Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Release Date: 23rd April 2015 - Australia

Production Companies

Marvel Studios

Distribution 

Walt Disney Studios Motion 

Pictures Australia

Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 141 minutes

Budget: $279,900,000

Box Office Gross: $1,402,413,868 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary
After Tony Stark restarts
a dormant peacekeeping
program, things go awry,
and he, Thor, the Incredible
Hulk and the rest of the
Avengers must regroup,
putting them to the

ultimate test as the fate
of Earth is at stake. When
the villainous Ultron
appears on the scene, it
is up to the Avengers to
stop him from carrying
out his terrible plans to
wipe out the human race.
En route, they meet two
enigmatic and formidable
newcomers, Pietro and
Wanda Maximoff.

Cast

Robert Downey, Jr. - Tony
Stark/Iron Man
Chris Evans - Steve Rogers/
Captain America
Mark Ruffalo - Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk
Lou Ferrigno - Hulk (Voice)
Chris Hemsworth - Thor
Scarlett Johansson - Natasha
Romanoff/Black Widow
Jeremy Renner - Clint Barton/Hawkeye
James Spader - Ultron
Aaron Taylor-Johnson - 

Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
Elizabeth Olsen - Wanda
Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Paul Bettany - JARVIS/Vision
Samuel L. Jackson - Nick Fury
Don Cheadle - James Rhodes/War Machine
Cobie Smulders - Maria Hill
Anthony Mackie - Sam Wilson/The Falcon
Hayley Atwell - Peggy Carter
Stellan Skarsgård - Erik Selvig
Linda Cardellini - Laura Barton
Claudia Kim - Dr. Helen Cho
Thomas Kretschmann - Strucker
Andy Serkis - Ulysses Klaue

Julie Delpy - Madame B
Henry Goodman - Dr. List
Idris Elba - Heimdall

Dominique Provost-Chalkiey - Zrinka

Isaac Andrews - Costel

Ben Sakamoto - Cooper Barton

Imogen & Isabella Poynton - Lila Barton

Jaiden Stafford - Nathaniel Pietro Barton

Kerry Condon - F.R.I.D.A.Y. (Voice)
Josh Brolin - Thanos (Cameo) (Uncredited)
Stan Lee - Himself (Cameo)

Crew

Writer/Director - Joss Whedon

Based on the Marvel Comics/

Executive Producer - Stan Lee
Based on the Marvel Comics/

Captain America Creator - Jack Kirby

Captain America Creator - Joe Simon

Thanos Creator - Jim Starlin

Associate Producer - Daniel S. Kaminsky

Associate Producer/Editor - Jeffrey Ford

Associate Producer/First 

Assistant Director - Jamie Christopher
Executive Producers - Victoria Alonso,

Louis D'Esposito, Jon Favreau, Alan Fine

and Jeremy Latcham

Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Patricia Whitcher 

Producer - Kevin Feige

Co-Producer - Mitchell Bell
Casting Director - Sarah Finn

Casting Director: UK - Reg Poerscout-Edgerton

Production Designer - Charles Wood

Marvel Head of Visual Development - Ryan Meindering

Marvel Co-Head of Visual Development - Charlie Wen

Concept Illustrators - Rodney Fuentebella,

Andy Park, Jackson Sze and Josh Nizzi

Concept Artists - Nick Ainsworth,

Roberto Fernandez Castro, Paul Catling,

Bob Cheshire, Kevin Jenkins, Stephan Martiniere,

Jon McCoy, Peter Popken, Chris Rosewarne

and Ivan Weightman
Supervising Art Director - Ray Chan 

Art Directors - Julian Ashby,

Tom Brown, Jordan Crockett, Matthew Robinson,

Phil Sims, Mike Stallion and Mark Swain

Set Decorators - Sheona Mitchley and

Richard Roberts

Property Master - Barry Gibbs

Costume Designer - Alexandra Byrne

Costume Supervisor - Dan Grace

Costume FX Supervisor - Graham Churchyard

Makeup & Hair Designer - Jeremy Woodhead

Director of Photography - Ben Davis

Underwater Director of Photography/

Camera Operator: Second Unit - Mike Valentine

Additional Camera Operators: Second Unit -

Stefan Stankowski, Jonathan 'Chunky' Richmond

and Peter Taylor

Production Supervisors - Lulu Morgan

and Hannah Godwin

Unit Production Manager - Michael Sharp

Second Unit Director - John Mahaffie
Stunt Coordinator - Greg Powell

Fight Choreographer - James Grogan

Picture Vehicle Coordinator - Ian Clarke
Special Effects Supervisor - Paul Corbould

Special Effects Coordinators - Ben Vokes

and Alicia Davies

Senior Floor Supervisor - Ian Corbould

Senior Floor Supervisor: Second Unit -

Gareth Wingrove

Physical Suit Effects Supervisors - Shane P. Mahan

and Lindsay MacGowan
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: ILM - Ben Snow
Visual Effects Supervisor - Christopher Townsend

Visual Effects Supervisors: ILM - Michael Mulholland,

Philippe Rebours and Dan Seddon

Visual Effects Supervisor: Double Negative -

Ken McGaugh

Visual Effects Supervisors: Method Studios -

Chad Weibe, Olivier Dumont and Simon Carr

Visual Effects Supervisor: Lola VFX - Trent Claus

Visual Effects Supervisors: Framestore -

Nigel Deaton-Howes and Rob Duncan

Visual Effects Supervisor: Zoic Studios -

Rocco Passionino

Additional Visual Effects Supervisor - Geoffrey Baumann

Visual Effects Producers - Ryan Stafford

and Ron Ames

Visual Effects Producers: ILM - Nina Fallon

and Georgie Uppington

Senior Visual Effects Producer: Soho VFX -

Allan Magled

Visual Effects Producer: Soho VFX - Sarah Swick

Visual Effects Producer: Zoic Studios - Lauren Weidel

Visual Effects Producer: Blur Studio - Natasha Anne Francis

Visual Effects Art Directors: ILM - Alex Jaeger,

Ryan Church and Lubo Hristov

Animation Supervisor: ILM - Marc Chu

Co-Animation Supervisor: ILM - Michael Eames

Animation Supervisors: Method Studios -

Erik De Boer and Keith Roberts

Animation Supervisor: Framestore - Max Solomon

Animation Supervisor: Luma Pictures -

Raphael A. Pimentel

Lead CG Supervisor: ILM - Patrick Conran

CG Supervisors: ILM - Tim Belsher,

Jordi Cardus Civit, Laurent Higuenoit

and Doug Sutton

CG Supervisor: Double Negative -

Malcolm Humphreys

Lead Compositing Supervisor: ILM - Jon Alexander

Compositing Supervisors: ILM - Mark Bakowski,

Jean Lapointe, Paolo Acri and Karim Sahai

Compositing Supervisor: Lola VFX -

Edson Williams

Compositing Supervisor: Cantina Creative -

Stephen Lawes

CG Look Development Leads: CGI -

Robert Marinic, Anthony Rispoli and

John Walker

CG Sequence & Build Supervisors: Double

Negative - Stephen Ellis and Stephen Tong

Digital Paint & Roto Supervisors: ILM -

Amy Shepard and Justin Kosnikowski

Digital Model Supervisor: ILM - Bruce Holcomb

Creature Supervisors: ILM - Michael Galog,

Steve Sauers and Eric Wong

Performance Capture Consultant - Andy Serkis

Tech Supervisor: The Third Floor - Casey Schatz

3D Stereoscopic Supervisor - Evan Jacobs
Editor - Lisa Lassek
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor/
Re-Recording Sound Mixer - Christopher Boyes

Supervising Sound Editor - Frank E. Eilner

Sound Designer - David Acord

Sound Effects Editors - J.R. Grubbs,

David Chrastka and Richard Hymns

Re-Recording Sound Mixer - Lora Hirschberg

Additional Re-Recording Mixer - Gary Summers

Foley Walkers - Jana Vance and Dennie Thorpe

Music - Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman

Composer: Themes from Marvel's "The

Avengers" - Alan Silvestri

Music Supervisor - Dave Jordan

Score Mixers - Noah Scot Snyder and

Alan Meyerson

Review

In 2012, when I first saw the first Avengers movie in 3D upon its initial screening, I was amazed by its quality and proclaimed it one of the best in the superhero-action genre, next to The Dark Knight. Having high hopes for the new fresh instalment, AGE OF ULTRON, the film is not as strong due to a lack of fanciful qualities of fun and energy, which blended to make the first one irresistible for every die-hard comic book fan. Although this is only Joss Whedon's second time he directed (and wrote) a feature to continue Marvel's first superhero league on a big scale, he has proven his worth as an accomplished visionary director. The visuals are flawless, and every frame is top-notch.

Other factors aside from the CGI expansion include the acting from the original cast, which continues to empower the sequel. The talented newcomer James Spader gives an intensifying voice performance as the killer android Ultron. He provides a subtle impression of an evil metallic version of Tony Stark minus the humanity that is deep and compelling, which I best describe as a HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey) trapped in a machine's body.

This movie is on a big budget, and the scenes are on such a large scale and magnitude. That's all for now in my review of the sequel of The Avengers. I would watch it again but never say it is better than the first instalment.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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