Captain America: Civil War.

Another cracking superhero movie directed by the Russo Brothers Anthony and Joe involving the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This latest action packed offering is almost a direct follow on from Captain America: The Winter Solider released in 2014 in which we had the emergence of an all-powerful villain who was originally Steve Rogers’s (Chris Evans) best friend Bucky Barnes who was thought to have been killed in action during World War 2.  Rescued by the Russians and taken to Moscow he is programmed to be a Soviet assassin under the code name of The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

This latest film involves not only characters from the previous outing including the good Captains love interest Peggy Carters niece CIA agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow with Anthony Mackie back as the flying machine Falcon but others that form part of the larger Avengers Assemble including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr), Iron Mans close ally War Machine (Don Cheadle), with Jeremy Renner returning as Hawkeye, Black Panther, a new character introduced for this movie played by Chadwick Boseman, Vision the Android (Paul Bettany) the lovely Olson sister Elizabeth is Scarlet Witch, also the super hero Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) whose suit allows him to shrink or grow makes an appearance - you may already have seen him in Ant-Man (2015), bringing  some welcome humour to the proceedings is Peter Parker better known as Spider Man (Tom Holland).

The plot of Captain America: Civil War (2016) involves the introduction of the Sokovia Accords which basically set out to kerb superhero involvement in operation’s they deem necessary i.e. to ‘save the world’ and protect the innocent’s against the villains, who these days tend to come in the guise of big business and corrupt authorities, forcing Captain America and his fellow crime fighters to accept political oversight – and we all know how dubious political oversight can turn out to be! When our superheroes can’t agree on the benefit of the Accords civil war breaks out forcing them to choose sides. Cue massive exciting and destructive battles between the two factions. “This is the cinematic superhero showdown you’ve dreamt of since childhood”[1] The franchise gets even better, great entertainment for children of all ages.        

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[1] Robbie Collins Daily Telegraph April 2016.

The Judge.

I find it quite strange that on two visits to the cinema within a couple of days, you can see the screening of a film that does nothing to draw you in and to some extent alienates you from it’s narrative. As I inferred in my blog on Gone Girl (2014) it was not as though it was a bad film, just one that I personally could not get engaged in or for that matter one that I did not really enjoy. Now as I say, two days latter I go to the same wee cinema in Dumfries and find a completely different set of cinematic circumstances. The Judge (2014) is every thing that David Fincher’s film was not!

 

The Hot Shot Chicago Lawyer. 

Firstly you have got the story, which has characters you can empathise with and in all honesty, quite like. There’s the successful Chicago hotshot lawyer with a motor mouth, Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr) who helps the guilty beat the system “innocent people can’t afford me” he boasts. When his mother dies he returns to his hometown of Carlinville Indiana, somewhere he has not been for many years. This wee rural town is where his two brothers still live, the older brother Glen (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his mentally impaired younger brother Dale (Jeremy Strong). But the reason that Hank has not been back is his fraught relationship with his father, local Judge Henry Palmer (Robert Duvall). Hank fully intended to return to his unfinished court case in Chicago right after the funeral but when his fathers car is discovered to have been damaged and blood is found on the vehicle and the body of a man is discovered on the highway - the Judge is suspected of running him down. Hank Palmer wants to stay to defend his father should the case come to court, but there are a lot of bridges to be crossed before this stubborn pair can renew any form of relationship.

 

The matriarchal small town Judge. 

Secondly we have a cast whose acting is first rate. Although admittedly the most riveting scenes are these between Downey Jr and Duvall the rest of the cast are superb. D’Onofrio and Strong are convincing as the brothers with a great performance from the lovely Vera Farmiga as Hanks hometown love interest, we are also treated to a fabulous performance from Billy Bob Thornton as Hanks opposite number in the films thrilling court room sequence’s.

 

The girl who was left behind.

Although David Dobkin is better known for comedies he certainly makes a grand job of helming this drama. The soundtrack was composed by Thomas Newman who has collaborated with Sam Mendes on six occasions including Skyfall (2012) and the new James Bond, Spectre due to be released next year. Its very crisp cinematography is in the very capable hands of the Janusz Kaminski who has previously won Academy Awards for his work on Schindlers List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), and has more recently been DOP on War Horse (2011) and Lincoln (2012).

 

'Hot Shots' opposite number.

Part family drama, part courtroom drama, I found the movie quite emotional and in certain scenes quite heart rendering. It’s both interesting and entertaining with a sly sense of humour. And unlike my previous film this week, it’s nearly two and a half hour running time absolutely flew by.

Avengers Assemble.

All credit to Joss Whedon’s writing and direction on what amounts to his first Hollywood blockbuster, a sequel to the proceeding five Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Iron Man (2008),  The Incredible Hulk (2008)  Iron Man 2 (2010) Thor (2011) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Avengers Assemble (2012) is an absolute dynamite adaptation of a comic book action adventure and one certainly worthy of the description of ‘action movie’ with CGI that is more than impressive with its post 9/11 imagery and references. It also includes, in abundance, one of the most important ingredients of any comic book movie: humour.

Natasha Romanoff AKA The Black Widow.

Hawkeye.

The plot involves our collective superheroes, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and the lesser known Hawkeye and the ultra sexy Black Widow, battling a supervillain, well actually a Norse God, who has stolen an energy source resembling a blue translucent cube called a Tesseract, which is powerful enough to destroy earth.

The Norse God Loki.

One of the great strengths of this movie is its villain Loki, played brilliantly by Tom Hiddleston, who you will remember from Thor as the crown prince of Asgard’s adopted renegade brother. The cast’s commitment to their particular character’s help to conjure up a totally realistic Marvel world, Robert Downey Jr as the heir to the Stark dynasty giving the role the eccentricity it deserves, all American hero Captain America is again portrayed by Chris Evans, with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as Thor and Mark Ruffalo finally giving the kudos that the role of Bruce Banner deserves. Jeremy Renner plays Hawkeye a S.H.l.E.L.D agent whose skill with a bow and arrow gives him the title of the world’s greatest marksman. Scarlett Johansson brings superspy Natasha Romanoff, better known by her code name Black Widow, to life. Also involved is Samuel L. Jackson who plays the director of S.H.l.E.L.D Nick Fury responsible for bringing the superheroes together to help fight world domination by the evil fascistic Loki. To all Marvel Cinematic Universe virgins I challenge you to watch this film and not fall in love with the whole comic book concept.

Commander Nick Fury.

Will the Hulk save the day?

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The latest film from the Sherlock Holmes franchise is far from elementary my dear Watson. Re-reading my blog on Guy Ritchie first film about the great detective I’d be as well just to repost that. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) is made well enough evoking what you would imagine 1891 and late Victorian society to look like, Robert Downey Jnr as before, is well over the top as the great detective, Jude Law supplements his privacy litigation pay out by playing Watson again. The biggest surprise is how beautiful Noomi Repace is without her punk carb although completely wasted as a mysterious gypsy fortune-teller. Like the previous film the narrative is a shambles, unless it’s just me but I could not make head or tail of any thing that was going on. It has something to do with terrorists bombing’s, 19^th century European politics and James Moriarty’s quest for world domination! Still, my wife enjoyed it so I’ll probably have to go to see Sherlock Holmes 3?

Iron Man 2

I must confess a weakness for comic book based movies and the Marvel Comic character Iron Man, as portrayed by Robert Downey Jnr in Iron Man (2008), was a superb example of the superhero genre. The plot involved a wealthy industrialist, Tony Stark, the acceptable face of capitalism, who is forced to build an armoured suit after a life-threatening incident and then ultimately decides to use its technology to fight against evil. Downey Jnr plays Stark and manages to convincingly bring out the three sides of the character: Playboy, Scientist and Superhero. The great way it sets out the story line makes it unnecessary to clutter the sequel with further explanations.

I’m afraid Iron Man 2 (2010) does nothing to improve on the original film. Although its an entertaining movie with some great action sequences between our American superhero and a his Russian counter part Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) known as Whiplash, a tattooed giant who has the technical skills to build a suit similar to Iron Man’s. The sequel is again directed by Jon Favreau who also plays the part of Tony Stark’s bodyguard and chauffeur Happy Hogan, a former boxer with a history of losing fights. Gwyneth Paltrow reprises her role of Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts, Starks close friend and budding love interest, who in this film is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. Two other superheroes make an appearance, both of whom will join Iron Man in the live action movie The Avengers due for release in early 2012, Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) director of the espionage and law-enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D and Natalia Romanova known as the Black Widow a leather clad Scarlett Johansson (well that’s got to be a plus?) posing as Starks assistant. Its plot is rather silly at times and occasionally looses its comic book charm, but with blockbuster films you basically pays your money and makes your choose.