"Sokovia is going for a ride ..."
Hello everyone!
So, first off, let me just say that I had originally planned on writing about a different movie in this week's movie blog post, because I'm sort of sticking to a schedule, or list shall we say, which I made while I was watching them and such, but my plans went completely out of the window this weekend as I sat down to watch one of the most anticipated movies of 2015, I believe.
I am absolutely talking about the new Avengers movie which brings us to the (almost) conclusion of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (actually, Ant-Man does that, but I'm still waiting to watch it, so).
I will also admit to being a bit of a dork when it comes to these things, seeing as I've been a Marvel fan for a while now, and can we just say YAY on the fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming back next week?!
Back to the movie.
The story opens with a high-action attack sequence, performed by our very own Avengers, of course, who are attacking a mountain base somewhere in the country of Sokovia (want to know where that is? Great! Just use your imagination - there is no such thing, but it's probably based on other European countries, most notably the Balkans or ones directly connected to Russia, judging by the accent). The mission? Retrieveing Loki's sceptre, which has been a real pain in the butt ever since the God first used it.
The mission being a relative success, not counting the fact that we first see the Twins in action (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch), our Avengers then return to Stark Tower, or Avengers Tower, for some much-needed relaxation and ... a party!
Because no one can throw a party like Tony Stark, right?
But there's a problem: Tony and Bruce Banner have begun working on a different kind of thing that Tony hasn't told anyone else about, Artificial Intelligence (from now on AI), and they leave Jarvis to work on it. Which turns out not to be such a good idea as, while they're all busy trying to lift Thor's Hammer (and only Captain America being even remotely close to succeeding), Jarvis manages to tap into this AI and the thing comes to life.
You read me.
It comes to life, apparently murders Jarvis, and takes off after announcing itself to the Avengers as Ultron, Stark's invention, the mission of which is to protect the world.
Only, Ultron is a little bit confused, as he equals protecting the world to destroying the human race, aka causing it to EVOLVE.
No one ever said the man, sorry, AI was sane to begin with.
Naturally, the Avengers are pissed off at Stark, and go on a hunt for Ultron immediately, not that it works in their favour since most of them get hit by the Scarlet Witch and her magic (I still don't understand her purpose OR her powers, even though I sat behind the computer and read about her online for an hour, but oh well), causing them to halucinate and experience some ... pretty unsettling things. The only one not affected?
Hawkeye, because he's been there, and done that, which means he anticipated it and zapped the girl with one of his electronic arrows. And, incidentally, Stark, because Iron Man was in the air when this happened. His then mission? Stopping the Hulk from decimating the near-by town.
The Avengers regroup at Hawkeye's safe house, where they learn, to their surprise (and mine!) that the man not only has a wife, but two kids, with a third on the way!
Woah.
At this point, everything is looking pretty bleak, as Ultron has also managed to get to a brilliant doctor (used to being on the side of the Avengers) to build him a body out of, or including, Vibranium (the material used in Captain America's shield), the team is shattered, and Thor has gone off in search of Dr. Erik Selvig to help him return to his Witch-induced vision so he can figure something out.
Meanwhile, the Big Guy makes a reappearance, and I'm not talking about the Hulk.
Samuel L. Jackson has always been a fan favourite, and the return of Nick Fury, ex-SHIELD director, was probably met with a round of applause. He wastes no time in kicking the team back into shape, after pretty much telling Stark not to bring an old tractor to life, first and foremost.
The next plan: finding Ultron's new body before he can inhabit it.
This, at least, goes a little better, as the Twins have now switched sides, because Wanda has managed to read the new body and sees Ultron's endgame: a big kaboom for Earth and mankind, not something they signed up for, so Pietro whisks them both away. But even though the Avengers are successful in getting the body, they lose one of their own: Black Widow falls behind during the struggle, only to end up in Ultron's hands.
Now, what happens next confused me probably about as much as the team itself, as they stand divided over whether or not to upload Jarvis into the new body. Jarvis has managed to survive through protocols, and has been helping them ever since his apparent death, but it isn't until Thor returns to zap the thing to life that everyone stops and stares.
The new guy, Vision, has a Mind Stone in his forehead, which had been hidden in the sceptre, and it's one of the Infinity Gems, something Thor managed to get out of his vision. Also, the dude can lift the Hammer, so he's trust-worthy.
Okay.
Now, it's off to Sokovia again to stop Ultron once and for all before he does something they might all regret, and this is where the opening line of my post comes from, as the deranged AI has managed to rig the whole thing so that it's lifting into the air. Once it drops? Meteor-impact, bye-bye mankind.
The Avengers get to work, and Nick Fury unveils what we've all spent the last season of S.H.I.E.L.D. wondering about when it comes to Coulson: a helicarrier!
Cue theme music!
But Ultron isn't so easily defeated, and the fight looks to be too much until Vision gets in and literally burns Ultron out of the web and from around the globe, leaving him in his robots but nowhere else.
Tragedy follows when Quicksilver saves Hawkeye and a little boy from a hail of bullets, however, causing his sister to leave her post at the core of this Sokovia-bomb to go after Ultron's main body. The bomb activates, but the day is saved by Iron Man and Thor, who manage to decimate the thing prior to it performing the biggest holocaust since World War Two.
Vision ultimately destroys the last of Ultron's bodies; the team then goes their separate ways, Stark to his company, presumably, Banner has flown off into the unknown despite the fact that he and the Black Widow had a good chance at romance (he managed to save her from Ultron, too, by the way), Thor has gone back to his world to check out more about these Stones, Hawkeye is there to say hello to his youngest son, while Captain America, along with the Black Widow, becomes trainer to the New Avengers: Scarlet Witch, Vision, War Machine, and the Falcon.
The kicker?
We see another showing of Thanos, finally pissed off that things haven't been going according to plan since ... well, the beginning, dons a Gauntlet.
I've read a lot of negative reviews about this movie, but personally, I loved it. It had so many hilarious moments that I practically laughed through the major part of the whole thing, not to mention, I've loved the Avengers since the first time they came together. It's also why I'm hesitant about the Civil War installment which will soon follow, because I really, really hate it when well-built teams are suddenly pulled apart from within, or whatever. It just sucks. Of course, this movie also had it's setbacks and not everything was perfect, but for telling the story and continuing the development of the main them, not to mention entertainment value? Priceless.
I was pleased to learn more about the background of some of the characters, namely Black Widow (she's STERILE guys!! I mean whaaaat??), and that Hawkeye was given a bigger role in this one than just an archer.
And who didn't shed a tear or two when Quicksilver dropped 'You didn't see that coming, did you?' line right before ... well, dropping?
I can't wait to get my hands on the DVD version of this to call my own, and I've also managed to drag my mother into the Marvel craze since she now wants to see it all from the beginning. Go me, right?!
While I'm waiting for everything, though, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter should keep me nice and occupied!
xx
*images not mine
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