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: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Rated M (action violence). 136 minutes. Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

Verdict: Another successful outing for Captain America.

This sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) reunites writers Markus and McFeely and introduces new directors, the Russo brothers (Arrested Development). It is a mostly happy union at the helm of one of Marvel Comics’ cinematic universes, helped enormously by the return of the regular cast members and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America in particular.

Evans is a fine actor, and the time this film takes to explore Captain America’s past is extremely rewarding. Rogers’ reluctance to be a pawn in SHIELD’s defensive plans against future terrorist attacks (three monstrous Helicarriers capable of destroying millions of ‘targets’ at a time) is countered by the realisation of who the ‘Winter Solider’ (Sebastian Stan) really is, providing Evans with an opportunity to bring a superhero with a conscience to life beautifully.

The big action set pieces are fantastic, and even though they are over-edited, they still stand up. The Russo brothers have opted for less CGI and more live action, which lends the film a gritty realism that results in the central conflict being much more effective than the effects-heavy, boom-crash-destruction finale. The car chase sequences are brilliant, with the stand-out being the scenes when SHIELD’s Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) fights for survival after being ambushed by the Winter Soldier and his rogue warriors on the streets Washington D.C.

While it’s great to see the venerable Robert Redford strolling through the film as SHIELD leader Alexander Pierce, it’s the high-impact, energetic performances of Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) as Falcon and the fabulous Scarlett Johansson’s return as Natasha that provide Evans with valuable support.

The two sequences during the closing credits guarantee we will be seeing a good deal more of Captain America, which based on the quality and entertainment value of this latest outing, is something to look forward to.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Avengers

The Avengers. Rated M (action violence). 142 minutes. Written and directed by Joss Whedon. Based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Verdict: A truly joyful and joyous cinematic smorgasbord of laughs, action and an outstanding ensemble at play.

In precisely the same way as an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord is likely to satisfy every appetite, so too does Mr Whedon’s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Marvel superhero mash-up that gleefully ticks every ‘superhero action movie’ box on its way to a dazzling final confrontation between the invading alien Chitauri forces and our team of superheroes.

When Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth, pictured above, left) adoptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) hijacks the Tesseract (an energy source being developed to supply Earth with an abundant supply of energy), he uses it to create a portal connecting Earth to outer space – where his Chitauri army are waiting to attack.

With the impending battle likely to decimate the human population, Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (SHIELD) director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) assembles the Avengers – Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Dr Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans, pictured above, right), and Thor – as the only hope of surviving the impending slaughter.

It is an unmitigated delight to watch this outstanding ensemble (which also includes Clark Gregg’s Agent Philip Coulson and Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye) at play in roles that fit them like gloves, while production designer James Chinlund’s (Requiem for a Dream) superb contribution includes a spectacular Helicarrier (SHIELD’s state-of-the-art flying aircraft carrier) and the Chitauri’s brilliant, giant fish-like spaceships.

Working perfectly in sync with Mr Wheldon’s fine (and unexpectedly hilarious) script, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, The Hours) and editors Jeffrey Ford (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Lisa Lassek (The Cabin in the Woods) bring extraordinary levels of skill to the proceedings – especially the big, action set-pieces which are often astonishing in the breadth of their vision and the pace at which they unfurl before us.

With a sneaky post-credits snapshot of the impending sequel, now is the time to familiarise yourself with the Marvel Universe if you haven’t already – even if it is difficult to imagine how much better it could possibly be.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: What's Your Number?

What’s Your Number? Rated MA 15+ (strong sexual references). 106 minutes. Directed by Mark Mylod. Screenplay by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden. Based on the novel 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak.

While Ally Darling (Anna Faris) is travelling home having been unceremoniously sacked from her marketing job, she reads a magazine article informing her that women who have had more than 20 sexual partners rarely end up happily married to the love of their life. Determined to be happily married like her younger sister Daisy (Whip It’s Ari Graynor) is about to be, Ally enlists the help of her neighbour Colin (Chris Evans) to track down her 19 ex-lovers in the hope that one of them will have become her Mr Right.

One thing is an absolute certainty. It will be a race to the best seats for fans of Mr Evans (Captain America) and the sparkling Ms Faris (Scary Movie) as they cavort (mostly in various degrees of undress) in this gleefully smutty, opportunistic romantic comedy that also – somewhat strangely – happens to be a laughter-free zone.

Like its step-sister Bridesmaids, What’s Your Number? focuses on the travails of an under-achieving young woman in the lead-up to a big family occasion with all its attendant tension and potential for chaos. It's an increasingly disturbing trend, and the wedding sequences (with Blythe Danner chewing up the scenery as the girls’ mum, Ava) all rather regretfully play out with a musty whiff of familiarity – and long before the film grinds to a halt, we are utterly convinced that there is a much better movie struggling to get out from underneath all the screenplay’s layers of contrivance.

What saves it from being a frightfully predictable bore is Ms Faris’s immensely likable Ally daring to re-visit her ex-lovers and Mr Evans’s smooth-as-silk, struggling muso Colin who, having been the master of the one-night-stand, finds himself falling in love with this creative, determined and optimistic young woman across the hall. The film’s best scenes are certainly when this joyful, jaded but charismatic pair are at their unrestrained and romantic best – which, sadly, is still not enough to make it truly memorable.

Pictured: Chris Evans and Anna Faris in What's Your Number?

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger. Rated M (action violence). 124 minutes. Directed by Joe Johnston. Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Based on the comic books by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

Don’t let the title confuse you. While Captain America might be ‘the first avenger’ (he first appeared in comic form in 1941), it’s actually the fifth instalment in the Marvel Comics’ ‘cinematic universe’ which will culminate in next year’s eagerly-anticipated The Avengers in which each of the Marvel superheroes will finally appear together. (Fans should note that there’s a sneak peak at what’s in store in a snappy post-credits sequence.)

The set-up has been intense, with Robert Downey Jnr blitzing the field in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (with Iron Man 3 underway), several attempts at getting The Incredible Hulk right (Mark Ruffalo gets the big green guernsey in The Avengers), Chris Hemsworth’s formidable Thor, and now Captain America.

It is 1942, and evil villain Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is in possession of a super-powerful energy source which he has refined into a weapon of mass destruction. To avert cataclysmic disaster when Schmidt unleashes his plan for world domination, the Americans have been refining their own creation of a “super-soldier” – hand-picking the skinny young try-hard Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to become their Captain America prototype.

Johnston (The Wolfman, Jurassic Park III, and Art Director on the Star Wars films) does a solid enough job, even though Captain America suffers from a feeling of being over-edited – with the surprisingly clunky, jumpy action sequences, in particular, never realised with the same flair as those in either of the Iron Mans or Thor. The overriding sense is one of nervous anxiety that the whole thing is ultimately going to collapse into an unforgivable shambles.

What holds it together is Evans’ (Fantastic 4, Sunshine) star turn in the title role and an equally committed supporting cast including Weaving (whose metamorphosis into The Red Skull is a highlight), Hayley Atwell (a sublime Peggy Carter), Tommy Lee Jones (romping through as leader of the American Armed Forces, Colonel Phillips) and Dominic Cooper (perfect as Howard Stark). The digital trickery that reduces Evans’ to his pre-serum geek is brilliantly achieved – and one of the many occasions littered throughout Captain America when it is hard to believe your eyes. And this film has just enough of those moments to ensure it takes its rightful place in the Marvel superhero-dominated world.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.