Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joe)

by. Joe Moss
★★½

Well, one thing is for certain...when you watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, if you desired to see a kick-ass, slam-bang, action montage after action montage--YOU HAVE FOUND IT!! Joss Whedon's latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe hits all of those 'labels' and more. But my question is, "Did he hit too much more?" Was this movie forced to become too much to ready the Universe for all of the future film sequels and spin-offs that have been announced. Just a warning...Prepare yourself for INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!

The Avengers needing to regroup after a defeat in South Africa.

I will be the first to admit that this was one of my most anticipated movies of 2015, and I have been one of those fan-geeks who over-analyzed the theatrical trailers to the point of driving myself mad with plot speculation. Joss Whedon (touché, sir) did a masterful job of misdirection in the trailers--that much I will allow to slip in this review. Almost 50% of the speculations floating around the internet regarding what 'must happen' are wrong. Now, that being said, I found myself lost in what the POINT of this movie was supposed to be. There was too much information presented, plot twisting, new characters and back-story intertwining that the movie became lost in itself--for about 1/3 of the film run time.

The film opens where we last saw the Avengers, hunting down the scepter wielded by Loki in "The Avengers." They have finally traced it to a remote location in Eastern Europe (Sokovia) to Baron Strucker's castle where hold-overs of Hydra are at work unleashing the power within the scepter. Enter the Avengers doing their usual wherein they recover what they were after, but there is a twist--Hydra has been performing human manipulations once again. Unleashed are Maximoff Twins, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

The Maximoff Twins

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Dr. Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and the crew return to Avengers Tower in New York to regroup, heal [with the aid of Dr. Cho (Claudia Kim)], and relax until Thor returns to Asgard with the scepter to be locked away safely. Except we all know that when Tony Stark is involved, nothing every quite goes as planned when there is an 'untapped power supply' in the picture. Suffice to say that from this point on is where the movie gets TRULY INTERESTING.

After the farewell party gone awry, we see the introduction of Ultron (James Spader), Laura Barton (Linda Cardellini), Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), Vision (Paul Bettany), F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Kerry Condon), and Thanos (Josh Brolin) for the 3rd time.

OK....the visuals were stunning. The cinematography was spot on; the editing was amazing as usual. What really bothered me about this movie was that I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a revenge story, a love story, a revenge story about love, a love story intermingled with revenge...well, you get the picture here. With the introduction of the Maximoff's, we are handed a whole NEW story line regarding their background that is all new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And their initial story centered around revenge against a member of the Avengers team. This is the entire reason they teamed up with Ultron. BUT...then there is one of about 25 plot twists that tweaks that plot line and morphs it into something else entirely.

Beauty and the Beast?

Also circumspect is the relationship between a few members of the Avengers team. There is love in the air that is alluded to MULTIPLE times throughout the film, but it seems to be as confusing to the characters as it is to the audience. AND we are privy to Hawkeye's background (Jeremy Renner) which nobody in the theater saw coming. That added an entire new plot twist and allowed a whole new emotional side of Hawkeye to be addressed by Renner as the film progresses. One that doesn't necessarily add to the plot as a whole.

Lastly, there is a lot of testosterone induced posturing throughout the film between Thor (Chris Hemsworht), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Tony Stark. This seemed overly ridiculous and wholly looked to be a forced add-in to introduce the plot for the next Captain America/Avengers/Thor set of films, wherein information has already been leaked about a "war" coming, and the death of an Avenger.

Overall, I liked the film. Would I watch it again? Sure thing. Was it as spectacular as I had hoped it would be. No. Maybe in a few years after I have watched the culmination of this purveyance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe I will be able to look back on "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and say, "ohhhhhhhh, so that's why that happened." But for now, I was unsatisfied with most of the plot/information overload.

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★★

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” takes place about 10 years after the events of the first film. You’ll remember from the first film that James Franco’s lab assistant inhaled some of the drug they were using on the apes – the drug that ultimately gave the apes super-intelligence – and started coughing up blood. This is the beginning of the end for the human race. When the film opens, we learn that this virus has killed off a large chunk of the human population. The small pockets of survivors are scattered about and most blame the outbreak on apes, even naming the sickness after them.

Caesar (Andy Serkis) lives with his family and all the rest of the apes in the redwood forest north of San Francisco. They’ve created a peaceful habitat for themselves and don’t miss any human interaction. But one day, they run into a group of humans lead by Malcolm (Jason Clarke). Malcolm – along with his lady friend Ellie (Kerri Russell) and son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) – is looking to reroute the power from a dam in the forest to get the lights back on in San Francisco. They’re part of small group of survivors lead by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) who just want to reconnect with the outside world and see how many other survivors there are.

Most of the apes, especially Caesar’s right hand Koba (Toby Kebbell), don’t trust the humans. Koba believes that the humans will try to attack them now that they know they’re living in the woods. Based on the scaring covering most of Koba’s body, he has a reason not to trust them. But Caesar has seen the good side of the humans and believes that if they get their dam working, they’ll leave the apes in peace.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is everything you’d want in a summer movie mixed with everything you’d want in the prestige award-contending films that open at year’s end. Director Matt Reeves (“Cloverfied”) has taken an exceptionally written screenplay (by Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver) and turned it into one of the year's finest films by focusing on what makes movies great: story and characters.

This easily could have been as flat and two dimensional as just about every other summer film we typically come across. But a focus on character and story turns what would have been a mildly entertaining popcorn flick into something much greater. I’m reminded of the films many people consider to be the greatest sequels ever made (“Aliens,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “The Dark Knight”). A new place will need to be made for “Dawn.”

The script is about as polished as anything you’ll see this year. And I’m not just talking about the summer movies either. The script is void of contrived plot devices, clichéd moments and stale character developments. The setting is a post-apocalyptic world, which we’ve seen numerous times before, but seems so original here. Reeves has been given so much to work with that he’s able to focus on all the different human/ape emotions and empathy with such ease. One of the best parts is the duality of human and ape built into the story. Each camp has its own protagonist and antagonist. And each camp is so similar in terms of empathy and rooting interest that it makes the outcome of the film difficult to anticipate.

How anyone can say what Andy Serkis does isn’t acting isn’t paying close enough attention. He is one of the most talented performers in film and very few probably know what he looks like in real life. From his work in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy to “King Kong,” the man is a master of conveying emotions in every facet of his performance. Reprising his role as Caesar might be the best we’ve ever seen him. He channels Brando’s Don Corleone with shades of Eastwood’s Man With No Name in his performance. Every emotion in Caesar’s face – and especially in his eyes – is all Serkis. A computer animator can only bring so much emotion to the character being created. The genuine emotion in someone’s eyes cannot be artificially duplicated. That’s what Serkis does so well. He breathes life into his characters by completely embodying them. The level of detail to the apes in the post-production animation is virtually flawless that you forget you’re watching something completely fabricated. Combine that with the masterful motion capture performance by Serkis and you forget what you’re watching isn’t real.

It'll be difficult for the major studios to produce a better film than “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” this year. Reeves has delivered an unforgettable adventure thanks to stunning visual effects and a solid screenplay. Combine it with some of the best acting from an ensemble we’ve seen this year, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” transcends the genre to become a masterwork of what all sequels should aspire to be in Hollywood.