Captain America: Civil War – review

Coming in as the lucky 13^th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Captain America: Civil War is a fun and fresh story featuring a host of the Avengers we have grown to love as well as some new characters to the roster. The movie as a whole is not as bold as past Captain America films but the action is solid and the return of characters keep the pulse of this movie moving strong.

Captain America/Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, and some of the Avengers are stopping some terrorists in Lagos. Unfortunately, in the processes several innocent people are killed. This leads the United Nations to decide that the Avengers must register with them as a governing body overseeing their actions. Iron Man/Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., welcomes this change to be held more accountable. Captain America feels that governing bodies will always have agendas and he does not want to be told who to help and who not to help. Both heroes gain supporters which lead to debate, anger, and eventual blows from both sides of the issue.

The action is fun to watch and the characters play their parts well. The addition of T’Challa/Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman, Peter Parker/Spider-man, played by Tom Holland, and Helmut Zemo, played by Daniel Bruhl are welcome additions. It was also very entertaining to see Paul Rudd reprise his role as Scott Lang/Ant-man.  To see the characters work well with one another in such fantastic battles really made the movie a solid popcorn flick.

The few complaints I have about the movie are nitpicking things. The stakes could have (and honestly should have been) much higher at this point. There could have been more development to the new characters; however, this is a Captain America movie so the focus really should be on him and his conflict with the Winter Soldier and Iron Man. If anything, this movie probably could have been a third Avengers film but because of the story focus it is easy to understand why it went in this direction. It was bizarre to have an Avengers movie where Thor and the Hulk are absent.

Captain America: Civil War is an entertaining new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you are looking for a great summer blockbuster give this movie a try. It is exciting and not nearly as dark as some of the past Captain America films. You are sure to enjoy the acting and action playing together in a wild spectrum of comic book intensity.  If you are a comic book fan or a fan of the other films this movie will not disappoint.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Review

The Avengers and Captain America: The First Avenger gave us a taste of the patriotic superhero of Marvel comics past and his fish-out-of-water story.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier takes that story and expands it in a clever new direction.  Changing from a rough and tumble story of action to a story of espionage.

After the events of The Avengers film Captain America, played by Chris Evans, is still doing missions for S.H.E.I.L.D.  Not happy with the secrets that the government keeps from the solders in field, Captain America finds that Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, and Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, are compartmentalizing missions of S.H.E.I.L.D. and keeping vital information from other members of the team. After a mysterious assailant attacks Nick Fury for a USB drive retrieved during a recent mission, Captain America must uncover a massive conspiracy within the military organization.

The acting is great.  Chris Evans is still a believable hero and his chemistry with Scarlett Johansson is really fun to watch. Anthony Mackie as the Falcon is a welcome addition.  He seems like a natural extension for the Captain America character.  Even Samuel L. Jackson brings his A-game and gives his usual passive character a more heroic face and adds a great deal to the action.

The story is really fascinating. Going into a story of deception, betrayal, espionage, and action. It is a fascinating and dark follow up. With so many twists and turns you won’t know which character in the movie to trust. For this reason, seeing the first film is beneficial. However, this new film does a nice job of reminding the audience of important characters from the previous film.  

If you are a fan of superhero movies this is certainly a good one to watch.  It takes a concept well beyond the origin story and gives audiences a truly fun and original take on government and freedom vs. security.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier is certainly worth seeing in theaters. Just remember to stay after the credits, as there are scenes that hint at the Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The Avengers-review

It wasn’t until recently that I had heard of a movie like this. The Avengers takes the plot threads and characters from essentially four different films and combines them to make one big blockbuster.  The care of Joss Whedon’s script and careful direction, make this movie a great way to start the ride of summer blockbusters for 2012.

The Avengers team, comprised of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawk Eye, band together to stop the otherworldly, Loki.  His plans are to take over the world by unleashing an army of bizarre space creatures onto planet earth and extend his iron-will over humanity.  Only by working together can the team of heroes find hope to defeat such a menace.

The characters are written with the same care as the movies that preceded them.  Captain America, played by Chris Evans, is still a kind-hearted, star-spangled, knight in shining armor.  Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., is still a hilarious smart ass.  They all have fallen into their familiar roles very well.  I particularly liked Mark Ruffalo’s newer take on Bruce Banner.  He plays the role more frightened and vulnerable then Eric Bana or Edward Norton did. His take on the role reminded me a lot of the late Bill Bixby on “The Hulk” television shows.

The script is top notch.  There are fist-slamming moments of action intercut with wit and humor, which make a long movie seem to go by rather quickly.   Loki is a hilariously haughty villain.  It makes for some dynamic pieces of dialogue between him and the other characters, many of which are not used to such a bizarre yet powerful entity. 

There is no way that you have to watch ALL the movies that came first, which I thought was smart.  This movie gives you a taste of each character’s back-story, and allows you to piece it together yourself.  It showed a lot of care, and for a summer superhero movie, that sometimes is a tall order. 

The movie is a ton of fun.  I recommend staying until after the credits to see the extra footage.  I would definitely say you should go see this movie.  If you are at all a fan of any of the Marvel comics’ movies that make up the Avengers, you will enjoy this movie as an unofficial sequel. Otherwise, you’ll enjoy the fresh action and humor of “The Avengers”.