Review: Avengers: Age Of Ultron (UK Cert 12A)

2012's Avengers Assemble was- it's fair to say- a bit of a hit. Under the virtuoso direction of Joss Whedon (an absolute maestro with ensemble casts), it pulled together the disparate characters that had appeared in the previous Marvel movies and brought them together as a team. Whedon is back behind the lens for Avengers: Age Of Ultron. 

The Avengers have to face a new threat- one inadvertently created by Tony Stark himself. When Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping programme- the Ultron initiative, designed to bring 'peace in our time'- things get out of hand pretty quickly and the team have to hunt down the rogue Ultron before his plans come to fruition. 

All of the regular actors just fit right back into the characters they've helped create, whilst the new cast and returning faces from previous Marvel films all add to the excitement.

James Spader was a perfect casting choice to voice the villainous Ultron. He has one of those ridiculously silky, sensual voices- anyone familiar with The Blacklist will know what I mean- which is used to good effect here. Ultron's seductive purr as he plots his schemes is a pure joy.

New cast members Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen fit into the already huge cast really well- whilst I preferred Evan Peters' more comedic take on Quicksilver from X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Taylor-Johnson acquits himself well as the super-speedy Pietro. Olsen is just brilliant as Wanda (a.k.a. Scarlet Witch) and her mind-control powers provide the film with some of the best, most freaky and most moving moments. There's a great turn by Andy Serkis as arms dealer Ulysses Klaue and an unsettlingly sinister cameo by Julie Delpy. 

The script, also by Whedon, is jam-packed with smart one-liners and some real laugh-out-loud moments- which is great because there's a lot of drama and one scene in particular which I found unexpectedly very moving. 

The direction is really strong (as you would expect) even if there's a lot more movement of the camera than I remember from Avengers Assemble. Some of the action set-pieces look fantastic and may even warrant seeing the film in 3D- I saw the 2D version.

Go into this film as spoiler-free as you can. Seriously. So much happens that is unexpected and moving and funny and just downright entertaining that to know about it in advance would be to take the enjoyment right out of the film. I could write about this for hours, detailing every nuance that made me laugh or touched me. But I won't. All I will say is this: another absolute triumph for Marvel.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

Happy New Year From The Watchers!

Happy New Year!

So 2015 is here and we hope it's had the very best of starts for you.

There is so much, so much, good stuff coming out this year, we're positively besides ourselves!

Some of the highlights of the next year are Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Ant-Man, The Fantastic Four, Jurassic World, The Minions Movie, Fast 7, SPECTRE (aka Bond 24) and the little matter of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

We'll be reviewing these and many, many more throughout the year on the show, the podcast and the blog - so keep watching!

Here's hoping 2015 is brilliant for everyone!

Now where are our hover-boards?

The Watchers

(Rhys, Matt & Tez)

Comic-Book Movie Round-up: December 2014

So, there's been quite a bit of comic book movie news recently, with massive announcements from both Warner Bros and Marvel Studios over their respective slates for the next five years. There's also been some great casting news announced. 

THE DC CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

2015 will still be dominated by Marvel Studios with both Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Ant-Man (and the first of the new Fantastic Four films) but, from 2016, Warner Bros and DC Entertainment throw their hat into the ring with the start of their cinematic universe, opening with the utter doozy of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and then moving on to Suicide Squad.

Casting was announced this week for Suicide Squad, which is to be written and directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch, Fury).

Will Smith will play Deadshot, whilst recent Oscar-winner Jared Leto will play The Joker and The Wolf Of Wall Street's Margot Robbie will play Harley Quinn. Tom Hardy will play Rick Flagg whilst A Good Day To Die Hard's Jai Courtney is Captain Boomerang. Finally, model Cara Delevingne  will play Enchantress. There's also a rumour that Jesse Eisenberg may make an appearance, reprising his role as Lex Luthor from Batman V Superman. 

Fans may notice that there's one piece of casting that has yet to be announced, and that's of the Suicide Squad's head honcho, Amanda Waller. Whilst no casting has been announced, it's been reported that Oprah Winfrey, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis are all under consideration.

In 2017, there'll be a standalone Wonder Woman movie, presumably with Gal Gadot reprising her role. Michelle MacLaren (who has done sterling TV work on episodes of Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad) will direct and the screenplay will be written by Jason Fuchs. 

Also in late 2017, there'll be the first part of a Justice League movie to be directed by Zack Snyder (Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman). Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Amy Adams are already signed on to reprise their roles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Lois Lane. The second part will hit screens in 2019.

In 2018, The Flash will make his big-screen debut played by Ezra Miller (We Need To Talk About Kevin, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower), as will Aquaman with Game Of Thrones' Jason Momoa in the lead role. No doubt Miller and Momoa will also appear in the Justice League movies. 

In 2019, along with the second part of the Justice League movie, Shazam will hit the screens. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has already announced he will be playing Black Adam but no other casting has been confirmed as yet.

Finally in 2020, a Cyborg movie (starring Ray Fisher as Victor Stone, who will also appear in other movies) and a reboot of Green Lantern completes DC's ambitious slate. Considering that the 2011 Green Lantern movie is generally considered to be a bit of a turkey (losing millions at the box office), it's no surprise they've decided to leave the reboot until last. 

Plans have also been announced for standalone Batman and Superman movies but these have not formed part of this plan as yet.

THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

I did a quick blog when the Marvel slate for 2016-2019 was announced but there have been a few new bits of information since (most notably a major piece of casting)

Captain America 3 was slated for May 2016 (US date), and was originally opening on the same day as Batman V Superman. Were Marvel afraid? Nope. Their date remained unchanged and now it's clear why: the third Captain America film will adapt the highly esteemed Civil War storyline.

Essentially, Civil War pits Cap against Tony Stark over a government bill aimed at forcing superheroes to register themselves and reveal their identities. Cap is against it, Stark is for. Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans will reprise their roles, and this will also be the debut for Chadwick Boseman who was announced as playing Black Panther. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will also return from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Also in 2016, Marvel takes a dip into the more supernatural side of things with Doctor Strange. It was confirmed this week that Benedict Cumberbatch would take the role of the Sorceror Supreme after weeks of speculation. Scott Derrickson (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Sinister) will direct with a script being rewritten by Jon Spaihts.

2017 is going to be a bumper year for Marvel with no less than 3 movies expected for release (at the moment). First of these is Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, which should see the original cast reteam under returning director James Gunn. Next up is Thor: Ragnarok, which will see Asgard under threat from the end of all things. At the moment, Chris Hemsworth will be returning and (it is expected) Tom Hiddleston. Less certain would be Natalie Portman or Anthony Hopkins' involvement, but as no story details have emerged so far, it's difficult to say. Marvel finish the year off with the standalone film for Black Panther.

In 2018, cinemas will get the first part of Avengers: Infinity War which is a very exciting prospect. Josh Brolin is expected to reprise his role as Thanos, as the plot focuses on Thanos' use of the Infinity Stones to terrorise the universe. Summer 2018 will see Marvel's first female-led superhero movie with Captain Marvel, which has been confirmed as being Carol Danvers. There's been a longstanding rumour that Katee Sackhoff is linked with the role but this is just idle gossip at the moment (although I think she'd be kickass). 2018 tounds off with Inhumans.

2019 sees the release of the second part of Avengers: Infinity War. Nothing else has been announced after that. 

20TH CENTURY FOX

Whilst Marvel and DC are the big hitters, Fox have a decent slate of superhero movies due out with reboots of one property and a few sequels to others.

2015 sees the release of the rebooted Fantastic Four, with Miles Teller (Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic), Kate Mara (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch) and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm/The Thing) in the lead roles. British actor Toby Kebbell will take the role of Dr. Doom, and Chronicle director Josh Trank will oversee the project.

In early 2016, the Deadpool spin-off will be released, with Ryan Reynolds appearing to be close to reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (he's been dropping a few less-than-subtle hints on social media this week). Tim Miller will make his directorial debut.

Also in 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse will hit the screens with Bryan Singer back in the director's chair. The action moves to the 1980s and rumour has it that it will tie up the First Class trilogy. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) has been cast as Apocalypse. 

Early 2017 currenly sees the sequel to The Wolverine. The only information available so far is that James Mangold, who directed The Wolverine, is attached to direct and that Hugh Jackman will star. No clue on plot or other casting as yet.

Summer 2017 will also see The Fantastic Four 2. The four main cast are expected to return, but that's all we know so far. Josh Trank's involvement is uncertain due to his commitments for a standalone Star Wars film.

There's an untitled X-Men movie rumoured for 2018, and Channing Tatum has seemingly been confirmed as playing Gambit (in an interview with producer Laura Shulde Donner), but whether Gambit will appear in this one or maybe even appear in X-Men: Apocalypse is uncertain. 

SONY AND SPIDEY

Currently, Sony have four comic book projects slated- Sinister Six, Venom, a female-led Spider-Man spin-off and The Amazing Spider-Man 3. However, given the fact that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn't exactly set the box office alight, it looks as if plans may be altered slightly. 

Currently, Drew Goddard's Sinister Six movie is still slated for late 2016 although there's been zip in the way of either casting or even which of the Spidey supervillains will make up the Sinister Six. 

As for the female led Spider-Man movie, the best bet would be Black Cat (as the character was hinted at in The Amazing Spider-Man 2) but there are absolutely no details about this project, apart from the concept and a vague release date of 2017. Similarly, the Venom project hasn't progressed either- again, a vague release date of 2017 is the only thing to say, but rumours are that the project has been canned and the character may appear in the Sinister Six instead.

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 is provisionally down for release in 2018, having been moved back from 2016 (thus removing a previously-earmarked Amazing Spider-Man 4). However, there are rumours of yet another reboot in the works or even Sony entering talks with Marvel to allow Spider-Man to join The Avengers (which would be awesome but a logistical nightmare, one would imagine). 

Other studios have provisionally or fully set their rosters and publicised at least some of their films. Sony is the only one with a major comic-book franchise that hasn't. Make of that what you will. 



So, as you can see, there's a lot to go see in the next few years. Here's a handy calendar of what to expect when (please note, this may be schedule to change- let's face it, we are talking some longterm planning here!)


2015

April 24 (UK)/May 1 (US): Avengers: Age Of Ultron

July 17: Ant-Man

August 6 (UK)/August 7 (US): The Fantastic Four


2016

February 12: Deadpool

March 25: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

April 29 (UK)/May 6 (US): Captain America: Civil War

May 19 (UK)/May 27 (US): X-Men: Apocalypse

August 5: Suicide Squad

November 6: Doctor Strange

November 11: Sinister Six


2017

March 2 (UK)/March 3 (US): The Wolverine sequel

April 28 (UK)/May 5 (US): Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

June 23: Wonder Woman

July 14: The Fantastic Four 2

July 28: Thor: Ragnarok

October 27 (UK)/November 2 (US): Black Panther

November 23: Justice League Part One


2018

March 23 - The Flash

April 27 (UK)/May 4 (US): Avengers: Infinity War Part One

July 6 - Captain Marvel

July 13 - untitled X-Men movie

July 27 - Aquaman

October 26 (UK)/November 2 (US): Inhumans


2019

April 5 - Shazam

April 26 (UK)/May 3 (US): Avengers: Infinity War Part Two

June 14 - Justice League Part Two


2020

April 3 - Cyborg

June 19 - Green Lantern


Busy time ahead!

Marvel Movies 2016-2019

Marvel Studios held a press conference today to announce their latest batch of movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Responding to DC's announcement last week of their upcoming movie roster, Marvel brought out some of the big guns and announced the properties from 2016-2019.

As we already know, Avengers: Age Of Ultron (which premiered a downright brilliant first trailer earlier this week) and Ant-Man are Marvel's properties for 2015.

But coming up in 2016 will be:

Captain America: Civil War

May 6, 2016 (US)

The Russo Brothers (who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier) are back to direct

And if that isn't enough, later in the year comes:

Doctor Strange

November 7, 2016 (US)

Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) has been confirmed as director.

There was no casting news on who will be playing the Sorcerer Supreme, despite several news reports over the last few days that Benedict Cumberbatch is firmly in the frame to star.

Moving in to 2017, which is gearing up to be a bumper Marvel year,

Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

May 5, 2017 (US)

James Gunn will come back to direct the sequel

Thor: Ragnarok

July 28, 2017 (US)

No director announced - but interestingly, Ragnarok means 'The End Of All Things'

Black Panther

November 3, 2017 (US)

No director has been announced - however, Chadwick Boseman (Draft Day, Get On Up) has been confirmed to play T'challa/Black Panther

It was confirmed that Black Panther will appear in Captain America: Civil War and will be seen in costume.

But there's still more! In 2018, you will see...

Captain Marvel

July 5, 2018 (US)

It was announced that this particular Captain Marvel will be Carol Danvers, making this Marvel's first female-led superhero movie.

Inhumans

November 2, 2018 (US)

No casting or director named for this project

But before all of that in 2018, we're in for an absolute doozy:

Avengers: Infinity War

Part One will hit cinemas May 4 2018 with Part Two in cinemas May 3 2019

Certainly some very intriguing and very exciting projects here!

News From Comic-Con 2014

So, this year's Comic-Con at San Diego has come to a close (running from July 23-27) and whilst there was nothing this year to rival last year's Internet-melting announcement of Batman v Superman, there was still plenty of good stuff for film and TV fans to enjoy.

DAWN OF JUSTICE

Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck appeared together with director Zack Snyder for a panel about DC's upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, due in UK cinemas on April 29 2016. Gadot's Wonder Woman costume was revealed:

Gone are the garish colours of Lynda Carter's days, this darker-hued outfit is very much in keeping with the more sombre and gritty tone of previous pictures:

A 50 second teaser, featuring Superman and Batman staring at each other intently, was shown but will not be officially released. I daresay a quick search of some video-sharing sites may yield results.

MARVEL'S 2015 ROSTER... AND BEYOND

Whilst there was no announcement of a Doctor Strange movie (as was widely expected), Marvel did confirm a sequel to Guardians Of The Galaxy which will hit cinemas on 28 July 2017. Director James Gunn is expected to return to helm the second film, with Josh Brolin confirmed to play Thanos in both this and Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

There was a panel for Ant-Man. The first movie in Marvel's Phase 3 has been beset with trouble, most notably the departure of director Edgar Wright over 'creative differences', the delays in which have also precipitated Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerald and Kevin Weisman leaving the project. However, the movie is still on target to open on July 17 2015 - now to be directed by Peyton Reed (Yes Man, The Break-Up)- and this Entertainment Weekly exclusive piece of concept art was revealed, along with some more casting details:

Joining Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas as Scott Lang and Dr. Hank Pym respectively, will be Evangeline Lilly as Pym's estranged daughter Hope Van Dyne and Corey Stoll as the villainous Darren Cross, also known as Yellowjacket.

The vast majority of the cast of 2015's Avengers: Age Of Ultron (without a heavily-pregnant Scarlett Johansson and director Joss Whedon who is recovering from knee surgery) took part in a great panel, where a first look at the film was shown along with several major pieces of concept art: 

BEST OF THE REST

Columbia Pictures announced that Sinister Six, the previously-announced spin-off from The Amazing Spider-Man, will be released in November 2016. Directed by Drew Goddard, the film will focus on some of Spidey's best-known villains (although there has not been any confirmation as yet of which villains will appear). It was also confirmed that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be released in 2018.

One of the biggest surprises of the event was Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey making their Comic-Con debuts to talk about their new film Interstellar.

A new King Kong movie, entitled Skull Island, was announced, scheduled for release in November 2016.

There were new trailers for Mad Max: Fury Road, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part One).

With the TV panels, there was a final farewell for True Blood (finishing after seven seasons), a preview of American Horror Story's fourth season, as well as panels for Arrow and Supernatural. 

Game Of Thrones has announced nine new cast members for its fifth season, including Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow and Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand, one of the illegitimate daughters of Oberyn Martell.

And, just for good measure, here's a picture of Benedict Cumberbatch with a penguin: