Rating: 4/5 Stars.
Time for the End Game!!
Marvel, to begin with, probably has outdone themselves for promoting Age of Ultron; they created massive hype by releasing many clips, trailers, TV spots that the expectations were sky high, at least for a superhero/ comic book fan. But, very honestly, they have failed to meet those huge expectations. Surely, they'll earn their buck, they'll get the praise and they do deserve whatever they get but given the amount of hype, there was going to be a lot of pressure and they haven't done well to cope with it. The movie was really good, it had lots of entertainment, hell of a lot of humor, just as you would expect from a Marvel film but I think the pace was definitely a tad too fast, especially in the beginning of the film. The film carries forward from where they left off in Captain America, though this time the entire team came in together to clean up Hydra and Von Strucker, only to face the twins, one of which started playing with their minds and got the better of them. During all this, as seen in the trailers, Stark & Banner have been working on Artificial Intelligence and end up creating Ultron by mistake and then the story of cat & mouse continues. Here itself, the creation of Ultron wasn't very clear, the plans Stark & Banner had weren't very clear and hence, the introduction to the movie was too haphazard. Given the movie's run time, it could have easily added 10-15 more minutes to it and made things clearer. There are a few cut scenes also, few of which were there in the trailers but not the movie which is pretty disappointing given the importance of those scenes for instance; the lady in the pool with Thor.
Given all of the above, it is clear that the makers of the film wanted to follow more of a comic book style movie where a villain appears and the heroes just fight him off, taking on a very different style this time around by clearing up cities in the process i.e. Wakanda & Sovokia. In this process, I think the story and plot became a weak link. Usually one of Marvel's stronger suits, the plots have always been thrilling and scintillating though that wasn't the case this time around. I guess the clips and spots also gave away a few points of the movie which could have remained hidden. Although I am one of the very few who was disappointed to an extent, the movie is really good in every other aspect.
The CGI used was as expected one of the best in the industry when it comes to Marvel films and they have reaped full benefit from it. The cinematography, action sequences, were beautiful, gracious and amazing as usual. Those weren't just entertaining but represented the capabilities of Marvel superheroes to their best. The way they created Vision, changed his armor, was truly brillaint. Vision was one of the best parts of the film and the way the makers have brought him to the cinematic universe is without doubt one of the best things they could have done. Can’t wait to watch more of him, just a great representation of the character getting his comic costume in the mix too. His role alongside Thor and Mjolnir was superb making his traits noticeable i.e. his worthiness, faithfulness, truthfulness and willingness to fight for the greater good.
The sound effects were good. They really do not catch your attention as the focus is more towards the action while a bit towards the story and easter eggs (as usual) but it didn't do anything wrong and was just up to the Marvel standards. The dialogues on the other hand were brilliant as usual. Punch lines, humor lines, unnecessary Nick Fury lines, all of them present just as always without any change.
The cast of the movie does not need to be rated or spoken about at all. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgaard and Hayley Atwell have all settled in their roles and no one can steal these away from them. All of them have served their duties perfectly with each one of them adding something to the table and doing it just right.
The new cast on the other hand was quite impressive too. James Spader leading the way, playing Ultron, showed why exactly he was the only choice for the role. His voice brings the calm and fear together, just the thing needed for this role and he did it just right.
Paul Bettany finally came to screen after years of giving voice to JARVIS, surfacing as the iconic Vision. He did a good job, keeping a straight face and doing justice to the hero who just wants to bring justice, taking the side of the right team.
Elizabeth Olsen plays Scarlett Witch aka Wanda Maximoff and she could be pointed out for a few flaws in her role. Her expressions weren't up to the mark except for once or twice and often featured a blank face, something that downplayed her character. She can definitely work better on the role.
Andy Serkis, Claudia Kim, Linda Cardelleni & Thomas Kretschman played Ulysses Klaue, Dr. Cho, Laura and Von Strucker respectively, all of them did justice to their short roles.
Aaron-Taylor Johnson played the faster twin i.e. Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff and he was really good. The trailers were very deceiving in showing that he would have a very serious role as if one is to draw comparison between him and Fox's Quicksilver, he just played a wiser and bigger role which surely was much better. Couple of his punch lines about SHIELD were really good along with the repetition of his iconic line "You didn’t see that coming" being used pretty well.
Talking about characters, it was very impressive how the makers have brought about the Hawkeye character and shown his importance on the big screen. His role was very vital to this movie. It was pretty interesting how they were to bring the Maximoff twins to MCU without using the words mutant, which in turn has left a blur to their past and hopefully might be cleared later. Vision, as mentioned earlier, was created perfectly for the movie. I have a feeling that Ulysses Klaue will play a "hand" in Black Panther even though the studio has denied these claims. Von Strucker's role wasn't given enough importance and I think they could have worked better on it. Personally I enjoyed the Maximoff twins though hate how they handled Quicksilver towards the end even though it showed good faith and greater good. It shall be interesting to see how they bring House of M storyline to the MCU in the future. One of the most intriguing parts of the film was Nick Fury and whatever SHIELD he had. Even though all this wouldn't be an issue for just regular moviegoers, the people who follow Agents of Shield will surely be confused given the on-goings in the show currently and I am really hoping the next tie-in episode clears up the air properly.
One of the positives of the story is that it surely leads up to Civil War. Given the heat and intensity between the heroes and the end of the film, Civil War is most definitely up in the running and I already do have expectations from it thanks to Spidey being a part of it.
Well, overall it was a good film. It was a little fast, a superhero mash up with a lot of action packed mess but that recipe works well with superheroes and it did this time although the beginning was a bit of a let down, more so if the TV series is being followed. Obviously, it is advisable to watch all 10 films before this one to understand character pasts though at least watch Captain America 2 and Avengers before this one. It is an entertainment package and a definite watch.
"If they hurt you, hurt them more.
If they kill you, walk it off."
-Kothi
Time for the End Game!!
Marvel, to begin with, probably has outdone themselves for promoting Age of Ultron; they created massive hype by releasing many clips, trailers, TV spots that the expectations were sky high, at least for a superhero/ comic book fan. But, very honestly, they have failed to meet those huge expectations. Surely, they'll earn their buck, they'll get the praise and they do deserve whatever they get but given the amount of hype, there was going to be a lot of pressure and they haven't done well to cope with it. The movie was really good, it had lots of entertainment, hell of a lot of humor, just as you would expect from a Marvel film but I think the pace was definitely a tad too fast, especially in the beginning of the film. The film carries forward from where they left off in Captain America, though this time the entire team came in together to clean up Hydra and Von Strucker, only to face the twins, one of which started playing with their minds and got the better of them. During all this, as seen in the trailers, Stark & Banner have been working on Artificial Intelligence and end up creating Ultron by mistake and then the story of cat & mouse continues. Here itself, the creation of Ultron wasn't very clear, the plans Stark & Banner had weren't very clear and hence, the introduction to the movie was too haphazard. Given the movie's run time, it could have easily added 10-15 more minutes to it and made things clearer. There are a few cut scenes also, few of which were there in the trailers but not the movie which is pretty disappointing given the importance of those scenes for instance; the lady in the pool with Thor.
Given all of the above, it is clear that the makers of the film wanted to follow more of a comic book style movie where a villain appears and the heroes just fight him off, taking on a very different style this time around by clearing up cities in the process i.e. Wakanda & Sovokia. In this process, I think the story and plot became a weak link. Usually one of Marvel's stronger suits, the plots have always been thrilling and scintillating though that wasn't the case this time around. I guess the clips and spots also gave away a few points of the movie which could have remained hidden. Although I am one of the very few who was disappointed to an extent, the movie is really good in every other aspect.
The CGI used was as expected one of the best in the industry when it comes to Marvel films and they have reaped full benefit from it. The cinematography, action sequences, were beautiful, gracious and amazing as usual. Those weren't just entertaining but represented the capabilities of Marvel superheroes to their best. The way they created Vision, changed his armor, was truly brillaint. Vision was one of the best parts of the film and the way the makers have brought him to the cinematic universe is without doubt one of the best things they could have done. Can’t wait to watch more of him, just a great representation of the character getting his comic costume in the mix too. His role alongside Thor and Mjolnir was superb making his traits noticeable i.e. his worthiness, faithfulness, truthfulness and willingness to fight for the greater good.
The sound effects were good. They really do not catch your attention as the focus is more towards the action while a bit towards the story and easter eggs (as usual) but it didn't do anything wrong and was just up to the Marvel standards. The dialogues on the other hand were brilliant as usual. Punch lines, humor lines, unnecessary Nick Fury lines, all of them present just as always without any change.
The cast of the movie does not need to be rated or spoken about at all. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Anthony Mackie, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgaard and Hayley Atwell have all settled in their roles and no one can steal these away from them. All of them have served their duties perfectly with each one of them adding something to the table and doing it just right.
The new cast on the other hand was quite impressive too. James Spader leading the way, playing Ultron, showed why exactly he was the only choice for the role. His voice brings the calm and fear together, just the thing needed for this role and he did it just right.
Paul Bettany finally came to screen after years of giving voice to JARVIS, surfacing as the iconic Vision. He did a good job, keeping a straight face and doing justice to the hero who just wants to bring justice, taking the side of the right team.
Elizabeth Olsen plays Scarlett Witch aka Wanda Maximoff and she could be pointed out for a few flaws in her role. Her expressions weren't up to the mark except for once or twice and often featured a blank face, something that downplayed her character. She can definitely work better on the role.
Andy Serkis, Claudia Kim, Linda Cardelleni & Thomas Kretschman played Ulysses Klaue, Dr. Cho, Laura and Von Strucker respectively, all of them did justice to their short roles.
Aaron-Taylor Johnson played the faster twin i.e. Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff and he was really good. The trailers were very deceiving in showing that he would have a very serious role as if one is to draw comparison between him and Fox's Quicksilver, he just played a wiser and bigger role which surely was much better. Couple of his punch lines about SHIELD were really good along with the repetition of his iconic line "You didn’t see that coming" being used pretty well.
Talking about characters, it was very impressive how the makers have brought about the Hawkeye character and shown his importance on the big screen. His role was very vital to this movie. It was pretty interesting how they were to bring the Maximoff twins to MCU without using the words mutant, which in turn has left a blur to their past and hopefully might be cleared later. Vision, as mentioned earlier, was created perfectly for the movie. I have a feeling that Ulysses Klaue will play a "hand" in Black Panther even though the studio has denied these claims. Von Strucker's role wasn't given enough importance and I think they could have worked better on it. Personally I enjoyed the Maximoff twins though hate how they handled Quicksilver towards the end even though it showed good faith and greater good. It shall be interesting to see how they bring House of M storyline to the MCU in the future. One of the most intriguing parts of the film was Nick Fury and whatever SHIELD he had. Even though all this wouldn't be an issue for just regular moviegoers, the people who follow Agents of Shield will surely be confused given the on-goings in the show currently and I am really hoping the next tie-in episode clears up the air properly.
One of the positives of the story is that it surely leads up to Civil War. Given the heat and intensity between the heroes and the end of the film, Civil War is most definitely up in the running and I already do have expectations from it thanks to Spidey being a part of it.
Well, overall it was a good film. It was a little fast, a superhero mash up with a lot of action packed mess but that recipe works well with superheroes and it did this time although the beginning was a bit of a let down, more so if the TV series is being followed. Obviously, it is advisable to watch all 10 films before this one to understand character pasts though at least watch Captain America 2 and Avengers before this one. It is an entertainment package and a definite watch.
"If they hurt you, hurt them more.
If they kill you, walk it off."
-Kothi