Absolutely Marvel-ous!

"I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

Ever since Samuel L Jackson first appeared as Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, and spoke those words after the credits of Iron Man, Marvel fans had been buzzing for the arrival of The Avengers. No longer was the film just a fantastical rumour on the internet - it was official, it was happening and it had been announced through the absolutely perfect casting of Samuel L Jackson as his comic book doppelganger, Nick Fury.

The wait was a long one - for the next four years the film was merely hinted at in the endings to The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man 2. Then came Captain America: The First Avenger, which ended with a trailer for the upcoming Avengers movie. Even from this early glimpse, the signs were promising.

Then 2012 arrived and in April, The Avengers (released as Avengers Assemble in the UK) finally hit cinema screens. Fans were not disappointed.

The big shots at Marvel and Disney went all out on this one. Anyone who thought Disney's purchase of Marvel Studios would spell disaster for the superhero films was instantly silenced in the opening sequence. We open in deep space on an impressive floating complex of asteroids, which house a sleek space-age throne room, lit by an ominous electric blue glow. On top of this, the voice-over of an alien foretelling the destruction that is about to befall Earth. From this, we cut to an establishing shot of SHIELD's vast base set into a mountainous landscape, a helicopter flying overhead. Jackson's Nick Fury is quick to come marching onto the scene and into the towering chamber that houses the Tesseract - an alien cube used to open a gateway to the other end of the universe. It is in this chamber that Loki - god of mischief and villain of the piece, first seen in 2011's Thor - makes his first dramatic appearance, stealing the cube and taking over the minds of several SHIELD members, including expert archer and Avenger-to-be Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye. The opening sequence ends with a dramatic explosion, destroying the entire SHIELD base. The film is off to a high-octane start of epic proportions. And it just keeps getting better.

Following the titles we start to meet our Avengers - Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, making an action-packed escape from an interrogation; Bruce Banner (AKA the Hulk), now played by Mark Ruffalo, the third man to take on the role since 2003's Hulk and by far the best; the first Avenger himself, Steve Rogers/Captain America, played once again by Chris Evans; and the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist, Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man), played by the legendary Robert Downey Jr.  These first Avengers are gathered, all but Stark making it to SHIELD's impressive floating Helicarrier base. We later meet Thor, god of thunder and brother of Loki, in an intense forest battle against Iron Man. Here we see sci-fi pitted against fantasy in a fight that sets the boundary-breaking all-out superheroic tone of the film.

All of the Avengers are finally united, though a little uneasily, back on SHIELD's Helicarrier. The heroes distrust of SHIELD eventually turns to distrust of each other and it is in a heated argument between them that Loki's brainwashed soldiers attack the flying SHIELD base. We are treated to the first truly epic battle of the  film as Thor takes on the Hulk - who is far more powerful and destructive here than we have ever seen the jolly jade giant before - Black Widow takes on the possessed Hawkeye, and Iron Man and Captain America work together to save the damaged Helicarrier and fight off Loki's forces. Here we see the less-than-assembled Avengers in action, as we intercut between each of the individual battles making up the larger conflict. The result of this fight (other than leaving the audience utterly blown away) is a fractured team, separated and hurt by the loss of a friend at SHIELD...

But the heroes' A-game is still to come. As Loki uses the Tesseract to unleash his alien army, the Chitauri, upon Earth, the Avengers assemble in New York. The unveiling of Iron Man's new armour - the 'Mark Seven' - is an impressive opening to the film's battle royale, but even more impressive is Banner's entrance. The good doctor has just arrived and is walking towards one of the Chitauri's giant flying metal monsters, as he reveals his secret to the rest of the team  - he's "always angry". With this revelation, he turns back into his muscle-bound green alter-ego and, with a single punch, brings down the 50ft metal beast. After this, we have the hero shot of the Avengers, all together at last, the camera tracking around the gathered superheroes. This defining shot is typical of Joss Whedon's amazing directing throughout - the camera is rarely kept still, dynamic shots often in use to emphasise the constant movement and action within them as well as to make the audience feel as though they are present in the world of the film.

The Avengers then is the definitive superhero movie. The genre has been increasingly popular over the last few years and in this epic, bringing together four of Earth's mightiest heroes (and two not-so-mighty ones!), the superhero film has found its peak. So does this mean superhero movies from now on will forever be living in The Avengers' shadow? Will another film of this scale ever grace our cinema screens? I certainly believe the only way would be for Marvel's best and bravest to unite once again. And if you're wondering about the chances of that happening, just stick around after the credits start to roll...

Oh, grow up, 007...

"The name's Bond - James Bond." The immortal line uttered, in this instance, by Pierce Brosnan for the last time. Die Another Day was the twentieth film in the official Eon Productions James Bond series and Brosnan's fourth and final. Looking back now, it seems it was the perfect time for Brosnan to bow out and to take the series' ever-growing silliness with him. Whilst Die Another Day is still largely an enjoyable film, it was edging dangerously on the ridiculous. The film contained several outlandish sci-fi elements that, although would have been welcome in a film that had placed itself firmly in the sci-fi genre, seem painfully out of place here in Bond - particularly when comparing D.A.D to the origins of the series in both Fleming's novels and Connery's early films. Dr No and From Russia With Love were films set solidly in the real world of espionage. Even when the plots became more fantastical in Goldfinger and Thunderball, the technology used (yes, even the giant laser!) was real. So it is no wonder that many a Bond fan has cringed at the sight (or lack of it, perhaps) of the invisible Aston Martin that features in Die Another Day.

"Aston Martin called it the Vanquish, we call it the Vanish" explains Q. If only the filmmakers could go back and make that car vanish completely. But the invisible Vanquish was by no means the most ridiculous part of this film and so I find it odd that it's the one that is most scrutinised by the fans. The idea of using tiny cameras to create the illusion of invisibility was almost (though not quite) believable -unlike the electrocuting robo-suit worn by the film's villain, Graves. There is a place in cinema for cyborg-style armour, and James Bond is not it. This wasn't helped by the fact that the suit seemed to have little purpose in the plot, other than controlling Graves's satellite - something that could perhaps more easily and more believably been done by a computer.

But other than seeing 007 vs the Metal Man and not seeing 007's car for half the time it was in use, the film remains thoroughly entertaining. The infamous one-liners of the series are here in force, as we see Bond reacting to a pursuer knocked out by a clock tower bell with "Saved by the bell". Later, when meeting Mr Kil, Bond tells him he has "a name to die for". Fans of Fleming's novels will enjoy Bond adopting cover as an ornithologist - Fleming took the name James Bond from a real life ornithologist. And for the first time we see Q not played by Desmond Llewelyn (who had played the role since 1963's From Russia With Love), but by the incredible talent that is former Monty Python member John Cleese. Though Cleese had made his debut in The World Is Not Enough (the last Bond flick before D.A.D) as Q's assistant, this was his first time going solo in the role. And it is truly a disappointment not to see him returning for next month's Skyfall, even if his Q wouldn't have been the best match for Daniel Craig's more serious Bond. Cleese's Q is sharp-witted, irritable and immensely entertaining. Bond's line to him about "a flesh wound" is almost certainly a reference to Cleese's famous performance as the Black Knight in his Python film, The Holy Grail and one that's as sure to put a smile on fans' faces as Q's retort - "There's always an excuse, isn't there, Double-O-Zero!"

So all in all Die Another Day is a fun Bond film and probably one of Brosnan's best, if you can overlook some of its more ridiculous features. The move to the more serious tone that came with 2006's Casino Royale was perfectly timed, seeing Brosnan out on a high before the film's increasingly unbelievable sci-fi elements could take over the franchise. Madonna's awful attempt at a theme tune and almost equally awful attempt at acting also took the shine off a bit, but for some stunning action sequences and Brosnan's fantastic final performance, I would give this film a 007/10.

Dismissed, Mr Brosnan.

Dalek Surprise

[WARNING: SPOILERS!]

After eight months of waiting, the Doctor finally returned to our screens in Asylum of the Daleks - the first episode of Doctor Who's seventh series since its return in 2005. And what a return it was! The episode opens on the dying planet of Skaro - the home world of the Daleks - giving us an incredible CGI landscape (complete with giant Dalek statue!) that instantly delivers on showrunner Steven Moffat's promise that this series will be made up of blockbuster, movie-sized episodes. Then comes the mysterious encounter between the Doctor and the hooded Darla Von Karlsen, a woman apparently desperate for the Doctor to save her daughter from the Dalek prison camps. But all is not as it seems and within the first two minutes, the episode has revealed its first big surprise as a Dalek eye-stalk extends from Darla's forehead and a gun from her hand. The shock revelations don't stop there, as we see Rory and Amy Pond's impending divorce, their similar encounters with 'Dalek puppets', the Parliament of the Daleks, the Dalek Prime Minister and a plea the Daleks have never made of their arch enemy before - "Save the Daleks!" And that's all just in the opening sequence!

The biggest shock of this episode though, comes straight after the opening titles when we are introduced to Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman who has already been announced as the Doctor's next companion. Until now we had been led to believe she wouldn't be appearing until Christmas, so her first appearance here was a more-than-pleasant surprise for the fans. And her performance is wonderful, promising the Doctor's future is in safe hands when she returns in this year's Christmas special. Just how she returns though is another of Moffat's trademark mysteries, as a big revelation about Oswin's character at the end of the episode - followed by some Dalek nastiness - seemed to imply returning could be something of an issue for her...

The writing was as brilliant as it always is from Mr Moffat, combining heartbreak (Amy and Rory's troubled marriage), humour ("Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me at a planet!"), excitement (the Doctor using the Daleks' self destruct mechanism against them) and edge-of-your-seat terror (the Doctor, cornered by advancing insane Daleks). Moffat had said he wanted to make the Daleks scary again, and he achieved it brilliantly with the Asylum - a planet filled with the most insane and uncontrollable members of the Dalek race.

The episode was stunning, though it would have been nice if the older Daleks that featured (designs from as far back as 1963) had a more prominent role. But maybe the problem here lies more with the episode's promotion, which seemed to promise much more from the "Daleks from every era". Overall though, the Doctor was brought back in incredible style, the Daleks were more terrifying than ever and hearing those grating metallic voices giving mixed cries of "Exterminate!" and "Doctor who?" was the icing on the cake! How would I rate the series-opener then? In the Doctor's own words "Out of ten? Eleven!"