Movie review: Captain America – Civil War (2016)

Hi, guys and girls! It’s me posting on the last day of the month. I have just returned home from watching the ‘Captain America: Civil War’ at Westfield Carousel shopping mall with my housemates. I felt slightly unwell recently but I have to go ahead with the movie today as I had purchased the tickets online earlier. It’s just bad and costly to waste it. If I’m not mistaken, this would be Captain America’s last stand-alone film before Marvel put its full focus on the other remaining and also new superheroes as well as the Avengers.

Well, this isn’t really Captain America’s stand-alone film after all since most of Marvel superheroes also joined in the fun in this third installment of Captain America’s film series. Why? Because the storyline here is about Civil War. The disagreement between Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) due to political interference added with Captain insisting on saving his best friend, Bucky (Winter Soldier) from many evil plots he had done after being brainwashed led to separation of the Avengers team into two group, and eventually fight between them. There is still a bad guy behind all this in this movie but he is not really a threat at all besides than making things up to create this war between the Avengers themselves.

I enjoyed all the action sequences in this movie, but beyond that, I find there is nothing much to compliment for. The conflict between Tony and Steve is sad but nice to watch, and I’m happy that they sort of trying to resolve their difference by the end of the movie. I also enjoyed seeing new superheroes joining in like Black Panther and the very young Spiderman. So now, we see Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Falcon, Ant-Man, War-Machine, Black Panther, Winter Soldier, and Spiderman. What a huge group. It’s like it’s another Avengers movie (the next Avengers movie will be the Infinity Wars which is to be split into two parts). Heyy…but where’s Thor and Hulk?

Spiderman here talked a lot even during the fight but it’s funny to see he acted that way here, which makes way for his movies later on under Marvel cinematic universe. Since Spiderman had been previously taken up by two actors in their respective film franchises, I’m hoping to see a new and a fresh Spiderman character and storyline to develop now under this young actor (Tom Holland) by Marvel in his future films. He is a talented actor (saw and amazed by his performance in ‘The Impossible’ few years ago, a tsunami movie of which he starred with Naomi Watts) but I still find that he is a bit too young for this role. Anyway, let’s move on. I find that there are a bit too much of boring and draggy talking scenes in between. Besides that, I’m actually hoping that the villain behind this plot would be much stronger or poses real threat to the group, and now, it ended up quite disappointingly for me as he is just an ordinary man. But beyond that, this movie is all good, but just not a great masterpiece. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Captain America: Civil War’ a total of 7.1. And if you have not watched this movie, please wait till the very end of the movie after the credits for one mid-credit scene and one post-credit scene. Don’t miss them.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

‘Captain of Destiny’, the best TVB series of the year so far.

‘Captain of Destiny’ (張保仔, literally as Cheung Po Tsai) is a 2015 Hong Kong historical fiction sci-fi television drama of 32 episodes by TVB. The drama is a retelling of the story of 19th century Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai and his conflict with the Qing imperial army, meanwhile encountering a time-travelling police constable from the 21st century. The drama starred Ruco Chan, Tony Hung, Grace Chan, Ram Cheung, Elaine Yiu, Maggie Shiu, Joel Chan, Mandy Wong, Susan Tse, Lau Kong, etc. It is a grand production and is one of the four anniversary series of 2015 to mark 48th anniversary of TVB.

This series which concluded just now with its final episode also won the Most Favourite TVB Drama at the Singapore’s Starhub TVB Awards 2015 yesterday. Despite receiving average points in viewership rating at Hong Kong, the drama is being very well received and I’m one of them who have more praise to this series compared to all the other dramas released this year. It is just so good and always kept me intensely catching up to latest episode of the series every night. In the first few episodes, I came to watch the series with less expectation but then I’m surprised by the great quality of storyline and characters the series present to TV audiences as the drama develops. I still enjoyed the time-travel concept eventhough TVB had used this idea many times before in the past.

First, we were shown in the present setting of Hong Kong when a female police constable (Grace Chan) accidentally traveled back in time to Qing dynasty from a waterspout when she is on a mission to catch a criminal named Bandit King (Ruco Chan). Once back to 200 years earlier, she met the famous pirate Cheung Po Tsai (Tony Hung) and his gang. Here the story goes between the pirates’ life and the life in the palace emphasizing the 11th prince (Ruco Chan again) who is a hardworking prince in mission to eliminate pirates. Many events followed between these main characters and the story development went very well in a good pacing mixed with light fun moments as well as serious and intense situations.

Ruco Chan delivered yet another impressive performance as the 11th prince. His character here is very diverse, requiring him to deliver multitude of varying emotions and he nailed it. He conquered all the scenes he is in with powerful strength and expressions. Eventhough he is not in the titular role, but he shines over the rest in this drama. No wonder he won Most Favourite TVB Actor in Singapore last night too for his performance here. Very well deserved and I do hope his winning continues to TVB Star Awards Malaysia next month as well as the Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards in December. It’s time for him to be rewarded. Tony Hung portrayed the titular role and I’m fine with it. However, I find it weird that his character is not being given much attention throughout the series eventhough his name makes the series’ title. That has to be case when you have another lead role, the 11th prince of which I have said earlier that stood out better than the rest including this titular character of Cheung Po Tsai.

Grace Chan is a newbie artist and she should not be promoted too quickly by the TVB station by taking up this first female lead role here. The outcome is you get a performance that is poor and heavily criticized by many people. It’s not her fault mostly but I do cannot stand the overly exaggerated expressions and voice she shown in this drama. On the other hand, I also cannot stand anymore on the cute acts by the 11th prince’s lady servant, portrayed by Kelly Fu. However, her acting is far more natural than Grace. It is the veteran actors and actresses that back the series a lot too. Villains like Lee Shin Cheung (as admiral), Elaine Yiu (as concubine), and Lau Kong (as emperor) and others like Susan Tse (as concubine), Elliot Ngok (as imperial eunuch), Maggie Shiu (head pirate’s wife), and Ram Cheung (pirate’s strategist) did very well. Joel Chan and Mandy Wong also contributed very convincing performances in their respective supporting role too.

Besides that, I’m also surprised by the effort put on the visual effects of this series. The visual effects especially during the war between the imperial army and the pirates are exceptionally good if measured by TVB standard. I’m stunned and amazed by that battle scene. It looks very cool, technically brilliant, intense and exciting. However, I am actually hoping for like two or more of those battle scene to further expand the storyline on the strained relationship between the pirates and the government. So actually, I don’t mind the series to be 40 episodes long.  The effort put on production design, costume and make-up design, and editing should also be complimented for this drama. The drama’s opening theme song by Fred Cheng, closing theme song by Ruco Chan and episode’s plug song by Linda Chung are all very nice to listen to and suits well to this drama’s heart.

As for its ending just now, I’m very happy of how this series came to such a thought-provoking conclusion. It is an ending made with a lot of thoughts (and a nice twist) and I like that. I’m tired of typical non-moving yet happy ending made to most of TVB series in recent years. I’m also surprised to see Raymond Wong making a cameo appearance in the end as a pirate. Why him? It’s because he is originally cast to portray Cheung Po Tsai and not Tony Hung. So letting him to appear in the very last minute of the series’ ending would be quite interesting. In general, this drama is definitely the best TVB series of the year so far and if the next series ‘Lord of Shanghai’ isn’t as good as it is expected, then I see no problem for ‘Captain of Destiny’ to take home Most Favourite TVB Drama in both TVB Star Awards Malaysia and also in Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards. It is really very good and delivered beyond my expectation. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Captain of Destiny’ a total of 8.2. That’s the highest rating for a series I have given this year. Even Grace Chan’s bad acting here couldn’t pull the series down to below 8 points from me.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review – Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Great! Really great! For quite some time, I had never been feeling this excited after watching a movie. The movie I’m referring to for now is ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, the second instalment of this particular superhero film franchise. The story sets two years after the Battle of New York (as seen in The Avengers), when now Captain, Black Widow and Falcon join forces to uncover a conspiracy within S.H.I.E.L.D. while facing a mysterious assassin known as The Winter Soldier. After the 2012’s The Avengers, we had seen the return of Iron Man and Thor in their respective stand-alone films. Now, Captain is back too, and the outcome turns out to be much more exciting than the others.

The previous ‘Captain America’ film sets in 1940’s during the World War period where we saw the transformation of a skinny military man into a superhero with exceptional physical abilities and thus being called as the first avenger. After an encounter with the villain Red Skull, HYDRA leader, he is lost in the middle of the ocean, being rescued and slept till the present day (a bit of flashback to what’s happened on the first movie). Later in The Avengers, we didn’t see much from him coping with the current era which would be fun to see but there are many other superheroes to focus on in that film too, hence no time for that. We do see a bit of that part in this current sequel, but still I think it is not enough. It would puts in a bit of comedic touch to turn this movie into perfection, but it didn’t in the end. But don’t worry. There are still some light funny moments in this one.

Nevertheless, the story here is solid and wonderfully developed enough to have it being critically-acclaimed as it turns out to be now. It’s interesting to see Steve Rogers (the Captain) teams up with Black Widow (she previously collaborated most with Hawkeye in The Avengers) and also later with Falcon (new appearance) on many challenging tasks ahead in this movie. Nick Fury also had more significant role here which is of something good to see. The storyline is extremely engaging and the plenty of intensifying action scenes made it further fun and exciting. I just couldn’t get my eyes off the screen for even a second from the start to the end. The actions (crashes, explosions, blasts, gunfight, combat) are awesome here! I couldn’t expect more from this superhero of whom has the lesser power compared to the other superheroes and yet could contribute to this amount of climax-reaching actions in this film.

Chris Evans did not only proves himself to being a favourite by many girls out there due to his handsome look and superb fit body, but also shown good acting performance here alongside with Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow. The other aspects to compliment are the great visual effects (must be using up a lot of budget). Every action-packed scenes looks very realistic and convincing enough to keep us at the edge of our seats. There are also some very nice twists, and interesting character’s development. Bucky Barnes as the old friend of the Captain and as the Winter Soldier here (the villain) isn’t really evil and I’m happy to see him rescuing Captain in the end (sorry for a bit of spoiler) and then looking to discover more on his past (check out the post-credit scene if you haven’t watch it) after he is brainwashed by the true villain of the film, Alexander Pierce as the secret agent of HYDRA within the S.H.I.E.L.D. There are a mid-credit and post-credit scenes. Don’t miss both.

I have to say this is by far the best superhero film I have seen after The Avengers. I would rate ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ a total of 8.0. Solid story, great flow, plenty of actions and intriguing suspense. Nears perfection.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

Movie review: Captain Phillips (2013)

‘Captain Phillips’ is a 2013 action thriller film based on a historical incident in which a merchant mariner, Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean as part of the Maersk Alabama container ship hijacking in 2009, on which the pirates were led by Abduwali Muse. So, it’s a movie centred on a ship being hijacked and then a captain being taken hostage. I had only seen the movie’s trailer recently and I’m not that fancy of it. How could this be interesting?

But I was wrong. No wonder this film successfully generated universal acclaim and overwhelming positive feedbacks. It is even nominated for a number of awards including Best Picture and Best Actor on upcoming Golden Globes and Academy Awards. After watching the film just now, I’m really surprised that it performed so good that I’m speechless for a moment. I’m impressed that a story of a ship hijacked by pirates could be delivered to such a dramatic piece of film. And furthermore, it’s not a short film. It’s taking a bit over two hours and still perfectly engages the audiences to follow up with the story development as the tension builds.

I believe the true story of Captain Phillips would not be that dramatic as shown in the film. I guess some parts are added in or created fictionally to further exaggerate or dramatize the event, and I’m okay with it. If not, the event would have just been finished in a movie less than an hour. Accompanied with great direction, screenplay and cinematography, this film didn’t disappoint, and definitely delivered way beyond my expectation. But still it’s not perfect as I find it is taking a bit too long and some parts are a bit draggy.

 

Tom Hanks is incredible on his performance as the lead role here. I have not seen him on big screen for quite some time. As Captain Phillips, he yet contributed another superb acting. Truly wonderful. I do think he stands a high chance for Best Actor in several upcoming awards. The last scene when he was finally saved at the very crucial climatic moment, and then having a break down when he was brought over to medical check, is showcasing another best of Tom Hanks’ performance, full of heartfelt emotions. Also credit to the much lesser known actor, Barkhad Abdi for portraying the pirate leader so well that in the end, both of them put up for a great show.

Generally, ‘Captain Phillips’ is an interesting, thrilling, exhausting, incredibly intense and powerfully acted film. If you are looking for light or pure fun from a movie, then this is not for you. ‘Captain Phillips’ is for ‘serious business’…I mean it’s for satisfaction of professional critics and awards’ judges. It do gets a huge thumbs up from me too. Out of 10 points, I rate this film a total of 8.1. Such a high rating from me, which proves that it is one of the best films released last year according to my opinions.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review: Captain America – The First Avenger (2011)

It’s time for Captain America as July is almost coming to end. It’s a superhero film by Marvel Comics which is famous in creating several other comic-based superhero films like Spiderman, Iron Man, etc.  The film tells the story of Steve Rogers, a short, thin and weak man who is transformed into super soldier Captain America to help the war effort. However, Captain America must stop Red Skull (the villain), Adolf Hitler’s ruthless head of weaponry and leader of a terrorist organization, who intends to use a mysterious tesseract energy-source for world domination.

As the setting of this marvel superhero is back in 1942 during World War II, Captain America is considered the first superhero emerged in the world from the comics, and hence getting the name as ‘the first avenger’. Do you know that Marvel is going to release a new film soon entitled ‘Avengers’ which will gather most of its superheros into a single film, for an epic battle with the much stronger villain. It is even hinted at the end of this film that it is a prequel to the upcoming ‘Avengers’ film which Captain America will be part of it. Here below is the official trailer of the movie, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’:

I don’t need to explain much on the story of the film as to prevent spoilers as well as it is pretty much expected and obvious what this film will deliver; some extreme action scenes of fights, clash and explosions added with some humours which cracked the audiences out. I did laugh at several moments by a few hilarious scenes, especially at the beginning of the film when the thin and weak soldier is not yet transformed, and when people are questioning his ability in army forces. The action scenes are impressive, but not at the part of the final clash between Captain America and Red Skull which I find it is too simple and quick (with Red Skull suddenly vanished to the universe). Not all action scenes are just created with mainly CGI effects, with many portion showing the real fighting action by the Captain, Steve Rogers portrayed by Chris Evans.

I have to compliment on Chris Evans for his best ever performance after I have known him from Fantastic Four. He had a greater role here as he is the Captain America, the main lead of the film. The character’s development of the film is shown very well, hence giving sufficient screen time for him to shine from a thin guy to a muscular guy. The audiences would certainly pay attention towards his character which is given a depth, good enough for a two-hours movie. His solid performance steals the whole show. As for the villain, the Red Skull portrayed by Hugo Weaving, I find his performance not well done, a better actor should be casted for such a potential character that is ruined by Hugo at this point.

I would like to praise the editing jobs done in showing how skinny Chris Evans is in the beginning of the film and how muscular and ‘big’ he is after being transformed. Yes, Chris Evans did a great job in going for a diet for his earlier acting before going for gym for his performance after the transformation, but obviously, computer did major role there. Thumbs up to Chris for his effort in doing so, and to the whole production team for making the movie quite a successful one. On the other hand, I find that the film did extremely well in bringing the whole setting back to 70 years ago during World War II.

However, I find some parts in the film to be a bit illogical, like the part when the died doctor leaved no notes at all in operating the transformation mechanism which lead to only a single ‘Captain America’, and not many (which would be then damaging the whole point of having only a single Captain), the part when Captain America is saved and slept for almost 70 years just to reach to the modern days to be continued with the upcoming ‘Avengers’ film. There are some other illogical parts but I’m still okay with it…as the whole point of superhero film already came in being illogical at some sense. Out of 10 points, I would gave this one 7.2.