Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Spoilers ahead! I never cared much about superhero movies, but then the Marvel Cinematic Universe happened and, every year for the past eleven years, they've been the movies I was looking forward to seeing the most. No matter how disappointingly awful some were, I was still excited to see what would come next. And after Avengers: Infinity War ended with that huge cliffhanger, Avengers: Endgame became my most anticipated Marvel film ever. And boy, I was not disappointed. 

The story picks up after the devastating events of the previous film, with the remaining Avengers — Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) — joined by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), and Nebula (Karen Gillan) to track down Thanos (Josh Brolin), steal the Infinity Stones and reverse his action. Unfortunately, they learn upon finding him that he had destroyed the stones, and Thor kills him. Five years later, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) comes back from the Quantum Realm and proposes the others to travel back in time and prevent Thanos from finding the stones in the first place.

While it's a bit convoluted and confusing, the time travel plot not only makes perfect sense — and even if it didn't, I still wouldn't get why many people are vigorously complaining about it being nonsense. Have these people forgotten its a superhero movie involving time travel they are talking about? — as it manages to combine the storylines of the twenty-two previous movies beautifully, but it pays tremendous homage to the fans who have been following the Marvel Cinematic Universe for more than ten years, and to the characters — Captain America gets to reunite with Peggy — I don't get why people are complaining about this, Cap deserves a happy ending and him staying in the past doesn't mean he changes the past/future, it simply means that he created another timeline and that at present time there are two Steve Rogers, one old and one young as he's been defrosted as he was supposed to be —, Tony Stark gets to see his father, Thor his mother and Jane, and Bruce is finally at peace with the Hulk.

As for the characters, many viewers didn't appreciate the treatment some of them got, especially Thor who, according to some people, has been reduced to a pathetic comic relief as he's now a fat alcoholic other characters, specifically Rocket, often make fun of. I, on the other hand, think that the writers wouldn't have done anything better than that with him. Sure, we are so used to seeing this muscular, powerful and confident man, it feels weird seeing him in this as he's the opposite of that. But keep in mind that he has lost everything — his father, his mother, his brother, his best friend, the woman he loved, Asgard — and on top of that, he blames himself for failing to kill Thanos when he had the chance in Infinity War. So much has happened to him, it's only natural that he has become the man he is here. And what the did with the character of Tony Stark over the years is beyond impressive — not only he's no longer the selfish, arrogant he used to be and has taken the young Peter Parker under his wing, but he gets to the point of giving up his happiness, his chance of having a family to save the universe. With Endgame, we also get to see more of those characters who either weren't in the previous film, such as Hawkeye and Ant-Man or were barely in it, such as Captain America. I was a little disappointed with how little they used Captain Marvel though.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The cast does an excellent job, from Chris Hemsworth who embodies to perfection this new Thor with an incredibly humorous performance to Scarlett Johansson who finally gives a strong, compelling performance as Black Widow to Tom Holland who is barely in the film and yet manages to still the scene as he shares a touching moment with Robert Downey Jr.. There are also many wonderful and unexpected cameos from Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Rene Russo (Frigga), Tilda Swinton (the Ancient One), John Slattery (Howard Stark), Robert Redford (Alexander Payne), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), James D'Arcy (Edwin Jarvis), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym) and, of course, Stan Lee.

The film is also filled with memorable scenes from Captain America finally grabbing Thor's hammer — the reaction of the audience was insane! — to the scene with all the Marvel women — I actually cried at this point because a boy sitting right next to me was very excited as he said, "it's all the girls".

The film is, as always with Marvel, visually spectacular, it has a killer soundtrack's and it's wonderfully paced — the three hours running time flies by — but most of all, it's rollercoaster of feelings and emotions with its homages, and the graceful combination of moments that make you laugh, moments that give you goosebumps and moments that will make you cry.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Last April I finally watched Sicario and I loved it. It was not flawless but it had a compelling story, interesting leading character, great acting, and suspenseful and thrilling action. I wish I could say the same about Sicario: Day of the Soldado, a sequel that falls far behind its predecessor. 

It's been a while since the events of the first film and now Mexican drug cartels are smuggling suicide bombers across the border into the United States. CIA agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is tasked to deal with the situations whatever it takes, even if that means starting a war between the cartels, and he brings in vengeful hitman Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) to help him.

While the plot to the first film was simple and very straightforward, this one's is a tremendous mess. It's not even clear what the main storyline is as the film starts with a plot which is then completely ditched for something else. Also, it lacks logic, it's filled with holes and makes very little sense. And I'm shocked, I'm speechless, I'm angry even, because how is it possible that Taylor Sheridan wrote this mess?

The characters are just another of Sicario: Day of the Soldado's problems. There's very little character development and, as a result, it feels like the new female lead --god, I missed Emily Blunt's naive Kate Macer so much-- has too much screen time for a character you simply don't care about. As for the returning characters, they often act inconsistently as if they were completely different people than they were in the first movie. Not only this doesn't make any sense, but it's frustrating to see those characters, especially Alejandro, treated like that. 

The performances, on the other hand, are strong and definitely make the film more enjoyable. Josh Brolin does great in the role of Matt Graver, the amoral CIA agent, and delivers terror but also professionalism mainly through body language and appearance. Benicio del Toro steals the show though as he plays the thin character in a way that you end up rooting for him, even though he's far from being a hero. 

Columbia Pictures, Lionsgate, Rai Cinema

Then, of course, there's the direction. While Sicario benefits from the more than solid direction from Denis Villeneuve, Sicario: Day of the Soldado kind of crumbles under the direction of my fellow countryman Stefano Sollima. He fails almost completely at delivering drama and tension, and the atmosphere never feels as threatening as it should feel. The result? A pretty boring film that cannot be saved with a few great performances, a great musical score and a beautiful cinematography. 

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Two years ago Deadpool completely changed the way we look at superhero movies, mainly because of its unique, hilarious and, yes, vulgar, approach to the genre. I'm one of those who loved it and yet I wasn't really looking forward to seeing Deadpool 2 because we all know how sequels go, especially when the first film is such a success. Luckily, Deadpool 2 is another hit. 

Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is still a mercenary who takes out the bad guys, and he still is in a relationship with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). When his life takes a terrible turn, he tries to find a new purpose with the help of the X-Men, but things take a turn for the worst when he sets out to protect a mutant kid, Russell (Julian Dennison), as the kid is hunted down by a time-traveller mutant named Cable (Josh Brolin).

The plot somehow manages to be even more simple than Deadpool's, it's rather disjointed and doesn't make a lot of sense --it kinda feels like the three writers, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds, never met nor bothered working together, and each wrote a piece of story-- and yet it is engaging and a tiny bit more unpredictable. Also, unlike its predecessor's where it was all about revenge, Deadpool 2's plot even has some morals. 

The messy and unfocused plot though doesn't leave a lot of room for character development, which leaves us with many one-dimensional characters it's difficult to care about. Also, the characters from the first film return but their screen time is cut down to make room for the new characters, most of which --the mutants Deadpool assembles-- are forgettable, not to mention the non-existent villain. On the other hand, Deadpool is given the opportunity to grow as a person, and some of the new characters are pretty awesome, especially Domino, the mutant whose superpower is being lucky, as she adds a lot of excitement to the film. 

20th Century Fox

As for the cast, Reynolds does not disappoint and gives another brilliant, humorous performance as the titular anti-hero; Josh Brolin is a blast as Cable, and the fact that he also plays Thanos makes him the perfect cast for the role; Zazie Beets gives a sassy and sarcastic performance as Domino that will easily win you over. The other actors also do a good job, and the chemistry between them is impressive.

The sense of humour is the same of the first film, still crude, with plenty of pop culture references ranging from The Passion of Christ to Batman vs. Superman to other Marvel superheroes, and slapstick, and it works just as well. Deadpool 2 is indeed pretty hilarious. 

The action sequences are beautifully choreographed --one of the guys who killed John Wick's dog directed this film, after all-- and exciting. And at last, the soundtrack, still very 1980s, is awesome and each song fits its scene. 

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Though I couldn't wait to see all those characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to meet in one film directed by the Russo brothers (and to see Chris Evans and his glorious beard on the big screen), I had some reservations about the Avengers: Infinity War. Instead of getting part 1 and part 2 as we were promised years ago, we got only one movie. Actually, we got two movies squeezed together and the result isn't that good.

Intergalactic despot Thanos (Josh Brolin) is determined to collect all of the Infinity Stones in order to bend reality to his will and the now-torn-apart Avengers must team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop Thanos before he puts an end to half the universe.

Without diving into plot details, that's what the Russo brothers want, I'll only say that Avengers: Inifity War's plot is simple, definitely too thin and so very thought through. It isn't always engaging nor interesting (my mind was wondering multiple times and it wasn't only when Chris Evans was on screen) and because of the way the multiple storylines are handled and the fast cuts, instead of feeling like a single story, it feels like a collection of stories, fragmented stories.

With all those main characters reunited in one movie, it was obvious that some would be left behind. Unfortunately, it feels like they all were left behind. Some characters arcs are developed --Wanda finally gets the attention she deserves-- but overall, there's not much development and no one gets enough screen time. However, the superheroes are one of the reasons I still enjoyed Avengers: Infinity War. While the merging of storylines is handled poorly, the interaction between characters from different movies --the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Wakanda-- works very well. These alone are probably worth the money as it's these moments that bring a lot of effective humour into the film. And of course, the fact that the cast has a wonderful chemistry helps a lot.

As for Thanos, I'm not sure how I feel about him. On the one hand, I appreciate that they gave him some backstory and that they showed an emotional, tender side of him; on the other hand, I don't like that he's given ridiculous motives and that we are even supposed to empathise with him. They tried to do what they did with Killmonger but I'm not sure it really worked this time. His sidekicks are terrible though. They are not even one-dimensional, they are zero-dimensional.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Other than that, I think it's safe for me to say that Avengers: Infinity War is a pretty solid film. It delivers plenty of humour, full of banters, Thor: Ragnarok-style, and you will definitely be laughing a lot during this. If you didn't like that about Thor: Ragnarok, you'll still be able to enjoy Avengers: Infinity War as the Russo brothers manage to deliver plenty of tension and suspense, and their combination of humour and drama is spot on. Yes, this is the kind of movie that you make you cry. A lot. Because, without spoiling anything, major characters you care about die in this one.

As for the action, there's a lot of it. Though its execution makes you think you're watching a Michael Bay film at some points, it's pretty good, entertaining and exciting. There's this scene with Thor that is beyond glorious. The epic battle scene from the trailer is missing though. The film is also visually beautiful and has a pretty good soundtrack --not as good as Guardians of the Galaxy's though.

And as I'm writing this, I realise Avengers: Infinity War isn't as bad as I first thought. Sure, it feels incomplete, more of a set up for the next Avengers movie than a movie, but it's still pretty fun and entertaining.

Sicario (2015)

I remember seeing the trailer to Sicario in cinemas back in 2015 and thinking, "damn, that looks good", then somehow I managed to miss it and for some reason or another I kept putting it off. In the meantime, I watched Hell or High Water and Wind River, both written (and the latter also directed) by Taylor Sheridan and having loved both I figured it'd make sense to check out his first work. Also, this movie is getting a sequel this year and it's basically one of the most anticipated films of the year so, yeah, I had to watch this. 

After surviving an explosion following the discovery of a house with dozens of corpses, idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) joins a special anti-drugs task force run by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) that operates on the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. With the help of the mysterious Columbian-born Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), their ultimate goal is the capture or kill of cartel boss Manuel Diaz (Bernardo P. Saracino).

There's a lot more to the plot but saying anything else would spoil the film if you haven't seen it yet. Anyway, it's a pretty simple and straightforward plot, there are some twists along the way but nothing jaw-dropping and yet it keeps you glued to the screen, guessing what will happen next, what the objective of the mission really is until it unravels at the end. What's more important is the message the story delivers. In a few words, it says that all the U.S. and other foreign involvment in the war on drugs has only made the situation worse.

What makes the story more interesting is that we see it through the eyes of an ingenué, someone who believes it's all black and white and that there's nothing in between. That's what makes the main character, Kate Macer, so interesting too. The character is paper-thin, with no development whatsoever --we only learn that she is divorced and hasn't had a man in years. She is completely irrelevant to the story, many said, but she isn't. *SPOILER*If you follow the story instead of, I don't know, thinking about how hot Emily Blunt is or whatever, then you know there's a reason for her to be in the film, and it's to legitimize the operation of the CIA because they cannot operete on domestic soil without a federal agent*SPOILER* Also, her being the typical agent who always follows the rules allows us to see the collision between the black and white and makes the blurry line between good and evil more clearly. Emily Blunt does a really good job at capturing the struggle and inner conflict of her character, her difficulty to adapt.

Lionsgate

The other main characters are thin too, especially Josh Brolin's Matt Graver who comes off just as an asshole. Benicio del Toro's Alejandro is given some backstory but he doesn't have any more depth that Brolin's. That said, both actors, especially del Toro, give good performances. Some of the other members of the cast, Daniel Kaluuya and Jon Bernthal, also make a good use of their small screen time.

In addition to Sheridan's screenplay and soling acting, Sicario also benefits from Denis Villeneuve's direction. The guy knows how to build tension and the movie shows it. Though there aren't enormously tense scenes, Villeneuve managed to keep the tension high thoughtout the entire film and delivered some nice and tense action sequences.

The film also has an outstading score by the late Johann Johannsson, amazing sound editing, and a flawless cinematography by (finally Academy Award winner) Roger Deakin.

Watch: Edgy New Trailer For EVEREST !

Definitely a movie made for 3D! Some of these shots are simply spectacular.

We see some angles that would make Sir Edmund Hillary himself shudder I'm sure! I'm intrigued with the casting as well; looks like a wonderful performance from Jason Clarke. You can feel the obsession in them all.

Here's the movie's storyline:
Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival. The epic adventure stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Everest is directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns, Contraband) and produced by Working Title Films’ Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, Cross Creek Pictures’ Brian Oliver and Tyler Thompson, as well as Nicky Kentish Barnes and Kormákur.

Universal Pictures presentation of Everest is adapted for the screen by William Nicholson (Gladiator) and Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire).

The film was shot on location in Nepal on the foothills of Everest, the Italian Alps and at Cinecittà Studios in Rome and Pinewood Studios in the U.K.

EVEREST opens in RealD 3D, IMAX 3D and flat on September 18. 

Robert Rogriguez On Native 3D For SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Great news - Bruce Willis (Hartigan) is returning to the SIN CITY franchise in co-director Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR. Joining him is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Melonni, Jaime King, Jamie Chung and Dennis Haysbert.

Rodriguez addressed the native 3D shoot with MTV:
"We shot this in 3D. We didn’t shoot Sin City in 3D. I wouldn’t want to convert that one probably. The difference in shooting it is just… you can’t even compare. Because this is a very two dimensional world it’s very stylised. To see that kind of stylisation in 3D will blow people’s mind."

Here's a brief storyline from Amazon:
Stuck with nothing but a seedy gumshoe job and some demons, Dwight's thinking of all the ways he's screwed up and what he'd give for one clear chance to wipe the slate clean, to dig his way out of the numb gray hell that is his life. And he'd give anything. Just to feel the fire. One more time. But he can't let himself lose control again, can't ever let the monster out. And then Ava calls.

Can't wait to see this franchise in 3D for the first time - it's practically begging for the third dimension! SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR opens on October 4. 

3D Geek Alert: Get A Free Ticket To See MEN IN BLACK III With A Pre-Order Of The Blu-ray

Amazon's got a pretty good deal going on right now for the first 10,000 customers who pre-order the Men In Black 3 Blu-ray from them before June 25, 2013. This will undoubtedly sell out fast, so if you plan on getting the Blu-ray anyway - go for it!

Here's what Amazon says about the deal:

Be one of the first 10,000 customers to pre-order Men in Black 3 on Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D at Amazon.com between May 23, 2012 and June 25, 2012 and receive a promotional code that you can redeem by July 5, 2012 for a certificate valid for one admission up to $10 to see the movie at participating theaters. Terms and conditions apply.

• Step 1: Complete your pre-order of Men in Black 3 on Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D between May 23, 2012 and June 25, 2012.
• Step 2: If you are one of the first 10,000 to pre-order, you will receive an e-mail within 48 hours containing your promotional code, click the link contained in the email to go to http://www.sonymoviecash.com/mib3 and redeem your promotional code by July 5, 2012. 
• Step 3: On the http://www.sonymoviecash.com/mib3, website follow the instructions to enter your promotional code and other required information and print your certificate. 

Sounds like a great deal to me. THE AVENGERS gave away poster at the midnight screenings but this deal of a free ticket AND potentially seeing a 6 minute clip of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN at the screening tonight is adding up to a really good deal!

Thanks to /Film for the heads up!