IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (2015) REVIEW : An Old-School Survival Movie

Setelah sukses memukau para penonton lewat film Rush di tahun 2013, Ron Howard akhirnya kembali dilirik oleh rumah produksi besar dengan proyek terbarunya. Terang saja, bukan hanya rumah produksi yang berharap banyak, melainkan juga para penonton yang mencoba untuk bersemangat akan proyek terbarunya. In The Heart of The Sea, proyek terbaru dari Ron Howard ini memiliki hype yang cukup tinggi dan berkemungkinan menjadi kontender Academy Awards tahun depan.

In The Heart of The Sea diangkat dari novel dengan judul yang sama yang ditulis oleh Nathaniel Philbrick di tahun 2000. In The Heart of The Sea bisa menjadi sebuah karya yang fenomenal karena menceritakan tentang salah satu kisah yang mengilhami buku legendaris karangan Herman Mellville, Moby Dick. Jelas, lewat tangan Ron Howard tak salah jika penonton akan berekspektasi lebih atas apa yang disajikan olehnya. Apalagi, kiprahnya di Academy Awards telah disadari oleh para Juri.

In The Heart of The Sea memiliki konten Academy Awards yang bisa untuk diandalkan. Hanya saja, Ron Howard melupakan bagaimana potensi besar milik In The Heart of The Sea untuk menjadi lebih dari sekedar survival movie genre. Sehingga, In The Heart of The Sea pun terjebak ke dalam film-film serupa yang sudah pernah dilihat sebelumnya. Ron Howard tak mencoba menawarkan sesuatu yang spesial kecuali suguhan visual efek megah dengan sokongan format IMAX tiga dimensi yang mewah. 

Film ini dimulai ketika Herman Mellville (Ben Wishaw) ingin mencari bahan untuk ditulis ke dalam buku terbarunya. Dia pun berkelana untuk bertemu dengan Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson), salah seorang awak kapal yang menjadi saksi akan peristiwa besar dalam hidupnya. Dia menjadi salah satu awak  dari kapal Essex yang berkelana menuju samudera luas dan bertemu dengan paus putih yang mengubah makna hidupnya.

Thomas muda (Tom Holland) pada saat itu hanya menjadi awak kapal yang diam. Bersama dengan sang nahkoda dan asistennya, George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) dan Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), mereka berburu ikan Paus untuk dicari minyaknya. Sayangnya, George dan Owen tidak memenuhi  target minyak yang mereka janjikan. Sehingga, dia berlaut lebih jauh untuk mencari ikan Paus yang lebih banyak. Tetapi, mereka malah bertemu dengan Paus putih yang memorak porandakan mereka dan awak kapalnya. 

In The Heart of The Sea akan mengingatkan kita pada film milik Ang Lee yang juga diadaptasi dari novel legendaris, Life of Pi. Sehingga tak salah, jika penonton akan berekspektasi lebih atas hasil akhir dari Ron Howard dalam In The Heart of The Sea yang akan tampil prima layaknya Life of Pi. Cara bertutur yang digunakan oleh Ron Howard mirip dengan bagaimana Ang Lee bertutur lewat film Life of Pi. Hanya saja, dasar cerita yang digunakan memiliki dasar cerita yang berbeda dengan film arahan Ang Lee.

Disayangkan, ketika konten kuat yang dimiliki oleh Ron Howard lewat In The Heart of The Sea terkesan disia-siakan. Ron Howard terlihat sangat memiliki ambisi kuat yang ingin dia curahkan ke dalam film terbarunya. Hanya saja, keambisiusan itu malah berbuah tak manis dalam presentasi secara keseluruhan di dalam In The Heart of The Sea. Ron Howard terlalu berusaha keras sehingga In The Heart of The Sea hanya muncul sebagai sebuah survival movie yang generik.

Tak ada kedalaman cerita yang diidamkan oleh Ron Howard di dalam presentasi akhir In The Heart of The Sea. Ingin menceritakan segala kontemplasi akan kehidupan lewat metaforik perjalanan kapal Essex bersama awaknya, Ron malah membuat In The Heart Of The Sea hanya sebagai sebuah film survival yang pernah kita lihat sebelumnya. Dengan keambisiusan yang terlalu besar, presentasi film ini pun tak tampil secara prima. 

Emosionalitas cerita dalam film terbaru karya Ron Howard ini menjadi sebuah keraguan yang besar.  Kualitas akting dari para jajaran aktornya lah yang dapat menutupi segala kegagalan aspek bertutur dari Ron Howard dalam In The Heart Of The Sea. Emosionalitas itu hanya timbul dalam sebuah momentum getir yang memang bisa terlihat cukup maksimal. Hanya saja, setelah itu tak ada lagi kekuatan yang tersisa untuk menjalankan 120 menit yang disiapkan oleh Ron Howard dalam film ini.

Penonton mencoba mencari faktor lain yang bisa membuat In The Heart of The Sea berbeda dengan film-film bertema lainnya. Dan selama 120 menit, Tak ada yang dapat menemukan faktor lain yang dapat membuat In The Heart of The Sea menjadi alternatif tontonan survival movie genre. Pun, Ron Howard lupa untuk mengemas cerita dan bertuturnya yang sudah usang menjadi sebuah kemasan yang baru. Sehingga, penonton dapat melupakan poin-poin usang yang ada di dalam filmnya. 

Beruntung, visual efek megah di dalam In The Heart of The Sea setidaknya bisa menjadi pelipur lara bagi penontonnya. Panorama-panorama indah lautan pasifik dikolaborasikan dengan efek tiga dimensi yang tak kalah megah, membuat penonton setidaknya terserap ke dalam perjalanan awak kapal Essex dalam mencari jawaban akan kehidupannya. Paling tidak, poin itu lah yang dapat membuat penonton tidak merasa rugi menyaksikan In The Heart of The Sea.

Bagaimana film ini sudah mendapatkan hype dari beberapa kalangan yang menyebut bahwa In The Heart of The Sea bakal ?menang? besar, nyatanya Ron Howard malah tenggelam bersama keambisiusannya. In The Heart of The Sea pun jatuh menjadi presentasi survival movie tanpa terobosan baru atau pun berusaha mengemasnya menjadi sajian yang segar. Ron Howard hanya menggunakan formula usang yang malah berdampak tak baik baginya dalam bertutur. Beruntung, sisi teknis yang superior menjadi sokongan bagi In The Heart of The Sea.

Vacation

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Well, at the very least, this film isn't Christmas Vacation 2.

Vacation ? 3 out of 5

It?s been over 30 years since the Griswolds first took their original vacation to Wally World in John Hughes? National Lampoon?s Vacation.   It was a classic trip that still holds up today and even gave us more laughs when the Griswalds went to Europe and, in my opinion, hit their highest note when the holidays came and we got Christmas Vacation.  Since that time of egg nog and good cheer, we had some a more forgettable trip to Vegas but how does this new trip hold up?  How does this non-reboot that?s sort of a reboot but also is a remake but not really remake sequel that is simple titled Vacation rank?  Well, long story short, it?s better than Vegas Vacation, I can tell ya that.

Chase, taking on the Mad Scientist look now.

 

Rusty Griswold is now an adult and is being portrayed, once again, by a different actor (this time it?s Ed Helms).  Well, it seems his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) isn?t the happiest in their marriage and isn?t looking forward to their yearly vacation to a boring old cabin by the lake.  So, Rusty decides to pack the car, grab his boys; James (Skylar Gisondo) and Kevin (Stelle Stebbins), and recreate the vacation his father took him on years ago and head to Wally World.  Well, things don't go quite as planned and life makes sure to throw a wrench in the gears as often as it can.  Can the Griswalds survive the trip, and each other, and make it to the greatest theme park in the country?  Or will everything go down in flames?

And the "Holiday Road" song should be cemented in your brain right about now.

Whenever I review a comedy that I don?t feel strongly about, I always feel the need to remind myself that comedy is very subjective?in fact, the two most subjective genres in the world of film, in my opinion, are comedy and horror because the experiences are way more personal than other types of films.  When it comes to what makes us laugh and what makes us scared, so much of what we see and hear can result in a wide variety of reactions.  What scares or makes one person laugh can be annoying or lame to others.  With that being said, I won?t say that Vacation is an instant classic like the first trip so many years ago.  The film isn?t terrible but it is very hit or miss.

One of the misses is that Christina Applegate doesn't really feel like she's
contributing at all.

It'll be a cold day in hell when Charlie Day is
not funny.

Some of the film?s strongest points involved the wide variety of characters that come into play on the trip and the actors who portrayed them.  Proven funny-makers like Leslie Mann, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Nick Kroll, Tim Heidecker, Kaitlin Olson, Michael Pe?a and Colin Hanks show up and provide some very amusing and outright hilarious sequences that really help move the film along and make up for the less-than-funny moments that bog the story down.  Additionally, there are times when actors who aren?t traditionally known for doing silly comedies come in and really had me rolling.  Actors like Chris Hemsworth and Norman Reedus had some incredible solid scenes that proved to steal the moment and became excellently written and incredibly performed bits of comedy gold.

See the gag is he has a big dick--which, honestly, could have been a terrible
joke if Hemsworth didn't nail it just right.  Yep, that line sounded weird to me, too.

Another element that worked fantastically well with the film was Steele Stebbins as Kevin, the younger sibling in the Griswold family.  Without a hint of doubt in my book, this kid was the funniest member of the family and had so many extremely hilarious moments.  His character would constantly antagonize and berate his older brother and the vulgar things that would come out of his mouth proved to be the right amount of shock value to be hysterical but without crossing the line and feeling like it was being vulgar to get the cheap laugh.

Also, the kid tries to murder people by suffocating them.  That's just Comedy 101.

The parts that slowed the film down and weakened it to the point it was nearly as bad as Vegas is that a lot of the jokes were really poorly written.  There are some gags that try to poke fun at our digital and social media age but come off less like a rousing send up of this reality and more like an aging stand-up comedian in a dark, smoking and sparsely filled nightclub saying things like, ?What?s the deal with Facebook?  It?s not a face that you can see in a book, is it??  Then, when you don?t have these weak bits, you have the even weaker bits of being gross for the sake of a cheap laugh?only the laughs didn?t arrive for me.  I stated that Stebbins? character of Kevin was written incredible well and was able to be that balanced of a character that could say and do shocking things without feeling like a cheap shocking bit but this balance isn?t seen in such parts as the family bathing in sewage run-off.  Instead, these parts just felt like diving down to the lowest common denominator in order to get a quick laugh but they came off more desperate or like throw-away gags so they ended up more groan-inducing than chuckle worthy.

This was definitely the lowest of the low points with the humor.

Finally, the last element that really hurt this feature is the fact that some members of the cast didn?t feel right or just didn?t need to be there.  For example, the bloated corpse that appears to be Chevy Chase (seriously, he now looks like he could play a drowned mad scientist on an episode of C.S.I.).  I?d hate to kick a man when he?s down but the reality is Chase?s glory days are long behind him and matters are only made worse during his short scene when you see that he is trying way, way, WAY too hard to make jokes out of nothing.  It?s sorta sad and depressing to watch.  Almost as sad as seeing Ed Helms not really channeling even anything remotely close to what other actors brought when they played Rusty.  As much as I like the guy in the right role, Helms just didn?t work as Rusty because he simply wasn?t Rusty.  He was playing the same role he always plays and that is basically just being Ed Helms.

#NotMyRusty

At times, Vacation is super hysterical and a laugh-out-loud riot that is a lot of fun and filled with hte nostalgia of the 1983 cult classic and, at other times, it is a weak, unfunny mess of bottom-of-the-barrel gags that flounder around in a desperate grab for attention and pity laughs.  I won?t call the film a waste of time because when it works, it works insanely well but, in the end, the film doesn?t stand much of a chance at holding its own against some of the better films in this franchise.  But it?s still way better than Vegas.  I can?t emphasize that enough.

AVENGERS : AGE OF ULTRON (2015) REVIEW : Different Takes for Avengers Sequel

Marvel Cinematic Universe fase kedua sudah mencapai konklusi dari segala bentuk spin-off superhero milik Marvel. Ditutup dengan megah oleh Guardians of The Galaxy, konklusi dari fase kedua ini pun berada di tangan Joss Whedon. Ya, dia kembali menggarap sekuel di mana segala dari superhero Marvel berkumpul dan menyerang musuh. Avengers : Age of Ultron menjadi sebuah proyek superhero yang sangat diantisipasi oleh semua orang, terutama para pecinta film-film superhero milik Marvel.

Fase kedua dari perjalanan Marvel Cinematic Universe ini memang memiliki perbedaan tone cerita yang kental. Terlihat bagaimana Iron Man 3, Thor : The Dark World, dan Captain America : The Winter Soldier yang sedang dalam posisi yang tersudutkan dibandingkan dengan film-film sebelumnya. Begitu pun dengan Avengers : Age of Ultron yang akan terlihat lebih gelap dibandingkan film sebelumnya. Hal itu terlihat di berbagai trailer-nya yang menunjukkan bahwa para jagoan super ini sedang mengalami krisis yang sulit.

Identitas mereka sebagai superhero sedang dalam posisi yang tidak diharapkan. Setelah berhasil menyerang musuh di mana pun, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), dan Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), malah menimbulkan kekacauan yang semakin banyak dan banyak yang membencinya. Hal ini mendorong Tony Stark ingin membuat suatu program yang dengan menjunjung misi perdamaian.

Ultron, proyek dicanangkan oleh Tony Stork sebagai program yang akan membuat dunia ini damai. Sayangnya, hal itu malah menyerang Tony Stark dan kawanannya sendiri. Ultron yang belum selesai dalam pembuatannya, tiba-tiba membangunkan diri dan berusaha untuk menghancurkan kawanan Avengers. Ultron melarikan diri dan mencoba untuk menguasai dunia dengan bantuan saudara kembar dengan kekuatan super yaitu Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) dan Quicksilver (Aaron-Taylor Johnson).

Mencoba untuk memanusiakan para manusia super ini bukanlah hal baru yang pernah dilakukan di perfilman Hollywood. Avengers : Age of Ultron terlihat akan menggunakan formula yang sama dengan DC Comics Universe yang mencoba untuk memanusiakan dan menggelapkan nada cerita di film terbarunya. Akan ada beberapa cerita yang akan menonjolkan sisi humanis dari para Superhero di sekuel Avengers ini, tetapi bukan tujuan seperti itulah yang diinginkan oleh Joss Whedon sebagai sutradara dan tentu saja Kevin Feige sebagai produser Marvel.

Avengers : Age of Ultron bukan mencoba untuk mengubah secara keseluruhan pakemnya menuju sesuatu yang gelap dan humanis layaknya apa yang dicoba oleh Nolan kepada Batman. Tetapi, Joss Whedon memberikan intrik yang lebih dalam Avengers : Age of Ultron ini agar memiliki sesuatu yang lebih dewasa atau tingkatan lebih lanjut di dalam filmnya. Di sinilah, keunggulan dari Avengers : Age of Ultron yang tak dimiliki di film Avengers yang pertama.

Akan ada perbedaan pakem dari seri pertama Avengers dengan seri keduanya. Di seri pertama, akan menitikberatkan pada bagaimana Avengers ini menjadi sesuatu yang menyenangkan dengan plot yang lebih ringan. Dan juga digunakan sebagai tempat di mana para manusia super ini berkumpul untuk pertama kalinya. Sehingga apabila pakem tersebut digunakan kembali untuk film yang kedua, Avengers : Age of Ultron tak akan memberikan sesuatu yang berbeda dan terkesan formulaic.

Avengers : Age of Ultron mencoba untuk mencari sesuatu yang berbeda dari film sebelumnya. Dengan adanya kedalaman karakter di dalam filmnya, Avengers : Age of Ultron memiliki interest yang berbeda dibandingkan dengan film sebelumnya. Setiap karakter manusia super yang ada di Avengers : Age of Ultron terasa lebih hidup dan terasa lebih multidimensional dibandingkan dengan film Avengers sebelumnya. Dengan adanya pendalaman karakter ini, akan membuka akses bagi penontonnya untuk terbentuk relevansi dengan para karakter manusia super.

Dengan adanya kedalaman karakter di Avengers : Age of Ultron, setiap karakter superhero di dalam film ini pun memiliki porsi yang seimbang. Tak seperti film pertama di mana porsi besar ditujukan kepada Tony Stark dan Steve Rogers sebagai penggerak cerita. Naskah milik Joss Whedon memiliki pemaknaan yang dalam di setiap dialognya. Bukan hanya sebagai penggerak cerita dan basa-basi belaka, tetapi ada sesuatu yang terselip yang ingin disampaikan oleh Joss Whedon dengan dialog semantiknya yang dinamis dan cerdas.

Avengers tetaplah produk milik Marvel yang harus mengedepankan sesuatu yang menyenangkan sebagai penyeimbang tone cerita yang mulai kelam. Naskah dari Avengers : Age of Ultron masih diselipi jokes yang dengan mudah membuat penontonnya tertawa. Meskipun, kadar jokes itu lebih sedikit dibandingkan dengan filmnya yang pertama. Tetapi, sedikitnya kadar jokes yang ada di dalam film Avengers : Age of Ultron mungkin dibuat agar tidak merusak tensi cerita yang dibangun sangat apik oleh Joss Whedon.

Pun, dengan action sequences yang jelas mendapatkan sesuatu yang jauh lebih besar dibandingkan dengan film pertamanya. Dengan bertambahnya karakter-karakter baru, film ini akan penuh sesak sehingga dalam eksekusi action sequences harus memiliki treatment yang lebih besar. Dan, Joss Whedon mampu menangkap segala keindahan dan kegilaan action sequences dengan sangat indah, juga diwarnai dengan visual efek yang megah tetapi memiliki emosi yang sangat kuat.

Dan inilah sebuah jawaban bagaimana sebuah sekuel memiliki tingkat kemenarikan yang berbeda dengan film sebelumnya. Avengers : Age of Ultron memiliki sebuah kedewasaan agar sebuah sekuel mencapai kasta yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan film sebelumnya. Avengers : Age of Ultron memiliki tone cerita yang lebih gelap tetapi tak melupakan bagaimana sebuah film manusia super harus bisa mengedepankan unsur menyenangkan agar terasa lebih universal. Dan Joss Whedon tahu benar bagaimana dia menngarahkan Avengers : Age of Ultron agar menjadi paket lengkap itu.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Satisfyingly More Of The Same

Now playing at every multiplex in the galaxy and beyond:

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

(Dir. Joss Whedon, 2015)

If you live on planet Earth, you?re aware that today the Marvel machine is rolling out the biggest super hero movie of the year - sorry, ANT-MAN, but, c?mon!

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (from this point on, A:AOU), the sequel to the biggest superhero movie of 2012, THE AVENGERS, and the 11th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that began with the first IRON MAN back in 2008, is here to officially kick off the summer 2015 movie season - sorry, FURIOUS 7.

But if you?re reading this, you most likely know all that, and just want to know if this highly anticipated, star-studded, and CGI-saturated production lives up to its huge hype.

I?ll say - yeah, it does. I had a tremendous amount of fun watching the reunited team - Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), The Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) ? working together with lots of wit and energy to defeat the powerful robotic villain Ultron (voiced by James Spader).

This adventure begins with an already-in-progress action sequence, involving the comic book crew storming the castle of Hydra leader Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in the icy terrain of the fictional European nation of Sokovia.

Amid the standard chaos and wisecracks (most of which are pretty funny) we are introduced to a couple of new characters, brother and sister duo Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). ?He?s fast, she?s weird,? is what SHIELD?s Maria Hill (the also returning Cobie Smulders) says of their powers, which means that Pietro can move at supersonic speeds, while Wanda can manipulate minds with magic.

The Avengers rescue Loki?s scepter, one of the McGuffins of the series, and return to their headquarters at the Stark Tower Complex in Manhattan, where we actually get to hang out with the guys as they party, and engage in a game of taking turns trying to lift Thor?s hammer. Meanwhile, Stark?s Ultron project, which is supposed to be a global peacekeeping program, is co-opted by the scepter and becomes sentient.

That means Spader, who in addition to providing the voice, performed on set in a motion-capture suit, takes over as the movie?s major villain, and sets out to wipe out humanity (?There is only one path to peace... your extinction?).

As if he thinks we don?t have enough characters to keep up with, Whedon keeps piling them on. We meet Barton?s (Renner, in case you forgot) wife (Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men fame) and kids living at a ?safe house? farm where the Avengers lay low between battles, geneticist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) who gets co-opted by Ultron, arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, a motion capture master himself), and the re-occuring role of Stark?s A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Betttany) is expanded via a red and green android body (Bettany in the flesh).

There?s also the many cameos from the MCU including Don Cheadle getting in a few good one-liners again as as James ?Rhodey? Rhodes/War Machine and Anthony Mackie getting in a few glaring grins as Sam Wilson/Falcon, along with appearances by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and of course, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who no Marvel movie should be without. And yes, there?s a Stan Lee cameo, but, c'mon, you knew there would be.

Yes, A:AOU covers every single fan-pleasing base it can in its 2 hour and 21 minute running time and is a pretty bloated affair because of it, but it swiftly juggles all these strands until they collide in the big climax set on a ginourmous hunk of a Sokovian city land mass that Ultron has lifted from the earth and is planning on crashing down. The Avengers try to save the city's people while warring with the armies of robots that are all forms of Ultron (in a MATRIX sort of way I guess).

The special effects, of course put together by thousands of digital artists, are flawlessly top notch, but it?s the human moments that give a lot of heart, soul, and humor to this enterprise. A romance blooming between Ruffalo?s Banner (another invested portrayal - where's this guy's Hulk movie?) and Johansson?s Romanoff adds a thoughtful touch, and while Downey Jr.?s Stark is still full of snark, there?s an unmistakable conscience behind it. The rest of the gang also have their moments, but Hemsworth's Thor is still my least favorite Avenger.

Spader, even with only a mechanical presence, makes for a powerfully worthy foe, one who gets his share of well delivered quips and takes delight in destruction.

If this is Whedon?s final fling with the super hero franchise, he went out with a multitude of big bangs. Maybe they?re all riffs on the familiar formulaic tropes of the genre we?re all used to, but that doesn?t make them any less effective. 

A:AOU is winningly and satisfyingly more of the same; it?s everything a superhero superfan would want out of a Marvel movie. Non fans who haven?t been won over by any of the movies in the series before won?t be converted by it, but I seriously doubt many of them will have read this far into this review anyway.

More later...

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Satisfyingly More Of The Same

Now playing at every multiplex in the galaxy and beyond:

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

(Dir. Joss Whedon, 2015)

If you live on planet Earth, you?re aware that today the Marvel machine is rolling out the biggest super hero movie of the year - sorry, ANT-MAN, but, c?mon!

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (from this point on, A:AOU), the sequel to the biggest superhero movie of 2012, THE AVENGERS, and the 11th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise that began with the first IRON MAN back in 2008, is here to officially kick off the summer 2015 movie season - sorry, FURIOUS 7.

But if you?re reading this, you most likely know all that, and just want to know if this highly anticipated, star-studded, and CGI-saturated production lives up to its huge hype.

I?ll say - yeah, it does. I had a tremendous amount of fun watching the reunited team - Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), The Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) ? working together with lots of wit and energy to defeat the powerful robotic villain Ultron (voiced by James Spader).

This adventure begins with an already-in-progress action sequence, involving the comic book crew storming the castle of Hydra leader Baron von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) in the icy terrain of the fictional European nation of Sokovia.

Amid the standard chaos and wisecracks (most of which are pretty funny) we are introduced to a couple of new characters, brother and sister duo Pietro/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). ?He?s fast, she?s weird,? is what SHIELD?s Maria Hill (the also returning Cobie Smulders) says of their powers, which means that Pietro can move at supersonic speeds, while Wanda can manipulate minds with magic.

The Avengers rescue Loki?s scepter, one of the McGuffins of the series, and return to their headquarters at the Stark Tower Complex in Manhattan, where we actually get to hang out with the guys as they party, and engage in a game of taking turns trying to lift Thor?s hammer. Meanwhile, Stark?s Ultron project, which is supposed to be a global peacekeeping program, is co-opted by the scepter and becomes sentient.

That means Spader, who in addition to providing the voice, performed on set in a motion-capture suit, takes over as the movie?s major villain, and sets out to wipe out humanity (?There is only one path to peace... your extinction?).

As if he thinks we don?t have enough characters to keep up with, Whedon keeps piling them on. We meet Barton?s (Renner, in case you forgot) wife (Linda Cardellini of Freaks and Geeks and Mad Men fame) and kids living at a ?safe house? farm where the Avengers lay low between battles, geneticist Helen Cho (Claudia Kim) who gets co-opted by Ultron, arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, a motion capture master himself), and the re-occuring role of Stark?s A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S. (voiced by Paul Betttany) is expanded via a red and green android body (Bettany in the flesh).

There?s also the many cameos from the MCU including Don Cheadle getting in a few good one-liners again as as James ?Rhodey? Rhodes/War Machine and Anthony Mackie getting in a few glaring grins as Sam Wilson/Falcon, along with appearances by Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and of course, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, who no Marvel movie should be without. And yes, there?s a Stan Lee cameo, but, c'mon, you knew there would be.

Yes, A:AOU covers every single fan-pleasing base it can in its 2 hour and 21 minute running time and is a pretty bloated affair because of it, but it swiftly juggles all these strands until they collide in the big climax set on a ginourmous hunk of a Sokovian city land mass that Ultron has lifted from the earth and is planning on crashing down. The Avengers try to save the city's people while warring with the armies of robots that are all forms of Ultron (in a MATRIX sort of way I guess).

The special effects, of course put together by thousands of digital artists, are flawlessly top notch, but it?s the human moments that give a lot of heart, soul, and humor to this enterprise. A romance blooming between Ruffalo?s Banner (another invested portrayal - where's this guy's Hulk movie?) and Johansson?s Romanoff adds a thoughtful touch, and while Downey Jr.?s Stark is still full of snark, there?s an unmistakable conscience behind it. The rest of the gang also have their moments, but Hemsworth's Thor is still my least favorite Avenger.

Spader, even with only a mechanical presence, makes for a powerfully worthy foe, one who gets his share of well delivered quips and takes delight in destruction.

If this is Whedon?s final fling with the super hero franchise, he went out with a multitude of big bangs. Maybe they?re all riffs on the familiar formulaic tropes of the genre we?re all used to, but that doesn?t make them any less effective. 

A:AOU is winningly and satisfyingly more of the same; it?s everything a superhero superfan would want out of a Marvel movie. Non fans who haven?t been won over by any of the movies in the series before won?t be converted by it, but I seriously doubt many of them will have read this far into this review anyway.

More later...

Avengers: Age of Ultron

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! Now I want my own Hulkbuster armor...I mean, I've always wanted Hulkbuster armor but now I want it even more.

Avengers: Age of Ultron ? 5 out of 5

Right now you?re probably saying, "What a big fucking surprise?Rev. Ron gave another superhero film a perfect score. He?s clearly an amateur and not worthy of his opinion and I will punch him in the face when I meet him in person." First off, there?s no need for violence because I thought we could play mini-golf when we first meet in person and, secondly, I have repetitively mentioned my geek nature and have said that comics and superheroes are some of my favorite things and haven?t EVER denied by bias towards this form of entertainment. However, I still think Marvel Studios is just laying the competition out with their cinematic universe and Age of Ultron continues to prove that working formula!

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"Wait...Ultron is mooning us!  The bastard!!!"

It?s been a little bit since Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) stopped Loki and his Chitauri army from destroying New York and taking over the world. However, their work isn?t complete since they still seek the scepter that Loki wielded. They track it to an outpost ran by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) where he used it to genetically modify humans for Hydra. There, he created the mutant wonder miracle twins: Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson); the speedster Quicksilver, and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen); the manipulative Scarlet Witch. Once the scepter is recovered, Tony Stark realizes it holds a secret that can help him and Dr. Bruce Banner unlock the secret to artificial intelligence and help him finish his peace making program called Ultron. The only problem is that once Ultron (James Spader) comes online, he deems that mankind must evolve or die and he, along with help from Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, puts forth a plan to do just that?and to eliminate The Avengers once and for all.

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Capt. can totally lift it...he's just pretending not to so he doesn't hurt Thor's feelings.

Okay, so it?s no secret that I?m obsessed with the MCU and I was not-so-patiently waiting for Age of Ultron to hit the theaters (the minute the tickets went on sale, I bought them because I?m a gigantic dork). Overall, do I think this one is better than the first one? No. Will I compare the two? Absolutely not, because the MCU is a far reaching and expanding story and universe and I see the big picture in each film. If I had to compare it to other MCU films, it?s going to rank somewhere after my Top Three?which are, in case you are wondering, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, what Joss Whedon did (and, sadly, this one is his final work with Marvel) was make a film that was much darker, a lot deeper emotionally, and developed not only the beloved characters further but the overall story and its build-up to the massive showdown that is going to take place in Infinity War 1 & 2.

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With the fact that Banner has never lost a pair of pants to ultimate annihilation when
changing into the Hulk, it's amazing that he hasn't found his fortune in the garment industry.

The lighthearted and funny nature of the first film is out the door in Age of Ultron and Whedon went with a far more serious tone. Granted, there are still some great hilarious moments and gags littered throughout the story but, overall, the emphasis is character development and a tone that that is far bleaker than what we?ve been seeing. This tone doesn?t feel shoe-horned in or like the MCU is trying to be dark and gritty but rather a natural evolution to the overall story and it worked exceptionally well.

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So...when are we getting a Black Widow solo film?

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Let's face a reality here...RDJ is cooler than all of us.

Like all Marvel films, the cast is great and have all cemented themselves perfectly in their roles. RDJ is still awesome and still the only person I want to see as Tony Stark, Chris Evans still embodies Steve Rogers, and Chris Hemsworth is still Thor. Other staples that have been established?especially Hawkeye and Black Widow?see further development that makes their already cool characters even deeper and more sympathetic. To me personally, the character development done to Hawkeye was one of my favorite things about Age of Ultron. As you remember, Barton got the raw end of the deal when Loki took his mind over in the last film and, this time around, we get to see him come into his own and show us why he is a hero and what he is fighting for. Add to the fact that he also had some incredible action sequences and there's some great one-liners from him and Hawkeye proved to be one of my favorite aspects of the film.

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I actually never thought I'd see the day when I said that Hawkeye was my
favorite part of an Avengers tale.

The new members of the cast, like Taylor-Johnson, Olsen and Spader, all proved to be a welcome addition to the MCU. All of them really captured their characters quite well. As cool as Evan Peters was as Quicksilver, Taylor-Johnson really captured the spirit of the comic character and nailed his mildly-arrogant, kinda-jerky attitude. Additionally, Olsen really made Scarlet Witch sorta-creepy and pretty badass and, finally, James Spader really was the perfect man to be Ultron. The dude?s voice is incredible and how you picture the comic villain to sound on the pages.

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Bite his shiny metal ass.

And it was flipping awesome to Paul Bettany bring The Vision to life! For so long we?ve come to associate Bettany as Jarvis and it just made sense to adapt Vision in this way for the film. Can?t wait to see him in Infinity War?and speaking of a character that is established and will come into play some more later?I really enjoyed seeing Andy Serkis come in and do a damn near flawless African accent as Ulysses Klaue?the infamous villain of Black Panther. I guess what I?m really getting at here is that Marvel has, once again, proved they know how to get the right actors for the right roles and Joss Whedon really knew how to get the perfect performances out of them?and that says a lot because the cast in this one is huge and it is a testament to Whedon?s skill that he never makes any of them feel useless or pushed into the background.

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Awww...The Vision looks so cute when he's sleeping.

So, how?s the action? As you would expect, Age of Ultron is pretty epic with its action?hell, the Hulkbuster armor scene alone when Iron Man takes on the Hulk was worth my money, in my opinion. The fight scenes are big and filled with awesome spectacles?BUT?they sometimes get hard to watch. Often during the action scenes, Whedon has the camera in really tight and it made the action unfolding blurry, muddled and hard to focus on. This is a big distraction at the beginning and when Ultron first arrives but, aside from that, most sequences are put together exceptionally well.

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Dat Hulkbuster armor!

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For dry, red eyes...

Other things that I wasn?t such a fan of in the movie were the relationship between Banner and Romanoff and Ultron?s threat level. First off, I didn?t mind that Hulk and Black Widow started to have eyes for each other but the whole time it is happening I found myself asking, "So?did Bruce forget all about Betty?" Secondly, while Ultron is a cool villain who has a never ending procession of cool lines for Spader to eloquently shoot out, I never really felt he was a world-wide threat. Sure, the story and characters will keep telling you he is a huge danger but I never get a sense of that until the epic final battle. When first introduced, he?s sold as someone who might be unstoppable but through most of the story, we see a guy who feels like a "villain of the week" one shot and not someone who will tragically alter the course of events in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ultimately, this is resolved but Ultron and his development is hindered greatly due to the development of the Avengers and the blow they receive after a defeat at the hands of Scarlet Witch.

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Wanda's powers were altered from the comics...which is fine because I will
never truly understand Scarlet Witch's powers.

Any complaints I have with Avengers: Age of Ultron are limited and did absolutely nothing to kill the enjoyment factor. The movie is huge in scope, darker in tone, full of action and characters, and is still a lot of fun. The story does a lot to set up what is going to be happening in Phase Three of the MCU including the mystery surrounding the Infinity Stones, new members to the Avengers (and what awaits in the future for the current members), and the mastermind behind all these events and how this being is somehow orchestrating this ordeal. While it?s sad this is Whedon?s final Marvel film, he still went out on a bang and made something that isn?t just rehashing the same formula that was already done but making something that is a little more mature but equally fun to watch.

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Now let the debate over who was the best Quicksilver begin!