Heroes deliver battles and emotions in 'Captain America: Civil War'

Part of the fun with the movies released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been having front row seats to seeing our favorite comic book heroes team up, pitching quippy, barbed insults at one another. When they are not taking on eccentric villains like Loki, the genocidal robot Ultron, or running their own world-wide missions, they seem to enjoy taking each other down a notch in their spare time. They are definitely a family. Even during the first Avengers film, you get the sense that, like most families, they didn't always like one another. All that underground tension has to reach a head. Despite this being the third entry into our favorite all-American hero, Captain America: Civil War is essentially a third Avengers movie (or Avengers 2.5) - it's also the best Marvel movie yet.

Directed by the Russo Brothers - who turned the last Captain America outing, Winter Soldier, into a surprisingly interesting espionage political thriller - the film is another timely parable during an interesting period in the real world. With our current election season underway, the U.S. electorate is as scarily divided as ever. In the Marvel Universe, the heroes face a similar issue in their form of a superhero registration act, titled the Sokovia Accords. After a casualty-heavy destructive mission involving the new team of Avengers in Lagos, Nigeria, at the beginning of the film (coming on top of Age of Ultron's floating heap of collateral damage in the fictional town of Sokovia), the world's governments seek to rein in the rogue crimefighters and put them under the watch of the U.N. This creates a moral and political rift between two superhero leaders: Chris Evans' Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Robert Downey, Jr's Tony Stark (Iron Man). This might sound familiar but Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely update the hand-me-down with airtight logic and freshness with the heroes - also bringing a sense of fun and joy among all of the heavy drama that was obviously missing from the other superhero face-off, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The divide comes when Stark, riddled with guilt over past mistakes, agrees to the U.N.'s leash-tightening plans, while Rogers, given his recent experience with the government and his morals, believes the Avengers should remain independent. With the moral lines drawn, the rest of the Avengers are left to choose where they stand: Paul Bettany's Vision and Don Cheadle's War Machine line up with Stark; Anthony Mackie's Falcon, Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch side with Rogers. Rogers' long-time war hero and best friend, Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier (now good guy Bucky Barnes), resurfaces, facing unfair judgment before his friend from Brooklyn rescues and recruits him. He also pulls in Paul Rudd's Ant-Man (who makes a hilarious outing) to his cause. Scarlett Johannson's Black Widow is stuck between her two comrades but does not get lost in the shuffle. To avoid things from getting stale, two long-awaited newcomers make their debut - Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. I can't say enough about these performances, adding welcome doses of gravitas and light to the super-sibling battle. Marvel definitely did justice to each character, giving each a shining moment.

Chris Evans, in his 4th starring role as the character and his fifth overall, delivers another great performance as the heroic man out of time, Captain America. He's an honorable man, one you would definitely want in the foxhole with you. His honor and steadfast belief in his morals builds his characterization with his loyalty and dedication to his friends and humanity. Robert Downey Jr has become the biggest star of the MCU and the addition of him, not only as an "antagonist" but one fighting his own mistakes, propels Civil War into the stratosphere in popularity. Stark's motivation comes from his mistakes, most recently with the fallout from Age of Ultron, helps logically define the stance on superhuman registration for the audience. Downey definitely delivers in the emotion his character feels throughout the film, especially towards the end.

Plotwise, there is a lot of ground to cover in Civil War, just like the comic book story it's loosely based one. The Russo Brothers juggle all of the motivations and shifting alliances with impressive skill. While the previous two Avengers films were amazing in their own ways, there was always that tendency to feel a bit overwhelmed by the plethora of characters. There were too many balls up in the air, even for Joss Whedon to all keep juggling. Civil War generously gives everyone in the cast their own moment or just enough to do, whether it's showcasing their skills during the large comic book page collision and battle royal at the Leipzig Airport or having small character developmental conversations with the veterans of the mega-franchise. Even rookies such as Boseman's soberly but vengeful Black Panther and Holland's promising Spider-Man get their just do, leaving fans craving for their first solo movie outings. Marvel still has a villain problem outside of Loki as shown with the so-so villain, Daniel Bruhl's Helmut Zemo but he does serve his purpose. While you would like to think that no matter how heated things get, all will be forgiven in the end. Whether or not that's the case is not something I'm going to spoil for you here. You will just have to see the movie.

Honestly, I can't say enough about this movie.  It changed up their formula and showed that even a superhero film can pull at the hearts of fans and it's not always against good versus evil. I am unapologetically Team Cap and still am after this film. The morality and honor Steve displays just makes you want to join his side. However, going towards the end, you understand each side and can sway even the most loyal of followers on either side of the argument. The repercussions of this movie will have significance in the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; to what extent, we won't know yet. I would recommend seeing this movie. Marvel has hit the ground running with Phase Three of their universe. I would rate this at least a 9.5 out of 10. Please leave any questions or comments and what you thought of the film once you see it, no matter if you are Team Cap or Team Iron Man!

Summer's Most Anticipated

This Friday, May 6, 2016, officially begins the Summer Movie Season with Earth's Mightiest Heroes battling each other in Captain America: Civil War (#TeamCap!). This superhero ensemble film will begin the summer movie season with a bang as the heroes work out their issues. That seems to be a running theme in some of the other high-profile movies of the summer with Matt Damon raging again as Jason Bourne, Idris Elba unleashes fury on the Enterprise  in Star Trek Beyond, the Suicide Squad's anger issues, and some nasty ghouls challenging Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig in Ghostbusters. Thankfully, this summer is also packing plenty of joy and magic, too.

So here is my list of the 10 most anticipated films of this summer.

10) Central Intelligence - June 17

Movie Megastar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been making a lot of noise in recent years in Hollywood, becoming one of its most bankable stars. Teaming up with one of the funniest men on the planet will seriously test his comedic chops in this action-comedy. Bob Stone (Johnson), a one-time bullied, overweight geek has grown up to be a lethal CIA agent enlists the help of the former "big man on campus" Calvin (Hart), now an accountant who misses his glory days when they attend their high school reunion that turns into more either of them bargained for. No doubt this movie will be an enjoyable laugh-riot of a film.

9) The BFG - July 1

The first theatrical adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel is directed by Steven Spielberg (E.T., The Adventures of Tintin, Jurassic Park) and tells the tale of a young girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) who befriends a friendly giant named the BFG (Mark Rylance) as they set out on an adventure to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world. This is a return to audiences seeing the childlike imagination of Spielberg and giving children not familiar with his earlier works a showing of the wonders in magic, fantasy, and imagination.

8) Star Trek Beyond - July 22

Justin Lin (Fast and Furious 3-6) assumes the director role of the third installment of the Star Trek reboot series. Little has been revealed about the third film but from the initial teaser trailer, Idris Elba's big bad Krall is going to take it to the crew of the Enterprise and Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) like no one has before. The Enterprise herself looks to face certain doom and the crew seems to be stranded on a planet where they will have to fight to survive. Let's hope another trailer will come out between now and then.

7) Ghostbusters - July 15

Another reboot is set to launch this summer and...I'm still on the fence about it, personally. Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) are Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, two women who co-authored the book about the paranormal but are laughed at for their belief. When ghosts attack Manhattan (gotta love New York!), the two team with a nuclear engineer, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and a subway worker, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), to save the world. I already know that this will be held to the standard of the original Ghostbusters, fair or not, so I might go into this with level expectations.

6) X-Men: Apocalypse - May 27

I should have put this in my top five and I honestly considered it but I tried not to have a competition in judging these films. The X-men film series is one of the most successful film franchises and I have a deep soft spot for these mutants since I was a child. The reboot series has renewed my faith in how 20th Century Fox is handling these Marvel Comics pillars. Now, Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrenece, in her final X-men film) will lead a young team of fan favorite characters against the greatest and most powerful mutant of all, Apocalypse (Oscar Issac), and must contend with his "four horsemen", including an all-powerful Magneto (Michael Fassbender). I hope this movie continues to build on the success the reboot series has already made.

5) Finding Dory - June 17

In 2003, Disney/Pixar released a film about a lost clown fish called Finding Nemo. The film became critically acclaimed and a fan favorite with children and adults (speaking personally). It also gave birth to a fan favorite character named Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres). Thirteen years later, DeGeneres reprises her role of the forgetful blue fish in this sequel. Set six months after Finding Nemo, Dory suddenly recalls her childhood memories and sets out to find her family. Albert Brooks reprises his role as the father clown fish, Marlin, who joins his friend along with his son, Nemo. I'm unsure if this movie will meet the same success as its predecessor, but it's sure sure to be another classic for children and adults to enjoy this summer.

4) Independence Day: Resurgence - June 24

 Speaking of long awaited sequels, it seems as though a generation has waited for this one to finally arrive. In 1996, the world witnessed the box office hit, Independence Day. It set the bar for global disaster films to follow and made sci-fi cool again. After languishing in developmental hell in Hollywood for twenty years, we finally see the world after the defeat of the aliens. The Earth is more united and has a global defense force using weapons reverse-engineered from the remains of the alien forces from the previous film. While we had twenty years to prepare, the aliens did as well. And they return to Earth looking for payback with a larger and more powerful battle fleet. The sequel features returning stars Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, and Vivica A. Fox. It welcomes Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games film series), Sela Ward (The Day After Tomorrow, CSI: NY), and newcomer Jessie Usher (Starz TV series Survivor's Remorse) as the adult stepson of Will Smith's character. This film will most likely be a financial success and while it would have been great to have Will Smith return, I doubt he's worried since his summer movie slate is already covered.

3) Suicide Squad - August 5

DC Comics is really getting traction on its DC Extended Universe and, depending on how this film goes, it could really get going. Despite how some comic book fans and critics think, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a financial success. Suicide Squad seeks to build on that. A secret government agency, led by Amanda Waller (ABC How to Get Away with Murder's Viola Davis), assembles Task Force X by recruiting imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops in exchange for clemency and saving the world from an unknown but powerful threat. The trailer has not revealed this threat but we do know the team runs into a lot a danger on this mission. It's still unknown the purpose that the Joker (Jared Leto) will play but I'm sure it'll be prominent, especially with Batman (Ben Affleck) making a cameo. The trailers remind me of Marvel's successful Guardians of the Galaxy whenever I watch it, especially with the music selection. Let's see if this film, starring a cast that includes Will Smith and Margot Robbie, will be as popular.

2) Jason Bourne - July 29

The name of the movie says it all. After nine years away, Matt Damon reprises his role as the dangerous spy, Jason Bourne. From the first trailer, Bourne has been in hiding since the events of Ultimatum but something bring him out and Jason seems to be as dangerous as ever. The world Bourne is entering is not the one he remembers as the world is faced with unprecedented instability. In my opinion, this world is coming at an excellent time as far as how the society we live in now can affect a person. Julia Stiles returns with Damon and they are joined by an all-star cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel, and Academy Award winning Best Supporting Actress Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl). At first, Damon wasn't going to make a return without Greengrass and a good script but Greengrass returning as director, I doubt this film will disappoint.

1) Captain America: Civil War - May 6

No surprise here, right? In my opinion, the number one movie of this summer is four days away on May 6. The thirteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, third in the Captain America film series (potentially final), and the beginning Phase Three of this film franchise finds the heroes facing a surprising enemy: themselves. After the events of Age of Ultron, Captain America (Chris Evans) and his team of New Avengers face a government-issued registration act that fractures the team into opposing factions: one being led by Steve Rogers against the act, another led by Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) for the act. The trailers have been action packed, showing the standpoint of the two heroes and how we need to prepare of an amazing story of accountability, right and wrong, and friendships, and family. The Avengers, for all intents and purposes, are a family so this will be one reunion that will leave a lasting impression on the Universe. No matter the outcome, I doubt the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be the same ever again.

I hope you all go out to see these movies this summer. If there are any I missed, and I'm sure there are more than a few, please share them in the comments.

Enjoy, moviegoers!

War comes in final trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse

It seems as though 20th Century Fox and their Marvel camp is gearing up for a successful summer with the release of the final trailer for the next installment in the X-Men film series. The X-men have always been my favorite team in the superhero genre ever since the fan favorite animated television series of the 1990's. The films, first starting with X-Men in 2000, have been successful and gone through a prequel reboot with X-Men: First Class in 2011 and building on the groundwork from the original trilogy. As I've stated before, I do my best to not be blinded by my fandom. I was fan with a reboot after the critical disappointment of X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The reboot/prequel films have both been met with critical success from both newcomers to the series and long time fans of the mutant team. 

Now the team is set to return in the sequel, X-Men: Apocalypse. 

In this film, Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-men, including the younger versions of fan favorite characters Jean Grey (Game of Thrones Sophie Turner) and Scott Summers (Mud's Tye Sheridan), against the first and most powerful mutant of all, Apocalypse (Star Wars: The Force Awakens Oscar Isaac) when he sets his sights on destroying humanity and building a better world. The immortal mutant will not be alone as he is assisted by four "horsemen", including Xavier's former best friend, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender). 

The trailer does display some new footage, including some scenes that include another fan favorite Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and the returning Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who discovers his mutant lineage. But you'll really be surprised by another returning favorite; possibly the most popular X-man of them all and definitely the glue of the entire X-Men film universe.

It looks as though Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will be joining the battle. Right now, the extent and level of his involvement in this film is unknown. Wolverine was last seen in Days of Future Past being pulled out of the Potomac and is taken into custody by Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique, masquerading as the nefarious William Stryker (Josh Helman). Helman is also scheduled to return but whether or not it'll be Mystique or not will be revealed. 

Either way, it'll be great to see Jackman again before his final Wolverine solo film next year. I like this trailer and it has convinced me to see this film (I wasn't going to debate seeing it anyway after this length of time and involvement with these characters) but I will go in there with level expectations.

Please leave any comments about this post and any other posts and I'll reply as soon as possible.

X-men: Apocalypse hits theaters on May 27.

The Bare Necessities are still entertaining in the live remake of The Jungle Book

I think it is safe to say that no major studio has been firing on all cylinders than Disney lately. With the creative and successful resurrection of Star Wars, the continuing dominance of the Marvel films, and the continued genius of Pixar, the Mouse House has somewhat quietly been rummaging around in the back of its celluloid closet to give their animated classics an up-to-date live action makeover. Last year, director Kenneth Branagh splashed a fresh coat of colorful paint onto the Disney Princess classic Cinderella (a huge assist can be given to Helena Bonham Carter's enchanting Fairy Godmother and Cate Blanchett's cruel, wicked stepmother). Last weekend, it was The Jungle Book's turn in the live-action rotation; who would have guessed that it would turn into one of the biggest surprises of 2016.

The Jungle Book, based on books by Rudyard Kipling, stars the endearing 12-year-old Neel Sethi as Mowgli, the enthusiastic, chatty "man-cub" who was raised in the wild by a pack of wolves by Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong'o) after a fatherly black panther named Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) found him as an abandoned toddler. Mowgli was nurtured according to the communal code of the wolfpack and lives in peaceful harmony with the other animals of the jungle until a vengeful tiger, Shere Khan (Idris Elba with his east London-accented menace), comes looking for him. It turns out that Khan's scars are from burns from the "red flower" (the animals' term for fire) once wielded by Mowgli's father. He wants the boy handed over as tooth-for-a-tooth payback, otherwise the other jungle inhabitants will learn about the dark lesson in the circle of life.

In order to protect Mowgli, Bagherra decides to take him back to his people. Typically, things go awry along the way. Mowgli gets caught in the crushing embrace of a giant snake named Kaa (seductively voiced by Scarlett Johansson) before he falls in with a lazy, honey-loving, con-artist bear, Baloo (Bill Murray, delivering at his what-me-worry comic relief best), and then runs afoul of a tyrannical, Kong-sized ape  named King Louie (Christopher Walken, channeling both Jabba the Hutt and Don Corleone). All of the voices are not just great - it's perfect. The way that what's coming out of their mouths syncs up with the way their mouths move. It's the first animal talking movie where CGI seamlessly bridges the uncanny gap between fantasy and reality.

Directed by Jon Favreau, director of the first two Iron Man films, The Jungle Book is a tender and rollicking story that manages to lightly touch on some grown-up themes about man's destructive power and the loss of youthful innocence but not losing sight that this film is first and foremost a kids adventure - though this is definitely one that might be too scary and intense for younger kids. Looking back, I'm not sure if I had a huge problem with the film but I did have a minor one - and I do mean a minor one - is that this film needed to just be too faithful to its animated original. The difference between this adaptation and Cinderella is that the musical numbers from the princess's first animated did not make it into the live action remake. A pair of musical numbers (Baloo's "Bear Necessities" and Louie's "I Wanna Be Like You") came out of nowhere and stopped the momentum of the film. I had no problem with them but I feel like their were infused in for soundtrack purposes, especially for the fans of the original animated product. Overall, Favreau's Jungle Book is a wall-to-wall pleasure and shot beautifully, solidifying his place as a bankable director.

You Know His Name: Matt Damon reminds you in first action packed trailer for 'Jason Bourne'

There are certain roles that just seem meant or tailor made for certain actors. Sean Connery will always be James Bond. Harrison Ford will always be Indiana Jones and Han Solo. Matt Damon falls into this category as amnesiac spy, Jason Bourne. After the conclusion of 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum, it was unsure if Matt Damon would return as the lethal spy, claiming that he would not be interested in the role again because Damon saw Bourne's story being over.

Then news started to surface from there of Matt Damon looking to return with director Paul Greengrass for a fourth film but then reports floated of Greengrass looking for a new challenge, Damon not wanting to do the film without the director, and more put the film's future into limbo. In 2012, a new chapter was written in the series with The Bourne Legacy, starring pre-Avenger Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, Captain America: Civil War). The sequel was met with mixed reviews but more Bourne films were planned with the sequel of Legacy being the plan forward.

Then came the announcement that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass were returning. And here is a glimpse of what's to come from the duo.

From the trailer, it looks as though Jason Bourne has been hiding in the shadows since the events of The Bourne Ultimatum, avoiding detection. But something seems to draw him out and whatever Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) tells him bring Bourne back into the limelight. From looking at this trailer, it looks as though they are setting Bourne into the current, turbulent times that we currently live in with cyber warfare and economic upheaval. Given the current environment we are living in now, it seems it has hardened Jason Bourne and made him more ruthless when it comes to righting this world's wrongs.

Along with the two series mainstays of Damon and Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive, Captain America: The First Avenger), Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), and Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) joined the cast in the spy sequel. It may have been nine years since Matt Damon has been Bourne but given the scene of him tearing apart the Las Vegas Strip, the spy has not lost his touch.

Jason Bourne bursts into theaters on July 29, 2016.

Return to the Wizarding World with 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'

In case you missed the MTV Movie Awards (I forget they have these awards sometimes, considering it's MTV), Eddie Redmayne was on hand to debut some brand new footage in the official trailer for J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter prequel. The Oscar-winning actor spoke about the "most astounding time" he and the cast had in making this film. There is nothing better than an actor admitting he had fun during filming a movie and actually looking as though they mean it. So here is the new preview:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them documents the adventures of Newt Scamander in New York City in the 1920's and the wizarding community in America. From what we have seen in this preview, the American wizarding world is quite different from its modern, British counterpart. In this trailer, we get a little bit of Scamander's background that he was expelled from Hogwarts due to endangering human life, despite Albus Dumbledore's disagreement. We see Scamander arrive at Ellis Island, carrying the briefcase that seems to contains dangerous creatures. Thankfully, he is able to set it to "Muggle-worthy" before the inspector examines it. We also know that briefcase will not remain closed forever because some creatures will get out and we are given glimpses of them. 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set to be the first film in a new trilogy of films penned by Rowling so we will see where this magical adventure will take us. The film, which also stars Katherine Watson, Colin Farrell, and Ezra Miller, is set to open in theaters on November 18. 

The Suicide Squad Blitz shows an insane, action packed final trailer

Now after the commercial and worldwide financial success of Dawn of Justice, despite the huge drop off after its opening weekend, Warner Bros is prepared to unveil their next step in expanding their cinematic universe with the villains of that world. The previous trailers have introduced the roster for Task Force X and during the MTV Movie Awards a few says back, the stars of the movie introduced a new trailer...along with a possible fun soundtrack blended into the insane action.

The trailer, now known as the Blitz trailer, sees Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the government official with ties to Belle Reve prison, informing a meeting of government officials that a team of imprisoned villains to execute a covert mission in exchange for leniency. If they fail, the government disavows the team and takes no blame for their actions. The sneak peek also features an extended look at the misadventures of the "worst heroes ever," with more of Jared Leto's Joker, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, and Will Smith's Deadshot. We even get a bigger glimpse of Ben Affleck as Batman and the Batmobile. It's unknown how big of a role the Dark Knight will play against the villainous team. It wouldn't be right to have the Joker around and the Batman not to make an appearance. 

The remaining cast of comic book characters features Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and others. 

I will see this super villain flick when it comes out but like Dawn of Justice, I will keep my expectations level or low enough. I see this film as DC's answer to Marvel's successful Guardians of the Galaxy, especially with the entertaining and classic music building off of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the first full trailer, the new trailer includes Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" and Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz." Again, it feels like DC is trying to bank on the success that Marvel found with their band of intergalactic outlaws, especially with the inclusion of golden oldies in their trailers. We will all see. 

Suicide Squad enters theaters into August 5.