Spring usually signals the arrival of new movies– it’s a new year to start fresh. It particularly sends comic book fans into a frenzy, as Marvel tends to release their movies during this season. This year is no different as Avengers: Age of Ultron premieres on May 3.
All the Avengers cast will return to their respective roles to save the world against Ultron, a malfunctioned AI that Tony Stark created. Two new characters step into the scenes to help the hero group; the Maximoff twins, also known as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Since Marvel is so well known for their spot-on casting, and fans nearly rave at the chosen actors’ exceptional portrayals of their characters, the comic book enthusiasts will most likely boost this film up to a smashing success.
“Everything Marvel makes seems to turn to gold nowadays,” Era Arte ’18 exclaims, an avid Marvel fan herself. “There’s no failure in sight.”
In fact, Marvel seems to have an exponential success rate lately, starting with their tremendous record for summer blockbusters from their first Avengers, and working their way upwards with equally well-received movies like The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. These two films, in fact, have left such an impression upon the critics, that they have both garnered Oscar nominations for Visual Effects. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to stop, as they’re keeping the production dates posted for Deadpool and Ant-man, as well as a third Thor.
On the other side of the movie spectrum, Disney continues to build off their legacy of films, making more of their old classics into live-action movies. This year, Cinderella, the oldest fairy tale in the world, gets its time in the limelight with its own live-action movie. But unlike its predecessor Maleficent, which came out around this time last year, Cinderella seems to have gained more positive views. It boasts an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes currently, beating Maleficent by a whopping 34% gap. Cinderella stars a plethora of talented actresses such as Helena Bonham Carter and Cate Blanchett, as well as newcomer Lily James as Cinderella. Many noticed the film seemed to use more live sets instead of depending on CGI (computer generated imagery).
“If this earns as much, or more, than some of those past fantasies, Disney may consider less CGI-heavy approaches to future fantasy movies as well,” Ray Subers, a critic from the IMBD panel suggests.
Movie enthusiasts who still cling to apocalyptic dystopias have nothing to fear this spring. The ever-popular theme of teenage rebellion against authority continues to dominate part of the silver screens, with Insurgent, the second installment of the well-known Divergent trilogy, in which main character Tris Prior must face new barriers to overcome the increasing tensions in the factions of her home. The new rising stars, Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, and Theo James retake their roles of Tris, Caleb, and Tobias respectively.
Kam Williams, film critic from Baret News, proclaims, “[Woodley] exhibits an impressive acting range in a physically as well as emotionally-demanding role promising to do for her what The Hunger Games did for Jennifer Lawrence.”
This spring’s new batch of movies looks much like a force to be reckoned with. Box offices, hold onto your hats.