Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

I've done reviews of several of the other Marvel movies, and while I don't plan on making a habit out of it, I do like to share some very short thoughts on the new Avengers movie.

And rest assured, absolutely no significant spoilers below.

Yes, I've talked before about how incredible it is to see all my favorite superheroes band together in one single film. In some ways it's almost become such a familiar occurrence, that I barely think of how awesome it is. For instance when Captain America shows up in Thor 2 - yes, it was cool - but considering how Marvel Studios has run things, it was almost expected. 

And that's really where we are, it's cool to see all of them. Literally all of them, in one movie. But do we really appreciate how amazing it is? And do we really appreciate how impressive it is to do that, and not have a movie that sucks? Because Avengers 2 definitely didn't suck. 

Yes, it was not as surprisingly good as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And it wasn't as fun as Guardians of the Galaxy. But I feel that that isn't the idea of the Avengers movies either.  

The idea of the Avengers movies is to gather all of them, and have cool fight scenes and explosions and stuff. Have buildings collapse, have skyscrapers collapse, have entire cities collapse. Stuff like that. And all the while ALL OF THEM are looking cool, while doing cool stuff. And it's just so damn awesome to see the Marvel cinematic universe in this place, where it's familiar, expected and natural. And that's the strength of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

It's like reading a Marvel comic book, but in cinema.

Yes, I could talk about details, and there were tons of them in this movie. Interaction between Ultron and Vision, interaction between Hulk and Black Widow. Interaction between Tony and almost everyone else. Most of the stuff involving Hawkeye. It seems they wanted to round out a few characters a bit more than they have done in previous movies, and it works fairly well. But this movie is about seeing all of them together, and explosions. 

Ok, some details. Holy shit, Vision! I like. Hulk riding a Quinjet alone made an impact for some reason. Ending shows promises, but also challenges for Marvel Studios. Post credits scene somewhat boring, but not necessarily bad. Also, regarding Hawkeye, thank god they didn't follow Ultimates storyline, or I would never be able to drag my girlfriend to another Marvel movie. Ok, that last one may have been a spoiler. 

Marvel is at an impressive - and some what dominating position these days, and I just fear they won't be able to keep up the pace, and that they won't put as much effort into the "individual" movies as they have done so far. If they do continue to make an effort, I'll gladly accept the occasionally mindless, but still glorious action from future Avengers movies. 

Marvel Phase 3

These are great times.

Nearly three decades ago, I picked up an issue of Secret Wars, and I was instantly a fan. Many kids of my generation grew up reading the comics with the Marvel superheroes. And sure, we dreamed of watching movies with our heroes, but as we aged, we realized that they very well could be similar to Street Fighter the Movie, or the TMNT movies. With this kind of quality as an alternative, I'd say it was a better option to not have superhero movies at all

Back in the late 90s, we actually started getting the superhero movies. Blade, Spider-Man, X-Men, followed by Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider and sequels to the first wave. Some of these were good, a few of them were great, most of them were just awful.

Hindered by technology, but even more so a lack of scope and ambition.
You see, one of the reasons I fell in love with the Marvel universe was that any and all hero and villain could have some sort of link to the others. After all, the first comic I consciously read was a massive team-up between the heroes and villains.

And up until Marvel Studios, we just haven't seen this. They managed to team up four superheroes that easily could be the sole superhero franchise at any other movie studio. And they're building the story lines towards a goal.

Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men - maybe the most popular Marvel characters at one point - are locked at other studios. But that kind of doesn't matter.

You see, another impressive feat with Marvel is that they're not afraid to take chances with lesser known characters. Iron Man? Sure, every comic book reader knows Iron Man, but at the time the first movie came out, he wasn't the most popular Marvel character, probably not even top ten. Guardians of the Galaxy? Popular in the comics the last few years, but in the mainstream? Not even remotely.

Now, look at that line-up of movies. Captain Marvel. Black Panther. Doctor Strange. Inhumans. This is sick. This is insane. These are ridiculously awesome times to be a fan. I'm so glad I grew up with these comics to build the enthusiasm, and I'm so glad I'm around now to see them come alive like never before.

Star Wars Episode 7 Concept Art

A handful of concept art pieces leaked the other day, and I thought it was worth talking a bit about the value of these illustrations.

Me, and many of my generation are probably as excited as it's possible to be for a movie. I even knowpeople outside my generation are excited for the new movie. The popularity of Star Wars extends far beyond the kids that grew up watching it.

And we just can't wait. We have to know all the information right away! Every little piece of news regarding the JJ Abrams directed movie has the internet buzzing. Now that Lucas is out of the picture, we shouldn't have to worry about repercussions should we leak secret information. It's not like the new owners are overly protective of their copyrights.

Well, except if your image sort of resembles one of their million trademarked logos. 

Anyway, I don't fear any C&D letters, simply because I have nothing to gain from sharing these images. And to be fair, these illustrations does nothing but get fans more excited, so for all I know, the leak may be fully intentional.

But for the sake of the fans that want to go in to the theater with zero knowledge of what's coming, I'll put a break.

So hop on in for Star Wars Episode 7 concept art!

Hot Toys DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future

At this point, we've probably already pre-ordered the Marty McFly 1/6 scale action figure from Hot Toys, and we kinda expected the DeLorean to be made as well. And we knew it would be awesome. And it is awesome. Expect the pre-order from various online retailers to be up any time soon.

May 4th

Normally, I try to avoid these "days". I haven't posted waffle recipes on the international waffle day, nor have I regularly posted Halloween articles on Halloween (all though it has happened once). I usually don't make a big deal about holidays.

The fourth of May is as nonsensical a holiday as they get. But at the same time, these are exciting days to be a Star Wars fan. The action figures are as good as ever, with the 6" Black Series. The Lego sets are incredible, and the new Sandcrawler 75059 is truly monumental. And of course, the upcoming seventh movie already looks more promising than any Star Wars movie the last 30 years.

So here it is: May the fourth be with you.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

I have this feeling that Marvel is continuously trying to better themselves, and are learning from their mistakes. Now, I don't really mind any of the movies from Marvel Studios, but there are obvious quality differences, with Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in one end, and The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The First Avengers in the other end.

The first Captain America movie wasn't bad, rather than flawed. The movie didn't feel like a fluid piece. It's difficult to make the origin story look good in the movies. Now, we're past this. The movie universe knows Captain America. The movie audience knows Captain America. We can be treated to a story that stands on its own. Expectations were surprisingly high, after seeing the various trailers, and trying to figure out the plot line without getting too much of the movie spoiled, I found myself unusually excited.

Expectations were met, it was a complete blast. Now, the part I was looking forward to the most, didn't exactly pan out how I had hoped, but it didn't really matter, as I was fully enthralled to the very end.
A thoroughly fun movie: Interesting characters and character interaction, impressive battles, well-paced story, and lots of goodies for the Marvel enthusiast.

Read on for a complete review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And beware, there could be some spoilers.

Vintage style Captain America Poster by Paolo Rivera

Yes, I'm strangely enough excited for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Me and girlfriend saw The First Avenger again the other day, and are now ready for this next Cap movie. I liked Thor 2, but it would be seriously impressive had it surpassed the first Thor movie. But with Captain America, it's a bit different. The first one is good, but certainly not great, while the trailers for the new one are promising, to say the least. I expect it to be significantly better than The First Avenger (and I also expect teasers for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie).

Now, by now you have probably seen the various promo pictures for The Winter Soldier, the actual movie posters, trailers, toys (see the last update), stills, and so on. But this one is something different. A poster made in the vintage style that you would see in the 70s spy movies. Roger Moore's James Bond movies comes to mind.
Done by skilled artist Paolo Rivera, you can also check out his blog here: http://paolorivera.blogspot.com/

Marvel has said that it will indeed be a spy movie, with conspiracy and treachery being parts of the plot. But we have also seen the trailers, where stuff is being blown up. Passionately. I like both, and I think Paolo's poster resonate with this.

I love it, and it makes me even more ready for the movie the upcoming weekend.

Hot Toys Captain America Comparison

Well, with the new Captain America movie coming out, titled "The Winter Soldier", we are getting new action figures from Hot Toys. They already showed their new Black Widow, which caused somewhat of a discussion on the internet. People are surprised how life-like it looks.

No shit! Hot Toys have been doing this for a couple of years, and they're just getting better and better at it. They have already done three Black Widow figures, the first one from Iron Man 2, then the Avengers version, and now for the upcoming Cap movie. I still prefer the Avengers one.

Today, at Hot Toys facebook page, we were shown the pre-release pictures of their new Captain America - Golden Age costume. Apparently, Steve Rogers wears his vintage outfit in the last battle in the movie. It looks as fantastic as you could expect.

Of course, Hot Toys already did the golden age costume, from the first Captain America movie. Which one is better? You tell me.

Here are the two side by side.

Guardians of the Galaxy Promo Poster remade with Marvel Legends

Yes, this is exactly what the title says. We've known about the upcoming Marvel Legends versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while. These characters have already been done by Hasbro in their comic book versions, but that was in the 4 inch line. This time it's for the 6 inch Marvel Legends, and in the style of the upcoming movie. And they look awesome!

The pose we see here is meant to resemble the promo poster we saw a little while ago. And they have nailed it. A little more detail on Peter Quill's costume, but other than that I think they are amazing representations of the movie designs.

As a long time reader of Guardians - and almost anything in Marvel's "cosmic" catalog, I'm excited. Obviously for the movie, but I have to be honest, I'm also tempted by these action figures. Marvel Legends is an awesome toy line these days.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Costume Designs

Yeah, this actually doesn't look too bad. A significant improvement over Michael Bay's version of Transformers, these are actually recognizable as the characters they're supposed to represent. But knowing Bay, we should still expect the movie to be awful. Actually, knowing every and all Toy Line-turned movies, we should expect "Ninja Turtles" to be awful.

Thor 2: A review, of some sort...

If you read this, chances are you plan on seeing Thor regardless of your connection to the Marvel universe or superheroes in general. That's a good thing, because with superheroes being mainstream, it's generally easier to be an enthusiast. And the latest movie from Marvel Studios, Thor: The Dark World, is as mainstream as movies get.

It wasn't always like this. There was a time, not long ago, when we were losing our shit just to get any sort of superheroes beyond Batman and Superman in theaters. Remember when X-Men came out? If you were into comics back in the late 90s, it was huge. It was monumental. It was something new. There was a time, not long ago, when the idea of several Marvel movies all being connected was just that: Ideas and fantasies among fans.

Now, we have one well made superhero movie after the other, the last one leading up to the next one. And it's so much fun. These are good times to be comic book enthusiasts.

Marvel has it figured out. They know what the fans want, and they know how to deal with the general audience. It's a perfect mix between action, romance, easily comprehensible stories and humor. Mix this with sweet special effects, solid soundtrack and generally great choices of actors, and it's not difficult to understand why these movies are a delight.

These movies stick true to the source material most of the time, and when they deviate, it's usually purposeful. But Marvel Studios has gone beyond just being true to the comics. They are loving it, they are passionate about it. Just think about this: We have seen Robert Downey Jr. dressed up in an Iron Man suit made by Stan Winston studios. We have seen Nick Fury - as played by Samuel L. Jackson, shoot a bazooka at Loki. We have seen Hulk and Thor do battle on the Helicarrier. Thanos, the Mad Titan is in a mainstream movie!

Thor: The Dark World isn't a masterpiece. But no one was expecting it to be. What it is, is extremely fun and entertaining, both for me, and for people who haven't read a single issue of Thor.

Review? Well... You can read reviews elsewhere. I'll share various thoughts though.

For the first time in 5000 years, the nine realms are aligning, being closer to each other than normal. This causes rifts in the worlds, where it's possible to portal from one realm to another.

The Dark Elves, once defeated, are back to seek vengeance over the nine realms, and plan on using the alignment to their advantage. Their leader, Malekith, seeks the essence of evil: The Aether. With it, he plans on sending the universe back into darkness. He doesn't succeed, but there's a lot of collateral damage going on before he's stopped. Both in Asgard and in London.

This time around, we get to see a lot of Asgard, which is really cool. We see tons of cool tech and magic, and it's just amazing. Their boats are shaped like viking ships, and their buildings have laser turrets. It's all very true to the idea of a mix between sci-fi and magic. We also see a lot more to Heimdall, played by Idris Elba. He's become a staple in these kinds of movies now, and I think he likes it.

Loki is locked up in the Asgardian prison early in the movie, but still plays a major role throughout. I like that, I really like Tom Hiddelston playing Loki - and I know I'm not the only one. He looks so fresh in his prison cell, all clean and in his usual outfit, but when Thor tells him to drop the spells, we see him as a wounded and broken man. Of course, Loki never ceases his tricks. I suspect he will play an important role in future Marvel movies as well.

The villains were ok, Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston, but I'd liked to see a bit more passion from him. His lackey is almost more interesting, a regular Dark Elf that sacrifices himself to become basically the Dark Elf variant of The Hulk.

An important part of the movie is its humor, and it's at times seriously funny. The entire audience is laughing-funny. The funniest moments revolve around the misadventures of Dr. Erik Selvig, the scientist played by Stellan Skarsgård, but several back and forth comments between Thor and his various allies are also great fun.

I'd actually liked a bit more romance, or rather that the romance of Thor and Jane Foster were put on serious trials. But I guess they're saving that for another time. And for those in the audience who are into that kind of stuff: sadly, that first scene of shirtless Thor is the only one in the entire movie.

When all is said and done, I got what I expected. A great superhero movie, excellent entertainment, and I got my daily dose of Marvel. How much Marvel, you say?

Well, skip the break to find out (spoilers)...


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The LEGO Movie Trailer

Yup. I like this.