Avengers: Age of Ultron

We've already had the magic and amazement of seeing our comic book heroes team up in 2012's incredible The Avengers, and now, three years later, they're back and bigger than ever. But does their second outing hold up to the first? Read on to find out in my SPOILER FREE review of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The main Avengers are back and this time they fight off against, Ultron, an A.I set on saving the world by destroying the human race, mo-capped and voiced by James Spader. It's your usual A.I philosophical tale but this time done on huge budget with superheroes. New to the cast of the film is Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver and Paul Bettany as The Vision. The less you know about The Vision the better, just know that he is awesome in every way, steals the show and leaves you wanting more!

Seeing the main characters on screen in the first film truly was an experience, one that is hard to replicate in Age of Ultron. Instead, director Joss Whedon decides to just go full out and show you these characters working as a team from the offset with loads of incredible action and geeky visuals. In fact the who film is made up of insane action scenes, probably the most we have seen in a Marvel film so far. There is never a dull moment and the whole film is well structured and interwoven into a fast paced two hours and twenty minutes thrill ride. This however, is sometimes its flaw, one of the great things about this film is that you get to see these cool characters interact and engage with each other, and although we get this, for me there weren't enough moments where they slowed down and interacted in other ways rather than just fighting. I mean, we do get these scenes, but personally I just wanted more. The film basically goes from one set piece to another, and although these set pieces are incredible, I just needed some more down time every now and then to catch my breath.
There are pretty much ten main characters to deal with here and they all get their time to shine, even if it's for a small amount of said time, I felt Captain America and Thor could have been given more to do, but apart from that it works, every now and then you realise a character hasn't been seen recently but with the amount of cool stuff going on in the mean time, you can let that slide.

Like the first film, there is a lot of comedy, something I think worked better throughout this film than its predecessor. It's really funny and pretty much all the jokes land and I was laughing out loud throughout. There are a few running gags which really do work, especially one which involves most of the team winding Captain America up about a comment he makes early on in the film, it's hilarious. That's not to say that this film doesn't get dark, it's not all fun and games, but it gets the tone right and the jokes never feel out of place like they do in Iron Man 3. There are a few moments that definitely hit me right in the feels. I still think Captain America: The Winter Soldier got the tone perfect and more so than here, but this still walks the line between seriousness and comedy well, but never really packs too much of a punch.

Ultron is very cool, he looks great and is a good match for The Avengers, however I was a little disappointed at the fact that for me, he wasn't as scary or intimidating a character as the trailers made him out to be. I truly thought this would be Marvel's best villain but he didn't blow me away like I thought he would. He's still menacing but at times he just sounds like a robot Joss Whedon. The two new characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch however, did surprise me. I wasn't sure what they would be like but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they fit into the story and their character arcs as a whole, even their Eastern European accents worked. Scarlet Witch turned out to be one of my favourite characters in the film and her powers truly looked awesome on screen, especially her mind manipulation which creates some very cool sequences for the Avengers to deal with. Talking of favourite characters, Black Widow really stood out for me in this film. I found her annoying in the first Avengers film and a little bit better in The Winter Soldier, but in this film I truly enjoyed watching her on screen and her development as a character throughout. Another character who might surprise audiences is Hawkeye, in fact he gets more character development than most and you will enjoy his character as part of the roster a lot more than previously.

There is an emphasis on saving people in this film and it was refreshing to see this within the superhero genre, which has not shown much of this recently. I definitely think the genre has learnt a lesson from the backlash to Man of Steel and I really enjoyed seeing the heroes putting civilian life first before then going to stop the villain. There are still some 9/11 looking destruction that may upset some, but the emphasis on saving civillians was something I really enjoyed about their second outing.

My last little niggle with the film was the music, there wasn't as powerful a score here and the main Avengers theme is only heard a couple of times and didn't really give me the same feeling it did when I first saw The Avengers. This film as whole didn't have that same kind of feeling you got when you first saw the characters assemble on the big screen, but it gives you enough nerdy comic book moments to forget this and just enjoy what was going on.

The film is a comic book come to life, and although it doesn't pack as big a political punch as The Winter Soldier did, it still is one heck of an enjoyable watch. Joss Whedon knows how to make a fun film and although it does lay the seeds for the next instalments, its still its own thing and not just a trailer for Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It will be a shame to see Whedon leave the franchise, but with The Russo Brothers helming the next instalment means we should still be in for another great ride.

It's not the best Marvel film but it sure is good still and is definitely a worthy sequel to the first Avengers. I feel it deserves a second viewing (like I did with the first film) to fully solidify my views, but for now this how I feel and I am rating Avengers: Age of Ultron a 3/5.

What did you think of the film? Do you think it was better or worse than than the first? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

Where Have All The Special Features Gone?

It has occurred to me in the last few years, that DVDs contain little to none in the area of special features. Now this is obviously because Blu-Rays have been brought into the mix and have the ability to contain more footage on their discs.

I do remember however, when DVDs first came out they were advertised as being able to have loads of special features. It seems Blu-Ray's have taken the same approach and the only way to enforce this and increase sales is to leave DVDs with no extra bits. Well thanks. Because I don't have a Blu-Ray player and don't plan on spending the small amount of money I have, on one in the next few years as I will be off to University.

In University I am going to be a Film student and will therefore be interested in watching the special features of films. I can probably guess that a Blu-Ray player will be very rare thing in the halls of residents, leaving me to have to find these features elsewhere.

Not all DVDs have this problem. The Hunger Games DVD coming out soon in the UK and has it's own second disc full of special features! This is most likely because the studio know that most of their audience do not own a Blu-Ray player. Surely all studios could do this?

The reason I wanted to have a bit of rant about this is because of the soon to be released DVD of The Avengers. Being one of my most anticipated films ever, I want to know how it was made. Instead all I get on my DVD is a special feature called A Visual Journey. Yay. Whereas the Blu-Ray has a load more special features and a short film! Come on Marvel, at least give me a 2 disc special edition! You did it with Iron Man, and I bought that!

So come on studios! Please add some special features to your DVDs or people are just going to download or stream them online! Remember there are those of us who haven't upgraded to Blu-Ray and will not for a while to come! We need to make this the normal thing again, or at least for The Avengers DVD!

What do you think? Is it just me who thinks this, or is just me who still owns a DVD player? Comment below!

Thanks for reading!

The Avengers Review

Finally the review of one of the most anticipated superhero movies of all time, The Avengers or Avengers Assemble if you are from the UK like me. We luckily got to see the film before those living in the U.S.A and we got an extra word! Though unfortunately they get an extra post credits scene, but don't worry I won't go into detail about that, as this review is spoiler free!

So after a long weekend at Sundance London and a frustratingly delayed train journey back, I finally got to see the film I have been waiting years for! Never have I been so excited for a film! But was it going to live up to my expectations? Thank you lord it did! I have never had so much fun at the cinema before and I doubt I will ever again!

The film follows a group of superheroes; Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Hulk who are assembled by head honcho of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury. He has no superpowers apart from being Samuel L Jackson! Other members of the group who are not 'super' but rather kick ass include Black Widow, Hawkeye, Maria Hill and the incredible Agent 'Phil' Coulson. The team are assembled as The Avengers and together they must face an army brought to Earth by the god of mischief, Loki.

For those who believed that Mark Ruffalo would not make a good Hulk you are so wrong! Although Edward Norton was brilliant, Ruffalo just completely blows him out of the park! He is also the first actor to play the Hulk via motion capture. Unlike previous representations of the gamma monster, this Bruce Banner is not as tortured by the man inside but has learnt to keep him away for as long as possible. How you ask? Well you will have to watch the film! Robert Downey Jr once gain captures Tony Stark perfectly but does not steal the show. The Hulk does that, he provides moments of great action and humour.

In fact the whole film does that! Joss Whedon really has created a film that contains everything we love from previous Marvel movies and amps it up a notch! His direction and writing is spot on and the film visually looks beautiful. Not just the special effects but cinematography also! The best bits about the film are the conflicting relationships between The Avengers, don't worry they all fight each other at least once, Hulk vs Thor being a highlight. But the two characters that don't fight are Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Their relationship is brilliant, being two geniuses they instantly connect and the constant push from Stark to try and get Banner angry is brilliant! I would be happy if the next Marvel project was a Iron Man & Hulk movie!

Another thing that makes this movie great is that Captain America is actually quite cool. Although he does need to back down a bit and stop being so over confident when he wants to fight Iron Man, a fight he will so obviously lose. No Cap, just no. But apart from that, Captain America feels like a superhero who isn't just a do good whining soldier. There is a very cool moment where he knocks a grenade back to his enemy using his bare hands. Thank you once again Joss Whedon for making the Captain America we all want to see. Thor is pretty awesome also, but he already was pretty cool. And like in Thor he gets to say some pretty amusing lines.

My down point of the film is that the phrase 'Avengers Assemble!' is not used and neither is 'I say thee nay!' used by Thor. These little things would have made me nerd out even more but never mind. Apart from that The Avengers is pretty much flawless as a superhero movie. Those who compare it to The Dark Knight should give up. Yes they are both superhero film but they are in completely different categories when it come to style!

2012 is already so much better then last year! If you are going to see any films this Summer, this looks like the one to go to! Bring on The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises! I'm giving The Avengers a rating of 5/5.

Thanks for reading and remember to stay until the end of the credits so you can nerd out just a little bit more!

Assembling The Avengers

Two weeks from now I will be coming back from Sundance London and my first stop will be at my local cinema. The film I will be going to see is Avengers Assemble or for those is the U.S.A The Avengers.

It all started back in 2008 after the release of Iron Man. A film that was an unexpected success at the box office. It is also one of my favourite films and I can never get bored of Robert Downey Jr. We are also introduced to Samuel L Jackson's kick ass Nick Fury! So 4 years and 5 films later, we are almost here, the moment every fan boy in the world has been waiting for, Earth's Mightiest Heroes uniting to face off an army sent by the mischievous Loki.

After Iron Man was released then saw the next stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk. This time played by Edward Norton who did a very good job at it. Unfortunately Norton was a pain in the ass and therefore the studio decided to pick Mark Ruffalo as the Bruce Banner of The Avengers.

Iron Man 2 was next. It delivered a good post Avengers film but never really hit the heights of the original. A good movie never the less. Although I am saddened that Jon Favreau won't be returning for the threequel I am happy that Shane Black will be directing as I loved his previous film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Then came Thor. My least favourite of the group but a suprisingly good film that delivered well and created a well made backdrop of Asgard that I hope will not be underused in The Avengers.

Then came 'The First Avenger' Captain America. Another great film that helped secure the origins of Cap before (SPOILER) gets frozen and wakes up modern day ready to assemble! the film was good though the second act felt a bit rushed. Personally if any film Marvel film could have benefited from a sequel it would have been this one rather then Iron Man as I would have loved to see more WW2 footage that had been less rushed.

Now we are here, a week and a bit away from being able to see it. Some lucky people already have!! And first responses have been positive which just helps the nerding out even more! Lots of comments from people saying they 'won't spoil it' so does that mean there is more then meets the eye? My bet is on another villain from the Marvel Universe rather then just Loki and has army. Either way I cannot freakin wait!

Thanks for reading! In 2 weeks time my review of Avenger Assemble will be online and that thought just makes me giddy!

The Muppets Movie

Yesterday I saw the latest movie from the Muppets. Apart from a couple of television films this is actually the first time they have been on the big screen in 13 years! As they refer to in the film, times have moved on and kids no longer believe in the loveable muppets. Which is why this is a film for adults rather then their kids.

My parents, my dad especially, were mad on the muppets and throughout my childhood have brought me up on them also. Which is why I was just as excited as them to see there comeback to the big screen. There comeback has been written by Jason Segal, who also stars in the film as Gary. You can't help thinking that this is an over fantasised version of Jason Segal's life, being a self confessed muppets fan himself. The plot goes like this; with the help of three fans, The Muppets must reunite to save their old theatre from a greedy oil tycoon. Simple yet very effective!

The script brings back all the magic from classic muppets films and updates it for new viewers as well. The gags are very silly but very funny at the same time. The fart shoe jokes probably make adults laugh more then kids which is just brilliant to see!

The film is full of the new, oscar winning, muppety, feel good songs! The songs, written by Bret Mckenzie sound amazing and full of charm! I was smiling throughout them all, apart from the sad ones which almost had me in tears. It definitely got the little girl behind me crying! Man or Muppet is the highlight though and proves to the audience that it deserved its oscar win!

Overall a great film with a great cast and loads of celebrity cameos! A must see film for all the family, and parents, if your kids don't like it, then disown them.

In other news, there is a new Avengers (Assemble) trailer! If you haven't seen it (why not?!) then here it is!

Instead of rambling on about (which I can easily do!) I shall describe it in one word...

MINDBLOWING!

Thanks for reading!