Paul Bettany

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Infinity War

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Director:

Anthony Russo

Joe Russo

Writers:

Christopher Markus

Stephen McFeely

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr.

Chris Hemsworth

Chris Evans

Chris Pratt

Mark Ruffalo

Don Cheadle

Benedict Cumberbatch

Tom Holland

Chadwick Boseman

Tom Hiddleston

Anthony Mackie

Sebastian Stan

Bradley Cooper

Paul Bettany

Vin Diesel

Scarlett Johansson

Zoe Saldana

Karen Gillan

Elizabeth Olsen

Danai Gurira

Pom Klementieff

Letita Wright

Gwyneth Paltrow

Plot:

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Review:

Thor, Chris Hemsworth, and the Asgardians that escaped from Hela have been decimated by Thanos, Josh Brolin. Well, half of them, I’m going to assume Valkyrie got away with the other half because she’s not seen in the movie. Thanos beats the shit out of The Hulk, Mark Ruffalo, and for what might be the first time The Hulk gets scared and for the rest of the movie refuses to come out which puts our heroes at a disadvantage. Bruce may be smart, but they needed brawn more than another brain.

Tony, Robert Downey Jr., is settling into life, still not really facing his fears, but wanting to make a commitment to Pepper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and become a family man. I feel like I think he’s got certain issues, but he believes he has other ones entirely, and that’s why I never get to see any movement on his PTSD and anxiety. Seeing him and Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch, interact was one of the highlights of the movie. I also really enjoyed how each group or individual still had their own style. It was very clear when you were with Strange or the Guardians or the others, which I appreciated.

Star Lord, Chris Pratt, is the real fuck up of this movie. Everyone else is heroic, but he decided to lean more toward his roguish nature. He reacted entirely in character, which is annoying, cause everyone else rose to new heights with this challenge, but he was an ass and ruined everything.

Is Thor the mightiest Avenger now? I think there’s got to be a strong case for him. The Hulk is hiding inside Banner and Thor withstood the power of a dying star, after surviving floating in space for an undetermined amount of time. He’s grieving but still did what was necessary, plus he’s a cross between an angel and a pirate, I’d read that romance novel.

The final battle takes place in Wakanda, but Black Panther and his crew probably have the least amount of screen time, with maybe Cap and his people coming in next. There are a TON of people in this movie so it’s not entirely unexpected but I’m hoping that they all have more of a part to play in Endgame.

So many people are “dead” but you don’t see a lot of them actually disappear on screen so who exactly is gone isn’t quite clear. I believe the directors may have confirmed a few people, but I refuse to believe that Loki, Tom Hiddleston, is actually dead. He’s died too many times and he had to know what Thanos was going to do, he’s alive somewhere in the universe.

This movie felt more inspired by the older movies, so some of the things I’ve loved in the last few movies weren’t here. Thor was still awesome, but apart from Gamora, Zoe Saldana, and Scarlett Witch, Elizabeth Olsen, the female representation was light. Scarlett Witch and Vision, Paul Bettany, and their relationship felt really weird, in my opinion. I’m assuming it was something in the comics. I guess it was teased in Civil War, but it came off as more Vision being kind of creepy and Scarlett Witch being polite about it in that movie. I don’t know, they’re probably my least favorite characters, so while their story plays a key part to the movie it’s my least favorite. It doesn’t help that this is the most we’ve ever really spent with them so there hasn’t been as much buildup.

The end credit scene is nothing but hype for me, especially after watching Captain Marvel. Seeing Fury, Samuel L. Jackson, and Maria Hill, Cobie Smulders, again was just so exciting!

Infinity War is technically a complete story, but not really. We all know there is no way all of those heroes are staying dead and that Thanos is going to win. It just can’t/won’t happen. It is basically a two part story with an excellent first part, but what happens in Endgame is going to make a huge impact on it and could completely change my opinion of Infinity War. We’ll just have to see what happens.

Original Review

4/5

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Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain American Civil War

Oh they fuckin

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Director:

Anthony Russo

Joe Russo

Starring:

Chris Evans

Sebastian Stan

Robert Downy Jr.

Scarlett Johansson

Anthony Mackie

Don Cheadle

Jeremy Renner

Chadwick Boseman

Paul Bettany

Elizabeth Olsen

Paul Rudd

Tom Holland

Emily VanCamp

Plot:

Political involvement in the Avengers’ affairs causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.

Review:

S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more, technically, but that doesn’t stop the Avengers from fighting crime. Captain America, Chris Evans, has a team together and they’re trying to stop a biological weapon from being stolen. They’re in the middle of a bustling city and the bad guys don’t care about collateral damage, the Avengers aren’t as good on that front as they should be either, one thing leads to another and the side of building is destroyed. In the end the Avengers stopped the biological weapon from being stolen, but civilians died, namely Wakandan citizens died.

Cue General Ross, William Hurt, who has managed to fail upward and become the Secretary of State. He convinces a struggling Tony, Robert Downey Jr., that the best form of oversight for the Avengers is the United Nations. Tony is desperate for someone to take away the responsibility so he jumps right on it. Cap, on the other hand, is used to this side of war and has seen enough of the world’s government to know he doesn’t want to dance to their tune.

Thus the Avengers Civil War is born.

The team is fairly evenly split. War Machine, Don Cheadle, and Vision, Paul Bettany, side with Tony. While Falcon, Anthony Mackie, and Scarlett Witch, Elizabeth Olsen, are with Cap. Though Scarlett Witch had some doubts and was ultimately swayed because Tony basically put her under house arrest.

On top of all of this a new bad guy is in town and he’s decided to destroy the Avengers. He knows the great lengths that Cap will go to save Bucky, Sebastian Stan, and uses that knowledge. He plays the Avengers like a fiddle and it’s truly remarkable what he’s able to accomplish. He rips them apart and even though he’s caught in the end the damage is done.

Cap and Bucky are able to escape, but the others that chose his side are all put in the Raft, a floating prison. Tony knows that’s where they are, he goes and visits them and Hawkeye, Jeremy Renner, calls him out, but Tony just leaves them. Cap is the one that breaks them out. Tony has come backs for everything everyone says to him, but they’re so weak. He knows it, but he never acknowledges it. He knows that Bucky wasn’t in control when he killed Tony’s parents, but he loses control and doesn’t care.

This movie birthed my absolute hatred of Iron Man. I had almost forgotten exactly why I hated him, but I was very clearly reminded. I felt like the movie did a poor job backing why Cap was clearly in the right. They didn’t want Iron Man to become a bad guy so they went too weak.

The fight scenes weren’t as poorly shot as Winter Soldier, so that was nice. They’re still not good, but they weren’t nearly as bad.

There were a couple big reveals in this movie, two of them being the amazing introductions to Spider-Man, Tom Holland, and Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman. Even though this was the first introduction to these characters in the middle of an ensemble movie, they didn’t get lost. They got just enough exposure leaving you wanting more, which is exactly what they needed.

It was also revealed that Sharon, Emily VanCamp, is Peggy Carter’s niece. I hated that reveal. I was never a fan of her, but she was sort of just there so it didn’t really matter, but making her related to Peggy felt cheap. It’s like she’s a conciliation prize for Cap and I hate that. It takes an already weak character and weakens her, in my opinion. They don’t bother giving her, her own backstory, they just tac her on to someone else. Frustrating.

Captain America: Civil War is a poor title for a great movie, maybe Captain America vs. Iron Man: Poor Bucky.

4.5/5

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Director:

Anthony Russo

Joe Russo

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr.

Chris Hemsworth

Mark Ruffalo

Chris Evans

Benedict Cumberbatch

Chadwick Boseman

Zoe Saldana

Tom Hiddleston

Paul Bettany

Elizabeth Olsen

Tom Holland

Danai Gurira

Scarlet Johansson

Josh Brolin

Chris Pratt

Letitia Wright

Plot:

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Review:

SPOILERS

So I’ve seen Infinity War. Once. On opening day. That was pretty cool and even with pre-purchased tickets kind of a surprise. It happened though, so here are my thoughts.

My one desire for this movie was to see Tony, Robert Downey Jr., dead. I liked him in Iron Man 1 & 2, and I think RDJ is perfectly cast, but I am so freaking over Iron Man. He really pissed me off in Civil War and…I’m not going to get into that here, but I wanted him gone. He is not. He’s still there. Living. Breathing. Marrying Pepper. Color me annoyed.

Plus side Captain America, Chris Evans, is still alive too. Love Captain America, he’s awesome and all the things you want in a Leader. He was barely in the movie sadly and I hope that changes in the next.

Thor, Chris Hemsworth, was the Thor from Raganrok, so yeah! He was funny, and mourning, and determined, and his 1500 year old self kicked some ass. His interactions with the Guardians of the Galaxy were great.

The Russo’s managed to do a great job showing the differences between all the heroes and groups. Doctor Strange’s, Benedict Cumberbatch’s, fighting in particular was spot on. It is stylistically different from all the others and distinct and they did a great job showing that. Everyone sounded like they should and they reacted how you would expect them too, it was great.

I wasn’t much of a fan of Vision, Paul Bettany, and Scarlet Witch’s, Elizabeth Olsen’s, relationship. Well, not the relationship, but the focus. I just don’t care about those characters at this point. Vision is supposed to be this super powerful being but he’s forever getting his ass kicked. Scarlet Witch is pretty boring too.

The scenes in Wakanda were great, though I really wish we had more Shuri, Letitia Wright, and Okoye, Danai Gurira. The fight with Okoye, Black Widow, Scarlet Johansson, and Scarlet Witch was the worst filmed fight of the movie which was a huge disappointment. You couldn’t see what the hell was going on.

The movie had a huge cast so while I missed getting to see more of my favorite characters I understood it. So I’m not going to complain too much about it.

Thanos, Josh Brolin, while not as empathetic a villain as Killmonger, was still really good. You could understand his goal and motivations even if you thought he was fucked up in his methods.

The endings was expected, for me at least. It was definitely a downer, like Rogue One, but I fully expect it to get reset in the next Avengers movie. If that doesn’t happen, well, it will definitely end up impacting how I feel about this movie. Infinity War was a set up. Technically it was a complete story, but it was also buildup for the future movies so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next.

4.5/5

Transcendence (2014)

Transcendence

Transcendence (2014)

Director:

Wally Pfister

Starring:

Johnny Depp

Rebecca Hall

Paul Bettany

Morgan Freeman

Plot:

A scientist’s drive for artificial intelligence, takes on dangerous implications when his consciousness is uploaded into one such program.

Review:

The movie doesn’t make me think very highly of extreme activists. If they’d never tried to kill all the techies they never would have uploaded his consciences to computers. They created their enemy and he wound up not even being all that bad, just misunderstood.

The movie had a very interesting subject but it made a very boring movie. Maybe as a book it wouldn’t have been quiet as dull. I don’t need guns and explosions to make a movie interesting but I need more than long shots of a woman walking down a sterile hallway.

Evelyn, Rebecca Hall, started as a strong female character and then she just lost it. She fought to save her husband and then as soon as he was uploaded she just became this weak, passive creature. It wasn’t until the end that she regained some of her strength.

I wasn’t expecting much with this movie and it didn’t give me much. Just another post apocalyptic scenario caused by evil technology or love, whichever you feel like blaming.

2.75/5