Captain America: Civil War Review

Synopsis
During a conflict in Lagos between the Avengers and Crossbones (Frank Grillo), an explosion takes the lives of many civilians. After this incident, the United Nations create the Sokovia Accords, which will put a UN board in charge of when and where the Avengers are deployed. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) feels that superpowered individuals should be held accountable for their own actions and the UN board will prevent the Avengers from helping the people that need it. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) thinks that the heroes need to be supervised. This difference of viewpoints creates a rift between the two friends and sends Steve on the run after his friend, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is accused of causing an explosion at a UN meeting.

Review
I think it is safe to say that Captain America: Civil War is probably the movie I have been looking forward to the most in the first half of 2016. Not only is it a Marvel movie but it is heavily influenced by my favorite comic event to date (and it introduces Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man). There was a lot for it to live up to and it passed with flying colors.

First, I want to address one of my fears going into this movie and it may be considered spoiler-ish, and is entirely based on my geeky side, so keep that in mind. When I heard that Frank Grillo would be returning as Crossbones and the movie would star Daniel Bruhl as Helmut Zemo (aka Baron Zemo), I was really concerned. In the Civil War comic, there is no villain. The conflict is entirely between Tony and Steve and their two viewpoints. I was concerned that towards the end, the two heroes would make up, hold hands and fight the pair of villains. That’s not what the Civil War story was about. It is about the difference in ideologies and at the end of the comic, both Tony and Steve were left in very interesting places. So I didn’t want the film to turn into this team-up at the end and not have any sort of ramifications going forward. That did not happen at all. By the end, there were real consequences that will have a huge impact on the MCU going forward. Thank you so much Marvel for understanding what made the source material one of your best events.

Although this has “Captain America” in the title, many superheroes made an appearance, it’s pretty much like a mini Avengers movie. However, since it does have “Captain America” in the title, much of the focus was on him. Even having Tony (Robert Downey, Jr.), a headliner of his own franchise, Steve (Chris Evans) was still front and center the entire time. Many of the other heroes didn’t linger on screen longer than they needed to. They did their part to move the story forward then got out of the way to allow Steve to be in the spotlight once more.

Despite its more serious story, Civil War still manages to inject Marvel’s signature humor into the film. It helps when Paul Rudd and a Spider-Man are in it. But all the humor didn’t come from these two. RDJ has always had a quirky Tony Stark, who gets a several joke in (though not as many as previous movies) and even Evans garnered a few laughs. Some might be getting tired of Marvel’s humor but I like it and I think it prevents their films from becoming too dark.

Speaking of Spider-Man, I think we might have our best movie version yet. Both Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield were good Spider-Men but they didn’t have the humor quite right (although this is more on the writing than it is on them). Tom Holland is the youngest Peter Parker yet and does absolutely wonderful. His discussion with Tony about why he became Spider-Man is very emotional and when he is fighting the other heroes, he talks non-stop, geeking out about being around the other heroes and their powers and gear. I was excited for Spider-Man: Homecoming before but now I am even more excited which I didn’t think was possible!

Kicking off Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the perfect time to make this movie. There aren’t any more Captain America movies on the horizon, nor are there any Iron Man movies happening anytime soon. Telling this story now gives a good perspective on how much these two characters have grown since we first met them eight years ago. This film builds off of the previous two Captain America, three Iron Man and two Avengers films. By the time Steve and Tony come to blows, we have a deep understanding of these characters, so their conflict has a ton of emotional weight behind it. Still being able to develop a character after about four movies is an amazing feat but doing it with two characters is truly impressive.

I thought Captain America: Civil War was GREAT :-D. Way back when, shortly after the release of The Avengers, I began thinking of story lines Marvel could adapt for their Avengers movies and Marvel’s Civil War was at the top of my list. However, I didn’t think It would happen because of the scale of the event (it literally touched every book Marvel published for months). But Marvel found a way to shrink down the event’s scale and still keep the core of the story, and what made it an engaging story, intact. The MCU is once again shaken up and leaves me excited to see what its future holds.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Anthony Russo – Director
Joe Russo – Director
Christopher Markus – Screenplay
Stephen McFeely – Screenplay
Henry Jackman – Composer

Chris Evans – Steve Rogers / Captain America
Robert Downey, Jr. – Tony Stark / Iron Man
Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Sevastian Stan – Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie – Sam Wilson / Falcon
Don Cheadle – Lieutenant James Rhodes / War Machine
Jeremy Renner – Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Chadwick Boseman – T’Challa / Black Panther
Paul Bettany – Vision
Elizabeth Olsen – Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Rudd – Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Emily VanCamp – Sharon Carter
Tom Holland – Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Daniel Bruhl – Helmut Zemo
Frank Grillo – Brock Rumlow / Crossbones
William Hurt – Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross
Martin Freeman – Everett K. Ross
Marisa Tomei – May Parker
John Kani – King T’Chaka
John Slattery – Howard Stark
Hope Davis – Maria Stark
Alfre Woodard – Miriam
Kerry Condon – FRIDAY (voice)

Iron Man 2 Review

Review #111

Synopsis
Six months after revealing himself as Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) is dying from the arc reactor in his chest, the very device that is keeping him alive. While searching for a viable solution, he is also fighting the US senate and Hammer Industries, led by Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), for access to the Iron Man suit. Hammer recruits Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), son of Anton Vanko, co-creater of the arc reactor with Tony’s father, to help create his version of the Iron Man suit. But Ivan has much bigger plans.

Review
After Marvel hit fandom and blockbuster gold with Iron Man, their follow up, The Incredible Hulk, showed signs of how encompassing their shared universe would be. Then in Iron Man 2, it really becomes apparent how vast the universe is going to become. Although not quite as exciting or engaging as the first Iron Man film, Marvel Studio’s first sequel delivers a through and through action adventure that is used to expand the universe further.

The way they did the villains in this film was interesting. There are two separate villains, Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko, but they are like reflections of two aspects of Tony Stark. Hammer is the billionaire, weapons manufacturer side and Vanko is the smart, scientist / engineer side of Tony. They are two evil mirrors and are used to show two paths Tony could have eventually gone down (or one if you consider just the bad guy aspect).

Sam Rockwell is a great addition as Justin Hammer. He is very charismatic and finds the perfect balance between Hammer’s charismatic and villainous sides. I don’t want to say I can’t picture anyone else in the part, but you would probably be hard-pressed to find someone who could fulfill it as successfully. Ivan Vanko, on the other had, could have been played by any Hollywood tough guy. He isn’t there to do much besides look tough, which Mickey Rourke no doubt accomplishes, and be the bad guy for Iron Man to punch.

I have mixed feelings about Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Rhodey. It’s not that he did a bad job. No, it’s much weirder than that. I just don’t like the way he looks in the War Hammer suit. Cheadle is slightly shorter than RDJ, but when he is in the suit Cheadle is slightly taller than him. I know that is an odd complaint but it bugs me more than it should.

I also was disappointed that Whiplash, Vanko’s supervillain persona, was based on the same technology as Tony’s, just like Iron Monger from the previous movie. I remember when this movie was first being talked about, there were rumors that the villain would be the Mandarin, arguably one of the biggest Iron Man rouges, and I was excited. But when the film was released, I was let down to see it was another man in a suit.

Especially with the inclusion of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the rest of SHIELD, Iron Man 2 started to become stuffed. I don’t blame the movie for this, it wasn’t the film’s fault. It was Marvel’s because they wanted to demonstrate that their world was going to be expansive and started to really pave the way for The Avengers. However, it manages to dovetail it into the story so it doesn’t become too obtrusive.

It may sound like I’m bashing the film quite a bit, but I actually enjoy Iron Man 2. I may be impartial to Don Cheadle as Rhodey, but I am fond of War Machine’s inclusion. Although I wish the villain had been something other than another Iron Man wannabe, it explored Tony’s character and gave the first real idea of the immense Marvel world to come.

Rating
3.5/5

Also check out my reviews for the other films in Marvel’s Phase 1: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers.

Favorite Quote
Iron Man: They’re coming in hot, any second. What’s the play?
War Machine: Well, we want to take the high ground, okay? So let’s put the biggest gun on that ridge.
Iron Man: Got you. [Both start walking towards ridge] Where do you want to be?
War Machine: Where are you going?
Iron Man: What’re you talking about?
War Machine: I meant me.
Iron Man: You have a big gun. You are not the big gun.
War Machine: Tony, don’t be jealous.
Iron Man: No. It’s subtle, all the bells and whistles.
War Machine: Yeah. It’s called being a badass.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Jon Favreau – Director
Justin Theroux – Screenplay
John Debney – Composer

Robert Downey, Jr. – Tony Stark
Gwyneth Paltrow – Pepper Potts
Don Cheadle – James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes
Scarlett Johansson – Natalie Rushman / Natasha Romanoff
Sam Rockwell – Justin Hammer
Mickey Rourke – Ivan Vanko
Paul Bettany – JARVIS (voice)
Jon Favreau – ‘Happy’ Hogan
Samuel L. Jackson – Nick Fury
Clark Gregg – Agent Coulson
Garry Shandling – Senator Stern
John Slattery – Howard Stark

Iron Man Review

Review #109

Synopsis
Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), genius CEO of the weapons manufacturer Start Industries, is kidnapped by a terrorist group known as the Ten Rings and forced to build his deadly weapons for their gain. Instead, Tony creates a suit of armor and escapes. Once he returns home, he refines his suit and sets out to destroy his company’s weapons around the world, but not before the plans for his suit fall into the wrong hands.

Review
Let’s go back in time a little, shall we. The year is 2008. Movies based on Marvel comic books have really started to take off over the past decade or so. Starting with Blade and X-Men but really exploding in popularity after Spider-Man in 2002. Not only were a wide range of Marvel’s characters given the movie treatment, their success varied greatly as well. There were high praises, such as Spider-Man 2 and X2: X-Men United, and critical flops, such Ghost Rider and Fantastic Four. These properties were all handled by different studios but Marvel decided to take their properties into their own hands and opened Marvel Studios. With most of their major characters in the hands of other studios, they turned to one of their lesser known properties: Iron Man. Little did the world know what would come from this monumental move.

I’ll first start with the obvious: Robert Downey, Jr. is absolutely perfect as Tony Stark. His Tony is arrogant. His Tony is self-centered. And yet, his Tony is lovable. His Tony is confident. His Tony is humorous. It’s hard to believe, but he was actually quite different from his comic book counterpart at the time. The comic Tony was a playboy but he was much more serious and not as laid back. Since RDJ’s take on the character, this has changed. It is one of those pairings that was just meant to be. I can’t imagine anyone else in the part and fulfilling it was well as RDJ.

What I think makes this such a great origin story is how well it is paced. There is adequate amount of time spent with Tony before he becomes Iron Man to get a feel of who he is before he dons the armor suit. Then he goes through the trials of using his new invention and it feels neither rushed nor dragged out. So by the time he finally has to use it against Iron Monger, he looks a little rough but feels like he understands how to use the suit.

I think one of the reasons Marvel chose Iron Man to kick of what would become an expansive cinematic universe was because relatively speaking, he is a fairly grounded character. Sure, he may be flying around in a metal suit but that is much more believable than someone turning into a green rage-filled monster or a talking raccoon. He is a smart billionaire who is very hands-on. They show this by having him work on his hot rod; really showing off that he knows what he is doing and talking about. It is easy to imagine something like happening in real life and was never over the top.

I have mentioned about how well Downey, Jr. was as Stark, but his supporting cast was great as well. Gwyneth Paltrow was great as the sleek and sexy Pepper Potts, Stark’s assistant. Paltrow and RDJ have good chemistry, resulting in some great back and forth moments. I also liked Terrence Howard as Stark’s best friend Rhodey. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, Stark’s business partner, and ultimately his enemy, would have to be my second favorite performance. He was able to pull off both the friendly mentor side, as well as the crazy bad guy side.

Iron Man’s significance wouldn’t be felt until several years later. Today, Marvel Studios is a box office juggernaut and it’s all thanks to this bad boy. I remember seeing it in the theater and thinking it would exists in it’s own little universe much like all the previous Marvel movies over the few years before. That was until the post-credits sequence when Nick Fury showed up. That was when I knew this was building up to something greater. And I couldn’t have been happier.

I have come to regard Iron Man as the template for how superhero origin stories should be told. Great casting and well-paced, Iron Man isn’t just a great superhero movie, it’s a great movie period.

Rating
5/5

Also check out my reviews for the other films in Marvel’s Phase 1: The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers.

Favorite Quote
Christine Everhart: You’ve been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?
Tony Stark: Absolutely ridiculous. I don’t paint.
Christine: And what do you say to your other nickname: The Merchant of Death?
Tony: That’s not bad.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Jon Favreau – Director
Mark Fergus – Writer
Hawk Ostby – Writer
Art Marcum – Writer
Matt Holloway – Writer
Ramin Djawadi – Composer

Robert Downey, Jr. – Tony Stark / Iron Man
Terrence Howard – James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes
Jeff Bridges – Obadiah Stane
Gwyneth Paltrow – Pepper Potts
Leslie Bibb – Christine Everhart
Shaun Toub – Yinsen
Faran Tahir – Raza
Clark Gregg – Agent Coulson
Bill Smitrovich – General Gabriel
Sayed Badreya – Abu Bakaar
Paul Bettany – JARVIS (voice)
Jon Favreau – ‘Happy’ Hogan

Movie Quote of the Week – 4/10/15

Answer to MWL 4/8/15: Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) – Iron Man

Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both? With that in mind, I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries’ Freedom Line. It’s the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology. They say the best weapon is one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That’s how Dad did it. That’s how America does it. And it’s worked out pretty well so far. Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you the bad guys won’t even want to come out of their caves. For your consideration, the Jericho. – Tony Stark

Thanks for everyone’s submissions and congratulations to the following people for answering correctly:

Marta (Ramblings of a Cinefile)
Sherise (The Girl That Loved to Review)
Brian (ComicUI)
V (The Verbal Spew Review)
Kira (The Film Review 101)

Iron Man 3 Review

This was actually the first review I had done when I started writing reviews earlier this summer.  I forgot about it until a few weeks ago, so I held off posting it until the the home release of the film.  If I had written it more recently, I would have included something about how the ending offers a potential origin for Ultron in Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, but I’m posting as-is.  I hope you check out this film because it’s truly amazing.  But enough of my blabbing, onto the review!

Synopsis
After the events of Marvel’s The Avengers, Tony’s (Robert Downey Jr.) world is flipped upside-down. Realizing there is much that he does not understand, he buries himself in his workshop. Meanwhile, The Mandarin (Ben Kingley), leader of the Ten Rings, increases his reign of terror across the US. When his Malibu home is destroyed, Tony is forced to confront his demons and learn if he makes Iron Man or Iron Man makes him?

Review
Wow. Just wow. Iron Man 3 is an ingenious film crafted by Marvel and a good cap to the journey we have seen Tony make through Phase One. In Iron Man and Iron Man 2, we get to see Tony transform into Iron Man and what he can do while in the suit, but he is still a playboy throughout most of those movies with some of that changing towards the end of 2. But in The Avengers we see him make the full transformation into a hero, including self-sacrifice. All of these events have made an affect on Tony that is a central focal point for Iron Man 3. In my opinion, The Avengers was essentially Iron Man 2.5, building on Tony Stark’s character more than the other heroes.

One of my favorite aspects of Iron Man 3 is we get to see how Tony is able to operate while outside of the Iron Man armor. Sure, I would have liked to see more of the Mark 42, it was an awesome suit, but we have seen Tony in armor for three movies already. It’s a nice change of pace to see what he can do outside the armor, using just his brains and ingenuity.

There is a TON of humor laced throughout Iron Man 3 and it works. Whenever things get too serious, a joke is made to lighten the mood back up. There were a few times it felt a little forced, but for the most part it was well executed and enjoyable.

Despite not being in the suit too much, there are quite a bit of action sequences. And they are all awesome! It is obvious that a lot of time went into the special effects and it pays off. The effects are beautiful and almost worth the admission price alone. Plus, not only does Tony get a few punches in outside the suit, Rhodey and Pepper get in on the action as well. Pepper even dons the suit for a while!

It will be a sad day when RDJ hangs up the Iron Man suit for good.  He has become synonymous with Tony Stark and it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role.  On the other hand, I have started to accept Don Cheadle as Rhodey, but there is a part of me (most of me, actually) that wishes Terrence Howard would not have been replaced.  It is still awkward to see RDJ tower of Cheadle then have them see eye-to-eye when they are in the suits.  And I think Howard had better chemistry with RDJ than Cheadle does, but Cheadle has definitely grown into the role.

I only really have two big gripes with Iron Man 3. My first is the portrayal of the Mandarin. I’ll admit that I was one of those comic book guys who were salivating when I saw him in the trailer. I was really excited to see Iron Man’s greatest enemy (Mandarin is to Iron Man as Green Goblin is to Spider-Man) finally hit the big screen. I won’t spoil anything, but his depiction wasn’t what I was expecting. But you know what, in the context of this film, I’ve excepted it and realized it actually made the plot that much more exciting and interesting. Had the Mandarin been exactly like his comic book counterpart, it would have changed the entire film, and it is hard to say if the product would have been better.

My other grievance is the use of extremis, although this is due more to the comic fan boy in me than the movie itself. Since extremis essentially rewrites DNA, this allows for endless possibilities for super powers. However, all we see is the ability to melt things with their bodies. The final fight at the end would have been a perfect place to showcase how versatile extremis can really be. But like I said, that is just the comic nerd inside me.

Iron Man 3 is an excellent film that blends characterization with action, while never detracting from either and forms an excellent kick-of to Marvel’s Phase Two slate of movies.

Rating
4.5/5

Also check out my reviews for the other films in Marvel’s Phase 2: Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man.