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A SUPER

HERO

BLAST

IN IMAX 3D

MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS

By John Delia

The power that Marvel’s The Avengers has amassed from major hits by each of the sci-fi action heroes pushing the release of this film has reached near fever pitch, and it’s about time the super hero team came out to play. Wild, rowdy and fantastic this fabulous five kicks butt with an imaginative two hours plus that has me wanting more.  If you are into adventure/action and fantasy then don your cape, grab your hammer, slide you arm into your shield and wear Hulk green in support of Marvel’s The Avengers. Read more…

All Rights Reserved

All Rights Reserved

LOS ANGELES (July 19, 2011) – Before they were superheroes, the fate of humanity depended on an extraordinary group of youngsters who went on to become X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. Based on the international bestselling Marvel Comics franchise, this box office hit bursts onto Blu-ray and DVD Friday, September 9 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. For the first time ever, “X-Men” fans will have the power to choose a side between Professor X and Magneto with two versions of premium collectible Blu-ray packaging. Also exclusively on Blu-ray, fans receive access to over two hours of special interactive features PLUS ten Marvel “X-Men” Digital Comics including a never-before-seen “X-Men: First Class” backstory— redeemable through each Blu-ray’s unique packaging code. 

Director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake, Kick Ass) tells the true origins of the multi-billion dollar film franchise, guiding exceptional performances by Golden Globe®-nominee James McAvoy (Atonement), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), and Golden Globe®-winner Kevin Bacon (“Taking Chance,” Mystic River). A “rare movie event that balances an intelligent story with solid performances, first-rate action and top-of-the-line special effects” (Ben Lyons, E!), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has drawn an impressive $150 million at the domestic box office and nearly $350 million worldwide

Before Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Fassbender) took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time, working together to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. The film features a star-studded supporting cast, including Academy Award®-nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), January Jones (“Mad Men”), Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later), Zoë Kravitz (“Californication”), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man), Lucas Till (Walk the Line), and Emmy Award®-nominee Oliver Platt (“The West Wing”)

Stay on line with Your Entertainment Ticket for all the first hand news and video by Entertainment Reporter Al Mcghee direct from Comic Con

“WHIPS OF TERROR”

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell

Directed by: Jon Favreau

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.

Genre: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Sequel

Release date: May 7, 2010

By John Delia

There will be no stopping the power of Iron Man 2 with all the media hype, great trailers and television spots leading the way to a box-office winner.  Having seen the film I can say that for comic book enthusiasts, sci-fi superhero fanatics and high-powered action lovers your expectations will be fulfilled. If there is a flaw in the film get hold of a dictionary and look up the word absurd. But it’s not going to deter the sale of tickets at the boxoffice for a number of weeks.

Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark

Here is a thumbnail of the movie. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) shows up at his military technology expo after announcing on world wide TV that he is Iron Man.  At the same time Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a Russian scientist who was instrumental in developing the science that keeps Iron Man blazing, has found his fathers blueprints of the mechanism.  In a lab the brilliant man develops a weapon that can defeat the iron superhero and he’s determined to do so.  When Stark gets a taste of Vanko’s electric whip, he goes back to his lab to find a defense.

Mickey Rourke plays Whiplash

This time, instead of a handsome businessman villain, director Jon Favreau goes to the dark side and picks Rourke to play the adversary.  After seeing the film I can’t think of anyone better to bring Whiplash to life than the tough looking Rourke. Dressed in a gladiator garment with whips of amour cutting electricity, Rourke as Whiplash slashes cars in half showing a frightening display of power.

Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle team up

Downey Jr. keeps the laughs coming with his narcissistic personality while showing off in front of the world and the U.S. Military.  In support an energetic Don Cheadle takes on the James “Rhodey” Rhodes character doing an admirable job. But why wouldn’t he, considering an enigmatic Terrance Howard was Rhodey in the originally.

Johansson and Downey Jr.

Adding Scalett Johansson in the role of a marshal arts wiz is a nice touch.  Her persona reminds me of the character Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) in Kick-Ass. There’s one scene in Iron Man 2 where if I didn’t know the two films were written by different scriptwriters and lensed at different studios you’d think it was a grown up Hit-Girl spinning and kicking.

The only downsides I could find are the absurdities and impossibilities that get

Jon Favreau on the set as director

entrenched in all comic book hero films.  But it’s the amazement needed to make the film work like explosions where no one gets hurt, a cool ad for Audi that comes out of nowhere, and an Iron man suit in a suitcase to name a few. Of course the biggest absurdity is the fact that the film opened in Europe a week earlier before coming to America.

Iron Man 2 is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some language.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  Not as brilliant as the first go around but worthy. (4 of 5 Palm Trees)

THE INCREDIBLE HULK – reviewed by Denise Castillon

Movie Rating: (3 OUT OF 5 STARS)

(Running Time: 114 min; Rated PG-13)

Selecting to draw on the fast-paced direction of Louis Leterrier (the French action filmmaker of The Transporter series, Unleashed), absolutely gives life to this saga, well-known as one of Marvel Comic’s beloved superheroes and from the successful 70’s TV series, “The Incredible Hulk”, (starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno).

The opening title sequence cleverly provides the film’s prologue, where we’re quickly taken through a five-year time span, beginning with the scientist’s disastrous laboratory experiment to the fugitive’s hidden identity as a glass factory laborer in present-day Brazil. There, we find Bruce Banner (EDWARD NORTON) desperately hunting for a cure to the gamma radiation sickness that, when enraged, unleashes his 9 foot green counterpart: The Hulk.

General “Thunderbolt” Ross (WILLIAM HURT), Banner’s obsessive nemesis, tracks him to his workplace refuge, where an exciting chase scene ensues as Banner is hunted by Gen. Ross’s special assault unit through the labyrinthine Brazilian quarter. This combative confrontation triggers an “incident” of rage that Banner, until then, had managed to suppress. Banner’s subsequent transformation into “The Hulk” takes the unprepared Special Ops team leader, Emil Blonsky (TIM ROTH), by surprise.

Banner escapes across Latin America and the U.S. border to a California college campus, where there he reunites with the woman he loves, fellow research scientist Dr. Betty Ross (LIV TYLER). After her estranged father, General Ross, attempts another military attack, they both flee to New York City to find Dr. Samuel “Mr. Blue” Stern (TIM BLAKE NELSON), who has been secretly collaborating with Banner. Meanwhile, bitter and eager for a rematch against the massive green creature, Blonsky agrees to receive the General’s advanced gamma radiation treatment that will morph him into a super solider, and the Hulk’s newest enemy: The Abomination.

There’s plenty of comedic moments, terrific visual effects and pulse-pounding CGI-generated battles between “The Hulk” and “The Abomination” in this action adventure for super hero movie fans of all ages. Although, despite the French director’s claim that the love story between Bruce Banner and Betty Ross, “comes naturally to him”, their romance lacks passion that cannot be simply justified by Banner’s avoidance of extreme excitement. Then, there’s the curious casting of Roth, while great at portraying slimy villains, is unconvincing as the militant “bad ass” Blonsky. The difficulty acting with unseen CGI characters can only attempt to explain the one-dimensional performances of these otherwise exceptional lead actors.

SPOILIER ALERT! No need to wait through the end credits, as with Marvel Studio’s far superior IRON MAN, for the teaser alluding to the super hero movie franchise’s upcoming assembly of “The Avengers”. This arrives with THE INCREDIBLE HULK’s last film scene to deliver a more satisfying ending to the anti-climactic showdown between “The Hulk” and “The Abomination”.

The screen story and screenplay by ZAK PENN (X2, X-Men: The Last Stand). Directed by LOUIS LETERRIER (The Transporter series, Unleashed). Visual Effects supervised by KURT WILLIAMS, ( Fantastic Four and X-Men: The Last Stand). Director of Photography, PETER MENZIES, JR. (Shooter, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). Executive produced by STAN LEE (Iron Man, Spider-Man series, X-Men series), and produced by DAVID MAISEL (Iron Man) and JIM VAN WYCK (Timeline, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events).

Presented by UNIVERSAL PICTURES and MARVEL STUDIOS.