I'd like to start off by saying, I do not believe I have seen a Mad Max film, ever! As you gasp in disbelief, I'd like to point out that I am completely aware of them and that I have a rough idea about the character's background, but I do not remember watching a single Mad Max film from beginning to end and remembering it. Maybe it was a touch before my time or maybe I just weren't interested, probably the latter. But this film, I will remember. This film is a spectacle.
Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is a Main Force Patrol Officer, haunted by past memories and some may actually deem him as being mad/insane. He is a wanderer of a post apocalyptic wasteland where most of, if not all of the Earth is a desert and civilisation has collapsed. Water is hard to come by and the people who now live on this desecrated planet are fearless, ruthless and will do anything to survive or die for the cause.
Max unfortunately, is on the run and trying to escape a situation he got himself into and once he crosses paths with Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Max has to make a choice to trust this stranger or take her out as, you cannot trust anyone in these badlands as everyone has their own agenda.
This film is AMAZING. I haven't seen any of the previous films (and I will now, due to seeing this), but this film is a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. This film was like watching Gravity for me. At the edge of my seat, eyes transfixed onto the screen trying not to dip my fingers into the salsa dip as I lose my way trying to find the nachos by being too engrossed into this film. What a spectacle. Vibrant colours, camera angles and visuals, explosions, insane looking vehicles, characters and appendages. The film is soo insane with soo many moving parts, you can't help but follow Max in his journey. There were soo many 'Oh no' parts, where I was soo into this film, I was concerned more about the characters than how I looked once I left the cinema after spilling all types of dip onto my clothes because I couldn't find my mouth.
The only thing I didn't appreciate in this film was Max's voice. Tom Hardy is a brilliant actor and I felt maybe he was trying to sound like Mel Gibson ' rendition, but I haven't a clue. When Max spoke, it took me out of the film for a moment, but it was a good thing he doesn't actually say much. SPOILER ALERT, maybe?
They call him a mastermind, George Miller. But from watching this, I understand why. Charlize was perfect as she is a great actress and the story was plain and simple with little depth to it, but with soo much little things going on at the same time, this film is most definitely something to see, especially if you are a fan of the franchise. This film is a glimpse of what is inside George Miller's mind and it is, MAD!
Wait until you see the heavy metal rocker with the guitar and the guys playing the drums. This film is just insane from start to finish. Go see it.
Not something I would have planned to see as I was completely unaware of this films existence. A friend of mine had asked me if I wanted to join them to watch this film and I said, "Yeah, sure" as I wasn't doing anything and well, why not? I do reviews, right?
So, as I understand, this film isn't even out yet and I am watching this film based on a special screening, but I won't spoil the film other than give you a general synopsis, what I thought of the film along with the acting and what I got from it.
Heir to the British Throne, Princess Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) seems restless with being Royal. Everything she says and does is open to scrutiny which may reflect badly on the Royal Family so there isn't much she can do outside of the royal home. She feels she has no sense of adventure and she cannot be normal. Her sister Margaret (Bel Powley) is the more adventurous, mischievous and care-free out of the two of them and she devises a plan to go out to celebrate VE Day with her sister. After the initial "No's" from the Queen Mother (Elizabeth I)(Emily Watson), King George (Rupert Everett) allows them to go out, just this once, but with a chaperone to keep an eye on them so that they do not come to any harm. Once out, the two princesses find themselves, incognito, apart, lost and in places they would never have dreamt of ending up.
A story which revolves around the future Queen of England, our current Queen. This film was fun to watch. A comedy drama with a positive and uplifting feel to it. At first I wasn't sure what genre this film was categorised under before entering to watch it, but there was humour littered all over this film along with crazy antics which made it enjoyable to watch. Some of the acting was a bit stiff, but the story wasn't too bad and based on a single night out, I never felt like the night was too long or that the scenes were forced. The only things I didn't really like about it, was the character named Jack. I found his acting annoying and a bit off. Also, some plot details were also a bit off but, I guess for the film to work, certain things were glossed over/ignored. But the main star of the film for me was Bel Powley as Margaret. Although the dialogue/script was great, her character was excellent and she did a brilliant job in playing Princess Margaret.
If you want something fun to watch, comedy with none of that over the top violence and explosion (although there is nothing wrong with that), the go out and watch this film. Charming and fun.
The bar has been raised. Joss did such a great job with the first Avengers (Avengers Assemble) movie, that he had to find a way to top himself. Or at least, match bar for bar, his first Avengers film. Did he do it? Well, in Whedon we trust, right? Let's get down to it without any further delay.
The Avengers pick up where Captain America: The Winter Soldier left off. If you do not know the Winter Soldier story, shame on you. Basically, the events which occur in that film have a ripple effect which spills out onto the Marvel Cinematic Universe and directly into this film. Just like how the events which occur in the first Avengers film have a ripple effect which spills out onto Ironman 3.
Ironman (Robert Downey. Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) & Hulk (Mark Ruffulo) are looking for Loki's Scepter which are in the hands of Hydra leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (this was seen in the end credits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier). He has been using it to conduct experiments to create some form of enhanced beings/super soldiers and used them on the Maximoff twins, Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quick Silver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Once they get a hold of the scepter and obviously being exhausted from all the globetrotting, Tony Stark jump-starts and creates a peace keeping programme named Ultron (James Spader) to help assist with the work they are doing all over the world so that the Avengers are not stretched so thinly. However, Ultron learns how humans treat each other and decides that humans are a danger to themselves, so he conjures up a plan to amend this problem. With both the Avengers and Ultron seeing each other as the threat to humanity, they battle it out. The End.
This is the general semi-detailed synopsis of the film in which you can pick up from watching the trailers and having watched The Winter Soldier, Avengers & Ironman 3, you should have a rough idea of where everyone's mind is at and where each character is at this point in their lives. However, there is a lot more going on in this film. Not only do we have guest appearances from War Machine (Don Cheadle), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) & Heimdall (Idris Elba), this film seems to have edited out a lot of scenes/plots, but managed to sow enough seeds for future Marvel films. There were many rumours flying around about other characters in this film in which I either missed or ultimately, they were edited out. I mean, where was Captain Marvel?
If you do not know the slate of films to be released by Marvel for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it stands, Ant-Man (Finishes Phase 2), Captain America: Civil War (Starts Phase 3), Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spider-Man (Untitled Spider-Man Reboot [Yes Reboot]), Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Avengers Infinity War Part 2 & Inhumans (Finishes Phase 3). As it stands, this is the line up.
This film, Age of Ultron manages to somehow promote, hint or grant us viewers, Easter Eggs for almost every single film in their Phase 3 Slate. Although these were woven into the storyline quite neatly, I felt that by the end of the film, the film ended with an Anticlimax. Well, at least for me and a few of my friends. I just felt like something was missing and I needed more. A lot of details were left out which were either glossed over or never explained at all (will probably be explained in a movie tie-in comic [But I don't read comics] in which you would need to read to have a few questions answered) and I also felt that some elements of the film were rushed. I thought Ironman was not going to be Ironman after Ironman 3!? However, with that said, the pacing of the film was soo relentless, the 141 minutes (2hrs and 21mins) did not feel like it at all. To be fair, if they just made it a 3hr movie, I don't think anyone would have cared. I surely wouldn't have.
But the biggest question of them all is, 'Is this film better than the first one?' As I stated once in my review for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it is human nature to compare. We do it all the time. Sometimes we do not even realise we do it. And people will compare a Marvel film with a Marvel film whether or not it is in the same universe or not or they will compare comic book movie to comic book movie. I gurantee you, people will compare Ant-Man to Age of Ultron and Fantastic 4 to Ant-Man and Age of Ultron. To answer this question, I will say this. Had you watched this film first, there is an absolute guarantee that this film is the BEST marvel movie you have ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (dependant on how you feel about The Winter Soldier). Had you watched the first Avengers film afterwards, you'd feel like, "Meh, it was really good, but I've kinda seen it all before!". Now, I'm not sure if this is the feeling of fatigue from the onslaught of comic book movies, almost 3 a year, but I did not leave the cinema thinking, "DAMN, THAT FILM WAS EXCELLENT, I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN!!!". But with Captain America: the Winter Soldier, I did. This could well be down to expectations, I had already set from before the film started, but we will see what people think once they have seen it and if this film will top the Box Office numbers the first Avengers made. $1.518 BILLION!!! I mean, everything about the movie is great. I was only being nit-picky earlier. If anything, this movie is most definitely on parr with the first film. The fight scenes and teamwork were phenomenal. But what would we have expected from Joss? I mean, in Whedon We Trust, Right? RIGHT!!
Go watch it!
P.S. There is nothing after the credits finish rolling!
