Avengers Age of Ultron: Round 2!

Hello everybody! For this week’s new movie club, we have Avengers: Age of Ultron.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

DIRECTED: Joss Whedon

STARRING: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie,Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson

GENRE: Superhero

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for a global adventure.

Alright Marvel, I decided that it was time to give you another chance. I have stayed away for the majority of your films since Iron Man 3, with Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier being the few exceptions. Overall, Age of Ultron was definitely not disappointing, but was far from perfect. I enjoyed the fact they took some more time and making our favorite Avengers seem more like people instead of being superheroes. The action scenes were over the top as always, but that has become to be expected when you go into any Marvel movie. I would also like to praise James Spader’s performance as Ultron. He served as a mighty foe.

Like I said before, Age of Ultron is far from perfect. Overall though, I just wasn’t thrilled with what they did with Black Widow’s character. Scarlet Johansson’s performance was decent for what she actually was, but I feel that they could have done so much with her if they just treat her as one bad ass love interest. Also, could they have cut down on the final climactic scene a bit? Its just like an hour long of fighting.

PROS:

• Over the top action.
• Superheroes are more than humans.
• James Spader’s performance.

CONS:

• Black Widow.
• Love Interest.
• Hour long fight scene.

SCORE: 7.5 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

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All check out my lengthier video game reviews over at Nerd Bacon Games.

Big Hero 6: Are You Satisfied With Your Care?

Hello everyone! For this week’s movie club we have the latest Disney venture, Big Hero 6.

BIG HERO 6

DIRECTOR: Don Hall, Chris Williams

STARRING: Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T. J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans, Jr., Génesis Rodríguez, Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph

GENRE: Superhero, Action, Comedy

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States

From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph, comes Big Hero 6, an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada. When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called “Big Hero 6.”

I’m not exactly sure why it took so long for me to finally watch Big Hero 6. I’m not really into Disney, but I try to watch any film that earns an Oscar. Overall, the film is a beautiful film about grief and growing up. Hiro is a likeable yet annoying child prodigy protagonist, but his helpful companion Baymax picks up the slack. I have to give props to the voice cast as with each Disney film in recent years they embodied their characters with theirs voices, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Big Hero 6 was decent and all, but should have not won the Oscar. It only won due to the Academy snubbing yet another fantastic film (no mentions/plugs here). I would like to point out that Big Hero 6 does have some lo brow humor, which is expected of course. The film does get dark at one point, tackle the touchy subject of murder. View at your discretion (watch it).

PROS:

• Likeable characters
• Cool setting.
• BAYMAX!
• Murder… 🙂

CONS:

• Doesn’t deserve the Oscar.
• Lo brow humor.

SCORE: 8.0 /10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music/Anime for me to review, drop me a comment!

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All check out my lengthier video game reviews over at Nerd Bacon Games.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Marvel’s Other Superhero Team

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

STARRING: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro

DIRECTOR: James Gunn

GENRE: Superhero

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States

After discovering a mysterious orb in another part of the galaxy, Peter Quill from Earth, is now the main target of a manhunt led by a genocidal maniac Ronan The Accuser. Being hunted across the galaxy Quill gets lumped together with a group of misfits that need to learn how to get along before they can become the “Guardians of the Galaxy”. This team includes, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Groot, and Drax the Destroyer.

The story focuses on the five main characters, and the way in which these radically different beings form a bond. Each character – Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) and Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) – is given just enough back story and setup that they have specific personality goals to achieve over the course of the film. Rocket Raccoon has an inferiority complex, Gamora has daddy issues, Star Lord has mommy issues. Even though they’re comic book badasses, everyone is flawed and vulnerable in some way. Those character pay-offs, in tandem with the story pay-offs, give the film numerous chill-inducing moments.

What holds Guardians of the Galaxy together is its humanity. Sure there’s lots of action and humor but it’s the quiet moments, the pauses, the knowing glances, that make the experience feel so wonderful. That humanity (or whatever passes for humanity when talking about Rocket and Groot) grounds an otherwise fantastic movie as something we can all relate to.

It rides the line of its PG-13 rating content wise but never demands much of the audience. There’s very little subtext or subtlety. Very few beats aren’t laid out to easily digest, save for some of those quiet pauses. Not that a movie like this needs them, but with such a diverse cast of characters and locations a hint of deeper meaning would have enhanced the story.

The film  feels way too busy for its good, crowded with more characters than is possible to keep up with. Solid actors like Benicio del Toro, Glenn Close, and John C Reilly barely get any screen time, while an important character like Thanos is introduced but never adequately employed. It’s evident also that the makers couldn’t decide on one definitive conclusion; the film has multiple endings. Yet these are minor issues in a film that is mostly enjoyable, and one that gives us such a charming set of heroes.

PROS:

• Story.
• Characters.
• Main cast performances.
• Set design.

CONS:

• PG-13 rating.
• Too many characters.
• Interesting side characters not enough screen time.

SCORE: 8.9 / 10

If you have any suggestions for films/TV/Games/Music for me to review, drop me a comment! Remember: Like Media In Review @ https://www.facebook.com/MediaInReview?ref=hl Follow Media in Review @ https://twitter.com/Media_In_Review.