Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) Movie Review

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle

My viewing of Age of Ultron came directly after watching the first Avengers film along with the second Captain America film. Needless to say both those films remain hugely enjoyable. What is interesting is the multitude of references to these films within Age of Ultron. Falcon shows up and talks about his and Steve’s on-going search for Buck Barnes and Don Cheadle turns up and is incredible. Don Cheadle isn’t involved in the other films but he is so unforgettably hilarious that I cannot help but mention him.

Tony Stark finds this crazy computer contraption inside Loki’s sceptre and decides that the correct course of action is to create an artificial intelligence, an idea that never goes wrong. Everything goes wrong.

In the same vein as Cheadle’s impressive use of screentime, the entire film turned out to be majorly a comedy as opposed to the DC-esque, gothic films that the trailers somewhat make it out to be. I am in no way annoyed by that. I feel that Marvel films understand their purpose far more than DC does. It would be unwise for you to mention Man of Steel to me because you will invoke my unstoppable rage and perish immediately. The mood that the film set was utterly opposite to the whimsical, borderline comedic destruction of Metropolis. Marvel Studios films understand that they should (and do) aim to entertain the audience and they succeed. The film does this by just making the film hugely funny. The jokes were constantly present and connecting making the film something that I would actually like to watch, a feat Man of Steel was clearly unable to reach.

This flow of humour sadly meant that the atmosphere of the film was unstoppably flipping between whimsical happiness and psychological terror. It’s as if the film wants to entertain but also to be taken seriously. Each moment is successful in achieving what they are aiming for but when stitched together, the tone is more unpredictable than a caffeine filled boy with Tourette’s.

Along with this, the film felt far too dense to me. They were trying to cram so much into an admittedly long film. Andy Serkis turns up for a bit and there are three new characters need to be introduced. Far more than the zero introductions made in the first. This paired with the tonal shifts made the film feel slightly shambolic.

I am happy to report that while there are a lot of new characters they are all pretty damn cool… except for Ultron. Hawkeye is the marquee example of that. I have been waiting since the first Thor film for Hawkeye to be an interesting character and his backstory is delved into a little in this film. The other characters: Vision, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are basic but that base was pretty decent. On a more negative note, the titular villain, Ultron, didn’t nearly get the screentime that he needed.

All that needs to be said is that he isn’t exactly Loki, something that can be said referring to the other Marvel villains of the recent films.

Marvel Studios has been on excellent form for the past four or five years and Age of Ultron maintained the comedy and pace of Guardians of Galaxy. The film certainly does have flaws but there was only one point at which when I wasn’t loving it and that point was Mark Ruffalo wearing Beats headphones, maybe the worst product placements I have ever seen. Besides this, I would conclude that Age of Ultron is on par with the first Avengers film. BOOM

Avengers: Age of Ultron receives an: 8/10

Zodiac (2007) Movie Review

Director: David Fincher

Writer: James Vanderbilt

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo

The only film of Fincher that I have ever watched before is the Social Network and this was long before I likely should have and I have never even watched it all the way through. Going into this with a relatively tiny amount of Fincher experience, I somewhat enjoyed it.

The often explored, notorious serial killer, Zodiac, has his story told through fragmented chronological newspaper and crime story.

This film spans many, many years of investigation and I really enjoy the way in which the film shows the passage of time. In one of the earliest shots of San Francisco, a motorway is shown that was destroyed in an earthquake in the 1980s. This tells the keenest viewers the context of both time and place. This is not the only time this happens. At about the middle of the film. There is a time-lapse shot of the Transamerica Pyramid being built. For the few that know the year in which the building was erected, this is both an attractive and attentive shot that stood out in the film.

Unfortunately, this film is unnecessarily long. Some films can pull off the extended run time due to their pacing and constant intrigue. While much of the movie certainly achieves this, the second act is more repetitive than a smoking addiction (everyone in this film seems to smoke except for Jake Gyllenhaal). The Zodiac sends in numerous letters attempting to instil hysteria into the San Francisco populous. The second act consists mostly of the police attempting to fins a match to the handwriting found on the received letters. I found myself so thankful to get into the Gyllenhaal-centric third act.

The said third act was incredibly interesting seeing how the characters evolve with the sequences that occur. This act is far creepier than the preceding two. I don’t want to divulge too much upon the happenings of the final part of the film but I will say that it is when a lot of time is passed and a lot of ground is made upon the Zodiac investigation (which is very interesting).

This film has an exciting start and finish but heavily plateaus in the middle. It becomes noticeably boring but is held up by the excellently smart and attractive shots that kept me engaged and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is gripping and intriguing. Despite boredom valley being existent, I would say that I was entertained but not for the entire duration.

Zodiac receives a: 7/10

Please feel free to leave a comment on either the movie or the review. Say if you liked or disliked the movie. I'm interested to find out what you think!