Avengers: Age of Ultron

Zach Goodier

The long wait is over, and a new Avengers film has come out. But now that the dramatic team-up has gone through the honeymoon stage, does this team have the endurance to keep it up?

The movie starts us in Eastern Europe, where the Avengers are attacking a Hydra base to recover Loki’s scepter from the first movie. In the midst of the fighting, two of Hydra’s enhanced humans, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, escape. After a brief engagement with the Avengers, they quickly disappear. Tony Stark manages to recover the scepter, and while the team celebrates for a few days before Thor returns the scepter to Asgard, Stark examines it. Long story short, Stark uses the crystal inside the scepter (an infinity stone) to help him complete his new artificial intelligence program, Ultron. Ultron’s mission is to protect the world; however, Ultron quickly turns on the Avengers, and starts working on plans of his own.

No strings on this guy.

The story is a really exciting retelling of the Ultron tale. It all fits very nicely, and ties in to a lot of what is transpiring within each of the movies in the Marvel universe. Ultron is a wonderful villain, and James Spader really brings him to life. Since Ultron’s personality is derived from Tony Stark, he has some entertaining lines throughout the movie. The Vision also appears in the 3^rd act, as a byproduct of Ultron’s plans. His role is relatively minor, but still significant, and it will likely lead to more important things down the line in the Infinity War.

These two make a great addition to the film. I had no idea what to expect, but I found them both to make excellent characters.

The action is great, with scenes like the Hulk vs Iron Man being standouts in this film. The Maximoff twins, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, both make for great additions to the cast, with interesting powers that make some great action scenes. Nick Fury also returns, which leads into some great sequences at the end when he joins the fight. But despite all that, a lot of the great scenes come from those little moments Joss Whedon creates. Like many of his other works, he has that talent for creating and/or capturing moments that might not be outwardly significant, but are the moments you remember long after the credits roll.

This. Armor. Rocks.

The special effects are as top-notch as ever, but I did not see it in 3D to know how that side came out, although I imagine it is probably top-notch as well. I never felt that there were any weak links from the technical end or from the cast, everyone seemed on top of their game. The final major battle takes place back in Eastern Europe, on a city that is being risen in order to crash it back down to Earth, in Ultron’s plan to end humanity.

The Vision is a great character, even if he shows up to the party rather late.

The only fault I found in this film is a lot of the internal problems amongst the Avengers felt reused from the last film. It doesn’t feel forced, and it is still entertaining, but part of you might feel like we’ve done a lot of this in the previous film. But this is a very minor thing, in the midst of all the great characters and scenes. Plus, it gave Stark and excuse to don his Hulkbuster Armor, which is amazing to watch.

Some of the minor characters from the franchise get to enter the fray this time, or at least get a solid cameo in.

This movie is more than a worthy successor to the first film, with all the characters coming back and doing all the things they do best. Hulk smashes, Thor hammers, Hawkeye and Black Widow show off their skills, Captain America gives some speeches, and Tony Stark throws out some clever lines and kicks but as Iron Man. However, what makes this movie even better in some ways is the addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, who both bring a lot forward to this film, and Ultron is easily one of the best villains in the Marvel universe so far, with the exception of possibly Loki. In short, if you loved the Avengers, you will almost certainly love this movie too.

Good:

-Ultron is a great villain

-Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were done right.

-Hulkbuster armor.

-Joss Whedon’s gift of creating all those little moments that make his works great.

Bad:

-Some of the conflict between the Avengers themselves feels redone from the last film.

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Razer Black Widow Ultimate

By: Sean Dibble

Well, it didn't take me long to find another gaming peripheral from Razer that I instantly fell in love with. The Black Widow is a wired keyboard that any gamer desires. With its sleek design and ultra-smooth keystrokes, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. Additionally, for the more hardcore gamer, this Black Widow allows for programming of up to five (yes, five!) different keysets, all for different games if need be.

Design

The Razer Black Widow Keyboard is like most other Razer equipment, with the standard black base color with green highlights. Let me tell you, when you combine all your Razer equipment, your room will glow in a magical green that says you’re the ultimate gamer. The keyboard is slim and easy to carry around if need be. Like I previously mentioned, it has five sets of different keys that you can program for special games which you enjoy playing so you don’t have to go in and reset keystrokes each time you feel like switching it up. Instead of having to go in and reset the keys manually, the keyboard automatically remembers them for you, making it ideal for the veteran gamer.

We all know how useful USB ports are, but the seasoned gamer has more than their fair share of hardware. Counting the mouse, keyboard, external hard drive, printer, headset… you get the picture. Most PCs and laptops have a limited amount of USB ports, and when you have as much stuff as I do, your desk gets pretty cluttered. Razer found a solution for this problem. Remember that pesky headset you use to play games? Not only does this keyboard have USB port, but it also has both a microphone and headphone jack; perfect to plug in your other Razer headgear (or any other headgear. Whatever floats your boat).

Functionality

This keyboard practically screams functionality. With smooth and easy keystrokes, you’ll fly through whatever you’re typing. For me, it increased my typing speed a bit, and it even has an anti-ghosting function which allows you to quickly go from one key to the next without adding in extra characters where they aren’t needed. In the heat of gaming, there’s no telling how many times you might accidentally press an unnecessary key, so it’s a pretty ingenious addition if you ask me.

Again, gamers will love this keyboard due to the ability to store five separate sets of game command keys in it. This keyboard also syncs up with Razer Synapse (a cloud-based hardware driver installer) and it can constantly download the latest device updates for you. This way, your keyboard drivers are always up to snuff and ready to go.

Usually at this point in the review I would mention something bad about the item or game, but honestly… I’m at a loss. I can’t find a single thing wrong with this keyboard. It’s slim and easy to carry, looks sleek and sexy, feels great when you type, and it has a long cord (usually a negative, in my opinion); but what this cord allows me to do is to do all my typing on my big-screen television. I can move my gaming rig to the large-screen TV, which translates into a very happy nerd.

The Black Widow can be purchased for around $130, which might seem pretty expensive, but it’s more than worth what you get out of it in entertainment value. You’ll find that your modest investment was well-made and money well-spent. Who knows? With Thanksgiving and Black Friday just around the corner, you might find a pretty sweet deal on this keyboard… that is, if you can make it through the crowd of crazy, rabid Americans who have forgotten what the meaning of Thanksgiving is.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there, get the keyboard of your dreams, and GAME ON!

Good:

- Super sleek design. Who can’t love it?

- Gaming preset keys, allowing for immediate action.

- Easy keystrokes for fast-paced gaming.

- Long cord, if you need to move somewhere.

- Compatible with Razer Synapse, so your hardware is always up to date.

Bad:

- Absolutely nothing, unless you want to count the price (which isn’t even all that bad).

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10