Rapid Review: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

“I know we’re not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”
– Steve Rogers

SYNOPSIS: After another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps, one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability. – via IMDB

I would also just like to take a moment to appreciate the raw power of this moment.

Well. Well. Where do I even begin? Let’s start with the fact that this movie really shouldn’t have been flown under the Captain America banner – it could really have just been Civil War or even Marvel/Avengers: Civil War. This was essentially an Avengers movie, and you all know how huge a fan I am of that. So it shorts Thor and The Hulk, but they were mentioned a ton of times. I don’t know, I wanted a Captain America movie. He is my favourite Avenger, he is the only one who has individual movies I get excited about and adore, and then we got this one, so heavily reliant on Age of Ultron and all that happened there, and it was all about signing off on a document to regulate the Avengers team. Seriously. So they called it Captain America: Civil War because there was some extra Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier?

However, that being said, there was so much scrumptious Sebastian Stan for me. Oh hell yeah there was, hmmmm. I really liked the themes that were explored in the film, like friendship, opposing opinions, loyalty, standing up for what you believe in, conforming, moral responsibility, etc. The performances were all solid, though I really feel that this movie was juggling way too many characters, but still managed to do a relatively decent job with them all. I enjoyed the introduction of the Black Panther, and I freaking love the moves on this guy, so fluid and awesome. Marvel has again let us down on the villain, Baron Zemo. After The Winter Soldier, I was expecting darker, more hardcore villains. Zemo was underutilised here, and didn’t pack as much punch as he could have had he been set up better. I never felt shock and horror at any of the things that he did.

Steve finally kissing Sharon was a little rushed and out of place in the movie, it wasn’t properly set up (in this film), and then it was glossed over. The fighting sequences were great to look at, and the Russo’s really grasp that – that choreography, the movements, all of it is just amazing. The inclusion of Steve’s “I can do this all day” is another scene that thrilled me, it is something I expect from him. There were some interesting plot developments here, some of particular interest being carried by the Winter Soldier, which is great. Anyway, with too many characters to really talk too much about, Captain America: Civil War is an entertaining Avengers flick with more heart to it than the average Avengers film, solid performances, darker, a good movie, some solid humour and well worth watching.

So. Much. Delicious. Bucky.

This totally sums up Captain America: Civil War.

Review: Iron Man 3 (2013)

“Ladies, children, sheep… Some people call me a terrorist. I consider myself a teacher. Lesson number one: Heroes, there is no such thing.”
– The Mandarin

I am back… at work, that is. I really needed the time off. Boy, was it worth it. I got to watch some amazing and some (really) not so amazing films, some series, I read, I studied (truly… hem hem), watched Iron Man 3 and I got showered with tons of awesome gifts. More films for my personal collection, books that I have been eyeing for a long time among other things, as well as a lifetime supply of candy (I lie… it might last until the end of the week). But back to the issues at hand. Iron Man 3…

Billionaire playboy and engineering genius Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is still battling with his emotions from what happened with the Avengers in New York. His girlfriend, Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is doing her best to run Stark Industries as well as keep Tony satisfied, but there seems to be a shift in their relationship. Restless, anxious and sleep deprived, Tony starts tinkering on a new project – armour that will call to his body from his mind, as well as work and act without his physically needing to be inside of it. The Mark 42 armour seems to be working… shiftily. He is obsessively building more Iron Man suits. Tony has finally realized he is not untouchable, and wants to keep the most important person in his life safe at any and all costs. Pepper meets with an old contact from Tony’s past, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who offers Stark Industries to invest in his think tank idea Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM). Pepper politely declines.

“The whole world’s gonna be watching.” – Aldrich Killian

A new terrorist has taken the reigns and he goes by the name of The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). He is so undercover and unknown and untraceable, the world is sure that they have met Iron Man’s match, though his best friend, Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Don Cheadle) tells him to stay out of it, being military business and all, Tony is drawn into the fight when another close friend of his, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is caught in a bomb blast – a terrorist attack. Happy was very on edge with Aldrich Killian and the company that he kept, and investigated a little bit more by accident. Tony publicly announces to the press that he is on a revenge mission for the Mandarin, and gives his home address.

Chilling with the prodigal

As much as Tony tries to protect Pepper, his arrogance and anger brings down a world of suffering, and he is forced to run for cover when his home is bombed and demolished and he is presumed dead. Hiding out in Tennessee with a young  boy named Harley Keener (Ty Simkins), Tony starts to fix up his suit as well as prepare to return to Pepper, who has been kidnapped by the Mandarin’s people. Tony discovers that the bomb blasts that have been popping up all over the country due to the Mandarin are caused by soldiers that were a part of the Extremis program, a tissue regenerative program for the human body with strength effects and more, headed up by his old flame Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall). The Mandarin group wants Tony to fix the kinks in the Extremis program, and soon.

Login: WARMACHINE68. Password: WARMACHINEROX

When the Iron Patriot armour is stolen from Rhodey, Tony and Rhodey need to get together to recover the armour, and stop the Mandarin group from continued terror attacks, while simultaneously saving both Pepper and the United States president. Will the team be able to do it, and will Tony be able to settle down and be far less anxious in life, continuing smoothly with Pepper? Will they be able to save the president and the love of Tony’s life, while stopping the Mandarin and the crazy attacks that he exacts with calculated brutality, not stopped or challenged at any turn?

“Things are different now, I have to protect the one thing that I can’t live without. That’s you.” – Tony Stark to Pepper

I reckon Iron Man 3  earns a 6.5/10. I mean I walked in with the knowledge that this would be the closer, and I was very excited to see what would come, and after all the reviews and the anticipation, I was entertained to a degree, but not like I thought I would be.  Iron Man 3 was just vastly different from its predecessors. You can see a distinct change in the direction (missed Jon Favreau). The cinematography was good, the effects were solid, but I felt that the story needed to be tightened up a bit more – especially the whole villain plot. Read around and all and the general consensus seems to be that they jumped into the Extremis plot way too quickly, that is why is seems holey at times. Robert Downey Jr. was great, naturally, and Gwyneth was definitely Pepper, but things were a bit… different with them for this one, which is what the film was going for, I am sure. I really didn’t like how closely this was linked to The Avengers (we all know I am such a fan). Once again, there was some pretty good humour in the film, and Tony and Rhodey together was hilarious, I would expect nothing less from their dynamic, but there was a lot of forced humour and even more that fell flat. There was this distinct feeling of something missing, though, and I am not one hundred percent sure what that was. And the Iron Patriot? Just let him be the War Machine! However, I was glad the patriotic armour was limited to Rhodey, I like the hot rod red and gold for Tony, that is just Iron Man. Also missed the music from the older movies, such as the ACDC, the Black Sabbath, that was really great for me, but removed for this one. Don Cheadle had a much bigger role this time, which was also pretty cool. Guy Pearce was definitely good in his role, he is a very good kooky person, and plays that misunderstood genius very convincingly, though he was criminally underused. Ben Kingsley came as a surprise. Not as an actor, as always he was great, but his character took me slightly aback, I think they completely crippled that story arc. Overall, not a bad watch, just really not in league with its predecessors, and a rather disappointing way to close down the trilogy.

Review: Iron Man (2008)

“We’re iron mongers, we make weapons.”
– Obadiah Stane

“They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once.”
– Tony Stark

Billionaire engineering prodigy and playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) lives quite the charmed life in his Malibu mansion. Rich, arrogant, cocky, self-assured and spoiled, Tony heads off to Afghanistan with one of his only friends, James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Terrence Howard), to introduce his latest weapon: The Jericho. Things do not pan out as he had planned, and his convoy is attacked by a terrorist group, the Ten Rings. Tony is caught in the cross-hairs  and is shredded by shrapnel from a Stark Industries weapon.

A desperate escape plan by a genius

Waking in a dingy, dark cave, he meets Yinsen (Shaun Tomb). Yinsen saved his life by building the device which is pretty much just an electromagnet hooked up to a car battery which will keep the shrapnel that could not be removed from reaching his heart. The head terrorist, Raza (Faran Tahir) demands that Tony build them a Jericho missile, too. Tony starts his first rough draft of the Iron Man suit (Mark I) while conning them into believing he is steadily working on the missile. Yinsen has given Tony hope. He has seen that his weapons are used for war profiteering at the hands of the enemy, his weapons are being used against the very men they were designed to protect. In the cave, Tony creates a mini arc reactor to keep him alive and the shrapnel at bay, as well as the iron suit they need for escape. Their escape goes mostly as planned, and Tony destroys

Returning to America after three horrifying months, Tony meets back up with his loyal assistant Virginia “Pepper” Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) and his right hand man and father’s old partner, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges). At a press conference, he announces that they will cease all weapons development effective immediately until he can decide what is going on. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistic Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) approach Pepper to make an appointment to see Tony to debrief him about his capture, and he is continually blown off by Pepper and Tony.

Working out the minor kinks of the suit

Tony is on a new mission. He needs to look after people. At the end of the day, it looks like he is a war profiteer, and what with the Stark Industries board members filing injunctions against him, even his company looks set to belong to someone else. Angry to find out that Obadiah is the one that is causing the major difficulties for Tony, he decides to make a difference in the world, and not just sit back. This is how Iron Man is born, and Tony works tirelessly to perfect the suit he so haphazardly built in the Afghanistan deserts.

However, his latest piece of technology, the one he built for the intent of saving people, and correcting mistakes, can also be the most dangerous weapon the world has ever seen if it falls into the wrong hands. Can Tony protect it, as well as redeem himself due to Obadiah’s mistakes and greed?

I score Iron Man an 8/10. Robert Downey Jr. really was the most amazing pick to play Tony Stark. He is Tony in each and every aspect. Again, he is simply just a joy to watch, the attitude, the acting, the way he handles things is so typically Robert Downey Jr. you can’t help but love it. The film style was also great, especially for what they were presenting us, and I think that this film did Marvel amazing justice, it was just so cool. The humour is pretty sharp, as well as sweet, overall just a pretty good package. Terrence Howard was definitely worth watching, as he gave his character amazing life, and the sarcasm bouncing between him and Tony is just brilliant. This movie was extremely well cast, and the effects, dialogue, etc. was amazing. I have seen it enough times to know I still enjoy watching it, so that has to speak for something! One of the better superhero movies, of its time and now, so definitely worth the watch if you have not seen it. Who else is gearing up for Iron Man 3?