Film Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

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Avengers: Age of Ultron. Rated M (action violence). 141 minutes. Written and Directed by Joss Whedon. Based on the comic books by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Verdict: An exhausting, action-packed sequel that barely stops to draw breath.

Avengers: Age of Ultron, the long-awaited sequel to The Avengers (2012), pits our heroes against arch foe Ultron (voiced by Boston Legal’s James Spader), who has harnessed the power of vibranium to create a weapon of mass annihilation. The other new villains are the results of Baron von Strucker’s (Thomas Kretschmann) human experiments – twins Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has the gift of superhuman speed, and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) who can control the minds of everyone she comes in contact with.
 
From the chaotic opening sequences, Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Avengers) slams his foot onto the accelerator and rarely lets up. Apart from the spectacular big action set pieces, there are some great laughs (mostly at the expense of Chris Hemsworth’s mighty Thor), and a delightfully played romance between Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/The Hulk.

Also back in the mix are the duplicitous Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) up to his usual tricks, and the ever-earnest Captain America (Chris Evans) who still pines for the love of his life, Peggy Carter (a neat cameo from Hayley Atwell). Thor is beginning to feel more and more distanced from the uncontrollable mayhem on Earth, while Clint (Jeremy Renner) is also becoming less enamoured with the dangerous life of a super-hero, which only serves to take him away from his wife Laura (Linda Cardellini) and their two children.

Ultimately, like a long overdue catch-up with a gang of old mates, the time we spend with our ever-reliable superheroes gives us the precious opportunity to step outside our increasingly unpredictable and demanding world, and into a time and place where everything is almost exactly as it should be.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Age of Adaline

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The Age of Adaline. Rated M (mature themes and sexual references). 113 minutes. Directed by Lee Toland Krieger. Screenplay by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz.

Verdict: A fascinating and deeply engaging film about a life flooded with too many memories.

When Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) becomes immune to the process of ageing as a result of a car accident and metaphysical cosmic influences, she finds herself on the run from the authorities who are determined to exploit the miracle of her eternal youth.

Before she is frozen in time in 1935 (aged 27), Adaline has married her sweetheart Clarence (Peter Gray), had a daughter, Flemming (the magnificent Ellen Burstyn), before she is tragically widowed – destined to spend the rest of her life with too many memories that the passing of time will never allow to fade. When she meets philanthropist Ellis (Game of Thrones’ Michiel Huisman), Adaline believes that this new relationship might represent the opportunity to share the truth about her unusual life with her devoted new soulmate. But when Fate plays its final, cruel hand, their future together suddenly becomes almost too fragile to survive.

It is this fascinating premise that provides The Age of Adaline with its epic, romantic and dramatic sweep. The flashbacks to the 1930s, masterfully edited by Melissa Kent (The Vow), also benefit from the sublime period costuming by Australian costume designer Angus Strathie and Claude Paré’s (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) production design.

Lively and Huisman are perfectly matched as the star-crossed lovers, and Lively (who is hardly ever off-screen), rises beautifully to the complex emotional demands asked of her. But it is Harrison Ford’s performance as Ellis’ father, William, that remains the highlight. For years now, Ford has been trapped in ‘reluctant action man’ territory, and the performance that Krieger captures from him here is simply the best work Ford has done for a very, very long time.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The DUFF

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The DUFF. Rated M (sexual references and coarse language). 101 minutes. Directed by Ari Sandel. Screenplay by Josh Cagan, based on the novel by Kody Keplinger.

Verdict: An entertaining romantic comedy with a difference.

Buried within the plethora of films about young female heroines fighting to survive in doom-laden, post-apocalyptic frontiers, is this engaging story about a young women’s fight for an entirely different kind of survival.

Bianca (Mae Whitman) is a super-intelligent, horror movie buff who is shocked to learn that she is considered to be a DUFF (designated ugly fat friend), whose sole purpose in life is to introduce her gorgeous girlfriends to their prospective boyfriends. Determined to change the way she is perceived by her friends, and also be capable of saying more than two words to her crush Toby (Nick Eversman), Bianca enlists the help of college football star and childhood friend Wesley (Robbie Amell) to help her change the rules of engagement.

On the surface, The DUFF looks and feels like a run-of-the-mill collision between Mean Girls and Ugly Betty, and while it certainly mixes it with its celebrated predecessors, it is the wonderfully engaging performances from stars Whitman and Amell that ensure The DUFF has a rock solid heart of gold.

Whitman (Arrested Development, Parenthood) is a revelation in the leading role. Not only is she a marvellous comedienne, but also equally as strong when Bianca finds herself navigating the emotional minefield created by the devastating effects of cyber bullying. Her loneliness, fear and despair are deeply affecting, and Amell’s (The CW’s The Tomorrow People) fine, understated performance lends Whitman perfect support.

Sandel, whose West Bank Story (2005) won the 2007 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, guides the action with a skilfully assured hand – making the fact that The DUFF is his feature length film directorial debut even harder to believe.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Fast & Furious 7

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Fast & Furious 7. Rated M (action violence). 137 minutes. Directed by James Wan. Screenplay by Chris Morgan.

Verdict: Paul Walker’s final film is a fine tribute.

During a filming break for Thanksgiving in 2013, Fast & Furious 7 star Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas were killed in a car accident. The coroner reported that their 2005 Porsche Carrera GT was travelling at speeds of up to 160km per hour.

Even though Fast & Furious 7 was eventually completed using stand-ins (including Walker’s two brothers) for Walker’s popular character Brian O’Connor, it is the circumstances of the star’s untimely death that haunt this movie more than anything that Morgan’s screenplay might have dreamed up.

But dream big Morgan certainly has, and Malaysian-born Australian director Wan (Saw, TheConjuring), is more than equal to the task of bringing the explosive, fast-paced story to the big screen. What is impressive about Wan’s departure from the horror genre (in which he has worked exclusively until now), is how inventive some of the sequences are – particularly the sensational car chases that take place on every available surface of a mountain range and the gob-smacking sequences that star Abu Dhabi’s trio of monumental glass skyscrapers.

Picking up where Fast & Furious 6 left us, regulars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and Dwayne Johnson return in now reliably robust form to defeat villain Deckard Shaw’s (Jason Statham) quest to avenge the death of his brother Owen, while also trying to get his hands on state-of-the-art surveillance software.

At just short of two and a half hours long, Fast & Furious 7 comes perilously close to outstaying its welcome, but with its exceptional big action set pieces and its generous number of laughs, it undeniably rewards our attention. And by the time the filmmakers say goodbye to Walker at the end, it feels like a perfectly fitting tribute to the Fast & Furious films’ star who, tragically, died too young.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.