Movie Review - Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

Starring: 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, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Martin Freeman, and more.

Directed by: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo Screenplay by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Comic Book by: Mark Millar Based on Characters Created by: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Cinematography by: Trent Opaloch Music by: Henry Jackman 

Premise: The United Nations has introduced a measure to make the Avengers missions fall under an oversight committee. Split on whether this would be a good thing or not, the team suffers a further rift when a bomb explodes during the UN meeting to ratify the measure and a grainy picture of someone resembling Bucky is caught on camera. The UN puts out a find and kill order, but Cap wants to try to bring him in alive. But there's more going on than any of them realize. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of our favorite people are back and we meet some new ones as well. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. are great together as their characters' strong wills clash even as they desperately try to cling to their friendship. Scarlett Johansson can speak volumes with a raised eyebrow! Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa was a great choice. And loved to see Martin Freeman thrown into the mix as well. (Especially since his partner Sherlock will be the next Dr. Strange!)

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Lots to love from the special effects department! The sequence with Tony Stark as an eighteen year old looked just like him! Amazing work.

All the mix of tech and super powers in mass battle looked awesome. Especially with Antman's couple of surprises at the airport. Talk about a battle! Ant-man playing inside Tony's armor? Priceless.

The russian lab and the underwater supermax prison were very cool. Both look super tough. And all of Falcon's awesome toys - I want them! Drool.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: I'd worried a bit about the plot from what I'd seen in the previews. But overall it wasn't as bad as I'd feared it might be and they did have several surprises. As usual, though, the devil is in the details - and the details tend to be the first thing ignored when it gets in the way of causing trouble. One grainy photo and no one bothers to do actual research and police work? Please. Later it happens, but not where it should have. Most won't notice the oversight as the non-stop action goes at super speed.

Another minor issue is lack of communication - even amongst willful guys. It was yet another convenient item left out until too late - no one even tried saying Bucky didn't do it even after he told Cap as much. They were busy, but not that busy. And no one even tried to prove it one way or the other.

A lot of the driving force on the plot is the first initial rift with regards to the UN and the perceived lack of caring by the Avengers. While all these items kept getting brought up about how people were killed and things were destroyed, not once did anyone even try to point out how many more would have died had Wanda done nothing, or how many thousands would have been hurt or killed if they'd let the bad guys run off with the infectious disease they stole. Ultron or the aliens - hundreds of thousands to millions of dead if gone unchecked. While I grieve, and so do the heroes, for the deaths of the innocents, how many more would there have been if the Avengers did nothing? Reality bites, but the facts should not be ignored either.

Aside from that, the driving emotions and personalities seemed pretty spot on. Though the fact they wait to the very end for someone to finally mention Bucky is a VICTIM was yet another omission for convenience. So while I understood Tony's rage, I couldn't quite see that he'd go as far as he did because he knew about Bucky's brainwashing. But for whatever reason friends against friends seem to be the thing in all the plots lately.

Ton of fun moments! Ton of awesome one liners! Great introduction for the Black Panther! Lots of fun interaction between the characters. And I loved Cap's note to Tony at the end and Tony's indirect, yet totally meaningful response.

Oh, and Spidey's suggestion from that "old movie" and them doing it? Awesome!

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: Between the hand-to-hand combat, car chases, stairwell chases, air chases, and more - there is a ton to love from the stunt department. Real and imagined. :)

5) Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Lovely job on the cinematography. Cool angles and some lovely sweeping scenes so we could enjoy the action from any number of vantage points. Nice!

Conclusion: "Captain America: Civil War" is filled with awesome CGI work and magnificent battles and chases. A few bits were a little contrived, but they were in the minority and there were definitely unexpected surprises. This was a fun ride! (Two extra scenes so stay all the way through the credits!)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price to See Again!)

Movie Review - The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book

Starring: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, and more.

Directed by: Jon Favreau Screenplay by: Justin Marks Based on the Novels by: Rudyard Kipling Cinematography by: Bill Pope Music by: John Debney

Premise: When the tiger, Shere Khan, finds out the wolves are protecting Mowgli, a man cub, he gives an ultimatum - give him the child to kill or he will kill other jungle denizens until his will is met. Trying to protect his jungle family, Mowbli leaves with his protector, the panther named Bagheera, who plans to take the boy to a man village where he can be safe from Shere Khan. The ruthless tiger, however, has other plans. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: The film has a lot of well known actors doing the voices for the animals. All the choices fit quite well. Scarlett Johansson was fabulous as Kaa - she gave the boa constrictor just the right amounts of sexy-scary. Lovely voice during her song as well. 

Bill Murray was a great choice for Baloo - he created a lovely impish tone for the character. :) Another fun matchup was Christopher Walken as King Louie - especially when he breaks out in song! lol. Lovely performance. 

2) Special Effects/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: The Disney-Pixar team did a great job on the look and feel of the film. The jungle and its different areas felt real and so did the animals. The creatures moved as their real counterparts would and even made their mouth movements look quite natural. Mowgli, the only real person in the film, was seamlessly woven into tapestry created for us with the CGI animation. Nice work!

While some of the animals represented were from familiar species, the animators also brought in many unfamiliar ones as well. Watching the movements and habits of those new species proved quite fascinating!

I totally loved what they did for Kaa and King Louie. Kaa was mesmerizing and the animators came up a lovely way to emulate and make sinister the snake's hypnotic gaze. Loved how they then took it and swirled the reality of the red flower to show the audience a glimpse into Mowgli's past. King Louie was huge! The detail on the orangutan was amazing. And wait till you see him move!

There's a nice bit of fun during the closing credits. (And more Christopher Walker singing! lol.)

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: It's been a very long time since I've seen the Disney's original animated version of the Jungle Book. I don't believe I ever read the series the film is based on - so definitely can't add any opinions from that angle. But for those who grew up with the 1967 animated version, I think you'll be quite pleased - especially as they actually redid several of the songs from the original. 

The film starts you out with action to try to create a sense of urgency but since the audience doesn't yet know any of the characters, it didn't seem to come across exactly as intended. No real surprises in the beginning part of the film and despite several tense or dangerous situations, the film didn't really take off for me until we meet Kaa. Totally adored the whole scene in that part of the jungle. And then matters picked up again once Baloo comes on the scene. 

Multiple themes play during the film - family, belonging, being accepted for who you are (or despite what you are), the fact that despite each others's differences some of them can also be strengths. 

My only true complaint was the typical superfast return effect sometimes used in plots. Though it took days to get to where Mowgli ended up (and the fact he got there on ox back and river speed travel), when the time comes form him to come back - he made it in super record time. The something he decided to take along back with him, wouldn't have lasted that long a trek. You'll see. Still, overall it, the point is easy to overlook. The film was definitely enjoyable.

Conclusion: If you're a fan of the old animated film, you'll find plenty to like and lots to feel nostalgic about. (Bear necessities will follow you home!) Yes, they bring back several of the songs! For those who've never seen it, though, you're in for a neat treat!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Lucy

Lucy 

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Pilou Asbæk, Analeigh Tipton, and more.

Directed by: Luc Besson Written by: Luc Besson Cinematography by: Thierry Arbogast Music by: Eric Serra

Premise: Studying and partying overseas, Lucy gets forced by her new boyfriend to deliver undisclosed goods in a briefcase to a client. Then her boyfriend is killed before her eyes and Mr. Jang, Richard's client, abducts her. A new product is about to hit the market and Mr. Jang is making sure nothing goes wrong. So Lucy, with three others, is forced to have surgery so they can act as mules for delivering the new drug  into four other countries. When she slaps one of her captors for taking advantage, he stupidly beats her and ruptures the bag inside her. Rather than die of an overdose, Lucy's mind opens, using more of its potential. But the very drug that has opened her world is killing her, so the race to reach 100% brain use before she dies is on. Mr. Jang, however, is not to be thwarted so easily. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Scarlett Johansson should get an Oscar for her work on the first fifteen minutes or so of the film. There is never any doubt that she is a woman utterly terrified by the predicament she finds herself in. She literally shook with her character's fear. A truly amazing piece of acting on her part.

Later in the film, her awesome work in the beginning creates a masterful contrast to the calm, almost detached manner as her character changes. Min-Sik Choi gave me goose bumps. And in a fun turn, he's super calm and cold at the beginning, but by the end of the film he's a frothing madman. Amr Waked was fun as the French police captain caught in the whirlwind that is Lucy 2.0. Morgan Freeman was Morgan Freeman - need I say more?

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects teams did a great job on this film. From the cool cell subdivision sequences to the bubbling organic computer, there were lots of great visuals going on. They also did a great job playing with time and locations as the audience follows Lucy during different sections of her expanding mind. The disassembly of the buildings as time flowed backwards was a very nice sequence. Lucy losing cohesion in the plane was another great bit of CGI.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: Mr. Besson plays a lot with contrasts and contradictions in the film. As I touched on earlier, there's a swapping dichotomy between the character of Lucy and Mr. Jang. You can even see some the same play between Mr. Jang and Captain Pierre, as one can't accept and rebels against the current reality, while the other adapts. There's even a nice loop effect is woven in with regards to Lucy's name.

Some interesting themes get explored - life, death, how to measure worth, what helps keep us human. Yet all the deep talk and themes are wrapped in so much action there's never time to breathe, let alone get bored.

One gimmick employed in the film, especially at the beginning, was the shift of topics without them actually being a real shift. As Lucy argues with her boyfriend about not wanting to do him a favor, then Morgan Freeman lectures about theories with regards to the brain's potential, moving shots or nature, and back again to shifting between each other again - at first the action seems random, but it all slowly coalesces into a tightly related whole. And while this has been tried before and not always to good effect, the use of it in this film was pulled off well and to good effect.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: "Lucy" is filled with stunts. Murder, shoot outs, car chases, airport chases, full out gun battles in hospital hallways and places of learning. They even fire off a bazooka indoors!

Then we have Lucy - with stabbings, beatings, pinning people to ceilings, throwing them across the room, crashing cars, and more stunt inducing fun. Oh, yeah.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: From the streets of Taipei to the streets of Paris, the film had a great variety of locations and flavors. Some good panoramic shots really enhanced the experiences shared with us as Lucy continued on her mental voyage.

Conclusion: "Lucy" is a non-stop thrill ride. Some nice thought provoking science mixed with ugly reality wrapped around a ton of action. The R rating should be taken seriously where kids are concerned. There were enough stunts and flying lead to fill any action film buff's cravings and more.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Movie Review - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Maximiliano Hernández, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Stan Lee and more.

Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo Screenplay by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Concept and Story by: Ed Brubaker Based on the Comics by: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Cinematography by: Trent Opaloch Music by: Henry Jackman

Premise: Still trying to acclimatize himself to the 21st century, Steve Rogers struggles to find his place and purpose in the world as SHIELD's methods don't quite fit with his own ideals on freedom and how to protect it. But when Director Fury shows up at his home wounded and with killers on his trail, Steve finds out that some things in the modern world aren't all that different from the one during World War II. (Rated PG-13)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: New and familiar faces grace the cast. Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson reprise their roles as Captain America, Nick Fury, and Black Widow. Some nice dynamics develop between these three characters which made them a lot of fun to watch, especially as these dynamics are sorely tested. Robert Redford was in top form as Alexander Pierce - great to have him back acting in films. Sebastian Stan could not have been more cool.

2)  Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: Lots of explosions, gadgets, virtual HUDs, and other lovely special effects. Falcon's wings totally rocked. They even got creative with the uses of Cap's shield. The look and feel of the Winter Soldier's metallic arm was excellent.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: I was quite happy when I saw the same script writers for "Captain America: The First Avenger" worked on this film as well. Out of the whole franchise of Marvel heroes, that film is still my overall favorite. But though it may not have topped itself, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is definitely up there on my list.

If you haven't yet watched the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." episode that aired on 4/8/14 called "Turn, Turn, Turn" - you should wait and not watch it until AFTER you've seen "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." There are spoilers in there which will give the big plot complication away.

Lots of surprises are hidden in the film, and they range from small to world changing. The film is filled with many cute moments as well - Black Widow playing matchmaker, Sam Wilson's and Steve Rogers's literal 'running' joke, and more.

Several themes are explored and from a number of levels - trust, loyalty, family, right and wrong. Paying your dues. What was fun about these was the fact they didn't always have something to do with the good guys.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: There are stunts, stunts, and more fun stunts in this film. All the combat sequences are excellently executed with and without CGI. The hand-to-hand combat was awesome to behold. Combined with the special effects and explosions, the 'gags' are totally riveting and keep you 'on the edge of your seat'.

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Filming in Washington DC as well as different parts of Cleveland, OH and elsewhere, all the locations added the right look and feel for the film. Then they took these real locations, added some creative CGI backgrounds, buildings, and giant, floating ships, and you're served a sumptuous visual feast.

Conclusion: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is a lot of fun to watch. Darker than the first film, it is also in its own way a commentary on simpler times that really weren't so simple. Great combat scenes and special effects. Make sure to sit through the credits ALL the way to the end - there are two extra bits tucked in there.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price To See Again.)

Movie Review - her

her

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Matt Letscher, Olivia Wilde, Artt Butler, May Lindstrom, and more.

Directed by: Spike Jonze Written by: Spike Jonze Cinematography by: Hoye Van Hoytema Music by: Arcade Fire Additional Music by: Owen Pallett

Premise: Still suffering after the unexpected end of his marriage, Theodore is depressed and in denial. When he sees an ad for a new artificial intelligence OS, he buys it in the hopes of gaining a companion, even if only a programmed one. 'Samantha' however, ends up becoming more than he ever expected. (Rated R)

Review:

1)  Acting - Thumbs Up: Joaquim Phoenix did a good job as the emotionally stunted and unhappy Theodore, and an even better one projecting against a tiny, portable electronic device. Scarlett Johnasson was fabulous as the voice of Samantha, her voice came across so filled with emotion it didn't matter that she wasn't physically there.

2) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: The story of Theodore and his growing relationship with Samantha is very much an introspective on what makes relationships, but also the definitions of what make us human. This film definitely won't be for everyone, as it is very subjective, and much is left for the audience to decide or envision.

The pace was slow, though I didn't find it inordinately so. The science was a little 'iffy', but again not overtly so. There were many moments filled with humor, and several scenes where something normal was made surreal.

Theodore's job was mind boggling - getting paid to write (with minimal information) other people's letters to family, spouses, and friends. Some of them had been hiring the firm for so long, Theodore helped build the back story to details or affectations they looked back at fondly years later.

Oddly, while incredibly expressive in these letters, in his own life, Theodore is unable to express himself well at all.

Various themes run solidly through the story, most circling around relationships. The next biggest one is not obvious right away, but takes center stage by the end of the film - personal growth.

One of the most endearing characters in the film was voiced by Spike Jonze himself - a little alien boy from Theodore's 3D game. Watching Theodore, the alien boy, and Samantha all interact together was an unexpected treat.

3) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: Set in the near future, the choices for locations for the different scenes were excellent. Theodore's apartment has a fantastic view, as if he can see the world but is protected from it by the glass around him. His furniture and decor were half hazard, as if it too suffered from his malaise.

There are vistas from Shanghai and California, and many of them taken from outstanding vantage points. What was around Theodore whenever he ventured out was as entertaining, and sometimes more so, than what was going on.

4) Music - Total Thumbs Up: I totally loved how they integrated the music accompanying the film into the story itself. They did this by making them selections Theodore made, or music created by Samantha to preserve poignant moments. It all fit very well.

Conclusion: "her" is a deep introspective on relationships and personal growth. It's also an odd film. Some will find it worthwhile, but others wont. Either way though, it was definitely thought provoking.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better for Matinee)