MARVEL'S AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

As a former Marvel Comics reader, I am very pleased that the Marvel comic book movies are doing so well now. (I also find it very disturbing that the DC heroes will not be attempting the same kind of continuity but then, that's DC. I have always been more keen on the Marvel heroes, from the Stan Lee years on.) The first film THE AVENGERS was a fantastic success in more than just monetary terms. Marvel has been very careful to pick the right actors and the right directors to further their cinematic Universe. And so, Robert Downey Jr shines again as Tony Stark, while Chris Evans brings a very nice counterweight to it with his Steve Rogers / Captain America.

Considering that I live in Europe and the film is only now going out in the USA, while we here have already seen it, I will not spoil the film for the American audiences. I will only say that for me, the film works because of the acting talent in it. It is the actors who make this a wonderful film. (As far as the story goes, that's okay, too, thanks to the talents of Joss Whedon, who also capably directed this film.) If there are things wrong about this film, it may be due to the incredibly high dependency on CGI shots to put the heroes on screen.

Yes, there are some shots in the film, that made me cringe a bit with regards the iffy CGI SPFX. But that is NOT where the strength of the film is anyway. First of all, you have an amazing villain in this film with the AI Robot Ultron, whom I could also talk endlessly about. About how he was conceived in the comics and why this was changed for this film. Never mind all that, all you need to know is that JAMES SPADER, as a voice actor only, is WONDERFUL as this supervillain. Spader is in that respect the most amazing find among the cast, although the newcomers Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron-Taylor Johnson are also wonderful as Wanda and Pietro, aka Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. (Again, I could talk volumes about them, their comic book origins, how this was changed for this film, the interesting but totally unrelated Quicksilver in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and more, but it does not matter.)

The strength of this film lies, as stated before, in the characters and how they further the continuity that we see develop with this film. You see, without putting any blame onto Tony Stark's shoulders, it is an action of his, that results in the invention of the villain of the piece, ULTRON. His fellow Avengers confront him with this but to atone, he also creates the VISION, another newest addition to the ranks of this group of superheroes. Considering how difficult it must have been to write for a team as large as this, and give all the characters their moment to shine, AGE OF ULTRON is a wonderful film. Not better than its predecessor, but not really worse either.

 And considering that this film contributes heavily to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I am very much looking forward to the next steps of the starring superheroes. At this moment, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is shooting stateside and will introduce SPIDER-MAN too, as well as BLACK PANTHER. THOR's third film RAGNAROK is being scripted now and preparations are already ongoing for the third AVENGERS film, which is slated to go out in 2018.

I'll give you a one time guess who will be the villain of that film, which will be a two parter !

It will however also be interesting to find out if Tony Stark will be seen again in a film of his own. Or if the Hulk will get a film of his own. (This might prove difficult because Marvel doesn't own the rights for that. But they straightened Spider-Man out, so I guess they could also do that for the Hulk.) And what will happen to the other characters? To be continued in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first next steps will be ANT MAN and FANTASTIC 4 (although it remains to be seen if this one will share the same universe, as it is made by the studio behind the X-MEN franchise), that will still be seen this year. However, ANT MAN will not be as important a hero for Marvel as the Fantastic Four. And unfortunately, I have no confidence whatsoever in FANTASTIC 4, due to the changing of the original characters (where are Stan and Jack's original characters here? Nowhere in sight, is the answer to that.) But let's see what they do first. Then we'll judge them for their (lack of) qualities.

 For now, I hope you all will enjoy AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON as much as I did. It is a true pop corn blockbuster and I hope it will do well for Marvel. (And if Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli might be reading this blog, try James Spader out for a Bond villain, please !!!)

Oh, did I mention that STAN LEE has a wonderful cameo again ???  EXCELSIOR !!!!!