Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Trevor)

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

Marvel Studios deserves a good bit of credit for concocting a grand plan and sticking to it. I’m not sure studio head Kevin Feige even realized how big of an empire they would build when they first drafted their plans. And everything just keeps getting bigger. The centerpiece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the mash-up adventures of all the stand-alone characters: “The Avengers.” The Summer Movie Season of 2015 begins with the second all-star film “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” The film features everything people loved about the first one with a much larger cast, but ultimately offers nothing new.

“Age of Ultron” opens with our team of heroes already assembled going after Loki’s scepter from the first film, which is being held and experimented with by the last holdouts of Hydra. Here, we meet two of Hyrda’s test subjects, the Maximoff twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), whose backstory leads them to hate Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.).

With the scepter recovered, Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) use it to try and create a type of artificial intelligence Tony has been working on. He envisions this program being used for peacekeeping purposes that would one day render The Avengers as obsolete. Initial tests fail, but it ultimately takes hold within the computers at Tony’s house and puts itself into one of Stark’s iron robots. Thus, the birth of Ultron (James Spader). He learns from the Internet that humans are bad and must be destroyed. He enlists the help of the Maximoff twins to help with his diabolical scheme. Our team of Avengers must stop Ultron and the Maximoff’s before they destroy the world.

Of course, the movie wouldn’t reach its full two-and-a-half hour run time without tons of plotting exposition in between the highly stylized, CG-filled action sequences. There’s also a ton of bro moments with Stark, Captain America (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). We also get some more back-story on Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) that seemingly comes out of nowhere. There’s even some dark back-story and a little love interest for Agent Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).

“Age of Ultron” is loaded to the brim with so many characters and so many different stories that it feels like it might just break the hard drive it was created on. But from the early concepts behind these films, how could anyone have thought they were going to be clean, polished and concise? That’s what the stand-alone movies are for. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” remains the best film Marvel has produced because it’s the only film in the studio’s history to work off a script with a complete beginning, middle and end, and actually pull off the high-octane action sequences effectively. It’s also the only film of the bunch that didn’t necessarily feel like a superhero film, but rather a political thriller with superhero as the protagonist.

“Age of Ultron” takes everything that Marvel has done in its past and doubles down. The action sequences are grander and longer. The in between sequences of exposition are more drawn out and detailed. The disposable army of clone soldiers – I mean, Ultron robots – is bigger and faster. Okay, now I’m just getting picky with that remark. Writer/director Joss Whedon actually has improved upon the things that flawed the first film. Yes, there’s a lot of down time he fills with exposition and back-stories, but there are some moments that genuinely do feel like a heart felt attempt. Are these moments necessary to advance the plot of the film? Not really, but he wants to give these characters a little more humanity. Suddenly, Hawkeye in particular doesn’t seem like just a waste of space with a bow-and-arrow. It ultimately feels forced and out of place, and increases the run time considerably.

Whedon has also cleaned up his direction of the combat sequences this time. I’d be worried if he didn’t. “The Avengers” was bogged down by moments where everything was happening so fast that you couldn’t tell what’s going on. “Age of Ultron” is that way too, but they’re not as prolonged. He doesn’t stick with the same moments for nearly as long, given everyone a little more time to process what’s happening. Christopher Nolan experienced the same thing when he got involved in the action genre. His fistfights in “Batman Begins” are so muddy compared to what he accomplished in “The Dark Knight.” Same thing applies here with Whedon. Remember, this is only Whedon’s fourth film. (And I may have just committed a cardinal sin by mentioning a DC film in a review about a Marvel film. Oops.)

As big and grand as “Age of Ultron” is, it never feels like it’s overwhelmingly crowded. There are always a lot of characters on screen and there’s different stories coming at you from different directions, but it’s never more than you can process. This isn’t the work or a filmmaker trying to completely mess with your mind and senses, but rather the work of studio and filmmaker actually working well together for a change. Whedon respects the source material so much that he doesn’t want to offend anyone by leaving anything out. (Although, I’m sure there are things people want to see included, but won’t.) Whedon and Marvel have gone hand-in-hand thus far in this highly successful experiment that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He leaves the film and story in good hands moving forward as he won’t be involved in the future films, at least not as a director or writer. He’s set up a lot of high expectations for fans of this studio’s work, and he leaves us with a film that will likely meet the expectations of almost all in attendance. It doesn’t offer up anything new or revelatory to the series, but it does offer us the same amount enjoyment that this studio has become famous for delivering.

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: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

I couldn’t have told you one comic book superhero from the next until Marvel launched its Cinematic Universe in 2008 with “Iron Man.” Today, I look forward to each new installment. However, most of their films have not lived up to the enormous expectations. The latest installment from Marvel is “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and with that, Marvel may have finally figured out how to make these movies accessible to everyone.

“The Winter Soldier” takes place a couple years after the events of “The Avengers.” Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) continues to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. helping them fight terrorists around the world. As we open, he’s on a mission with Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) trying to rescue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents from a ship hijacked by pirates. One of the pirates is Georges Batroc, played by UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre, which turns into some fun and wild hand-to-hand combat between him and Cap.

Of course, Romanoff appears to have a separate agenda during this simple rescue mission. Rogers doesn’t like being left in the dark on missions when members of his team are given a separate mission. He takes it up with Director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Fury decides he’ll let Rogers in on a little secret mission since he’s so upset about being left out of the loop. S.H.I.E.L.D. is working on something called Project Insight which consists of three upgraded Helicarriers (advanced models of the massive air/water vehicle S.H.I.E.L.D. used in “The Avengers”) which can patrol the globe indefinitely and eliminate threats to world security. Rogers doesn’t agree with this thought process. Fury shares Rogers’ doubts about the program with Secretary Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) who is leader of the World Security Council (an active supporter of Project Insight).

Fury’s suddenly finds himself being targeted by a ruthless assassin called The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). He’s a Keyser Söze-type villain who’s more of ghost story character than anything else; many have heard of him, few see him and live to tell the tale. But here he is, in the flesh. Rogers and Romanoff take off running from him and those who hired him, trying to figure out why they’re being targeted all of a sudden. Thankfully, a new friend of Rogers, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), is trustworthy and proves very helpful.

“The Winter Soldier” is a huge win for Marvel and their ongoing Cinematic Universe. What they’ve done here is taken well known and beloved comic book heroes from this and previous generations and successfully blend them into a modern day setting. This isn’t a just a comic book/superhero movie; this is smart political action thriller more than anything else.

If you were to remove the superhero elements from the script, you’d be left with a tightly wound story about powerful and corrupt people with the good guys trying to bring them down. This, of course, despite many different antagonist elements sprinkled throughout the plot. I think this is the model Marvel has been working toward since they started making all these movies in the same Cinematic Universe. We’ve got the origin story out of the way, we’ve got “The Avengers” out of the way, so it’s time to really take this character and put him into a real world story arc.

While other Marvel movies have attempted this structure with little success, “The Winter Soldier” is the first film to really make it work. That credit should go to screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have worked with Marvel already on “Captain American: The First Avenger” and “Thor: The Dark World.” Third time’s a charm, I guess. The first “Captain America” was dead on arrival and no one was able to salvage that. It was a two-hour preview for “The Avengers” and had very little for the audience to identify with. It was an obligatory film that had to be made in order for “The Avengers” to be the success that it was. As for “Thor,” that’s a hard one to tell. The character isn’t well known outside the Marvel fan base and he’s not easy to relate to. Don’t get me wrong, I do like Chris Hemsworth in the role and Tom Hiddleston steals the show, but it seems to be a hard world to write and bring to life. But Markus and McFeely finally have it figured out with “The Winter Soldier.” It’s as if they wrote a political thriller first, and then stuck Captain America in there as the protagonist after they worked out the kinks in the story. And it’s got the right amount of wit and humor to accompany the story.

Of course, the film is not without its faults. There’s a lot of unnecessary development of the Rogers character despite this being the third time we’ve seen him. Additional development is okay in sequels (see Alvin Sargent’s masterful screenplay for “Spider-Man 2”) but it shouldn’t bog down the pace of the film. After an amazing opening series of scenes, this film grinds to a halt for the remainder or an overly long first act. There’s also plenty of spots where I wasn’t sure who was fighting who and who was on who’s side. When the climactic events occur in multiple locations all at the same time, things tend to get a little muddled. Joss Whedon figured that out, which is why the battle in New York at the end of “The Avengers” is so well put together.

But I can’t take anything away from directors Anthony and Joe Russo. For a couple of guys who’s credits include directing the pilot episodes to two cult television shows (“Arrested Development” and “Community”), they don’t seem to be intimidated by a complex plot, a big studio budget or operating within the realms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel was wise to lock these guys into another film. They handle the story well by letting the plot take center stage rather than the CGI. Sure, there are hundreds of effects shots in this film but they’re used to supplement the film, not steal the show.

The Russo’s have also guided their stars into excellent performances. Chris Evans seems right at home as Captain America. I know I’ve seen him in other films before (including two terrible films featuring another set of Marvel characters that shall remain nameless), but I can’t help but see Captain American every time I look at him now. He works well with Scarlett Johansson too. I felt her character got the short end of the stick in her other Marvel appearances, but her character really takes off here. And I really liked the way the Winter Soldier character is handled. He is the film’s namesake, but the plot doesn’t revolve around him. He intersects the plot at random times causing havoc whenever he appears. He does get some back story, but overall he’s just viewed as a menace. That might not work in some films, but it works great here.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is the stand-alone film Marvel fans have been waiting for. I don’t think fans of the comics will be disappointed at all, especially with the way the characters and the source material are handled. Those who aren’t big into superhero movies should really enjoy it too, especially those who like political thrillers. Because that’s really all this film is. I know nothing of these characters as they appear in the comics, only from what’s in the movies and on the TV shows. But I have become a fan of what this studio is doing. And with everything that’s happened in “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World” and now this, I’m excited to see where they’re taking these characters and these stories in the next “Avengers” movie next summer. Just over a year to go.

By the way, there is one scene in the middle of the credits and one after the credits. You’ll probably want to check out both.