There has been a few Marvel Cinematic Universe shows that have been really good, a very small few that have been brilliant and some, just ok. With that said, one of my favourite MCU movies as a standalone movie, possible the best out of the entirety of the MCU, is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Espionage Thriller. This looks like it is following in the same vein and I LOVE IT!
There has been some speculation as to when Nick Fury left earth and we might get a response to that now with this show. I call, since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Nick Fury has not been on earth, but it seems he has now returned, looking grizzled trying to uncover a threat and trying to stop a secret invasion by himself, because we do not know, who is who and who to trust. Looks EXCELLENT!
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was a great film. Arguably for me, the best stand-alone movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: Civil War, was a great film. My opinion on the Russo Brothers second movie with Captain America comes in as a tie for me with it's predecessor. I just don't think it passes TWS, BUT it does do a great job in introducing the Black Panther character flawlessly to steamroll right through this movie. You got to see this character, his values, how he presents himself, part of his story AND a glimpse of his country. As soon as he arrives, it's absolutely no nonsense and you immediately loved the character and like me, wanted to know more. Now having his own movie, it is a wonder how this movie will go. Directed by the young Ryan Coogler, who also directed Fruitville Station & Creed, Ryan does the most masterful job on showing us who Black Panther is and where he comes from, Wakanda.
Picking up shortly after the events of Civil War, The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) returns home to be greeted by his mother, Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and his Royal Guard the Dora Milaje. Now that his father, T'Chaka (John Kani) is dead, T'Challa must now take up his Kingship and rule his nation of Wakanda as their new King. With the emergence of a long time enemy of Wakanda Ulyesses Klaue (Andy Serkis), T'Challa must go on a mission to take down this enemy, but when the mission goes wrong on 'Day-One', this sets some uneasiness with some of the locals and also coincidentally brings forth a new foe Erik 'Killmonger' Setvens (Michael B. Jordan), who is a direct threat to T'Challa and the Throne. T'Challa must overcome these challenges and threats to himself, his people and the throne.
This is a great and very layered film. From the beginning of the movie until the very end after the Credits. The Social commentary and political standpoints in this movie are very apparent, but do not beat you over the head with it. They address current issues in real life flawlessly as well as negating stereotypes and turning them on it's head. Very culturally aware and without coming across preachy, is able to drip feed a tiny bit of history of the real world, what has been done, what we do as people and what is likely to happen. Baring in mind that the MCU is set in the "real world", this movie does a lot to change the narrative a little and opens you up to ideas of what could have been, could be and how things should be.
At first, when I heard and read reviews of this film, I was slightly disappointed once I had finished watching it, but then I asked myself, "what could have been done better?" I thought about this long and hard until I decided that although the film isn't perfect and should have been a little longer, ultimately I needed more from the villain. This made me realise that, not only was the villain great, his story was also great.
The visuals are amazing. The colours usedThe acting in this movie from everyone was excellent. Sure some accents were not THAT great, but you understood where they were going with it and what was being said. The costumes and outfits were amazing and very well realised and detailed. Pulling a lot of real life culture into this movies and you could see it. I've not read a Black Panther comic book, BUT the imagery looked as though it was taken directly from the comics. The fights scenes although, not a lot, were all pretty good. The mission fight was just excellent in every way and the use of the camera and the angles were great. The last fight scene was not THAT great, a little CGI heavy, but they were awful and did not take away from the story. I do believe that Marvel did a better job in giving us what they have done for a few films now, with their bad guy. Mentioning the bad guy; excellent. You understood his motives and although sometimes you just want to hate the bad guy and he must be defeated, he makes you feel sympathetic to his cause. The film is VERY funny in places, may actually make you cry and I walked away from the film ranting and raving about the character M'Baku (Winston Duke). People will have their favourites but he was mine.
A lot of people may want different things from this movie due to it being a comic book/superhero movie, but this movie is much bigger than that. The fact that it didn't really feel like a superhero and it feeling different, but still feeling the same was an achievement which walks the same line as The Winter Soldier for me. A stand-alone movie that raises the bar and connects to the larger MCU story-arc and will definitely get you excited for Infinity War. Go watch it...you may even watch it more than once because it is THAT entertaining.
So, it has been a year since I last did a review on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and it has come around again in which the sequel has just come out and I have seen it and it is absolutely great.
Just so you know from the get go, I liked the first hobbit film a great deal. One thing I didn't mention in my review was, although the film was beautiful and was at a steady pace, I did feel at a certain point that this film was dragging a little or possibly I was expecting a little bit more than just a steady pace. It might have been when my mind clock/stopwatch alerted me to the fact that this film has gone past the 2 hour mark, in which I'm sure this happens with a lot of people. But for the sequel in the Hobbit Trilogy, my clock/stopwatch may have done a single beep rather than alarm bells ringing for 5mins.
The film starts with Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) in a Bar and gets approached by Gandelf the Grey (Ian McKellen). They have a conversation which then takes us to where we last left off in the first Hobbit film. The Dwarfs and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) are still trying to make their way to the Mountain because they need to obtain the Arkenstone and potentially slay a dragon. However, as the adventure would go, they come across Spiders that want to eat them, Elves that want to kill them, a Bowman who is trying to hide them and a Dragon who is trying to burn them...oh, and everything else in sight.
There isn't any real point in going on about the film to be honest as I'd only be repeating what I had said before about the previous Hobbit film and the sequel trilogies. Peter Jackson is an epic storyteller and his direction is great. Yes, he is milking the book for all it's worth, but when you tell a story like this, to me, it only makes sense. A lot of people might feel disappointed with this film and/or pleased that this film has elements added to the very thin book which is the Hobbit or some "key" elements taken away from the book. Some might argue that some parts of the film is relevant to the story and are not needed, but sometimes in story telling, the very detail which is unheard of or not mentioned can also play a key role in some cases.
The cinematography, the acting, the flow of the film, in which I might add was much faster paced and laced with more action and tension than the first film. The action, like I said, the fight scenes, MORE majestic. As I mentioned earlier, I did think during the film, "this is a long film", but I knew it was and I stayed engaged, where in the first film, although I loved it, there was more of a sigh when I remembered how long the film was during watching it. And although I care not much for the Dwalfs, I absolutely love their dynamics and co-ordination. They flow like 1 constant conscience although they are all very different individuals. The comedy was there as well and not to mention Legolas. Legolas for me was the reason why I was more hyped about this film over the first film. Legolas drew me to this film as I absolutely love his character. Such a bad ass.
If you love the sequel trilogies and the first Hobbit Movie, you will love this sequel in the prequel Trilogy. When you get to the Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) part as well, you will be fuming at the very end. Yes, 365 or so days until the next film, There and Back Again. Enjoy!
I've been thinking, how do I start this review. Well first of all, it is human nature to compare, so let me get that off my chest first and foremost. Secondly, If you haven't seen this film, you will need to actively remember that, this film is a PREQUEL to the events which happened in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and a lot of the charcaters are not in this new one, so be mindful of this. Oh and that the film is over 2hrs long. With this as "preparation", you should be able to enjoy the beauty of what Peter Jackson has put together.
Now, as you ought to know, I'm not one for spoiling a film unless everything you see in the trailer is the film in it's entirety, then I'd just explain or describe from what has been seen in it. In regards to this film, if you loved the sequel trilogy, then you oaught to like this one as it carried the same magic and story telling as the sequel trilogy.
Starting out as story telling, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) talks to Frodo (Elijah Wood) about how he hasn't told him everything about all his adventures and as he begins to write, is where the story begins with a younger Bilbo (Martin Freeman)somewhat 60 years earlier with a visit by Gandelf (Ian McKellen). After a "House Party" they set off on an unexpected adventure and this is where you get to meet and understand all what is going on, on middle earth, what has happened and what needs to be done along with 13 Dwarlfs.
This is a 3 part prequel Trilogy on which tells a story in which you already know the end. Think of Star Was Episode 4-6 then bringing in episodes 1-3 and then Clone Wars. However, with that said, this prequel trilogy tells another story unmentioned, which then leads to the Sequel Trilogy.
The film is absolutely beautiful in terms of the cinematography. The story and the way it plays out is excellent, no faults there and even the action was simple and easy to follow. I actually found myself in awe when watching this film where in the sequel trililogy, there were lots of awe moments, but the sheer fact that Gandelf towers above EVERYONE and he is normal size had me thinking, 'WOW, I can't even tell if it's green screen or not'. Not to say that the previous sequel trilogy made this obvious, but with 4 half-lings & a dwarf compared to 13 Dwarlfs and a half-ling, visually, this is very obvious and I guess the natural thing would be to kind of step out of the story for a moment and think, 'this is green-screen, right? or are they really dwalfs?' Bottom line, visually, excellent. Story thus far, excellent. A few funny bits, but not overly comical. The story eased into the action and didn't take long to get going so I didn't think it got boring for me in the slightest. The intro set things up nicely for the story to take place and more of an insight to the story as to what has happened which involved a lot of action and then we are introduced into the characters.
I don't even know what else to say about this film other than, there are some real good moments, especially the moment with Gollum. The animation. I cannot fault this film at all. If i were to mention a few other things, I'd be giving you insight into what happens or some of the characters, so I won't. Just know that the characters aren't as dynamic asd the sequel trilogy characters but is a very good film none the less. Enjoy.
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