Film Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

When Joss Whedon's first Avengers film landed in 2012, it was the end result of several years of calculated, but very real, risks. Marvel had embarked on a seemingly foolhardy quest to create a cinematic version of their comic universe, one in which dozens of superheroes existed simultaneously, had their own solo adventures, then teamed up when needed. It paid off in a huge way, not merely because The Avengers became a massive hit, but because all the subsequent Marvel films that followed were given a boost as well, and formerly marginalised characters like Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and especially Captain America (Chris Evans) are now pretty much household names. Yet success has boxed the series into a corner.

Film Review: The Avengers (2012)

Over the past four years, Marvel Studios have slowly been putting together the pieces to form The Avengers, a film version of the comic series that brings some of the studio's most powerful heroes together. The ambition of the project cannot be overstated: over five films, the studio have constructed an approximation of their comic universe that remained faithful to its origins without ever producing films that were only aimed at the converted, even if sometimes, as in the case of The Incredible Hulk, only the converted showed up. Considering the risk involved - the very real possibility that, had any of the films faltered badly in the early going, the whole thing could have fallen apart - the build-up to The Avengers alone is something quite remarkable, maybe unprecedented.

Film Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

"Why someone weak? Because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power..."

In 1942, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a 90-pound asthmatic weakling, has his application to enroll in the Army rejected for the fourth time. Unwilling to let this setback deter him, Rogers visits an enrollment booth at a grand exhibition intended to showcase the work of millionaire playboy and maverick inventor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), where he is spotted by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a German ex-pat who has been working to help the American war effort. Impressed by Rogers' heart and courage in the face of constant rejection and humiliation, Erskine enrolls Rogers so he can take part in an experiment to create the first of a new breed of "super soldiers" who will hopefully be able to turn the tide of the war. Despite the skepticism of the other people behind the scheme, which include Stark, Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Rogers is chosen as the first subject, and is transformed, via a special serum, from a weakling into a towering mass of muscle.