VFX Marvel has upped the stakes manifold with 'Avengers - Age of Ultron' -

Marvel has upped the stakes manifold with ‘Avengers – Age of Ultron’

Suit up for this one folks, for Avengers – Age of Ultron hits on all thrusters as Joss Whedon lives up to the hype built by his first Avengers (2012) and strings together an epic adrenaline-soaked mash-up of the Earth’s mightiest superheroes.

Reprising their Avengers’ suits are Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Jeremy Renner (Hawk Eye) and Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow) apart from the extended cast the sequel boasts of.

Set a few years post the New York battle in Avengers (2012), the sequel straight-away kicks off with the Avengers wiping the slate clean of the leftovers of Hydra – something that Marvel has been playing off over a while now in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the last Captain America – The Winter Soldier (2014). With extremely well- synchronized battling sequences in the frozen outskirts of Russia, you begin to have a moment of faith in these heroes even as the new entrants Quick Silver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) display their enhanced abilities in their debut fight.

When Tony Stark throws in a victory bash at his high-tech pent-house, you know the team’s earned it. The lighter atmosphere fills in as Thor goes ga-ga with his 1000 year old Godly malt (which leaves Stan Lee zonked out) or with James Rhodes boasting his War Machine adventures or Captain having a casual word with his pal, The Falcon but what leaves a mark here is Black Widow ditching the hunks around and settling in for a drink with Bruce Banner. (Is something brewing up?) While the team is humoring each other as none are deemed worthy of lifting the Mjölnir (Thor’s Hammer) we have the super-villain, Ultron intruding (in James Spader’s menacing voice) as a battered crude robot.

Fasten your seat-belts now for there could be more than just one casualty as the plot thickens with Tony building himself the Frankenstein called – Ultron, an artificial intelligence harnessed from the stone powering Loki’s scepter. In the bid to build a suit of armour around the world, Tony’s peace-keeping program back fires and the Avengers just earn themselves an arch-nemesis who along with the Maximoff twins not only challenge their mighty-power but also puts to test the heroes’ faith on one another. The Scarlet Witch succeeds with her mind games in tearing the team apart and the only one who doesn’t fall for this is the hero who took the cue after spending most of his time under Loki’s spell in the first instalment – Hawkeye.

Just when you thought that the Avengers are Gods fallen from the sky, in comes the one-eyed spy who initially gave vision to the team motivating them to come together; only this time there is a little difference in the setting as they are no longer on one of his hell-carriers but confined to a homely kitchen over supper. With no more high-tech devices, no more glamorous designs from Tony Stark and no more S.H.I.E.L.D bases to operate from, the team is left with only their wits and will to save the world in the old fashioned-way, ‘Together’.

While Avengers are assembling, our psychopathic antagonist Ultron stakes claim of Vibranium from Wakanda (Black Panther’s home town). Ironically the Master of playing CGI characters (like Gollum and Caesar) – Andy Serkis is seen in flesh and blood but only for a blink and miss sequence as the Vibranium smuggler, Ulysses Klaw (An Easter egg for the upcoming Black Panther maybe?).

Ultron’s plan of human extinction sets the action back in motion after a somewhat prolonged drama giving us another head-turner with the birth of another Avenger or is he?  Comic buffs would deduce his presence and ally so no surprises there but what could leave everyone in splits in the theatres is when the God of Thunder literally gets his Mjolnir handed to him! Now that’s something that never happens every day; not even on Asguard.

For the climatic sequence if you thought Marvel couldn’t beat the battle of New York, embrace yourselves for Age of Ultron as it literarily notches up the finale battle with flying cities and our heroes battling a horde of droids. The now extended team does get along well on the battle-field especially Captain America and Thor who literally make a homerun, striking-out Ultron’s robots with their shield and hammer.

Speaking about the high-octane action, it would be hard to miss our green giant as you are at the edge of your seats each time its ‘Code Green’. While Avengers introduced Mark Ruffalo’s incarnation of the Hulk, Age of Ultron totally unleashes the Hulk’s rage. After the tent-pole dropped tidbits of the Hulk-buster and Hulks’ fight in all its trailers, the sequence has been eagerly anticipated and it doesn’t disappoint. We see Stark’s tech reach new levels here but will his humor and tech calm the green monster – who is now tamed only by the Widow’s lullaby….? Find out for yourself as the Hulk tears apart half of Slovakia and brings down an entire tower with brilliantly convincing VFX delivered by a host of studios, but primarily by Industrial Light and Magic.

As the comics are edging towards the feminist space, Marvel’s Avengers – Age of Ultron too has female leads taking over the show. To top it all, Scarlett Johansson as the badass Black Widow kicks some real butt. The new entrant Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch manages to make a considerable dent in the tent-pole too.

Avengers-Age of Ultron has already smashed the box office opening ($65 million in 3 days) at multiple international markets even before its US release on 1 May 2015. With nearly one third of the movie being shot in Seoul, South Korea Age of Ultron takes the Marvel heroes across various cities. The final twenty minutes of the epic sequel just drive you to the edge of your nerves and leaves you wanting for more. Filmed in 3D only underlines more of its special effects courtesy various studios and production houses and the mix in Dolby Atmos helps in delivering the perfect blend of a visual spectacle and amazing sound design to give this Marvel offering a great cinematic experience.

With just under a two and half hour running time, Age of Ultron hooks you right till the end as Joss underlines every character arc (with credible back stories as well) giving due footage to all of them. Dialogues are better than the original with Captain America directing his Avengers, Starks’s punch-lines couldn’t be better worded by Robert Downey Jr. and interestingly his brainchild Ultron does display a personified sarcasm inherited from his creator. Thor’s brute nature is impressive as the Australian heart throb Chris Hemsworth towers over his team mates; indeed as the proud God but inspite of them what adds the sugar and spice on the big-screen is the character of Hulk, which has been perfected by Mark as he wears Green with great once more.

While comic fans may be miffed to see little of certain comic characters and a few loose ends (especially Thor’s back story) Hollywood’s most awaited superhero flick comes out with the bang we expected it to. Surely not worth missing this one! And do hang around for the mid-credits scene that spills the beans for the up-coming sequel(s).

VFX