Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The most predictable hit of the year has actually turned out to be full of surprises. Avengers: Age of Ultron being a smash hit and making a gazillion dollars at the box office should surprise no one, but it’s Joss Whedon’s clever script that keeps the money train rolling and adds far more substance than was expected of this film.

Just like the Avenger’s first cinematic adventure, the jokes are quick and effective, and the action scenes are gloriously shot, but it’s the way the characters are dealt with that is the real success here. Foregoing the temptation to focus on big names who are already developed like Thor and Iron Man, Whedon instead lets other less developed characters take centre stage as Black Widow, Hulk and even Hawkeye (yes even Hawkeye is cool in this film) are granted much needed screen time and two new characters: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are introduced.

The film has a more relaxed pace than its predecessor, which actually works out for the best. Now that we’ve already established the Avengers as a team, we can see them bond together and grow into a formidable stable of heroes who use their combined powers to effortlessly thwart evil – for now. This means we get some great fan service action scenes featuring the team taking out a Hydra base and the celebration afterwards. At last, we get the kind of casual scenes of characters hanging out that add the real flesh of the story to the comic books, and it’s great to see the whole cast enjoying themselves like real people would – even War Machine and Falcon getting involved. Whedon’s dialogue is so amusing, and the cast are so settled into their roles that it wouldn’t be too much of a disappointment if the whole two hours was just a movie about the Avengers going on a road trip or shopping at the mall. But alas, there has to be some world-changing drama sooner or later, and that’s where the menacing Ultron comes in.

What looked to be a generic misanthropic robot bent on destruction in the trailers was actually a refreshingly funny and relatable villain. His standard villain dialogue in the trailers totally fades into the background, and his sarcastic personality really steals the show and makes for the most entertaining scenes. It’s an amazing voice performance from James Spader. If anything the film is in danger of granting too much humour and humanity to its robotic villain, and he doesn’t really feel all that threatening towards the end. His motivations aren’t all that clear either, but the writing and performance is strong enough to make a memorable villain and worthy adversary. In this film he’s created by Tony Stark, leading to lots of drama between the team and more introspection from Tony. In the comics, it’s actually Hank Pym who creates him, but it seems Marvel is saving Ant-Man for later.

The best thing about the movie is that it actually feels like a comic book – from the intricate action sequences, to the costumes, everything feels like a comic strip come to life. New and lesser known characters really shine, with Jeremy Renner in particular doing a great job and Hawkeye proven without a doubt to be an important member of the team. There’s even a romance angle for two of the Avengers, but I won’t spoil it. It’s handled deftly like everything else. Andy Serkis also shows up and totally nails it, but blink and you’ll miss him.

The film builds to a satisfyingly epic conclusion but it’s the little world-building details and the character interaction that really make this entertaining, even more so than the first film. A superb ensemble cast that are clearly really enjoying making movies together make this a fantastically entertaining film, far more than any plot details really could. It’s absolute perfection of the summer blockbuster/popcorn flick format and one that you’ll want to watch time and time again.

Trailer Madness!

Over the past few weeks we’ve had a lot of full trailers released, here’s the ones that caught my attention:

Terminator Genysis

I’ll start with the most disappointing. Just like in Terminator Salvation they’ve given away half the plot and what seems to be the main twist already. I’m seriously beginning to consider just watching teasers and skipping full trailers because of this sort of thing. It looks to be a fairly cheesy revisit of Terminator 2. At least it’ll be fairly entertaining, I guess.

Tomorrowland

It looks goofy. It looks inventive. It looks entertaining enough. It might get a bit lost amongst all the other blockbusters being released though.

Ant-Man

Definitely more promising than the teasers, now I’m finally excited to see what looks to be another underdog film from Marvel featuring a hero we’ve never seen before. I’m also looking forward to seeing Evangeline Lilly.

Fantastic Four

With the goofy 2000s movies largely considered a failure this reboot takes the fantastic four a little more seriously. It has a darker colour scheme and is rumoured to feature some dark body horror scenes. Still not sure if this will be a flop or not.

Jurassic World

Again a little too much revealed here but it’s not so bad. We get the understanding of what the plot is like for sure but there’s plenty room for more. It’s now confirmed that Chris Pratt is indeed training raptors, which is either awesome or stupid depending on what kind of film you’re hoping for.

Star Wars: Rebels

What a trailer! Now this is how its done. Plenty of action but little idea of major plot points; mostly focusing on returning clone wars characters. There are many beloved characters from the Clone Wars that appear here including Ahsoka and my personal favourite Captain Rex.

Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 3

Damn, Call of Duty gets more and more cyberpunk with each release, and they’ve gone full Deus Ex with this trailer. I haven’t even played Advanced Warfare yet, but I gotta admit all this sci-fi stuff in the series lately has me more interested in Cod than I have been in a long time. No gameplay footage yet, but you should know what to expect by now.

Batman v Superman

I’m actually one of those nutters that really enjoyed Man of Steel, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing where the franchise will go next. I was hoping for a Superman 2 before Justice League, but it looks like DC are way too anxious to get their own multi-hero films going, and so they are throwing in Batman straight away. Are they getting ahead of themselves? Hopefully this film gives enough screen time to both characters in order to properly develop this world. The trailer looks interesting but we still don’t know what the main film will be about other than this superhero match-up. Do Batman and Superman really need to fight each other? They’re just going to become good friends at the end in prep for the inevitable Justice League film, right? The writers have a tough job on this one but I hope it works out for the best.

Star Wars Episode 7

Yes I’ve saved the best for last. Not much to say about this. It’s perfect.

2014 Special mentions.

Some other films from 2014 that were surprising, noteworthy or just solidly entertaining.

Predestination

Though it may be slow and tedious at times this film offers one of the most unique depictions of time travel of any movie in recent memory and is worth seeing for that alone. I can’t elaborate much without spoiling the plot so go see it. It’s also quite stylishly noir, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Robocop

A surprisingly watchable remake that may the lack the true depth and nuances of the original classic, but nonetheless is a genuinely entertaining action movie that contains at least a little bit of the satire that made the original a classic. I just wonder why it needed to be called Robocop and why it didn’t get an R rating. Still, not a complete disaster and worth a watch.

Big Hero 6

Disney’s most contemporary movie features a bunch of wiz kids creating crazy futuristic tech whilst using modern slang and taking selfies. Pretty good, though it may seem dated by the end of the decade, as opposed to Disney’s more timeless films. It’s a colourful and energetic film that has fun and heart. Cool new Fall Out Boy songs on the soundtrack.

Automata

Antonio Banderas stars as a man tasked with investigating malfunctioning robots. What he finds is a spark of self-awareness that has runaway effects and will change the world forever. This film got smashed by critics, which I think is wholly unfair. Not only does it resist Hollywood clichés and inclinations for violence and action above substance, it actually benefits from its relatively low budget and creates a more quiet and thoughtful sci-fi movie, and offers a refreshing take on artificial intelligence, in which for once the robots don’t try to wipe out humanity for no good reason as soon as their brains are switched on. If anything the plot is similar to Blade Runner and though the film is not of the best quality all round, it has some good, challenging moments that go deeper than the average action flick, a lot like Neil Blomkamp’s films. Antonio Banderas is also quite relatable and does a good job of carrying the movie. Perhaps this is what I, Robot should have been.

Only Lovers Left Alive

A film about two aging hipster vampires that like to collect antiques and generally mope around. An interesting look at vampires that features no horror and instead focuses on the malaise and cynicism that ensues from endless immortality. Stylish and sensual with great chemistry between Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston. Probably not for everyone but definitely worth a look for vampire aficionados as well and anyone into weird and unique filmmaking.

What We Do in The Shadows

Surprisingly funny mockumentary from New Zealand of all places. Consistently delights and entertains, in fact it may go down as one of the best horror comedies ever made, but I’ll let you be the judge as it deserves more recognition.

Fury

A wild ride of a war movie showcasing the insane brutality of WWII style combat. Brad Pitt adorned the posters for this film but it’s a strong ensemble cast that makes this one work, featuring solid performances from Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal, Michael Pena and err…Shia Labeouf – who’s totally different to the nerdy kid in Transformers. If anything this film goes almost too far with its brutality, and it’s ferocious battle scenes sometimes feel like something out of a comic book or graphic novel. Whilst it lacks much in the way of subtlety, it makes up for it with a compelling cast and tense, hard-hitting tank action. Definitely one of the most noteworthy war films in recent years.

Star Wars Rebels: First Impressions.

Star Wars is back on TV screens again, not in the live action format that some have been hoping for, but another animated kid’s show in the style of the acclaimed The Clone Wars series. Whereas the previous series took place between Star Wars episodes 2 and 3, this one takes place between episodes 3 and 4, covering the rise of the new Empire and the titular rebels who fight against it.

Disney have gone with an ensemble cast format, featuring the crew of a Millennium Falcon-like ship called the Ghost. We get to know this universe largely through the eyes of Ezra: a force sensitive teenager who is clearly a stand-in for the shows young target demographic, who joins the motley crew in the first episode. The show features their continued efforts to spoil the party for the Empire through theft and sabotage whilst making a profit for themselves. Fans of Firefly and Cowboy Bebop will probably enjoy this series. In fact, the show features the voice of Steve Blum who also voiced Spike of Cowboy Bebop fame, so the inspirations are clearly there. He plays a similarly muscular character here known as Zeb, and is the Chewbacca of the crew (if Chewbacca could talk).

Other crew members include a “cowboy Jedi” (voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr.), who serves as an Obi-Wan like mentor to Ezra but with far more attitude and a lot less experience. There’s also a Twi’lek pilot, a Mandalorian Graffiti artist, and an astromech droid named “Chopper” who serves as the spunky and obnoxious stand in for R2-D2.

This format of rascals in space who aim to misbehave gives the show a far more focused look at the Star Wars universe than the grand sweeping space opera of The Clone Wars, which had a sizeable cast and would often split its characters off into different groups in order to demonstrate the scale of the war. Instead of beleaguered bureaucrats and Jedi generals leading their clone troops, the show concentrates on a ragtag crew on the fringes of the galaxy, trying to survive against the monolithic empire. For fans of the original trilogy who hate the “space politics” of the prequels and the Clone War era, this is a welcome return to an age of outnumbered and outgunned rebels in a rusty used-universe setting that the original trilogy did so well, fighting against an overwhelming force and using their wits and pluck to survive. It features very similar visuals such as oldschool Stormtroopers and Tie Fighters, as well as a return of some of John Williams original themes, so it definitely feels like we’re back in the same era again.

Is it any good? Well it’s definitely made with a younger audience in mind, so quite a bit of the dialogue is totally corny, but it’s a decent enough look into the Star Wars world which should please long term fans, especially with its return to the original trilogy era.

The Clone Wars now has a reputation among fans for beginning as a rather immature, basic show aimed at kids which later reached new heights of sophistication (and improved animation). Time will tell if this series follows the same path, but it would not be a surprise if we eventually saw some darker, more mature plots going on amidst the fun of the series misbehaving-in-space formula. My favourite episodes of Clone Wars series were the episodes that focused exclusively on the clone troopers themselves, and the ways in which they were brutally and inhumanely exploited. This series’ equivalent seems to be episodes that portray the cruelty and fascism of the empire, which we have seen a little of in the episodes so far, and will almost certainly see a lot more of in the future. There is definite room for interesting themes and social commentary, harking back to the best of the Clone Wars and Firefly. So far it’s been reasonably enjoyable and I look forward to seeing more.