infinity stones given to him by Thanos. Control them all and you control the universe. Remember this, it will come in handy during future films.

The result of this unnecessary human meddling is the birth of Ultron (voiced by James Spader) who doesn't want to do the bidding of Avengers and wants to get rid of them altogether. As expected, this puts the Avengers at a crossroads. Steve aka Captain America (Chris Evans) and Tony have differing viewpoints on how to handle this. And after taking a beating going up against Ultron, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), the Avengers regroup at a safe house.

There are loads of revelations in this film. Each of the Avengers has hidden secrets and pasts they're not ready to confront. When up against evil forces, they are united but we've been given a sense that it won't last long. There are new recruits to the Avengers team and it looks like they might last. The Avengers, eventually, are just a unit of superheroes. It's not supposed to matter who's in it as long as they're together and can vanquish evil.

The newest recruit (literally, he was born yesterday!) is The Vision (Paul Bettany) who's a fascinating addition to the team. His introduction is the standout scene of the film. The film has way too many characters and each one is given a moment. It would be wonderful to linger on the Hulk (who really does need his own proper movie - the first two don't count!) and even Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) to figure out where they're coming from. But this movie is the link to what happens in the next upcoming Marvel films. Stay tuned to Captain America: Civil War where all will be revealed, it seems to hint.

This film is also the last time where Joss Whedon will be directing a Marvel film. The success of the first Avengers allowed directors like James Gunn and the Russo brothers to be signed onto the Marvel universe. His unique voice will definitely be missed in future films. The actors playing the Avengers seem to be at it for so long that playing their alter ego comes naturally to them, especially Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. However, the real star of this film is CGI effects. Over 3000 of them!

The battle sequences are insane and take place all over the world. Thank you for sparing New York, Joss, I bet it's still recovering from the last one. Ultron and his army of lookalikes, the Hulk, the Hulk Buster, the Vision and Wonder Twins' abilities all loom larger with the amazing effects. The Avengers was extra-special because it was the first time you saw a superhero movie with such a grand scale all together on the same screen. Since then, many have tried to duplicate that, even this film, but nothing can really come close. I'm sure most of you out there will be watching but Avengers: Age of Ultron is really for the fans for the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe, stay tuned for the next chapter!

Written and Directed by Joss Whedon; Based on the characters created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee; Cinematography by Ben Davis; Editing by Jeffrey Ford and Lisa Lassek; Music by Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman

Additional cast: Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Linda Cardellini, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgard, Claudia Kim, Thomas Kretschmann, Andy Serkis, Julie Delpy

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Avengers: Age of Ultron New Trailer!

They're back! The wildly popular gang of superheroes return in Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron where we see more of the new enemy they face.  Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) are all up against Ultron and the relentless army he's created. Besides the glimpses at the other new characters in the film, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), the big matchup in this trailer is the Hulk going up against the... Hulkbuster??? What have been creating in your spare time, Tony Stark? What did you think of the second Avengers trailer? Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron reassembles May 1, 2015 worldwide.

New Trailer: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It's here! The new trailer for the next saga in the Steve Rogers story with Captain America: The Winter Soldier featuring the noblest of the Avengers, Captain America (Chris Evans) himself.  This time around, he's still got Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as he battles a mysterious Big Bad. We didn't get to see much of this villain as he was always covered by a mask.

The new faces in the film with Robert Redford as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D and Anthony Mackie as ally Falcon also made their debuts.  What's missing? How about the story? I know nothing about what or why Captain America is ready to go.  And what did they do to the Helicarrier? More questions asked then answered in here.  I hope the next trailer clarifies things a bit more.  Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier releases April 2014.

Movie Review: The Avengers

The Avengers is the first co-production between Disney and Marvel and expectations are high.  After the lackluster collection of John Carter at the box-office, The Avengers has to be the start of a successful franchise.  The marketing for this film has been much better (and everywhere).  It's been hard to escape the posters, trailers and images on TV, the internet and around every corner.

Getting back to the review, The Avengers opens with Loki capturing the Tessaract (the glowing blue box first found in Captain America) from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his S.H.I.E.L.D team, also managing to kidnap Hawkeye aka Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard), previously from the Thor universe.  This worries Fury immensely and he sets out, along with the spy-for-hire Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to recruit Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) into the Avengers Initiative to fight against Loki.  

After some persuading, they eventually come aboard the superhero control center in the sky and get to know each other.  This is putting it nicely as some of the superheroes (We're looking at you, Stark) don't "play well with others" and are naturally wary of each other's presence.  A run-in in Germany with Loki leads to the Avengers first banding together to bring him back to the sky lair.  But he manages to escape and bring the fight to New York city and Stark Towers. Ah, poor New York, a city that gets battered through alien attacks, superhero fights, end-of-the world disasters and even Godzilla.  This time around, there are aliens from another realm (Loki's army) and six superheroes to make it into their personal battleground.

The Avengers is a fun start to the summer blockbuster season filled with action and adventure to satisfy any movie fan's superhero appetite.  This is a superhero film times three.  Directed by Joss Whedon who handles the difficult task of making sure that all of these superheroes (most of which have their own film franchise) don't get shortchanged and receive enough screen time.  This being a Whedon film, the characters all spout quippy dialogues and don't spend too much time feeling sorry about themselves and get on with the action.  Most big special effect blockbusters (Green Lantern, the Star Wars prequels) suffer from bad and cheesy dialogue but not this film.  I enjoyed the first interactions of Captain America and Tony Stark with Thor (Chris Hemsworth).  Basically every line out of Stark's mouth was a gem, from calling Hawkeye "Legolas" to addressing Loki as Reindeer Games.  Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) also got some big laughs in his role.

I saw this film at an advance fan screening so the audience reaction was pretty positive.  Throughout the superhero introductions during the film, Thor got the biggest claps but the loudest cheers were saved for Bruce Banner's The Hulk.  I must say, this is the Hulk we fans were waiting for.  Mark Ruffalo's portrayal is the best Hulk out of the bunch.  I loved how the Hulk was allowed to finally be himself in the climatic sequence.  "Hulk...Smash!" He sure does.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark with such ease, it's almost like his second skin.  It was also nice to see Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Jarvis (Paul Bettany) make a brief appearances as Stark's support team; we'll see them again in Iron Man 3. Captain America and Thor fit in well with the rest of the Avengers but you know the good stuff is yet come in their respective upcoming sequels.  Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow kicks major ass as the lone female fighter in the group.  She fits right in and I had major Buffy flashbacks at some moments.  While Hawkeye spends the first half on Loki's side before coming, literally, to his senses.  His archery armor would make Katniss Everdeen very envious.

The supporting cast, namely the S.H.I.E.L.D team of Nick Fury, Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Agent Coulson don't get to join in as much of the action as the heavy lifting is done by the Avengers team.  The villain of the piece is Loki, brother of Thor and presumed dead at the end of Thor.  We know they rarely stay dead long.  Besides, he's a god as he tells the Hulk.  It leads to my favorite scene in the film which I will watch on repeat when I get the DVD.  Basically, any scene with the Hulk was my favorite.  I think the fans will definitely demand a new Hulk movie. 

But back to Loki.  Denied a kingdom of his own in Asgard, he wants to rule over Earth.  The Avengers team will make sure that won't happen.  Tom Hiddleston plays Loki with a evil smile ever present.  He relishes the role of the baddie given to him.  Stay tuned until after the credits roll for the post-credits scene which has now become mandatory for franchise films.  Overall, The Avengers is great fun and the 3D works extremely well in the battle sequences.  Make it a must-view to start off the summer.

Directed by Joss Whedon; Story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon; Screenplay by Joss Whedon; Based on the comic books by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey; Edited by Jeffrey Ford and Lisa Lassek; Music by Alan Silvestri

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First Look: Chris Evans as Captain America!

Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell

Entertainment Weekly has the First Look at Captain America: The First Avenger with some exclusive photos.  Chris Evans is Steve Rogers aka Captain America and joining him in the cast will be Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter aka "the love interest", Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper and recent dwarf leader from The Hobbit, Richard Armitage.  That's quite a cast of actors.  A quick little prelude to when the actual Avengers actually hits the screen.   Captain America will release on July 22, 2011.