Movie Review: Captain America Civil War

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So this was probably one of the most anticipated movies of the spring, despite the fact that it was up against some intense competition, with Jungle Book and Mother’s Day being strong performers. However, I was pretty sure this one would take the number one spot, as it’s already set records outside the US. And for once, a big budget blockbuster is pleasing critics and hitting all the right notes with audiences.

And it had a lot of notes to hit.

The film opens in 1991, with a frozen Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) being thawed out for another in a series of murderous missions. One after another, the code words needed to activate the killer are spoken: “daybreak … furnace … homecoming … freight car …” Flash forward to present-day Lagos, where an Avengers squad made up of Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is foiling the theft of a biological weapon. There’s a shit ton of casualties and it all goes downhill for the Avengers from there when they have to submit for government oversight.

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There’s a lot going on, but they managed to balance it pretty well. I never got too confused, despite a cast of what feels like millions. They go through ever doggone country in the world and tie in every other franchise that Joss Wheaton ever read a comic on, and they never stop moving. All the actors blended into their characters, and there’s a lot of characters to keep straight.

But for the most part, I still knew what was going on, because the plot’s pretty straight forward. They don’t want to deal with United Nations regulators telling them what to do, despite the wake of destruction they often leave. It doesn’t become a one sided argument, because it argues the point from both sides. I mean, when you see what they leave behind when they’re being heroic, you can kind of see the government’s point.

“Yeah, guys, you got that lady’s purse back from a mugger, but there were 45 civilian casualties and your caused $85 billion worth of damage to the city. Maybe next time, don’t start with the nuclear option?”

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It all eventually culminates in one of the best battle scenes I’ve ever seen. It should have been confusing, or too much, but it wasn’t. The direction is subtle but the action is perfectly choreographed, which is why I never felt like it was too much, when this movie should be the definition of too much. There’s a method to this madness, and I didn’t even resent the over the top ads for future movies.

The latest offering of Captain America is a misnomer, because it’s got just about every other character you can think of. But it’s extremely well-done to the point where you can follow it easily. It’s controlled chaos and worth the watch. It’s one of those rare movies that’s critic and audience approved and should not be missed.

WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!

four and a half stars

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‘The Purge 3’ Will NOT Be About The First Purge

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Today is a good day, folks. The producers working on the Purge franchise and the creators of Platinum Dunes productions, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, have shot down the prequel rumor surrounding the third Purge film.

During an interview with Collider, they were asked directly about those rumors claiming this third film would revolve around the first Purge.

“I read that too about the first night of The Purge.  We don’t know anything about that.  I read that and I haven’t heard that so I’m not sure what that was.  The material that we’re considering right now [for ‘The Purge 3’] is not the first night of The Purge.”

I know some fans out there were really excited about the idea, but a lot of fans (myself included) were not exactly thrilled with it. Prequels to horror films are notoriously awful.

So what will this third movie be about? We still don’t know, but we have been hearing rumors that Frank Grillo will be returning. We know he wants to return, and Fuller certainly left the door open in this recent interview.

“Listen, we loved working with him and we thought that he was so good in that role and, you know, if it works to have him back we would really be very excited about that.”

As we reported earlier this month, The Purge 3 will not be released until next year. We will continue to keep you updated. We are sure there will be more details coming out later this year.

Movie Review: The Purge: Anarchy – A Depressing Social commentary on our Society

2014-The-Purge-AnarchyLast week was an eclectic week at the theater. You had Jason Segal and Cameron Diaz being silly in Sex Tape, you had talking planes and trucks in Planes: Fire and Rescue, and then you had the Purge: Anarchy, the sequel to last summers sleeper hit.

The Purge: Anarchy is set one year after the last purge, hence the whole annual thing. As it starts, we find five people, who were stupid enough to get trapped outside when they knew a year in advance the Purge was coming. These people include a woman (Kiele Sanchez) and her timid husband ( Zach Gilford); a no nonsense waitress (Carmen Ejogo) and her daughter (Zoe Soul); and a grumpy man in black (Frank Grillo). The group spends the night sneaking around the city, avoiding a machete wielding motorcycle gang and citizens who are more heavily armed than Rambo following a gun sale at WalMart.

The Purge is a unique movie, in that it’s one part gory horror and one part social commentary. The writers of this movie apparently have no faith in humanity, as they have filled the world with people who are just delighted at the opportunity to murder their fellow human beings for the 12 hours that its’ legal. It’s really a sad comment on the way we view the world, as the predators far outnumber the prey. The message is this; everyone would commit murder, arson, vandalism and theft if only they could get away with it.

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While I choose to be more optimistic than that, it does make for a fun watch…for the first 80 minutes. For the fist 80 minutes, while the movie is over the top, it’s not cartoony over the top. Then, the last 20 minutes rolls in and it gets over the top in a bad way.

There wasn’t much acting to be done here. The bad guys looked menacing and the good guys looked scared. I did like the addition of the angry policeman who is out to avenge his son’s death. It made for a nice side plot and kept me interested when I really would have gotten bored if they just spent the whole movie running around, trying not to get killed.

The Purge: Anarchy is a proficient movie. It gives people going to see an action/slasher flick exactly what they’d want. Lots of gore, lots of violence and lots of gun fire. It’s a clever premise which was expanded from the original, with a bit more depth given to the characters this time around. There are no big stars in this movie, but they really didn’t need them. It’s a good enough plot to stand on its own merits.

Granted, it’s patchy and there are plot holes. The last 20 minutes made it a little silly and cartoony and didn’t seem to match the rest of the movie, but it was still entertaining. It was also a pretty depressing social commentary on our society as a whole and it will make you wonder how you would behave during a Purge, if purges were real.

Me, I’d build a bomb shelter and I wouldn’t go out for a month prior and a month after, just to avoid getting stuck outside.

WE GAVE IT: 3.5 Stars: Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below

3.5 stars

 

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