*Above image rights to Marvel*
Avengers: Age of Ultron builds to The Infinity War
Marvel has been doing a spectacular job with their films of late and tying them all into one cohesive narrative, including the latest installment "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Each movie has a cast of characters who are diverse and deep in their own right. Each of them has also been leading to this film, inevitably reaching The Infinity War and the next few movies.
-Image rights to Marvel-
One strength of the movie is the humor and family dynamic between the characters. This film is very different because the Avengers now know each other and how to work together efficiently. The humor adds to this because we get multiple scenes involving nearly every character and something humorous. One of my favorite scenes included Thor and the logistics of wielding his hammer. I was in tears laughing over this and how each character tries to lift Mjolnir. These characters know each other like family members and it makes their scenes together work that much more.
Another thing to mention with this humor is that Thor steals the show as the comedic relief. This will surprise many as he usually has a much more serious demeanor but Thor is hilarious in this film. I hope they keep up with this as it helps to humanize the Thunder God somewhat.
Another intensely entertaining piece to the film is the overall narrative and its connections to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ve thought about this before that the movies sort of work like Greek myths. Stories were told, and they made reference to different gods. People knew exactly who these gods were based on the legends surrounding them. Marvel has adopted this aesthetic for their films. References are made to characters, events and objects and if you’ve been an avid watcher of the films, it’s easy to see all of the connections.
The storyline here focuses upon Ultron and his goal of wiping out the earth to make it anew. He goes forward with this plan with the help of new characters Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. These twins have their own abilities of super speed and psychic/psionic abilities. Each power set is shown beautifully. My favorite thing was the inclusion of Scarlet Witch messing with the minds of our heroes. It starts to create tension between the Avengers and it works to give them all more depth overall.
I thought the story here was fantastic. It did feel rushed in certain areas but Joss Whedon has stated that the Blu-ray release will have an extended 3 hour cut of the film and an alternate ending. This will fix some of the pacing issues and fill in gaps for character backgrounds left hanging in the film. I thought Ultron was a great villain but his introduction and characterization happens far too quickly.
Once he’s evil he is devilishly and lovably so, but it comes so quickly that I want to see more before he becomes the big bad. I also wanted to see much more with the twins. We get some of their backstory from Sekovia and their childhood but not that much. They eventually mesh well together with the team, but a large emphasis on their backstories would definitely work wonders.
Another wonderful surprise was the inclusion of the character known as The Vision. I promise to not spoil his origins or what he does in the film but it is something else to see him in action. Paul Bettany finally gets to “suit-up” and I was cheering in the theatre during some of his moments in the film. His look is quite impressive and yet totally fits into the universe with sharp colors and metallic surfaces. He’s introduced just a tad too late, but I’m sure The Vision will show up in future MCU films for much more screen time.
Hawkeye was a mind-controlled drone the entire first Avengers film. He is well characterized and utilized for the storyline in this sequel however. He actually kicks a lot of butt and humorously stops a mind control attempt on him. This made me giggle because it was a clear reference to his fate in the first film. I think Hawkeye steals the show here. He works well with the team and is never left behind or shafted.
One smaller thing I didn’t like was how quickly HYDRA was dispatched in the film. I loved seeing the Avengers in action as a global unit but HYDRA being taken down so quickly made me sort of upset, especially by the quick defeat of Baron Von Strucker. He was alluded to in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as being a huge threat to the world. The simple defeat of this portion of HYDRA made me upset mostly because of how prominent they were within "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV show. This was a small thing but I do hope some part of them still exists to oppose HYDRA and hopefully Strucker will make a return later on.
I had an absolute blast watching this film. It serves as an epic continuation of the first film while also serving as a bridge to the next few Marvel movies. Things are heating up here in the Marvel cinematic universe, and I am so excited to see what happens in "Avengers: The Infinity War" parts one and two and the other films coming up. I like this film for different reasons than the first film. The first film was great for introducing the team dynamic and how they interact with one another. This film shows how they’ve become an extended family of sorts and I love it for that. I also love they are all challenged by the villain and forced to adapt for the occasion. Ultron definitely tests our heroes in ways not seen before. I give Avengers: Age of Ultron a 9.5/10. What if Thor’s hammer was put in an elevator?
Avengers: Age of Ultron builds to The Infinity War
Marvel has been doing a spectacular job with their films of late and tying them all into one cohesive narrative, including the latest installment "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Each movie has a cast of characters who are diverse and deep in their own right. Each of them has also been leading to this film, inevitably reaching The Infinity War and the next few movies.
-Image rights to Marvel-
One strength of the movie is the humor and family dynamic between the characters. This film is very different because the Avengers now know each other and how to work together efficiently. The humor adds to this because we get multiple scenes involving nearly every character and something humorous. One of my favorite scenes included Thor and the logistics of wielding his hammer. I was in tears laughing over this and how each character tries to lift Mjolnir. These characters know each other like family members and it makes their scenes together work that much more.
Another thing to mention with this humor is that Thor steals the show as the comedic relief. This will surprise many as he usually has a much more serious demeanor but Thor is hilarious in this film. I hope they keep up with this as it helps to humanize the Thunder God somewhat.
Another intensely entertaining piece to the film is the overall narrative and its connections to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ve thought about this before that the movies sort of work like Greek myths. Stories were told, and they made reference to different gods. People knew exactly who these gods were based on the legends surrounding them. Marvel has adopted this aesthetic for their films. References are made to characters, events and objects and if you’ve been an avid watcher of the films, it’s easy to see all of the connections.
The storyline here focuses upon Ultron and his goal of wiping out the earth to make it anew. He goes forward with this plan with the help of new characters Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. These twins have their own abilities of super speed and psychic/psionic abilities. Each power set is shown beautifully. My favorite thing was the inclusion of Scarlet Witch messing with the minds of our heroes. It starts to create tension between the Avengers and it works to give them all more depth overall.
I thought the story here was fantastic. It did feel rushed in certain areas but Joss Whedon has stated that the Blu-ray release will have an extended 3 hour cut of the film and an alternate ending. This will fix some of the pacing issues and fill in gaps for character backgrounds left hanging in the film. I thought Ultron was a great villain but his introduction and characterization happens far too quickly.
Once he’s evil he is devilishly and lovably so, but it comes so quickly that I want to see more before he becomes the big bad. I also wanted to see much more with the twins. We get some of their backstory from Sekovia and their childhood but not that much. They eventually mesh well together with the team, but a large emphasis on their backstories would definitely work wonders.
Another wonderful surprise was the inclusion of the character known as The Vision. I promise to not spoil his origins or what he does in the film but it is something else to see him in action. Paul Bettany finally gets to “suit-up” and I was cheering in the theatre during some of his moments in the film. His look is quite impressive and yet totally fits into the universe with sharp colors and metallic surfaces. He’s introduced just a tad too late, but I’m sure The Vision will show up in future MCU films for much more screen time.
Hawkeye was a mind-controlled drone the entire first Avengers film. He is well characterized and utilized for the storyline in this sequel however. He actually kicks a lot of butt and humorously stops a mind control attempt on him. This made me giggle because it was a clear reference to his fate in the first film. I think Hawkeye steals the show here. He works well with the team and is never left behind or shafted.
One smaller thing I didn’t like was how quickly HYDRA was dispatched in the film. I loved seeing the Avengers in action as a global unit but HYDRA being taken down so quickly made me sort of upset, especially by the quick defeat of Baron Von Strucker. He was alluded to in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as being a huge threat to the world. The simple defeat of this portion of HYDRA made me upset mostly because of how prominent they were within "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV show. This was a small thing but I do hope some part of them still exists to oppose HYDRA and hopefully Strucker will make a return later on.
I had an absolute blast watching this film. It serves as an epic continuation of the first film while also serving as a bridge to the next few Marvel movies. Things are heating up here in the Marvel cinematic universe, and I am so excited to see what happens in "Avengers: The Infinity War" parts one and two and the other films coming up. I like this film for different reasons than the first film. The first film was great for introducing the team dynamic and how they interact with one another. This film shows how they’ve become an extended family of sorts and I love it for that. I also love they are all challenged by the villain and forced to adapt for the occasion. Ultron definitely tests our heroes in ways not seen before. I give Avengers: Age of Ultron a 9.5/10. What if Thor’s hammer was put in an elevator?
Fantastic 4: Better than the Halle Berry Catwoman....and uh Ghost Rider, kinda?
Spoiler Alert!
Before I begin this review proper let's get a few things out of thew way first. Yes I know this film is receiving universal hatred and has one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores of all time. That being said there are some enjoyable things in this film. Don't worry I will definitely talk about what didn't work overall but I also want to highlight some possible reasoning for this and the things I thought did work. Let's jump right in.
The film begins with backstory for Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. Reed is the quintessential boy-genius and is supported by his friend Ben. Their friendship is kind of fleshed out here but only minimally. They work together to create a matter teleportation device which is successful and also gets Reed noticed by Franklin Storm. Franklin works at a scientific institute that is working on a large scale version of the same type of experiment. He invites Reed to join up and the two friends must part ways for now. There's a random jump in time here of 7 years between the child portion and when Reed is noticed at his science fair. This serves to make the film drag rather than speed things up. Nothing of any real substance happens here besides having Reed meet Franklin.
-Image rights to IMDB-
The nagging issue of story comes up all over this film. For a movie trying to put together a band of young people to save the world I think their team sucks. This goes back to character writing 101. You NEED development and narrative structure for your characters in the first act of the film. Shining light primarily on two leaves the other 4 primary characters in the dust. There are scenes that are presented as important that are then NEVER brought up again in the film.
One example is the villain Victor Von Doom. That's right they named him correctly and no he isn't an internet troll who goes by Doom as a screen name. He's actually worse. He's supposed to be some sort of secretive, recluse hacker who has some sort of history with the Baxter foundation that Franklin has invited Richard to. He even previously happened to conveniently work on the same experiment and concept as Reed at a younger age somehow? This is semi-interesting but never truly followed up on. We never see him as anything more than the douche foreign guy who hates Reed and happiness and puppies.
Another issue is that certain scenes lose their importance overall as a result of things being nonexistent in the narrative. We get one, count em, one scene of Johnny and Sue having some sort of rift that is hinted at but never shown in flashback form or otherwise. I actually liked Michael B. Jordan in this film but he's given such an empty shell of a character that he becomes quite underutilized. There is this rift created between the two characters implied to be a result of Sue being adopted and being smart but it's dropped immediately. Reed happens to ask Sue one time about it as a way to flirt then it's never heard from again.
A similar issue comes up when Victor is injured and presumed dead in a drunken trip to the other dimension along with Reed, Johnny and Ben. He's hurt and falls of a cliff then is not heard from until about a half hour to 45 minutes from the ending of the film. This is an awful way to set up your villain. You can't just simply make him go away and come back for sake of plot convenience. That's horrible writing and production. It also makes their journey and sacrifice meaningless if he's sort of simply forgotten or presumed dead. Also um....where in the hell did he get that green cloak he's in when they find him again later on? The magical cloak tree or rock formation that grows ominous, evil villain cloaks?
After this incident the characters receive their powers after their failed journey to the other dimension they'd been trying to get to in vain. We then randomly cut to a year later after Reed escapes the facility they are all brought to be studied. He then just up and leaves before the one year later tag comes onscreen. This was odd to me as it gave no reasoning or indication as to why he left or what he planned on doing to help. We also don't even get as much as a montage of the "team" learning to cope with and utilize their powers. This robbed the movie of some true emotional scenes of each character and their new personal struggle.
I also want to take some time to talk about the few things I liked before wrapping this all up. The special effects are pretty well done and the actions scenes, while sparse, are well done also. This movie could have been great with these things intact but the story drags it down immensely. I wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did but not even the special effects and action could save it. The acting was also up to par and cinematography was good as well. Again this is crushed by the weight of the plot being bare bones and confusing.
One final point that bothered me was Doom's design. He was somehow melded to his environment suit and what he looks like as a result is awful. His face looks like Darth Vader and Dot Matrix from SpaceBalls had a drunken mistake one night and then it got dropped in a pile of rocks, metal and human flesh. He isn't menacing at all and it distracted me from paying attention to his scenes. He honestly looked like a bad fan-fiction comic character or a really bad Power Rangers villain. There's also the issue that his powers are never truly explained or shown what all they can do. He's just sort of God, I guess? I mean he makes matter move at his own free will and peoples heads explode with a thought. He can also fly and somehow stop the team's powers sort of when it's convenient for plot. None of these things are even remotely close to Doom in the comics. He also gets one of the corniest and most cheesily written lines in the form of "There is no Victor....only Doom!". Really? That's it? A sort of half rip off of a Ghostbusters line? Alright movie, thanks.
Overall this film could have been much better. There were some conflicting reports I read online about the production of this film. The director Josh Trank allegedly had a great script written but the studio came in and put their hands into it at the last minute. This seems like a plausible reason for the film as it is. It feels disjointed and random as if the studio had a part in ripping it to shreds. This also sheds light on the reasoning behind most of the action and special effect scenes being shoehorned into the last half hour.
This film somehow can't even stick with the tried and true 3 act format for film making and story writing. We get random parts and pieces of story throughout. Before our heroes can truly take in the fact that their father-figure of sorts is dead by the end of act 2 (I think.....if you can call it that) they rush off to fight the villain for act 3. No introspection or thought about what's happened or build up of any kind..... just punch, punch, boom, bam, rock throw, special effect. Coooool.
This film is dire need of a script rewrite and a Director's cut. There are missing scenes from it that could easily explain plot holes and character backstory. I also think that certain character relationships could have been fleshed out. Victor has a thing for Sue but again we get all of two scenes for this. It's also implied that Reed has a growing infatuation with Sue but there's hardly any dialogue or scenes to back this up. These are plot points in the comics that flesh out the characters but are nearly gone from the film entirely. The studio execs can say all day how this is because it's setting up for a franchise or sequel but something more than this has to be done before then. I've said all I can here except my overall score. I give Fantastic 4 a 5.5/10. Marvel Studios please take back the rights to this franchise and do it right!
Spoiler Alert!
Before I begin this review proper let's get a few things out of thew way first. Yes I know this film is receiving universal hatred and has one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores of all time. That being said there are some enjoyable things in this film. Don't worry I will definitely talk about what didn't work overall but I also want to highlight some possible reasoning for this and the things I thought did work. Let's jump right in.
The film begins with backstory for Reed Richards and Ben Grimm. Reed is the quintessential boy-genius and is supported by his friend Ben. Their friendship is kind of fleshed out here but only minimally. They work together to create a matter teleportation device which is successful and also gets Reed noticed by Franklin Storm. Franklin works at a scientific institute that is working on a large scale version of the same type of experiment. He invites Reed to join up and the two friends must part ways for now. There's a random jump in time here of 7 years between the child portion and when Reed is noticed at his science fair. This serves to make the film drag rather than speed things up. Nothing of any real substance happens here besides having Reed meet Franklin.
-Image rights to IMDB-
The nagging issue of story comes up all over this film. For a movie trying to put together a band of young people to save the world I think their team sucks. This goes back to character writing 101. You NEED development and narrative structure for your characters in the first act of the film. Shining light primarily on two leaves the other 4 primary characters in the dust. There are scenes that are presented as important that are then NEVER brought up again in the film.
One example is the villain Victor Von Doom. That's right they named him correctly and no he isn't an internet troll who goes by Doom as a screen name. He's actually worse. He's supposed to be some sort of secretive, recluse hacker who has some sort of history with the Baxter foundation that Franklin has invited Richard to. He even previously happened to conveniently work on the same experiment and concept as Reed at a younger age somehow? This is semi-interesting but never truly followed up on. We never see him as anything more than the douche foreign guy who hates Reed and happiness and puppies.
Another issue is that certain scenes lose their importance overall as a result of things being nonexistent in the narrative. We get one, count em, one scene of Johnny and Sue having some sort of rift that is hinted at but never shown in flashback form or otherwise. I actually liked Michael B. Jordan in this film but he's given such an empty shell of a character that he becomes quite underutilized. There is this rift created between the two characters implied to be a result of Sue being adopted and being smart but it's dropped immediately. Reed happens to ask Sue one time about it as a way to flirt then it's never heard from again.
A similar issue comes up when Victor is injured and presumed dead in a drunken trip to the other dimension along with Reed, Johnny and Ben. He's hurt and falls of a cliff then is not heard from until about a half hour to 45 minutes from the ending of the film. This is an awful way to set up your villain. You can't just simply make him go away and come back for sake of plot convenience. That's horrible writing and production. It also makes their journey and sacrifice meaningless if he's sort of simply forgotten or presumed dead. Also um....where in the hell did he get that green cloak he's in when they find him again later on? The magical cloak tree or rock formation that grows ominous, evil villain cloaks?
After this incident the characters receive their powers after their failed journey to the other dimension they'd been trying to get to in vain. We then randomly cut to a year later after Reed escapes the facility they are all brought to be studied. He then just up and leaves before the one year later tag comes onscreen. This was odd to me as it gave no reasoning or indication as to why he left or what he planned on doing to help. We also don't even get as much as a montage of the "team" learning to cope with and utilize their powers. This robbed the movie of some true emotional scenes of each character and their new personal struggle.
I also want to take some time to talk about the few things I liked before wrapping this all up. The special effects are pretty well done and the actions scenes, while sparse, are well done also. This movie could have been great with these things intact but the story drags it down immensely. I wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did but not even the special effects and action could save it. The acting was also up to par and cinematography was good as well. Again this is crushed by the weight of the plot being bare bones and confusing.
One final point that bothered me was Doom's design. He was somehow melded to his environment suit and what he looks like as a result is awful. His face looks like Darth Vader and Dot Matrix from SpaceBalls had a drunken mistake one night and then it got dropped in a pile of rocks, metal and human flesh. He isn't menacing at all and it distracted me from paying attention to his scenes. He honestly looked like a bad fan-fiction comic character or a really bad Power Rangers villain. There's also the issue that his powers are never truly explained or shown what all they can do. He's just sort of God, I guess? I mean he makes matter move at his own free will and peoples heads explode with a thought. He can also fly and somehow stop the team's powers sort of when it's convenient for plot. None of these things are even remotely close to Doom in the comics. He also gets one of the corniest and most cheesily written lines in the form of "There is no Victor....only Doom!". Really? That's it? A sort of half rip off of a Ghostbusters line? Alright movie, thanks.
Overall this film could have been much better. There were some conflicting reports I read online about the production of this film. The director Josh Trank allegedly had a great script written but the studio came in and put their hands into it at the last minute. This seems like a plausible reason for the film as it is. It feels disjointed and random as if the studio had a part in ripping it to shreds. This also sheds light on the reasoning behind most of the action and special effect scenes being shoehorned into the last half hour.
This film somehow can't even stick with the tried and true 3 act format for film making and story writing. We get random parts and pieces of story throughout. Before our heroes can truly take in the fact that their father-figure of sorts is dead by the end of act 2 (I think.....if you can call it that) they rush off to fight the villain for act 3. No introspection or thought about what's happened or build up of any kind..... just punch, punch, boom, bam, rock throw, special effect. Coooool.
This film is dire need of a script rewrite and a Director's cut. There are missing scenes from it that could easily explain plot holes and character backstory. I also think that certain character relationships could have been fleshed out. Victor has a thing for Sue but again we get all of two scenes for this. It's also implied that Reed has a growing infatuation with Sue but there's hardly any dialogue or scenes to back this up. These are plot points in the comics that flesh out the characters but are nearly gone from the film entirely. The studio execs can say all day how this is because it's setting up for a franchise or sequel but something more than this has to be done before then. I've said all I can here except my overall score. I give Fantastic 4 a 5.5/10. Marvel Studios please take back the rights to this franchise and do it right!