*Mild Spoilers Alert
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| Official 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster. |
The winning streak of Marvel Studios
continues with assembling 'The Avengers' once again in this huge superhero
spectacle, yet no major improvements from its predecessor are present,
unfortunately.
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| "Chris Hemsworth", "Roberth Downey Jr," and "Chris Evans". |
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| "Elizabeth Olsen" and "Aaron-Taylor Johnson". |
Trying to find Hydra and locate 'Loki''s stolen scepter, the Avengers
team regroups in order to recapture the alien technology once and for all and
put an end to Hydra's attempts, lead by 'Wolfgang von Strucker'(Thomas
Kretschmann) to harness its powers. 'Tony Stark/Iron Man'(Robert Downey
Jr.) convinces 'Bruce Banner/Hulk'(Mark Ruffalo) to try and use the scepter's
power and his A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) program in attempt to protect
earth. But when the attempt to save the Earth's future awfully creates
'Ultron'(James Spader), a nightmare A.I. playing god and wanting revenge from
his inventor, the Avengers team must regroup again. The two scientists along
with 'Steve Rogers/Captain America'(Chris Evans), 'Thor'(Chris Hemsworth),
'Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow'(Scarlett Johansson) and 'Clint
Barton/Hawkeye'(Jeremy Renner) must join forces to battle this growing threat,
all while facing two enhanced supposed enemies 'Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet
Witch'(Elizabeth Olsen) and her twin brother 'Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver'(Aaron-Taylor
Johnson), who are in the middle of this conflict. Other major characters
include "Paul Bettany" voicing 'Jarvis' and playing 'Vision', 'Nick
Fury'(Samuel L. Jackson), 'James Rhodes/War Machine'(Don Cheadle), 'Maria Hill'(Cobie
Smulders), 'Sam Wilson/Falcon'(Anthony Mackie), Dr. 'Erik Selvig'(Stellan
Skarsgard), Hydra agent Dr. List'(Henry Goodman), 'Hawkeye''s wife 'Laura
Barton'(Linda Cardellini), geneticist 'Helen Cho'(Claudia Kim), arms dealer
'Ulysses Klaue'(Andy Serkis), and 'Black Widow''s mentor 'Madame B'(Julie
Deply). We also have cameo appearances: 'Heimdall'(Idris Elba), Agent 'Peggy
Carter'(Hayley Atwell) and 'Thanos'(Josh Brolin).
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| "Scarlett Johnasson". |
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| "Jeremy Renner". |
Currently one of the most success story known to Hollywood and probably
in years to come will be that of Marvel Studios. Before the release of 'Iron
Man' (also 'The Incredible Hulk(2007)') no one could have ever
thought that building a cinematic universe based on popular comic book was ever
possible, but Marvel defied odds. After the success launch of 'Iron Man',
Marvel started planning behind curtains its future plans and reacquire the rights
it had loaned to other production companies and studios. With that came the
first phase that introduced us to 'Thor', 'Captain America' and
the organization known as 'S.H.I.E.L.D' that accumulated to probably the
best comic book superhero movie and in general the best cinematic experience.
After 'Marvel's The Avengers' shattered box office records, Phase two
propelled forward with brilliant movies ('Iron Man 3' and 'Thor: The
Dark World') and the game changer 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier',
and Marvel venturing into the TV world with the successful 'Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D' and Netflix series 'Daredevil'. All of these stories
can stand independently yet their interconnected plots lead one way or another
to 'Age of Ultron'. 'Age of Ultron' continues the story that was
hinted at the post-credit scene of 'The Winter Soldier'. While it
manages to remain its own story, the movie manages to evolve from its
predecessors and take it to the next level, whilst still facing the problems
that a sequel usually has and establishing grounds to Phase 3.
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| "James Spader" and "Andy Serkis". |
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| "Mark Ruffalo". |
'Marvel's The Avengers' director "Joss Whedon"
returns to what is going to be his last 'Avengers' movie. His specialty
constitutes of TV series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Firefly',
and that shows with his attempt and achieving(sort of) the balance of juggling
of the different subplots and character beats that accompany the main story.
All that occurred while managing to leave clues all around the movie of what is
to come. Taking the credit of writer, "Joss" manages to uphold the
darker theme that has accompanied the Phase 2 movies, but not at the expense of
humor which is Marvel's specialty. And that is important to know since Marvel
fans now are aware that nothing put in the movies or TV series should be taken
for granted. With every sequel comes bigger action set pieces, which 'Age of
Ultron' kept on giving us one fight scene after the other, with one scene
in particular overshadowing all others(more on it later). The special effects
as with every movie are exquisite and showed more versatility and color with
the introduction of new superheroes. Composers "Brian Tyler"('Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles') and "Danny Elfman"('American Hustle'
and 'Oz the Great and Powerful') joins forces to create a score that
takes many elements from the 'Avengers' score while incorporating new
darker yet superhero elements to it that manages to elevate the movie.
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| "Mark Ruffalo", "Robert Downey Jr,", "Chris Evans", "Jeremy Renner", "Chris Hemsworth" and "Scarlett Johansson". |
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| "Robert Downey Jr." and "Mark Ruffalo". |
'Age of Ultron' wastes no times and delves directly into what the
'Avengers' team has been up to since we last saw them, which is a method
rarely used in Marvel movies, where usually they adopt slow and incremental
starts. The first attack scene was pretty cool, where "Joss" manages
to show us the way the 'Avengers' have evolved with their high tech and
usage of their own unique set of skills/power from 'Captain America''s magnetic
arm/shield to 'Hawkeye' and 'Black Widow''s new and developed gear. From there the
movie manages to progress at a steady rate. But problems with the juggling of
the different characters do appear, especially since new characters were
introduced, and their respective story beats started to show. These lead too
many small underlying issues with many character arcs that could have been
avoided. Also the early cut went on to 3 hours, so the trimming of scenes and
elements was showing especially when it came to the evil character 'Ultron' and
his story. Apart from that the evolution of the sequel was clearly
apparent. The most anticipated and exciting scene of the entire movie, that
will certainly be remembered for years to come, is surely 'Hulk' vs. 'Iron Man'
a.k.a 'The Hulkbuster', thanks to "Joss Whedon" who paid forward the
promise of every Marvel comic book fan. The climax battle was also a highlight,
though naturally couldn’t top the iconic climax battle of its predecessor. The
ending and the movie in general set up very well what is coming in the upcoming
Phase 3, specifically A.I.(Artificial Intelligence), enhanced humans/inhumans
and the upcoming 'Captain America: Civil War'(where Iron Man vs. Captain
America clues were evident).
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| "Mark Ruffalo" and "Robert Downey Jr.". |
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| "Chris Evans" and "Chris Hemsworth". |
Having a cast that big and talented surely helps uplift the movie as a
whole. "Robert Downey Jr.", "Chris Hemsworth" and
"Chris Evans" played the three main and known characters that were
able to helm solo movies. Each one brought forward their respective characters
that we have seen, thus propelling their respective arcd in a valuable manner
seeing the difficulties and limits the movie had juggling the various subplots.
Bringing forth more of 'Black Widow''s past was very intriguing, while 'Bruce
Banner''s two person-conflict( one man and one monster) evolved in a natural
way which made it that much more striking. As for the love connection that was
brought forward, personally this thread had as much strong points as it had
certain weak points and the limited time to enter into that relationship did
not give it much justice. After being on the backside for much of 'Marvel's
The Avengers', "Jeremy Runner" depicted truly the 'Hawkeye' that
many were waiting. Showcasing his humorous personality was refreshing, while
the time invested to bring his personal life to the forefront was a pleasant
surprise that many weren’t expecting. Still it served him well, establishing
the character even more seeing that it is another character that isn't given
his solo movie, plus the best comedic lines were bestowed upon him. The return
of "Samuel L. Jackson" as usual was entertaining yet one hope him
remaining in the back seat for now will pay off later.
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| "Cobie Smulders", "Chris Evans", "Don Cheadle", "Claudia Kim", "Chris Hemsworth", "Robert Downey Jr.", "Jeremy Renner", "Mark Ruffalo" and "Scarlett Johansson". |
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| "James Spader". |
The addition of "Elizabeth Olsen" and "Aaron-Taylor
Johnson" as 'Scarlet Witch' and 'Quicksilver' to Marvel's roster of
superhero was welcoming, especially since they represent the 'Inhuman'
introduction to this cinematic universe that will be later explored(and is
being explored on 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'). "Elizabeth"
brought depth to her character, while "Aaron" managed to bring the
maximum to his character, and their combination felt much natural and
entertaining on a narrative level as well as the colorful special effects with
their respective super powers. Marvel's black point in its movies is that
almost all evil characters (exception 'Loki') felt more as a plot device rather
than full fleshed characters. "James Spader" manages to provide a
marvelous performance for 'Ultron', yet his intentiond and fast shift towards
evil action felt rushed. The star and surprise character goes to "Paul
Bettany" as 'Vision', who is probably the most interesting and visually aesthetic
character that Marvel has ever brought forward. And his natural introduction
was what made him that much more interesting. "Cobie Smulders" once
again impresses as 'Maria Hill', "Thomas Kretschmann" as 'Wolfgang
von Strucker' manages to perform, while "Linda Cardellini" as 'Laura
Barton'(Hawkeye's wife) was an interesting surprise.Appearance by "Claudia
Kim" and "Andy Serkis" was encouraging and intresting. Cameo
appearances of 'War Machine', 'Falcon', 'Heimdall', Dr. 'Erik Selvig', 'Agent
Carter' and 'Thanos' were enjoyable and part of establishing the
interconnectivity of this universe.
'Age of Ultron' may not be that much better than its predecessor, but it surely lived up to its hype and manages largely to entertain while setting up Phase 3 of Marvel Studios and successfully introducing new characters and elements to this ever expanding cinematic world.
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| Official 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster. |
-Based on: 'The Avengers' by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
-Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, James Spader, Paul Bettany, Thomas Kretschmann, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Andy Serkis, Linda Cardellini, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, Henry Goodman, Hayley Atwell, Claudia Kim, Josh Brolin and Samuel L. Jackson.
-Directed by: Joss Whedon.
-Written by: Joss Whedon.
-Music by: Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman.
-Running Time: 141 minutes.
-Budget: $ 250,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 187,656,000.
-Foreign: $ 340,000,000.
-Rating: -IMdb: 8.2/10.
-Rotten Tomatoes: 75%.
-Metacritic: 66%.
-PERSONAL RATING: 8.8/10.
**Still Showing in Theaters Across the World.
-'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Trailer:
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