"Tomorrowland"

From 5/18/15 press screening:

Is your future predestined?

Amidst prequels, sequels and remakes, "Tomorrowland" offers something intrinsically exciting; an original story.  An uplifting story about a future that is not veiled under the gloom and doom of dystopian societies commonly portrayed in sci-fi YA adaptations ("The Hunger Games," "Ender's Game," "Divergent," "The Giver," "The Maze Runner").  

At the New York World's Fair in 1964, an exceptional young boy, Frank Walker (Thomas Robinson), submitted his invention for a science competition, a jetpack, or more like a prototype.  Even though the jetpack didn't exactly fly, with an innocence of a child, Frank made a positive case to the head scientist (Hugh Laurie) about the importance of being inspired and thus making the world a better place.  He attracted the attention of an intelligent android, Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who snuck him into a magical, parallel world... Tomorrowland.  Bright-eyed with wonder, Frank found a hopeful place where the impossible became possible.  

At the present time, Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a spirited, optimistic tomboy with a bright scientific mind, gets arrested when she causes troubles at a NASA launch site.  She has the best intention to help her soon-to-be-unemployed NASA engineer dad (Tim McGraw).  When she collects her belongings at the police station, she finds a decorative pin emblazoned with a "T" symbol and is confounded when she is transported to a world beyond imagination.  The same Tomorrowland young Frank landed on decades ago.  A futuristic metropolis gleaming with glass spheres, spiraling roadways, hover trains and multileveled pools, occupied by the best and brightest and brimming with endless possibilities.

Possessing the pin leads to tribulations back in the real world.  Eventually, the ageless Athena tracks down Casey and brings her to meet Frank (George Clooney, "Up in the Air," "The Descendants," "The Ides of March"), now a middle-aged man.  The former young inventor is a bitter loner.  Although it's obvious that inventions are in his veins, as proven with his high-tech home, equipped with cool gizmos and secret entryways.

Something happened to Frank at Tomorrowland that he does not want to have anything to do with Casey or Athena.  Cranky Frank doesn't have a choice but to work together with Casey and Athena, however, once they're hunted down by mysterious figures in suits who will stop at nothing to eliminate them.  Frank also has a change of heart once he notices something special about Casey.

The  trio's interactions, filled with wit and heart, are among the highlights of the movie.  Robertson plays Casey with gusto and doesn't take a backseat to Clooney, a supporting character here.  Cassidy steals the scenes, imparting Athena with a precocious personality that is poignantly human and at the same time performing dead-on mechanical movements.  While there's a smidgen of uneasy undertone in Frank and Athena's relationship, it doesn't distract from the experience.  

The set pieces and action scenes are visual standouts.  The pristine design of Tomorrowland, bizarre robot pursuit and attack at the toy shop and home invasion, and awe-inspiring antique rocket launch in the heart of Paris.

Watching "Tomorrowland" is like immersing yourself in a children's mystery adventure book.  While the last stage of the journey is a bit wonky and preachy, it is fun to get there and the destination is worth traveling to.

Directed by Brad Bird ("Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"), "Tomorrowland" appeals to the dreamers, explorers and discoverers in us.  Exuberant adventures and boundless buoyancy makes it a dazzling and delightful trip.

https://www.thecoastnews.com/tomorrowland-is-a-destination-worth-traveling-to/

http://tinyurl.com/tomorrowlandsoundtrack

"Avengers: Age of Ultron"

The all-star superheroes team is back!  And it's as grand as ever.

It's as if Marvel struck a vibranium mine in 2008 when it introduced "Iron Man" to the world.  And it marched on with "Thor" and "Captain America."  Three years ago, director Joss Whedon attempted to do what no man had done before, assembling the iconic superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in "The Avengers."  It was a marvelous success.

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" starts off with an action-packed sequence, earth's mightiest heroes engaging in a forest battle and storming a Hydra fortress, with the goal of getting a prized scepter (Loki's) out.

The team, consisting of Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr., "The Judge"), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), God of Thunder/Thor (Chris Hemsworth, "Rush"), scientist Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), superspy Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, "Her") and  master archer Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol"), is able to walk out with the scepter, but they run into Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen, "Oldboy"), surviving humans of Hydra's experiment.  Pietro has a superspeed ability and Wanda mind-control and force field-manipulation.

The eclectic ensemble, who got off on a rocky start in "The Avengers," has found its stride here.  Teamwork and camaraderie are apparent during and outside of battles.  One of the most enjoyable scenes is where the team gathers around and each pokes fun at one another, trying to lift Thor's hammer.  Although the lighthearted air turns chilly when Ultron (voiced by James Spader) makes its surprising presence known and they realize the gravity of the threat.  Ultron was created to be a peacekeeper around the world, but the artificial intelligence has a mind on its own and interprets peacekeeping duty differently.  It believes that mankind creates destruction and thus must be exterminated.

The sentient being has taken a physical form and multiplied in robots.  It is up to the Avengers to stop Ultron and save the human race.  The mighty task is not made easy with Wanda wrecking havoc with our superheroes' minds.  Inner fears about the past and future are exposed and they must overcome them, work together and win the war.

Whedon achieves a superheroic feat.  There's a mechanical sense in the first part of the movie since the story dives right into the action business, but at the same time, the movie would never hold the same magic as the previous one, seeing all those superheroes together for the first time.

And in a movie overstuffed with these many main characters, not to mention supporting characters (S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury, agent Maria Hill, Falcon, War Machine), it's commendable that they're able to perform their roles sufficiently and dole out one zinger after another.  Hawkeye, who only appeared in the first installment and has never had his own solo movie, unexpectedly reveals a softer side to him that helps with the progression of the story.  Tony and Bruce, as "mad scientists," bond together and interact more with each other.  And Bruce and Natasha, while we've never seen their romance develop from the very beginning, have something here.

If you think destruction scenes are in epic scale in "Man of Steel," wait until you see this.  A populated  city uprooted, flying and hanging in the balance, with Ultron minions crisscrossing on murderous paths.  Some of the most memorable scenes involve Captain America and Black Widow, with their acrobatic moves with the Cap shield and motorcycle stunts.  Funniest are smashing moments between Iron Man and the Hulk, where Iron Man, with a bulked-up Hulkbuster armor and weaponry, tries to tame the green monster under a telekinetic influence.

J.A.R.V.I.S, Iron Man's A.I. system, is now a vision.  It evolves in the form of cool-and-collected Vision (Paul Bethany, "Transcendence"), instantly stealing a scene with the Mjolnir and delivering the best one-liner to Ultron towards the end of the movie. He becomes a part of the Avengers, along with a few other familiar faces as new members.

The movie touches on the Infinity Stones, unique objects that, if possessed together, will provide the holder unlimited power to do absolutely anything with the universe.  Gems sprinkled in 'Age of Ultron' set up not only the final installments, "Avengers: Infinity War - Part I" (2018) and "Avengers: Infinity War - Part II" (2019), but likely sequels "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017) and "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" (2017), and new solos, "Doctor Strange" (2016) and "Black Panther" (2018).

Other MCU plans include "Ant-Man" this summer, "The Spectacular Spider Man" (2017), "Captain Marvel" (2018) and "Inhumans" (2019).

http://www.sdentertainer.com/movies/movie-review-avengers-age-of-ultron/

DVD: http://tinyurl.com/avengersageofultrondvd