Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Genre

Action | Sci-Fi

Directors

Anthony Russo | Joe Russo

Country

USA

Cast

Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl, John Slattery, Kerry Condon, Martin Freeman, John Kani, Marisa Tomei, Hope Davis, Stan Lee

Storyline

After another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, the government decides to push for the Anti-Hero Registration Act, a law that limits heroes actions. This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America (Chris Evans) feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world.

Opinion

Captain America movies have always been my favourites of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because they always manage to be a notch above the others, and the Russo brothers did it again with "Captain America: Civil War", a solid superhero flick as well as a complex, intelligent film that provides food for thoughts.

The story is simple but well constructed and keeps going smoothly until the end, there are no dead moments and the two and a half hours fly by. What I loved more about it is that the story isn't about the villain, but about the conflict between the two superheros factions: on one side we have Captain America, who believe they should be able to do their best to save the world and they should not reply on the government; on the other side we have Iron Man, who instead believes superheroes' actions should be controlled by the government to prevent more cities from being destroyed, and more people from dying. This is the beating heart of the film, and I was surprised by how well they managed to handle this matter, and by how the conflict is - or not - resolved (I won't spoil anything).

The film isn't by any mean perfect though. There are a lot of characters involved in this film it seems more like an Avenger movie than a sequel to "The Winter Soldier". Having said that, while each character has his duty and finds a place in the story - I was very excited to see Black Panther, a great Chadwick Boseman, for the first time and the new Spider-Man played by Tom Holland (I missed Andrew Garfield to be honest) -, there are just too many of them and there isn't enough time to develop them all.

Since the film mostly focused on the conflict, the villains are also kind of weak. While it gives him a good motivation and an ingenious plan, the screenplay doesn't leave much room for Baron Zemo, which is, by the way, wonderfully portrayed by Daniel Brühl - he even manages to make you sympathise with him. The second disappointment in the villains area is Crossbones. He is nothing more than a plot device and I was really hoping to see more of him.

And now the action. Just let me tell you this, if you are an action lover, you're going to love it. The action is arguably the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the much anticipated airport scene is spectacular.

The familiar faces on the cast do as usual, but two deserves to be mentioned because they really stepped up their game: Chris Evans and especially Robert Downey Jr. who gives a great perfomrance as a guilt ridden Tony Stark.

And at last but not least the inevitable comparison with Snyder's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". If you read my review, you know I liked the film, but like this one had some issues. Therefore I was worried about very quick reconciliations and one of the teams being portrayed as the wrong side, but thank god that didn't happen.

MUST WATCH: First Trailer For CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

Click to enlarge

Here it comes! CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR promises a lot and it seems it's going to deliver with a somewhat revealing trailer giving us a look at some of the combatants.

I won't ruin the trailer for you visually - it was tempting to put up screenshots from the more interesting scenes, but you can see it for yourself in action below. Of course you may be reserving all that initial surprise for the movie itself and if you can do that - congratulations! It's a long haul until release.

What I will say is I love how the characters are clashing AND coming together for this thing. I can imagine CACV building tension to the extreme and then cutting it loose. I can see where 3D is going to augment scenes. It's been a long time coming but we're finally going to have a toe-to-toe between Stark and Rogers.

Enjoy. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR opens on May 6.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Directors

Anthony Russo | Joe Russo

Country

United States

Cast

Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson, Toby Jones, Maximiliano Hernández, Garry Shandling, Georges St-Pierre, Callan Mulvey, Chin Han, Jenny Agutter, Alan Dale, Bernard White, Danny Pudi, DC Pierson, Gary Sinise, Ed Brubaker, Stan Lee, Thomas Kretschmann, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Plot

As Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, learns that the S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised and a Soviet assassin known as The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) will stop at nothing to kill Captain America. To battle the new threats, he teams up with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie).

Opinion

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a brilliant, exciting and thrilling film, unarguably the best of Avengers franchise. The superheroes is what we pay for and what we want to see, but this film is beyond that: it is also a great political thriller.

The action scenes, ranging from fightings, shootings and  chasings, are great, natural, and almost real.

Chris Evans seems more natural and comfortable in Captain America's shoes that he was before. Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury gains importance. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, along with Anthony Mackie's Falcon, has a decisive role in the film, as she will help Captain America survive. Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier is completely different that Bucky, but, at the end, proves to have a heart. Still great, Robert Redford's Alexander Pierce is the real villain.

Quotes

Steve Rogers: You know me.

The Winter Soldier: No, I don't!

Steve Rogers: Bucky. you've known me your entire life. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes...

The Winter Soldier: SHUT UP!

Steve Rogers: I'm not gonna fight you. You're my friend.

The Winter Soldier: You're my mission! YOU ARE MY MISSION!

Steve Rogers: Then finish it. 'Cause I'm with you 'til the end of the line.

Rating

9.0/10

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Director

Joe Johnston

Country

United States

Cast

Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Neal McDonough, Derek Luke, Stanley Tucci, Kenneth Choi, Bruno Ricci, JJ Feild, Toby Jones, Richard Armitage, Natalie Dormer, Samuel L. Jackson, Stan Lee

Plot

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a sickly man from Brooklyn, is rejected for World War II military recruitment. While attending an exhibition of future technologies with his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), he again attempts to enlist, and he is chosen for the super-soldier experiment. Transformed into Captain American, Rogers must stop the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Adolf Hitler's head of weaponry and leader of Hydra organization that intends to use the Tesseract as a source for world domination.

Opinion

I wasn't exactly excited about this film, but Captain America: The First Avenger is a good film after all; I'd rather say a very good and accurate adaptation of Marvel's comic book.

For the most part, this film is focused on the origins of an extraordinary soldier, who just wants to do his part for his country.

The special effects are well made, in particular Captain America's skills. Also the playback of the key characters is accurate. Red Skull is certainly the character that impressed me the most: he was well played by Hugo Weaving, and the makeup was amazing. Chris Evans pulled off the modesty needed for the role.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy/Rent on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Abraham Erskine: Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.

Rating

8.0/10

Rumor Confirmed! 10 Disc AVENGERS ASSEMBLED Blu-ray Collectors Set Being Prepped!

Remember that rumor about a 10 disc blu-ray collection for THE AVENGERS that was being bounced around a couple of weeks ago? DONE DEAL.

According to Amazon, the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One - Avengers Assembled (10-Disc Limited Edition Six-Movie Collector's Set) will have the most recent 6 movies from Marvel and 3 of those movies will also have the 3D discs for those of you with 3D TVs at home. Namely, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and THE AVENGERS.

Here's what's included in the limited edition collection:


• Marvel’s The Avengers (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Thor (Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray)
• Iron Man 2 (Blu-ray)
• The Incredible Hulk (Blu-ray)
• Iron Man (Blu-ray)
• Bonus Disc - “The Phase One Archives” (Blu-ray)
• Collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The AVENGERS ASSEMBLED 10 disc set does not have pricing yet, but I will let you know when that drops on July 15.

via /Film

Marvel Concept Art: THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA!

Marvel has released two new pieces of concept art (via Yahoo!) for the upcoming 2011 movies THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER.

Click photos to enlarge.

The nature of a champion is quite evident in both of them, but under completely different circumstances.

Ryan Meinerding created the CAPTAIN AMERICA piece and it truly resembles what a hero would look like during a conventional war in the 20th Century.

On the other hand, Charlie Wren's work shows THOR seemingly battling on another plane of existence or even on the side of an active volcano!

Marvel will ultimately attempt to rein in both of these heroes as well as IRON MAN and THE HULK for their AVENGERS movie. If they can pull this off, AVENGERS will be the must see comic adaption of the decade if you ask me.

Marvel Jumps Into 3D With Both Feet! THOR And CAPTAIN AMERICA Going Stereo!!

Well it's about time! I fully thought that IRON MAN 2 could have raked in an extra 25% minimum if it went to screens in 3D, but oh well.

Click images to enlarge. This is the first official image of Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Hopkins (Odin) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).

Officially, it will be THOR being the first entry with CAPTAIN AMERICA coming after in 3D. Marvel is a company who meticulously maintains it's intellectual property (although some will say the current X-MEN comics are off somewhat - too many monthly titles and Wolverine is in practically ALL of them), so it is no surprise that they are going 3D with their future projects.

What will be a surprise to many is that these first two movies will be converted 3D. Yes, in spite of the slap in the face we got from TITANS and AIRBENDER many still have supreme confidence in 3D conversion. So do I. I know it can be done right. But the time and money NEEDS to be spent. It sounds like Marvel is doing it the right way.

Kenneth Branagh on 3D (LATimes): "We came to feel that in our case 3-D could be the very good friend of story and character for a different kind of experience," Branagh said, taking a break from post-production. The filmmaker said the terminology of the 3-D process initially made him cringe -- at first, it was "math and physics and way over my head," he said with a chuckle -- but then he started to pulse with the unexpected artistic opportunities. "It's another draft of the story that can reveal itself in a different way," he said. "I had a healthy degree of skepticism up front ... I've become somebody extremely excited about working with possibilities of doing it this way. A pretty careful conversation is what we've been having for quite some time about what we know has to be the most sensible decision: Is it led by story? Can this offer a different type of experience and exploit what we have in the story? It absolutely can ... we travel very long distances in the movie and the opportunity to export and exploit the journey of the hero is really offered up as a great potential enhancement here."

THOR is due to hit theaters May 6, 2011.

With CAPTAIN AMERICA, Joe Johnston investigated native 3D briefly but decided against it...--

(From LATimes): Johnston did a one-day test shooting with a 3-D rig -- as opposed to shooting in 3-D and converting -- and said it was "a nightmare" due to bulky gear, calibration issues and restricted filmmaking options. He said he's a firm believer, though, in the conversion approach if done right and he's enthused to move forward. "It's a new challenge and it's exciting," Johnston said.

Personally, it sounds like he didn't want to mix and match cameras for the various shots he has, nor take the time to truly get into shooting in 3D. A one day test? Not likely to get you to change your shooting style. You can easily use REDs or FUSION cameras for larger scenes and something like a SI-2K or even an ALEXA for more intimate shots. So sounds a bit like a cop out with an easy target to blame. To each their own though.

What both directors had better watch is to ensure their movies have a balanced 3D style to them. THE LAST AIRBENDER suffered horribly from this as the converted scenes were practically flat while the CG scenes popped like a champagne bottle (Remember those warship hulls sticking out at you?). I hate seeing movies like that almost as much as a generally bad conversion like CLASH OF THE TITANS.

CAPTAIN AMERICA is slated for a July 22, 2011 release.

I have a good feeling about them though. If Marvel can follow the conversion success of ALICE IN WONDERLAND or even the partial scenes from previous HARRY POTTERs, they should be fine.

Marvel is all about spectacle. If you think these turn out well, wait until AVENGERS. That movie is truly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for all of this work. That project should be conceived and shot in native 3D and I will push for that at all costs. Native 3D and of course that we need to see the Iron Man Hulk Buster suit too :-) I have a little surprise coming up about that suit. More about that in an upcoming post in a month or so.