Film: Avengers: Age Of Ultron

The Marvel movie juggernaut rolls on with the latest adventure for their team of superheroes.

Tony “Iron Man” Stark persuades Bruce “The Hulk” Banner to help him develop a new form of artificial intelligence but things go awry when the machine decides that it doesn't want to be constrained.

Ultron is born and he proceeds to take control of the planet’s computers causing all manner of mayhem. Supported by an army of robots he takes control of a city and threatens to wipe out the human race.

Cue many scenes of heroes vs robots and also some scenes where the good guys fight each other. The introduction of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver freshen things up but it’s Paul Bettany’s show stealing turn as the android avenger Vision that really livens things up.

Age Of Ultron is very entertaining and marvel fans will love it but the movie lacks the charm and wow factor of Avengers Assemble and doesn't quite match the epic action of Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.

Film: Big Hero 6

Young Hiro’s dreams of joining Nerd School (his term for a top level scientific learning facility) literally go up in smoke when a fire destroys the building and leaves him mourning the loss of his brother.

However, his brother’s invention, a robotic health assistant named Baymax, lives on and soon becomes his best friend and ally as he searches for those responsible.

Baymax is excellent as the hapless hero and the duo quickly recruit additional members to their team.

This animated feature manages to explore the complicated issue of grief without becoming too bogged down and always remembers to be child friendly and fun.

Great comic sequences, fantastic action scenes and a touching story make this  a must see for kids of all ages.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.   

Film: X Men: Days Of Future Past

In the near future there are hardly any X-Men left. They, along with all other mutants, have been relentlessly hunted down by the Government endorsed android killing machines known as Sentinels.

On the brink of extinction Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) decide to use the time travelling abilities of Pryde to travel back and attempt to stop the Sentinels before they are even invented. For a time trip that could potentially rip anyone’s body and mind apart there is only one candidate, the quick-healing Wolverine (Hugh Jackman).

Wolverine must convince the younger Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to work together to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) trigger a chain of events leading to the war against the Sentinels.

This collaboration of X-Men franchises from original director Bryan Singer gets off to a blistering start as the remaining X-Men battle the Sentinels in a fantastic, super-power laden, fight scene. However, when we join Wolverine on his trip back to 1973 the pace slows considerably. The highlight of the whole 1973 story (which makes up the majority of the film) is the Magneto prison break featuring a stand out performance from Even Peters as Quicksilver. Jennifer Lawrence also makes up for the omission of original blue beauty Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique with an action packed and emotional turn.

Huge credit must be given for this ultimate X-Men film which successfully meshes all previous films but more action was required for it to be as exciting and fun as the likes of Avengers Assemble or Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past simply left me wanting more, maybe that was the plan.

Catch it in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.        

Film: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

In Marvel’s latest adventure we catch up with Steve Rogers aka Captain America as he attempts to capture a band of modern day pirates. Aided by Black Widow the Captain leads a group of soldiers against the bad guys who include George St.Pierre of UFC fame.

Rogers (Chris Evans) then learns of the development of huge flying gunships being developed by SHIELD that have the capability of targeting any person on Earth. Bear in mind that the Captain is a very patriotic American (hence the name) so he doesn’t approve of anything that infringes on personal freedom.

To say more about the story would give away too much so I’ll concentrate on the film itself. Playing to the man out of time storyline (Captain America was a WWII soldier who was frozen then reanimated) this manages to bring emotion to what is otherwise an epic action movie. Think Terminator 2 and you’re in the vicinity. The shoot-outs and fight scenes are wonderfully extravagant (look out for ole Cap vs a fighter jet) and although there are super-hero elements on show here this manages to transcend the genre pigeon-hole.

Evans is fine as the straight-laced Rogers and there is excellent support from Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Frank Grillo to name but a few.

If you think they couldn’t top Avengers or that super-hero films aren’t for you I urge you to think again and catch Captain America: The Winter Soldier while it’s on the big screen.

Ric’s Rating: Essential

Film: The Wolverine

News of a dying friend brings Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to Tokyo and he is soon caught up in a tale of kidnap, murder and treachery.

During his pursuit of Yakuza thugs Wolverine is injured and inexplicably his healing powers do not seem to be working. Hurt and confused he must rely on fighting skills alone to get to the bottom of things and rescue the girl.

Based on a popular graphic novel this feels rather hurried to me. There is little time to get to know any of the new characters and the confusing timeline created by the many X Men sequels, prequels and spin-offs doesn’t help either.

Jackman (as always) is excellent as the snarling hero but the other performances and characters on show bring little to the table. The poisonous Viper just isn’t in the same league as Magneto or even Mystique and I’m fast becoming very tired of huge fighting robots.

This one is for Marvel / XMen / Wolverine fanatics only.

Ric’s Rating: Dodgy.   

Film: Iron Man 3

Robert Downey Jr returns as Tony Stark for the latest superhero adventure from Marvel.

We last saw Stark’s Iron Man in the brilliant Avengers (I’ll ignore the silly UK title) and at the beginning of this film he is still suffering mentally from those events. Iron Man was briefly sucked through a wormhole to a galaxy far far away!

This time he is without his superhero friends as he battles a vindictive terrorist known as The Mandarin (Ben Kingsly).

Meanwhile we have the shifty scientist Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) attempting to convince Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to fund his DNA altering research via Stark’s corporation.

The previous Iron Man films were a bit run-of-the-mill but the character (and Downey Jr) had a brilliant outing in the Avengers. That screen presence continues here and the other heroes are not missed. Robert Downey Jr is magnetic as Stark, both in and out of the Iron Man suit, and the rest of the cast look like they are having the time of their lives. Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) is excellent as Col. Rhodes aka War Machine and special mention has to go to Ben Kingsly for his brilliant and surprising portrayal of The Mandarin (steer clear of any spoilers regarding this character).

Iron Man 3 builds on the success of The Avengers and with new Thor and Captain America films coming soon Marvel’s current crop of hits looks set to continue.

Iron Man 3 is in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.       

Film: X Men: First Class

First up, why wasn’t this called X Men: Origins? We’ve already had X Men Origins: Wolverine and this covers Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Mystique and some other characters so Origins would have worked.

Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) can read minds so when the CIA come asking for help from him and his companion Raven (Mystique) it’s an offer he can’t refuse. While tracking an international terrorist (Kevin Bacon) he encounters Erik, who can control all metals. Erik has a murky past and is on a personal mission of revenge. Will he put his quest aside to join Xavier’s fledgling team?

Set during the cold war Cuban missile crisis this serves as a fine introduction to the characters mentioned. Michael Fassbender is fantastic as Erik (Magneto) and James McAvoy is competent as the young Professor X. Kevin Bacon also puts in a great OTT performance as the despicable villain and there is even a small role for original V and Total Recall star Michael Ironside.

The problems here are the slow pace and the use of some uninteresting characters. Marvel have plenty of great characters to choose from who have been underused in the previous films. Where were Iceman, Gambit and Colossus? Instead we get Banshee, Havoc and Angel, all of whom are ok at best and then there’s Jason Flemyng as Azazel who looks, for all intent purposes, nothing more than a red version of Nightcrawler.

It’s reasonably enjoyable but boils down to a mediocre reboot of the franchise that really just put me in the mood for watching the original trilogy, questioning the need for it at all.

Ric’s Rating: 65%

Film: Thor

The blockbuster season starts with a "mighty" bang as Marvel Studios bring us their latest comic book adaptation, directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Thor is the all conquering God of Thunder who wields his imposing hammer with complete confidence that he can defeat any foe. This confidence borders on arrogance and an act of agression enrages Thor's Father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) so much that he casts his Son out of the realm of Asguard to live as a mere mortal on Earth.

Of course Thor's troubles soon follow......

Chris Hemsworth is perfectly cast in the leading role, he looks as Thor should and puts in a charismatic performance. As well as Hopkins there is terrific support from Tom Hiddleston as Thor's brother Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane and Ray Stevenson as old ally Volstagg. Look carefully and you'll also spot Idris Elba as The Gatekeeper.

Anyone familiar with the comics will have an idea of how the story pans out but it's all done very well and it's laced with some nice "fish out of water" type humour.

It's a perfect way to kick off the Summer movie season and the best superhero film in a long time.

Ric's Rating: 90%