My critic side would've given this a 4. My inner nerd that's seen all but two of the MCU films in theaters would've given it a 5. So I pleased both sides. And if you're a fan of the MCU you'll be probably be pleased with this film too. Also, look at this slick poster by artist @kazoomori up there.
I don't know if I'm going to review it fully until I see it again, there's just so much to process. But what I will say is...CAPTAIN AMERICA WAS WIELDING MJOLNIR LIKE A EXECUTING A FINAL SMASH AND ANT-MAN PUNCHED A LEVIATHAN INTO OBLIVION AND WE'RE GETTING ASGARDIANS OF THE GALAXY!
Superhero films seemingly come out every month, but over the past seven years none have built an empire as big as that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' is now the eleventh film in this series. It's starting to seem like with age, the films get better, or, at the very least, keep the same level of quality that Marvel has enjoyed over this ride. Even the weaker films in the series, such as 'Iron Man 2' and 'Thor: The Dark World' are well worth at least one go around. Then you have films like 'Iron Man' and 'Captain America: The Winter Solider' which are a under shadowed because they'll be compared to the two Avengers films we now have. Finally, we get to those Avengers films I just mentioned. 'The Avengers' was a blast and I saw it a few times in theaters opening weekend in 2012. With the universe expanding ever since, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' was looking to be another capable sequel. It's a good follow-up to last years Captain America sequel and the smash hit that 'Guardians of the Galaxy' turned into. It's also a good way to (basically) close out Phase Two of Marvel's superhero film plan. 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' isn't going to be received as well as the first film, but it does show that Marvel is starting to at least get a little more serious with it's films, and that's a good thing.
'Avengers: Age of Ultron' takes place after the events of 'The Avengers,' 'Iron Man 3,' 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier.' The Avengers -- Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton (Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Rinner) -- raid a Hydra outpost under the control of Wolfgang von Strucker, where they have Loki's scepter and also twins, Pierto and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen) aka Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch. Pierto has superhuman speed, while Wanda can manipulate minds and control energy blasts. The team captures Strucker, while Stark gets the scepter. Stark and Banner discover that the stone in Loki's scepter has artificial intelligence and the two use it to make Stark's "Ultron" defense program. Out of nowhere, Ultron (James Spader) becomes sentient, believes it must destroy the world, to cleanse it, and kills J.A.R.V.I.S. Ultron proceeds to attack The Avengers during a party at Avengers Tower, while they celebrating the successful mission. The team begins to then search for Ultron, while Ultron is building an army of robot drones. This leads to one of many confrontations between The Avengers and earth's latest threat, Ultron. The group must band together, despite the hopeless looking scenario and personal inner turmoil, in order to save earth from destruction once again.
This film was two hours and twenty minutes and to me, it flew by. Nonetheless, this is a daunting film for those not "into" the superhero genre or question the quality of the films being put out as of late. I really did enjoy the film and want to give it another watch, because I know I probably missed things. I'm going to try to avoid comparing it to the first film as much as possible, because it really is quite a different feel to it after all the events of Phase Two that have happened. I liked the story overall and it really felt more real, though in the same vein as all of Marvel's previous films. The structure is largely the same, but the content is vastly improving. The humor is there, bur a lot more limited and when used works well. The emotion, especially a few moments during the final act, are unexpected and done well too. Ultron felt like a much bigger threat than the Mandrin, the Winter Soldier or Malekith and that adds a lot to the film. While a lot of the time it seems like Ultron is figuring the whole "villain" thing out, there's no doubt his powers are formidable and his overall plan is maniacal. We also have the first bit of adversity that The Avengers, as a whole, experience. Getting to see them work though some adversity, in what would otherwise be a "normal day going to fight Ultron," is another reason why the overall story and writing has improved.
We get more good performances out of the main cast. Spader was tremendous as the voice of Ultron and it really lent to the overall feel that he was a legitimate bad guy. I liked Hemsworth's Thor in a film like this, because a feature film of Thor is hard to pull off without the aid of Hiddleston as Loki. In The Avengers, Thor doesn't have to have the burden of being the main guy and can become better suited for his "time to shine" moments. Renner as Hawkeye was another good role to me. He was really a sixth man to the team in the first film, whereas now he's an unsung hero, with a frankly, surprising element to his life that added depth to his one-note character. Evans is fitting into his role as Captain America better and better each film, Johansson as Black Widow is still pretty good, Ruffalo's Hulk film (he'd better get one) can't come fast enough and Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is still a blast. The two newcomers, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen as the Maximoff Twins are really good as well. Johnson, while not having the eye-popping Quicksliver scene Evan Peters had in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past,' had a much better role in the film as a whole. On the flip side, Olsen as Scarlet Witch was awesome and I really loved the way they took her powers and translated them to the screen. The Vision is also introduced, I liked him, but I don't want to talk much about him, cause I went in not even knowing he was going to be in the film. Cameos of Don Cheadle as War Machine, Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Cobie Smudlers as Maria Hill and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury were awesome and they all even had major moments in the film. There's a litany of other cameos, characters and references to previous films, but I really don't want to spoil all the surprises in this.
The action is a huge part of any superhero film and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' has some of the best bits of it to date. Now don't get me wrong, the hand to hand combat of the 'Captain America' films and the technology wars in the 'Iron Man' films are awesome, but The Avengers films always take it all to the next level. This is because in battles we get to see The Avengers combining their powers in unique ways to tear through the hordes of bad guys and robots..or each other. Whether it's Thor smashing his hammer against Captain America's shield or the wicked awesome fight between Stark's "Hulkbuster" suit and a rampaging Hulk, the fights just seem bigger. The CGI to go along with the majority of these fights is spot on. If there's green-screen being used, and let's be honest, there is, at this point I'm barely noticing it. Iron Man flies effortlessly across the screen, Hulk's skin looks about as rough as the side of a mountain and Scarlet Witch's energy blasts are amazing. I also like the fact that the fights in cities mean something, it's not just the destruction of a city, a bunch of people's deaths are implied and we move on. Iron Man and Hulk's fight levels part of a city and we're shown hurt people and people effected by what was going on. In the final act, the team needs to evacuate a whole city, in the process we are shown people in fear, escaping and genuinely concerned for their well being. I like that everyone is affected by what's happening, not just the people fighting to stop more bad from happening. (Looking at you 'Man of Steel.')
'Avengers: Age of Ultron' is the "start" of the summer film season and once again Marvel has put out a really good and fun film. While it might not have all the charm and impact 'The Avengers' had, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' improves in a quite a few ways. The characters have grown, the action is bigger, the story is nice, the villain is good and like all Marvel films, it keeps setting up for more action down the line. We even get our annual Stan Lee cameo. We he ever have a bad Marvel cameo? If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you're gonna go see this film. If you're new to the genre, I'd suggest seeing at least 'The Avengers,' 'Iron Man 3' and 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' before this one. Because at this point, with the MCU, you'll need to start seeing most of whole picture, not just bits and pieces of it. Nevertheless, 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' is quite worth the watch and is probably the best big budget film of the year so far.
With Steve Carell and Channing Tatum as leads, you'd expect this to be a comedy through and through. Steve Carell has always been a top-tier Hollywood funny man. While over the past few years Channing Tatum has proven he's got some of the best comedic timing in the business. You would be quite wrong in this assumption though, as 'Foxcatcher' may be one of the darkest bio-pics I've ever watched. Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, alongside Mark Ruffalo and director Bennett Miller ('Capote' and 'Moneyball'), have made one of the better films to come out this year.
'Foxcatcher' follows the story of Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) in the years following his gold medal win at the 1984 Olympics, alongside his brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo), who also won a gold medal, both in wrestling events. Mark is training for the 1987 World Championships, when he receives a call one day from John du Pont (Steve Carell), millionaire owner of a chemical company. du Pont offers Mark a chance to train with him for Worlds (and subsequently the 1988 Olympics in Seoul) and make some money that he desperately needs. Mark jumps at the chance, but Dave (who was also invited) turns down the opportunity. Eventually, the two need Dave's training more than ever, as both men are spiraling. Culminating in one of the most horrific tragedies that no one ever saw coming.
This is one of the slowest and most chilling films I've ever watched. I haven't felt quite so uncomfortable watching something, as I did during some of the scenes in 'Foxcatcher.' This is a heavy film, laced with the struggles over personal demons and the way money and not being accepted, really can corrupt someone. Steve Carell's most sombering role yet, isn't at all deterred by his make-up and cosmetic effects. They actually look really good. Carell gives a fantastic, yet borderline disturbing, performance as John du Pont. The slow roll is in full effect as you start to put two and two together throughout this film. This bio-pic and thriller, will make you gasp, if you let it suck you in and stay with it. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo as The Schultz Brothers are quite fantastic in their own right. Tatum and Carell's scenes are powerful, dark and even filled with dread at times. When Ruffalo is in the mix, you get an odd air of hope mixed in to everything going on. The emotions in this are off the charts and the three leads convey it all expertly. The film is shot beautifully. Sweeping shots of the home and landscapes look great. The sets and overall look of the film is great as well. The dark tones throughout never make anything seem too happy. Even the training scenes in a brightly colored and vibrant facility, seem dull and lifeless, almost like a boot camp. The sets, houses and landscapes are done remarkably well. The score adds to all this, as the piano pieces they use throughout bring a constant sense of anxiety. All of this may seem like I'm taking this in as a horror film, in a sense it could be, but the feel of 'Foxcatcher' was never really happy-go-lucky in the slightest. 'Foxcatcher' is a long watch to boot, clocking in at just under two hours.
There's a lot of drag at times in this film, that's the main reason I couldn't get all the way behind it. It just feels like a ton of the scenes go on for too long. That always hurts films in my book. Otherwise, 'Foxcatcher' is one of the darkest, and best, that 2014 has to offer. The story of this bio-pic thriller is top notch, the acting between Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo is outstanding, while the overall quality of the film is superb. 'Foxcatcher' is an uncomfortably great film that you should really give a chance.
This is my first time doing a DVD and/or Blu-Ray review so I wanted to pick a great (recent movie) with a quality (not quantity) amount of extras and things to go over. So this Blu-Ray dvd combo set, I'll be dammed if I couldn't find it in Blu-Ray packaging, of The Avengers seemed like a good place to try my hand at it first.
First off the commentary track, with Joss Whedon, is pretty damn awesome. From writing, directing and producing TV and internet shows including Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse he's no slouch in TV fantasy. But look to what he's done on the big screen, helping pen movies like Toy Story, Thor, Captain America and The Cabin in the Woods, and it has Whedon all over it as well. As well as all this, Whedon is a life long comic book fan and he has an 8-issue series with Dark Horse called The Fray. So hearing the man behind all of the aforementioned giving little insights to thought processes, why he filmed what a certain way and all his thinking patterns regarding the writing and directing of the biggest Marvel movie to date, well, it's truly a treat.
Along with the Blu-Ray set you get another installment in the Marvel One-Shot series called, Item 47. Item 47, takes place after the final battle of The Avengers and follows the story of a down of their luck couple named Benny and Claire (Jessie Bradford and Lizzy Caplain) who find a left-over Chitauri gun (Item 47) and decide to start robbing banks with it. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Sitwell and Blake (Maximiliano Hernandez and Titus Welliver) are assigned to track and receive the now active gun from the two, reminiscing about Agent Coulston as the mission begins. We are also informed that all the Chitauri guns are all "dead" so it's a wonder that the couple is even using it. I'll let you watch the rest of this short-film, but to say the very least it makes me wonder if we'll see these four in upcoming Marvel movies, including Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor 2 (2013), Captain America 2 (2014), The Incredible Hulk 2 (2015) and The Avengers 2 (2015).
There's a couple of really cool featurettes (A Visual Journey and Assembling the Ultimate Team), a gag reel (The first EVER one for a Marvel film) and deleted scenes that comes with this set as well. One featurette is on the DVD as well. The first is called "A Visual Journey." Chronicling the huge and unique set designs and all the different special effects and cinematography. The other, which is on the DVD as well is "Assembling the Ultimate Team" in which the all-star cast, including Robert Downey Jr, Joss Whedon, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson, all talk about their characters and how this is one of the most start-studded movie of all time.
The deleted scenes all give more insight into characters like Maria Hill, Hawkeye and there's even a great scene involving Captain America. The gag reel is hilarious and give a great look behind the scenes and what the atmosphere on set was like. Would've been fun to spend a day on that set when everyone was there at once. Also the Second Screen experience, The Avengers Initiative, was cool as well. I synched up my movie with an app on my laptop and it offered a ton of extras such a videos, pictures, actor bios, behind the scenes shots, story-boards, comic book trivia and so much more. Watching with this added a ton of behind the scene stuff, even on top of the commentary I had just watched.
This was the best superhero movie of the year and the BluRay and DVD combo set did not disappoint. The commentary track is there and it's more than informative. The gag reel is hilarious while the deleted scenes are good, but rightfully removed. The featurettes are great watches and the Marvel One-Shot film, Item 47, is the best of the three released so far. The Avengers Initiative was also really cool to go through as well during the watch cause I've seen this movie a lot since it came out. This set is well worth the money and if you can get it in BluRay packaging more power to ya. This is a set you should definitely own.
