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.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Spanks – 5

Directors – Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Writers – Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely

Starring – Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan & Anthony Mackie

Release Date – 4 April 2014

MPAA Rating – PG-13

Run time – 136 Minutes

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America is working for S.H.I.E.L.D in Washington D.C and adjusting to modern living. Everything is normal until a mission to free hostages on a S.H.I.E.L.D ship from pirates. While on the ship, he witnesses Black Widow download information from the ships computer. He confronts Nick Fury when he returns to Washington D.C and after that Nick Fury gets attacked by the Winter Soldier. No one is safe and Captain America has to figure out who the Winter Soldier is, who he works for and why are they after members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The movie has everything a summer movie should have and Marvel continues to make awesome movies. The movie has a great plot and has mysterious characters that you can’t figure out. The film has a lot of story, very similar to Iron Man 3. Captain America and Black Widow have great chemistry together and it was cool that she finally got to have a large amount of screen time to show more of her character. They introduced a new character to the movies called the Falcon and he is another cool character.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the better movies in the Marvel Universe. I am very impressed with how they link all these movies together and I hope that it continues to impress through Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers 2, and beyond.

Thor: The Dark World

Spanks – 5

Director – Alan Taylor

Writers – Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely

Starring – Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, Kat Dennings & Stellan Skarsgård

Release Date – 8 November 2013

MPAA Rating – PG-13

Run time – 112 Minutes

Thor: The Dark World is a great sequel. Since Thor and Asgard have been established in Thor and The Avengers, this movie gets going straight away. The film is about a Dark Elf called Malekith who wants to destroy the universe when the nine realms. He failed eons ago when Odin’s father defeated his armies and he escapes. He returns unintentionally by Jane Foster and wants to destroy the worlds once again.

This film is better then the first Thor film. There is better action, it is funnier, and has a much better and complex story. Loki continues to be one of the best characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The effects team did an awesome job of making Asgard look like a real place. I don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to give anything away.

Pain & Gain

Spanks – 3

Director – Michael Bay

Writers – Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely

Starring – Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry, Rebel Wilson & Ken Jeong

Release Date – 26 April 2013

MPAA Rating – R

Run time – 129 Minutes

Pain & Gain is based on a true story. It is such a crazy story that that point was reminded to the viewer throughout the movie. It is the story about a trio of stupid criminals in Miami Florida. The plan was to kidnap a man they believed to bad and to torture him to be able to extort him for his money. The plan didn’t go exactly as planned and things just got crazy and out of control.

The actors did a great job at playing their characters. Dwayne Johnson has the best character of the bunch and every scene he is in he says or does something funny. Mark Wahlberg’s character is a jerk and is not a person you want to like and he does that well in this movie. Ken Jeong plays a motivational speaker and he always has a good character.

Pain & Gain isn’t your normal Micheal Bay film. There isn’t giant explosions and lots of special effects that he is known for (and expect). It is just a simple entertaining film.