EPIC REVIEW: Captain America: Civil War (Spoiler-Free!)

Howdy people of the internet, so after waiting two painstakingly long days to get back to my laptop I’m here to give you my review of Captain America: Civil War. I’ve seen the film twice in IMAX (once at the midnight screening and again on the same afternoon) and I’ve had a lot of thoughts in my head about this film, and a lot of it is spoiler-based, but I’m going to try my hardest to be as vague and spoiler-free as possible. Alrighty then, let’s begin. 🙂

So the story can be described as the following:

“After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team.”

What should be clarified straight away is that Civil War is definitely Captain America 3 first and foremost, as the story furthers what we learnt in The Winter Soldier, but it also acknowledges the larger world of the MCU by introducing most of the main heroes so far, but also adding new characters and stories in this film. What I loved more so than anything else was that there was drama, real drama and it was material that was raw, emotional and effective. This is easily the most layered and emotional film in the MCU to date dealing with the themes of freedom, accountability, revenge and friendship being handled in a realistic and captivating manner. Not only do get to see Captain America try his best to keep his best friend safe, and butt heads with Iron Man with their different ideologies, but also see our heroes weigh out the pros and cons of their actions, pick sides based on their beliefs and clash. It was not only interesting, it was also complicated morally and ethically too. You’re given both sides of the argument and luckily both sides are effective at what they’re trying to convey, you’ll probably be conflicted during and after the film ends as well. If I have any issues with the story it was probably just a few changes in some of the character motivations which would have elevated the film a little more, but I have to hand it to the writers and the Russo brothers for juggling so much material and making it work in a coherent and stylish manner.

With the cast they were all brilliant, and while some stood out more than others, everyone has a reason to be in the film and have their moments to shine and some of the best moments in the film are just with characters talking and interacting. Firstly there’s Chris Evans who was brilliant as Steve Rogers/Captain America, he’s a faced with difficult choices, and yet found a way to be just as heroic, charismatic and true to his beliefs while also being a leader and friend to his allies. Robert Downey Jr. killed it as Tony Stark/Iron Man, just when I thought I’d seen everything from this character, we find out there’s still more to learn. In this film Stark was very still very humours, but also passionate, vulnerable and driven and while he seemed like the bad guy, at the same time you understood his viewpoint. Scarlett Johansson  was wonderful as Black Widow, it was cool to see her character more in line with The Winter Soldier version where she was intelligent,logical and showed off her skill set on and off of the battlefield. Sebastian Stan also did well as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier continuing to be an interesting and tragic character with good ties to Steve Rogers, and speaking of ties to Steve, Anthony Mackie also did a great job as The Falcon, their bond continued to grow and get tested with the appearance of Bucky and I liked how funny Falcon continues to be.

Oh and Black Panther, dear god, he was brilliant! Chadwick Boseman was everything I wanted him to be and everything, as T’Challa/Black Panther he was intelligent, driven, honourable, tenacious and when he threw down, damn! He was insanely athletic, flexible and animal-like and I adored his treatment in this film. Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen as The Vision and Scarlet Witch were brilliant, I love how they had developed a grew since Age of Ultron, but found new hurdles and personal issues to fight through, Vision continued to have a lot of funny and thought-provoking dialogue, while Scarlet Witch had a good few light-hearted and dramatic moments that developed her character in great ways. Jeremy Renner looked like was having a great time as Hawkeye and I really enjoyed his scenes, the same could also be said for Paul Rudd and Don Cheadle as Ant-Man and War Machine, both of them bring back what you loved about their characters and have great moments in the film.

William Hurt’s performance as Thunderbolt Ross was also great, he’s changed a great deal since The Incredible Hulk, but I really enjoyed his role as the government official attempting to keep the Avengers in check. It was great to see more of Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter as she had more to do and had a good few memorable moments in the film, and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross was delightful and tough and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last from him, and the return of Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones while brief was really cool. Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo was interesting, while he’s not utilized in a conventional way and won’t please fans of the comics, I thought his role was very smart, though I believe the film would have worked without him. And finally Tom Holland as Spider-Man, holy crap! Marvel Studios nailed it! If you’re like me you’ve seen Spidey done five times and he’s been done well in certain areas but not completely comic book accurate. But here he’s the most accurate Spider-Man the to date with right balance of action and humour. He’s introduced in a logical and natural way, and seeing Holland as Peter Parker inside and out of the suit was delightful as he felt so fresh different to the actors who’ve come before him.

When it comes to the presentation it was pretty solid. Visually the film is very nice, the cinematography is great with some wonderfully shot action sequences, good editing and wonderful CGI. The fight scenes are some of the best in the MCU so far with really creative, acrobatic and versatile action for everyone involved whether they be superpowered or not, and there’s the much-talked about epic fight sequence in the airport which for me was one of the most beautiful fanboy moments I’ve ever seen. It was like a comic book come to life in the best way possible. However I will say for everything I liked, I will say that the shaky cam in some of the fight scenes was a little chaotic, and the visual effects in certain parts of the film felt a little lacking in detail and didn’t mesh as well with the live-action footage, but those are nitpicks for sure. As for the film score, Henry Jackman returns to compose and his score definitely feels in line with Winter Soldier, but was also a little more dramatic and heroic than before. However this score while it works within the film, it didn’t have any standout tracks or a theme that I can remember like some of Marvel’s previous films.

In conclusion Captain America: Civil War was a lot of fun and solid follow-up to Winter Soldier. While it won’t change the game for the superhero genre, it did dive a little deeper into those thought-provoking and emotional territories that the MCU hadn’t fully embraced beforehand, and with some awesome action, an intriguing story and well-developed characters, this is an adventure that people won’t want to miss out on especially if you’re fans of these films and comics.

Rating: 8.5/10

So are you going to see Captain America: Civil War and if you’ve seen it what did you think of it? Please sound off your thoughts in the comments below ane I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

Inglourious Basterds Review

Howdy ladies and gents, today I come to you with an unexpected film review. So last night I had film session with my mum, sister and cousin and the film I decided to watch was Inglourious Basterds, a great film I hadn’t seen for a while and after the film ended I just felt the need to talk about it on this blog. 🙂

So the story for this film can be described as the following:

“In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner’s vengeful plans for the same.”

I love this story. What makes it so compelling is the real world setting, most educated people know the history of WWII, so to see this unique story unfold and change what we know is very interesting and hilarious. As a war film the structure, pacing and style is so unique and unconventional and that’s thanks to Quentin Tarantino, the man is so good at using his talents for storytelling and crafting such smart and sophisticated dialogue. The key features that make the film work for me is the tension, drama and humour. This film makes me feel uncomfortable, so many of the scenes just involve people in conversations that can be calm and civil, but then can switch to being aggressive, intense and awkward as hell. They are situations you wouldn’t want to find yourself in and they are executed wonderfully. In addition to the emotional material, the film’s incredibly funny with some awesome one-liners, witty conversations and humourous moments that are unforgettable. I will note that the plot can be a little hard to follow when the subtitles come into play and if you can’t read them quickly like myself, but if you can get around that then you’ll be fine.

And then there’s the cast who all around do fabulous jobs in their roles. Before I get into this film, it troubles me that I forget that people like Michael Fassbender and Daniel Brühl were in these films long before they became better known in X-Men: First Class and Rush respectively. Let’s start with Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo “The Apache” Raine. Aldo is confident, cocky driven and hilarious individual on a mission to take out his enemies and do it with style. Pitt killed it in this role, before this film I didn’t care for Pitt as an actor at all, but here he was incredible. The man was super charismatic, engaging, funny and the ascent alone was just the best thing ever. However, Christoph Waltz as SD Standartenführer Hans Landa steals the film. Landa, what a man, he is a guy who is charming, warm and multilingual, yet he’s extremely cunning, smart and terrifying and he can turn on a dime. Waltz is magnetic, he steals every scene he’s in and he’s really funny but also quite monstrous at the same time. Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus is another strong performance. Shosanna has such a traumatic experience and because of it she becomes hardened, cold and crafty, and I really liked Laurent’s performance as she’s strong, fragile and ambitious.

Michael Fassbender as Lieutenant Archie Hicox is bloody great, here Fassbender is demonstrates his talents in humour, wit and aggression. Hicox is a smart and talented individual and has some really memorable moments. Daniel Brühl is also great as Private First Class Fredrick Zoller, this character has an interesting backstory and seems like a nice guy who doesn’t just want to be associated with his war exploits, and when he attempts to engage with Shosanna you can’t help but feel for him a little, and Brühl acts with such heart, humour and charm. Eli Roth is another person I love as Sergeant Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz, like Aldo, this character had a charm, sense of humour and screen presence that made him fun and memorable and this is the film that makes me want to see more of Roth as an actor more so than a director because he was quite good here. Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark is very nice, she’s very pretty and nice, but also has a great deal more to her character beyond her acting career, also August Diehl is awesome as Major Dieter Hellstrom, this guy is one of those characters who comes out of nowhere and has one of those performances that is striking, intimidating and funny. Til Schweiger as Sergeant Hugo Stiglitz did say much but left a big impression, B. J. Novak and Omar Doom were good as Private First Class Smithson “The Little Man” Utivich and Private First Class Omar Ulmer, Mike Myers’ appearance as General Ed Fenech was nice, Martin Wuttke did a good job as Adolf Hitler and even Léa Seydoux, another person I forgot was nice to see Charlotte LaPadite.

When it comes to the presentation this film succeeds on many levels. Firstly the film looks lovely with the cinematography, editing and nice interior and exterior locations. Also the costume design and make-up is really good as well. In additional to that the action is awesome, there are some well-choreographed scenes with guns, knives and baseball bats that are full of violence, blood and chaos, and it is a gorgeous spectacle. Also the soundtrack is perfect, as usual Tarantino has assembled a collection of music that doesn’t fit the time period, but has the right emotional and dramatic sounds to match the action on-screen. A lot of it sounds like it belongs in those old western films and love it, but what surprised me was the use of a David Bowie song, I love Bowie’s music and I’m surprised I’ve missed it that last few times I’ve seen in this film.

In conclusion Inglourious Basterds is one damn good film, thanks to a great story, a great deal of tension, action and suspense, and stellar performances from the cast involved. This is easily my favourite film in the war genre and one of my all-time favourite films as well, it has all of those beautiful elements that make a Tarantino film worth watching, but it is the unique setting, script and characters that make it special. This is a film I highly recommend.

Rating: 9/10

So have you seen Inglourious Basterds and if so what do you think of it? And how do you feel it compares to Tarantino’s other films (personally this is my favourite), whatever your thoughts are, drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

The Fifth Estate Review

Hello there ladies and gents, I return from the cinema with one of two new film reviews yo and the first will be on The Fifth Estate. Now this is a film I’d heard a fair amount about earlier in the year and while it wasn’t on my “must watch list’, it had Benedict Cumberbatch it in so I thought it had to be worth a watch. So yesterday I checked it out and now I’m ready to give you my review.

The can be summarized as such:

“A dramatic thriller based on real events that reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization.”

A lot of people have described the plot as bored, dull or as my mate put it, “shit.” But I actually was engaged almost the whole way through. I found it interesting to find out how Julian started WikiLeaks on his own and then begins to expand once Daniel comes into play and the information that he discovers becomes so much bigger and riskier. I love films to do with conspiracies, lies and deceit and exposing people for what they really are and some of the stuff that’s displayed in this film is some heavy stuff and to know it ACTUALLY happened in the real world is so freaky. As the film progressed I remembered several bits the leaked information being talked about in the news, I never fully paid attention to it when was actually happening in the real world, so I was always curious as to what would follow in the film. The only issues I had with the film is that most things outside of Cumberbatch felt irrelevant and some of the characters in this film felt like unnecessary baggage. Also the pacing of the film felt a little slow at times, but otherwise I had a decent time with this story.

Characters. Firstly let me just say this… BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH! Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I think you can tell that I’m a massive fan of his and in this film he doesn’t disappoint. As Julian Assange Cumberbatch plays a character with a vision, a vision which involves exposing the secrets of those in power and bringing them to justice. He’s a very determined, straight-to-the-point, is always on the move and doesn’t acknowledge other people’s feelings or motives unless they’re related to his own. Cumberbatch’s performance is magnetic, he’s very funny, stern and cool as Assange and he proves that he’s practically a chameleon when it comes to his film roles.

Daniel Brühl as Daniel Domscheit-Berg was pretty good, his performance had a great dramatic intensity to it and he and Cumberbatch have some good scenes together. I saw Domscheit-Berg not too long ago in Rush and while his performance isn’t as good here I think he is still a capable actor and I feel like he still needs to be in more films. Anthony Mackie as Sam Coulson was decent, but I was never quite sure what his character did besides be part of the people at the White House protecting the interest of the president or something. Mackie was good but I think he wasn’t utilized that well. David Thewlis as Nick Davies was great, I enjoyed his role. I’m a fan of Thewlis from his work as Professor Lupin in the Harry Potter films and I liked seeing him in a more adult film.Alicia Vikander as Anke Domscheit-Berg, as pretty as she was I don’t think her character served much purpose and she was easily one of the film’s throwaway characters. Stanley Tucci as James Boswell was pretty good but severely underused and Laura Linney as Sarah Shaw was pretty good,though she was a little annoying at times.

In conclusion The Fifth Estate was a film I enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would and to be honest I think it’s a lot better than some critics are making it out to be. Maybe I’m just saying this because I’m lost in the epic performance that Benedict Cumberbatch gave in this film, but I say if you’re gonna check out this film at least watch it for Cumberbatch because this film proves once again that this guy is great in practically every role he’s given. HAIL CUMBERBATCH! 😀

Rating: 7.5/10 (An interesting thriller with a stellar performance from Benedict Cumberbatch!)

So what did you think of The Fifth Estate, did you like it, thought it was alright or were you like everyone else and thought it was a dull piece of work. Whatever your thoughts I’d like to see them in the comments below. See you on the next review yo! 😀

 

Rush Review

Howdy people of the internet, time for another review! Today I’m gonna be talking about one of the most talked about films of not only this season but of the year. I am of course talking about Rush. Now I’d been hearing so much about talk this film over the course of the year and after a while I became curious. The trailers looked pretty cool and this could be the film that could make my man Chris Hemsworth noticed for the Oscars. So after seeing Rush was it worth the wait? Well read on and find out!

So story-wise Rush is about Formula 1 driving, but more specifically the rivalry between to great drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda. They’re two very different kinds of drivers but they both want the same thing; success. So this film chronicles their battle on and off of the race track and follows the highs and lows of both their lives which happens over the duration of six years.

I thought the film was really good. It reminded me a lot of Senna (a great documentary I highly recommend), and while I don’t believe that this film is on-par with that documentary (obviously), this is the first film that has taken Formula 1 outside of specific zone and presented to the public in an engaging and cool way. There is a great deal of emotional height to the film, but it doesn’t forget humour as there are great moments of that in this film too. But the key thing that makes the film work is the central rivalry between Hunt and Lauda. These are men from two very different backgrounds, they think and act very differently, its like night and day. And its great to see them go against each other on and off the track for years and see how the battle between them developers and gets more and more complex and dangerous.

When it comes to the cast they’re fabulous offering up some wonderful and powerful performances. Let’s start with my man Chris “Thor” Hemsworth as James Hunt. I absolutely loved him. Hemsworth practically plays the character of Thor all over again as he is this British playboy kind of guy who’s loved by all,  sleeps around with loads of women, cracks loads of jokes and is pretty cocky. But outside of his persona to the public he is a very skilled driver who loves the thrill of the sport and strives for success. Then there’s Daniel Brühl as Niki Lauda, he’s the total opposite of Hunt. Lauda is a very calculated kind of guy, he’s brilliant and smart but also very smug and bit of an asshole to the point where he’s disliked by nearly every one, and Brühl is very great in his role. Together Hemsworth and Brühl have great screen time together and their interactions are some of the film’s best moments.

Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller was lovely, I liked how her character was one of the key things in Hunt’s life that he cared about outside of the world of racing. Other decent performances comes from Natalie Dormer as Gemma, Alexandra Maria Lara as Marlene Knaus and Pierfrancesco Favino as Clay Regazzoni. Oh and lastly Christian McKay was wonderful as Alexander Hesketh, it took me a while to remember that McKay was in Me and Orson Wells (a film I really liked) and I’m surprised he hasn’t been in more films, he’s a fine actor and does well in this film as the man who supported James Hunt in his earlier days during the 1970s.

One of the film’s other strong points is the presentation. Visually I really like the way the film looks, the cinematography is nicely done with some impressive camera angles and shots of the races which captures the action wonderfully. There are also some great POV camera shot from inside the cockpit, looking at the fire in the exhaust and other parts of machinery of the car moving around. Putting all of that together really helps to engage you. And what really adds to it is the audio. Firstly the score by Hans Zimmer is very good, dramatic and has a much lighter tone that what I’m used to in his other film but I think I could still tell it was him. Also the sound effects in this film really add the extra layer of immersion with the roaring cars, screeching tires and all the other good stuff that happens on the track.

In conclusion Rush is was pretty impressive, some powerful drama and tension in that film through the story along with a great cast lead by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl. This is one of those films I can recommend even if you’re not a fan of Formula 1, it is a fine film that takes a subject matter that only a specific audience like and make it work for more general audience.

Rating: 8.5/10 (Go check it out now!)

So what did you think of Rush? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comments below and let me know, I love hearing other opinions! Until next time, laters people! 😀