Star Wars: The Last Jedi 3 1/2 Stars

Star Wars The Last Jedi NON SPOILER REVIEW 

Okay so this review has been pondering my mind ever since the Saturday viewing and I don’t know why. Is it that I enjoyed the film so much that I can’t stop thinking about it? Is it that I thought it wasn’t good enough and that’s why I keep thinking about it? I can’t quite put my finger on it. One of the things that completely took me out of enjoying the film to its fullest is that the audio mix of the film in my theater was not good. The dialogue was way too low to comprehend unless the actors were screaming lines. I felt myself straining to hear what was being said especially during Kylo Ren’s scenes. This hopefully will improve once I see it again. With that being said, I really liked it and I would give it a solid B+ or a 3.5 out of 5 stars. There are so many things I liked/loved about the film but there are still grips as well. I’ve read several “hater” tweets and listened to several podcast reviews about the movie and I understand the issues and have some of the same feelings however NO STAR WARS FILM IS PERFECT and I don’t think any of the issues or concerns give any reason to HATE this film. This film does everything in its power to do something different with the franchise and that can rub some people the wrong way. At first it rubbed me slightly wrong. There is a scene in the beginning of the film that the director lets you know that they are going in a completely different direction and it totally flew over my head and caught me off guard at first! (Send me a DM if you want to know what scene I’m talking about) Not until after I saw the film did I realize and except it. The older generation such as myself should just learn to except this is the new era of the franchise and things can change. I think what this film does is get the audience to talk and debate which is what you want from a film. If it doesn’t spark conversation whether it be good or bad, then you really have lost the point. 

It really did feel like the first true sequel of the original trilogy. The Force Awakens basically re-established the Star Wars franchise by repeating a lot of what happens in A New Hope. This film branches off from Return of the Jedi (while mimicking Return of the Jedi) but adding so much more to continue the franchise. I really liked that they did that. For the last two years I keep waiting for answers to certain questions that The Force Awakens presented. Those answers were given in this film but not necessarily how I wanted them answered. That’s part of the problem that I had with this film. There are so much more deeper approaches to this new Star Wars franchise that this film filled me with joy and surprise. There were so many times that I thought they would go one way and ended going another. Luke and Leia gave the best performances of the film and it was quite possibly the best performance Leia has given of the entire franchise. 

Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron who I loved in The Force Awakens disappointed me the most, along with Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke really didn’t pay off enough for me. I expected Kylo Ren to be more of a threat and achieve that power or presence that Darth Vader had and his character didn’t do that for me. I’m not sure if it’s Adam Driver’s acting or just the way they have that character portrayed. The three main characters that I care for the most are Rey, Finn and Rose which makes sense because if you think about it the three characters that you care about the most in the original trilogy are Luke, Leia and Han. I look forward to seeing how these new characters continue to carry the franchise moving forward. I thought the special effects of the film were fantastic, the score was amazing and the comedy hit on some accounts. 

All in all it was a great film, I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to see it on multiple viewings. This film is so different from any Star Wars film you have ever seen and it can be a good thing. Who wants to know what is going to happen at every turn. If they had just basically mimicked what happened in Empire Strikes Back (which is what I thought might happen) I would have been disappointed. It’s hard to really talk or review the film without spoilers so if you care to discuss spoilers I would be glad to do so in direct messaging. Go see it and May The Force Be With You!

Go see it! 3 1/2 Stars!!

Wonder Woman - 4 1/2 Stars

*singing* Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman! All the world's waiting for you!
 
I couldn't help but start this review with the original “Wonder Woman” 1970’s theme song. For 75 years the world and myself have all been waiting for Wonder Woman to grace the silver screen in live action. It took a long time but it was definitely well worth it. 
 
I grew up a huge fan of Superman and the Justice League trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. When the 1970’s TV series “Wonder Woman” with Lynda Carter came out, I was instantly hooked. It was full of cheesy fun, but it's so iconic to the Wonder Woman character we all know. 
 
As you may know I haven't really been a big fan of the latest DC movie universe films. The tone of the universe has just been dark and brooding and the characters' motivations have not inspired me to like them. With this “Wonder Woman” film being the first female lead superhero film ever and being released in this tough political landscape, DC was going to be risking a lot. 
 
With all that being said, “Wonder Woman,” knocked it out of the park and checked all the marks I had on my list. Patty Jenkins directed the film with such great care to the character and theme of the story. Gal Gadot was born to play Wonder Woman and be the strong woman superhero that all women and little girls can admire. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is fantastic and shares great chemistry with Gal Gadot. The movie delivers what all the recent DC films have been missing which is heart, character, humor and optimism which is what the world can use right now. 
 
This reminded me a lot of the 1978 film “Superman.” Superman to me has always been the american boy-scout who cares about humanity more than himself. Wonder Woman makes a huge effort (all most a little too much) to convince you that she cares about humanity and is willing to sacrifice everything to save them. 
 
Wonder Woman is such a strong independent woman in this film as well. There were times during the action sequences when I would yell out "holy crap!!" or "she is so damn strong!" The action scenes pack a mighty punch from the very beginning and you are actually able to see the choreography for a change. 
 
The villain was a little weak in parts and DC along with Marvel need to work on fleshing out their villains. If I had to say anything negative it would be that I would have loved to seen a tournament among the Amazon women to go back with Steve Trevor to the war. I would have spent a little bit more time in Themysica. I would have shortened it by 20 or 30 minutes. And also I would like for Wonder Woman to fly. But those are very minor nitpicks and it's not spoiler territory to jeopardize this review.

Overall the film is very well done and I found it very hard to find things negative about it. I'm just glad that I am alive to finally see this monumental time in film history. I can't wait to see it again!

*UPDATE* - Upon second viewing, the film was better the second time. All the character driven plot still felt welcoming and the humor still hit where it needed to. I still had issues with the villain character and third act in parts but it still didn't take away from my enjoyment of the film.

4 1/2 Stars!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Review - 4 Stars

This review is pretty much spoiler-free.

We're getting the band back together! Well let's get the band back together but add a couple more things. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is the sequel that I was most anticipating this summer. All the original gang is back with Peter Quill, Drax, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, Yondu and Groot in baby form. The movie picks up right into a battle with the team trying to defeat this large creature to protect some valuable batteries for the Sovereign alien race. The producers of the previous film noticed how popular dancing Groot was so much that they lean on that by having Groot dance throughout the entire battle and opening credits. It was very cute and a fun way to showcase the tone of the film you are about to see. Kurt Russell is introduced in this film as Ego the Living Planet and Peter Quill's father. His role was very well done. I latched on to him in every scene and it made me think of the previous films of Kurt Russell like Big Trouble in Little China and Overboard. I know Overboard is a stretch but when I think Kurt Russell I can't help but think about that movie.

Anyways, this film was a very fun ride. The characters continue with their gags, puns and insults. Especially Drax and Rocket Raccoon. Most of the viewing audience have been falling in love with Baby Groot but Yondu was the standout character in this film for me. His character arc is very well told by Michael Rooker and he plays a very pivotal role in the overall meaning of the film. The space battles were very well done and the color palette was amazing to the eyes. The film overall was very rinse and repeat from the first. It was almost as if James Gunn said "Hey you like it when Drax is very blunt and obvious with his jokes. Let's give him more lines like that." "Hey you like it when Groot is dancing and cute, let's give you more that." It was more of the same. However sometimes that can be a little over saturated. I was a huge fan of the original film. It was fresh. We had never seen these characters portrayed before on the big screen or TV. It had a great team origin story and cohesiveness. This film didn't really have all those elements.

While I enjoyed the humor and action scenes I wasn't a fan of the plot or so called "villain" of the film. The plot lacked depth for me and used the troupe of family to tell the story. As other reviewers have stated it was very much like hearing Vin Diesel talk about family in the Fast and Furious franchise. I understand the point and understand if the director wants to use it as part of driving the narrative but not the main focus. So much so that it's the "villain" of the film? Come on. One of the other issues I had with the film was the soundtrack. In volume one, the soundtrack was basically a character of the film. It played a pivotal role in telling the story. Each song was iconic and was used properly. This volume had maybe like 3 songs that I knew and the rest were filler to just play during battle scenes. Maybe it's just a generational thing but I didn't like the selections. I would equate these two film soundtracks as such, the first was Michael Jackson's Thriller album with hit after hit after hit and the second being Michael Jackson's Dangerous album with a couple of good songs.

Overall the movie is good but it just felt like it was being a little forceful in trying to capture the same feeling of the first. I would have preferred it if the director gave us a proper villain, a better plot and a little less of the same gags as before. 

I still recommend it if you a fan of volume one but just know that the popcorn might get a little stale halfway through. I'm giving it a B.

POWER RANGERS REVIEW!!! - 4 1/2 STARS

BEWARE THERE MAY BE SOME PLOT SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

GO GO POWER RANGERS!!! Here we are with the newly vitalized movie franchise for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It's been 20 years since we last saw the Power Rangers on the big screen. Most people are familiar with the franchise from the 1993 TV series on the Fox Kids afternoon block hour. At least that's how I remember the Rangers. There have been many iterations of the Rangers after that series including Ninjas, Aliens, Zeo, Space, Dino, etc. This film definitely gets inspiration from the film Chronicle while giving us hints of a nostalgic tone to the 1993 version of the Rangers with a few alterations. Like for instance, Zack (The Black Ranger) is played by an asian character while Billy (The Blue Ranger) is played by an african american character. Also Trini (The Yellow Ranger) is an "openly" gay character in this film.

I'm not going to spend too much time on the plot of the film but if you don't know or understand the history of the Rangers, it's about 5 "misguided or delinquent" teenagers who are given superpowers (such as strength, speed and martial arts) through a mystical power coin and led by the leader of the Power Rangers lair, Zordon. After receiving these powers they must come together to defeat the villain Rita Repulsa who is trying to find the crystal hidden in the Earth that will give her the power to destroy it. 

This movie delivers everything that a fan of the original series expects and should provide joy to the newcomers to this franchise. It has great character development by allowing us to get a glimpse into each character's backstory as to why they act the way they do. It's not a lot of backstory into each character but enough to get you attached to each one. It's action lives up to all the other big budget summer blockbuster films that are seen these days. Even when you watching the film and you see the typical cliche things start to happen, they put a spin on things to change it up unexpectedly. There were several times when I thought I knew what was going to happen but it didn't. Things I liked about it the most were the great callbacks or nodes to the original series. You get Alpha 5 and his catchphrase "Aye Yai Yai". You get Jason say "Let's get em". You get Jason delivering the line "It's Morphin' Time." You get double kick moves and silly tag team moves when the Rangers are fighting. You get Rita Repulsa saying "Make my monster grow." AND THEY USE THE ORIGINAL GO GO POWER RANGERS SONG AT THE PERFECT TIME!!! All the subtle hints even with each Ranger wearing the same color clothes that their Rangers are and the way Billy claps when he gets happy about something scientific. There are more and a great wink to the audience at the end.

The film is really great camp fun. Yeah it has it's plot holes, choppy editing and some bad direction but because the characters are so likable you manage to forgive those mishaps. The film really does a great job of delivering home the message that they need to work as a team to accomplish the task at hand. That's how the Power Rangers succeed. The show was the same way. Even though some people are being critical about the pacing of the film I think it works extremely well. Most people wanted the Rangers to form into the suits earlier than they did but I think it was paced so well to allow the audience to fall in the love with the characters. Billy (The Blue Ranger) played by RJ Cyler was the standout character and stole the movie while Jason (The Red Ranger) played by Dacre Montgomery was a close second for me. When I was growing up and watching the original series, I always felt like I was supposed to connect with Zack (The Black Ranger) because he represented my culture but in the back of my mind I more connected with Billy (the Blue Ranger) because he was the nerd of the group. Now with this film I get to be both. The one character that I didn't really care for was Rita Repulsa played by Elizabeth Banks. It's not necessarily that she was bad but she just wasn't the Rita i liked from the series. She seemed to be playing a character that should have been in a horror movie like the Grudge. I understand the tone to make it more adult and dark for the villain but it just wasn't what i was expecting and it didn't mesh well with the Rangers. My other gripe was the "openly" gay portrayal of Trini. I would say she was closeted gay. Look I'm tired of these films just allowing the audience to guess at what the director is telling us about the character versus just blurting it out. Yes it's a PG-13 film and targeted to a younger audience but you can say the word gay without causing a stir. Or at least I wish you could. It's like Disney saying they have an openly gay character in the new Beauty and the Beast film but not openly saying it. Subtle hints in the film but then the director claiming "openly and obvious" terms in interviews or marketing doesn't work for me.

Overall the film is great and just a fun time. It bothers me that I can't get this same style of filmmaking from Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC Films or Fantastic Four for instance. This very well could be like the Transformers films where this first installment in the franchise is the best and the rest suck but at least they knocked it out of the park in the beginning!!! It's takes a campy cheesy 1990 series (that doesn't hold up today) to deliver the fun action for fans and newcomers alike. By the way if you ever want to see what it's like for a MegaZord to do a suplex (yes i said suplex) so great that only Adrian Armour (look him up) can deliver, go see this movie!!!

I'm giving this film 4/2 Stars!! It's not perfect but it morphs into so much goodness!!!

Suicide Squad NON SPOILERS - 3 Stars

Ok I went into this movie with very mixed emotions. Since the first trailer was released in January, I had anticipated this movie being the first big DC movie universe success. The trailer had a very 90s music video fun colorful vibe to it without explaining to much about the plot. It was a very different approach than Man of Steel or Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. It was feeling more like Marvel's approach to Guardians of the Galaxy. A fun way to introduce the audience to new characters that they have never seen before. I was very disappointed to hear the early reviews of this film going into it. Most critics were downing the film which started to give me low expectations. But then the day before I saw the film, there were a few positive reviews that changed my mind a little. So i changed my tune and went in with an open mind and i actually liked it. I had a good time watching this film and it redeemed itself a little from the brooding Batman vs Superman. Actually it was a much needed improvement over Batman vs Superman. However that's not to say it was without it's flaws. The good points for me kinda out ways the bad. I loved most of the characters of this film. Deadshot was the standout character for me. Will Smith was very sarcastically funny and nailed the jokes on point while also being a strong marksman. Other standouts for me were Diablo, Killer Croc and Amanda Waller. Diablo's backstory was very unique and interesting. Killer Croc's look and voice were very well designed. Amanda Waller was played well by Viola Davis. She wasn't as evil or scary as I wanted her to be but still worked for me. There were some mediocre characters like Harley Quinn and The Enchantress. Harley Quinn wasn't a strong enough character to me. Her quips are funny but that's about it. In the comics there are a couple iterations of Harley Quinn and I'm more into the jester style of that character that was in the Batman animated series. She's a very crazy villain and can be just as sinister to the Joker as much as he can be to her. She felt more like a submissive character to the Joker in this movie. The characters that didn't work for me or I didn't get any enjoyment out of were The Joker (surprisingly), Captain Boomerang, Katana and last but not least Batman. The Joker character believe it or not was just too psychotic for me. This version of the Joker wasn't funny even in a sarcastic way. The relationship between The Joker and Harley Quinn just felt really flat. They honestly could have left the Joker out of the movie entirely. Well add him in a little to establish the backstory of Harley Quinn but that's all you need. Captain Boomerang was very dull and it was hard for me to understand his accent. As you mentioned, Katana didn't even deliver any lines to the other team members. Batman wasn't needed in this film either. The only reason why he was here is to tie in this film to the DC universe for audience members who don't know these characters. It's the same reason why they kept saying the word Superman about a dozen times in this movie. The villain role played by Enchantress was very unmotivated and basically had the same plan as all the other villains in superhero films. Let's try to take over the world but we don't actually know why but let's do it from a tall skyscraper. I did like the CGI of the character and her design but her motivations were non existent. Stylistically this film is very pretty to look at with great costume design, CGI and cinematography. Also the soundtrack is fantastic. I think this is where the film hooked me. I'm really into music and this was basically one big giant music video. This film is a big mess. The plot is non existent, the editing is messy, and the writing/dialogue leaves much to be desired. The first 10 minute intro to the movie should have been cut and there are several backstory plots that could have been placed more up front than later in the film in particularly the scene in the bar where Diablo is telling what happened with his family. It slows the pace of the film down awkwardly during a big fight climax. But for some reason I liked the movie. I was having fun watching this movie. It was funny. Some of the characters I liked and it made it enjoyable for me. It reminds me a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy because the soundtrack fit the film perfectly just like this one did. The difference is that Guardian of the Galaxy had characters that you loved. The relationships with the characters made sense. The writing was great and the plot made sense. With this movie, you just have to not think about it so much which can be hard. If it wasn't for the stylistic art of this movie or the soundtrack or the likability of some of these characters I would probably be feeling the same way as you. Even with all it's problems, i had fun watching the movie.

There is an end credit scene but it's kind of a throwaway. It didn't do anything for me.

I'm going to give this movie 3 stars.

X-Men Apocalypse - 3 1/2 Stars

BEWARE PLOT SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MOVIE YOU ARE GOING TO BE SPOILED! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

X-Men Apocalypse comes to us from director Bryan Singer as the third film in this new rebooted/prequel series of the X-Men franchise. It tries to pick up from where we left off in X-Men Days of Future Past and also First Class at the same time. The X-Men now face a new villain by the name of Apocalypse (or En Sabah Nur) who is known as the first and most powerful mutant since the Egyptian days. He has been known to form a team of four horsemen who now will be known as Magneto, Storm, Psylocke & Angel. Professor Xavier has started teachings at the X-men school for the gifted and introduces us to some of the most beloved new characters, Nightwing, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Jubilee.

With the success of the first two reboot series films, I expected this film to be a little more exciting for me especially since you have such a great villain from the comics. The introduction of En Sabah Nur in the beginning was really great. The look of Apocalypse and small glimpse we get of the human form of En Sabah Nur I really liked. I would have liked to seen more of his backstory of the character and the relationship building between him and his new horsemen. Why the four horsemen worshiped him so much. Were they just under his mind manipulation? And ultimately I would have loved to seen his powers better established. He is supposed to be this big hulking ancient powerful mutant but his powers seemed a bit lackluster at times. After about the fourth time of his eyes rolling into the back of his head I got annoyed. I really enjoyed the character development of the new Cyclops. With his brother, Havok bringing him to the X-men school after he discovers his powers was a great character building move. They nailed the Nightcrawler characters' look and personality from the comics. Quicksilver was still the standout character for me with his super speed and comedic role. His action scene was the showstopper for me. The addition of these youthful, fun and energetic mutants is what was needed for this new rebooted series. It brought me back to the 90's X-Men cartoon. I was very disappointed that we didn't get to see Jubilee's powers in this film. Storm was played very well by newcomer Alexandra Shipp. They kept her original comic book origin from Africa but again I would have liked to seen her backstory a little bit more. Olivia Munn as Psylocke was very disappointing. It's not that I think she is a great actress but the fact that she had mentioned to the press that she fought so hard to get extra fight scenes to establish this character but she literally had 3 lines in film and it all fell flat. She looked great in her costume but that's it. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique is so not working for me anymore. I felt like she phoned in her performance and it really bothered me that she is still dealing with not wanting to be the Mystique character. We only see her for a few moments in the Mystique makeup and then she doesn't showcase off her powers. I guess in this movie her powers are to look like Jennifer Lawrence all the time. It was so annoying and I'm done with her. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy were meant to play Magneto and Professor Xavier respectively. They command such great presence and gravitas when you see and hear them in every scene. The backstory and character development of Magneto is something I could watch all day. However his struggle/anger with the passing of his wife and daughter are met without any real payoff. He expresses his anger with words instead of action which was really disappointing. He had so much anger and hate built up but ultimately to release that anger created a giant earthquake at the end. That was very unsettling to me. Once he turns back to the good side I expected him to really release that built up anger onto Apocalypse but it didn't really play out that well. 

Plot points in the film just feel empty to me. Their is no human element to this story at all. Once we see Apocalypse in the end trying to destroy the world, we don't get the connection to the human world. All we see is cars and buildings being ripped to shreds from an empty world. There is one shot of the government saying basically that the mutants are creating a massive earthquake but that's it. It's like a world with nothing but a handful of mutants fighting each other. The ending battle between the mutants was also very like one-two steps for me. One person throws a car at the group and then dodge out of the way. Then someone steps up next to slam someone through a wall. In the meantime you have Magneto just twirling around some metal in the air. Just flat and boring. The highlight of that scene was the powerful appearance of Jean Grey and the glimpse of the Dark Phoenix. The 15 minute Wolverine scene was totally useless and could have been cut from the film. It's totally setup to let the audience know that they are working on a new Wolverine sequel but most of the audience knows that. There was a huge applause when he first shows up but I wonder if most of the audience regretted it once they realized it didn't add anything to the story.

There are some really great things about this film in the first half but the second just falls off. The character development direction in the first half is really great. The action sequences and the story lines towards the end are just very off putting. New characters are added, destruction is happening, yet it just feels kind of oddly bland. The most fun I had during this film was being in the Xavier school. It really gives you the feeling of being their as a student and I loved it. The money shot other than the Quicksilver action scene was the very last frame of the new X-men in their new costumes as they are beginning to train against the Sentinels. The costume designs were ripped right from the pages of the comics. At one point in the movie, Jean Grey says "you know the third film is always the worst". Well I guess she was right. It's not the worst of the X-Men franchise it just isn't the best of this new trilogy.

I would give it 3 1/2 Stars. It's good popcorn with butter just not the good kind of butter.

Captain America Civil War - 4 1/2 Stars

BEWARE PLOT SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MOVIE YOU ARE GOING TO BE SPOILED! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

WOW what an epic superhero movie. By far this is my favorite Marvel "team" superhero film. It just knocked Avengers down to number 2 for me. While this is ultimately a Captain America movie, this is Avengers 3 before the real Avengers 3 (Infinity War) happens. The fight scenes, the choreography, the acting, the character development, the set pieces. Wooooo!!!

Okay let's just get the plot of the film out of the way. Following the actions of what happens in Avengers Age of Ultron and previous films, the government wants to pass a bill (The Sakovia Accords known as the Registration Act) to make the Avengers and superheroes accountable for their actions when there is collateral damage or drastic casualties. The law divides the team of Avengers and causes conflict within the superheroes. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who's side are you on? The two who are mainly at strong disagreement are Captain America and Iron Man. Along with the splitting of the Avengers this brings in new characters Black Panther played by Chadwick Boseman, Spider-man played by Tom Holland and a returning Winter Solider played by Sebastian Stan.

For me I’ve always wanted to see what it would happen if a group of superheroes came to blows. In a film could the director showcase and manage each of the characters' strengths? Yes, yes they can. The power potential for each character in this film was demonstrated to the max. Scarlet Witch was so powerful and showcased some skills that I didn’t even know she had. Ant-Man finally grew into Giant Man and it fit in perfectly in that particular scene with the other Avengers. Ant-Man's excitement to join with Captain America was so funny that it reminded me why I loved his solo film last year. Falcon’s new wings and his remote controlled falcon were so cool!! The chase scene with The Winter Solider, Black Panther and Captain America was so fun. The audience and myself made a huge gasp when The Winter Solider pulled the motorcycle from the guy driving in order to continue the getaway from Black Panther and Captain America. The love relationship building with Scarlet Witch and Vision was humanly natural. Vision trying to fit into the human world by developing feelings for her and even dressing in human clothes was great and representative to the love story they have in the comics. Iron Man and Captain America fought each other basically almost to the death. The splash pages were ripped right from the comics!! The shot of Iron Man blasting his repulser ray into Captain America’s shield had me so giddy. To me that was better than the splash page of the two teams battling at the airport. At one point I thought for sure Cap or Iron Man was going to die at the hands of the other. And lastly but not least, Black Panther and Spider-man stole the show, especially Black Panther for me.

Look I have been a longtime Spider-man fan and I was hoping that they would finally get him right in a film and thankfully now that they loaned him to Marvel, they have done him justice. His age is appropriate. He has a reason to team up with Avengers. His spunk is on point even within battle. His skills are unmatched. And he’s just down right a fun kid who is trying to make something out of the new powers he has discovered. During the airport battle scene when he starts to fight the Winter Solider and catches his metal arm,  looks and says “Hey you have a metal arm, how cool.” I was like done!! They nailed him!! It was so much fun to watch him in action. The costume was great and they even gave him the Ditko eyes. The squints and sounds that it makes are giving you emotion through his eyes just like in the comics!!! Perfect! Oh and no origin story. Not needed!! A little scene with Tony Stark to introduce him to the audience and then we have Spider-man. Not Spider-boy. So excited to see his standalone film next year.

Now back to Black Panther. KING OF WAKANDA!!! Man when he walked onto the scene and spoke for the first time, I got chills. From the comics that I’ve read of Black Panther in my mind that is what he sounds like. His voice just commands the role of Prince and now King of Wakanda. Not like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America. His stature just is so strong and bold. His movements are so quick and silent like a cat. I’m a dog lover but now I might have to change my ideals of felines. There were moments when he would jump off of a building and land and you heard nothing from his feet. I’m like damn!! Is he walking on air? His costume was so cool as well. I have the same comment with Black Panther as Spider-man. Not really needing an origin story but boom here he is fighting with and against the Avengers. It’s funny because himself and Spider-man were only in the film probably for about 15 minutes each but it felt like so much more because they were so memorable.

During the film I was always on Captain America’s side. I couldn’t imagine a world where the superheroes we need to protect us from the bigger threat had to be policed by the government. The government telling the superheroes when and where they could fight crime. Do they know the right time for them to be fighting crime? Captain America is always going to take the noble and citizen like approach to every person. Iron Man is just shooting first and asking questions later to me. The struggle Captain America has with protecting his friend Bucky who is being controlled by Hydra is real. He will always and forever be his friend and he will do anything to make sure people see the good in him.

The villain (Baron Zemo) wasn’t really pronounced enough in this film for me. But it was okay because the real struggle was supposed to between the Avengers. I believe if Marvel would have made the villain a more prominent focus then would have lost sight of the real Civil War. Plus what we know about previous Marvel films is that the villains are usually lackluster in their character development anyways. Red Skull and Loki have been the only exceptions. The other issue that I had with the film was a non-conclusive ending about the Sokovia Accords. Was the act officially instituted into the government? Is Captain America now AWOL? Is the government now searching for Captain America because he is a fugitive? Is Iron Man still on the government’s side? Which I guess that answer is there but you don't know for sure because he does put General Ross on hold when he answers the phone in the end scene.

I guess with those questions unanswered it’s a good way to bring the team back together to fight Thanos in Infinity War. It is a two-part film so maybe the first part is to decide if the team is going to join back together and also get the backstory/introduction to Thanos and the second part bringing the team back together and the final battle.

The film was fun, emotional (I gasped when Bucky’s arm was ripped off and when Cap was at the final battle with Iron Man), exciting, thought provoking and just everything I wanted in a superhero movie. Marvel is still on the right track providing us with these awesome superhero films. Some may think they are getting superhero fatigue but I'm not.

4 1/2 Stars only because the villain part bothered me.