Captain America: Civil War

Spanks – 5

Directors – Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Writers – Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely

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 & William Hurt

Release Date – 6 May 2016

MPAA Rating – PG-13

Run time – 147 Minutes

Captain America: Civil War could have easily been called Avengers 3 with all the heroes in the movie. It had all but Thor and The Hulk, it introduced Black Panther and a new Spiderman, and it even gave screen time to new Avengers Vision and Scarlet Witch. The movie is tied closely to the events of Age of Ultron. Because of the events and collateral damage in Sokovia the government created the Sokovia Accord, which would let the United Nations oversee and control the Avengers. This divides the heroes. There is also a new villain who was a regular soldier from Sokovia until the battle with Ultron.

This is one of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has just enough action, it keeps you thinking what is going to happen next, and was written well. It is funny and the characters work great with each other. Spider-Man was great and this version could be as good or better then Tobey Maguire.

The fight scene at the airport where Iron Man’s team confronts Captain America’s team was done really well. With so many people to focus on, the directors did good with going back to each character so you always know what they are all doing. There was 12 heroes involved which is a lot of people to keep track of.

If you have an IMAX around you, see it there. The airport battle was filmed with an IMAX camera and the sequence is huge.

Ant Man

Spanks – 5

Director – Peyton Reed

Writers – Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd

Starring – Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Anthony Mackie, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Fortson & Michael Peña

Release Date – 17 July 2015

MPAA Rating – PG-13

Run time – 117 Minutes

I was a little concerned with Ant Man because of the behind the scenes stuff that went on. Not long before production was set to begin the writer and director left because of creative differences. In the end the film came out great. They didn’t change the script to much, and it still had the feel of an Edger Wright movie. My only complaint is that it started a little slow, but after the first 20 minutes or so the pace speed up and turned into a great film.

Ant Man tells the story of Scott Lang. He is a former engineer who was arrested for burglary. Upon release from prison he has a hard time getting a job and is recruited by scientist Hank Pym to “break into a place and steal some stuff.” Dr. Pym is the creator of the Ant Man suit and teaches Scott how to use it so he can save the world.

The movie is very funny. I think it is the funniest of the Marvel movies to date. They also used macro photography for the scenes when Scott is in shrunken form which gave the film a different look then just using CGI. Paul Rudd was a perfect choice for the title roll, even though you wouldn’t look at him as a superhero, which is probably why it works. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next for Ant Man and where that will happen in future Marvel movies.