Captain America: Civil War (No Spoilers)

Captain America: Civil War is everything I wanted from Avengers: Age of Ultron while still remaining a Captain America centric film.

My buddy turned to me right after the end credits began and said "Dude, I just had a boner for 2 1/2 hrs" (really hope they put that quote on the back of the Blu Ray). That pretty much sums up how any comic book/Marvel movie fan will feel after they watch Civil War. The movie has so many incredible characters and the best (YES THE BEST) fight in a superhero ever.

The Russo Brothers (Arrested Development) are back at the helm and once again they take a Captain America movie to new heights. They continue the personal story of Cap + Bucky from Cap's last two outings and that relationship carries the movie that is stuffed with other superheroes.

• First and foremost THE AIRPORT SCENE! You have only seen 2% of it in the trailers. Every single character involved has their moment to shine and kick serious ass. This is this the closest thing to a huge crossover comic event that has ever been on screen. You will see characters match ups you had only dreamed about . I was smiling throughout. Without a doubt, it is the best comic book movie fight ever. 
• Spiderman is fantastic. Tom Holland nails it. He plays the part of the teenager among  the adult superheroes PERFECTLY. He also has some of my favorite dialogue in the film. Everything I saw from him just made Spiderman:Homecoming my #1 anticipated comic movie of 2017.

Holland really reminded me of this criminally underrated Spiderman cartoon

• Everyone will tell you Spiderman steals the show. And while I loved him, I feel Antman actually steals the spotlight. Will talk about why in my spoiler review.
• The movie has several comic references including a few actual plot points from the Civil War storyline. 
• Every audience member will understand why Cap and Iron Man are on opposite sides.  Their motivations make total sense thus making their confrontations more emotional to the viewer.
• Black Panther is an absolute beast. Chadwick Boseman introduces the King Of Wakanda in excellent fashion. He brings a regal attitude, but at the same time he has a vicious and unique fighting style. Let's just say you do not want to get stuck in his crosshairs.

YOU FORGOT THE PICKLES!

• There are a few more action beats besides the epic Airport fight that are great. The opening fight scene though had some shaky cam moments that made it difficult for me to follow. That also could have been because I was forced to see the movie in 3D and had to wear 3D glasses over my glasses. That shit fucks with your vision.
• The bromances between Falcon + Cap and Cap + Bucky are my favorite. They have each others backs no matter what. I love that kind of loyalty.
• I started out on Cap's side and ended on Cap's side. Chris Evans embodies what I have always felt a hero should stand for and be. Someone who will protect people no matter what.
• Scarlet Witch is the most powerful Avenger and she shows that off quite a bit.
• The villain is fine. His motivations make sense especially with the themes of the movie, but he is kind of just there.

There is so much more to talk about. This movie is stuffed, but the Russo Bros do a great job of making sure everything flows in the storytelling. Captain America: The Winter Soldier probably has a more sophisticated storyline, but Civil War has incredible set pieces and characters out the wahzoo. I'm giving Captain America: Civil War an A

How is Marvel going to top this one? Which superhero bout did you like the most? Did you like Spiderman as much as I did? Sound off in the comments and make sure to follow me @cstrand73 on Twitter and Instagram for all of my superhero insights. You can also check out my reviews for the first two Captain America movies below.

UPDATE: Out of all the questions Civil War leaves about the future of MCU, this was by far the biggest and it needed to be answered.

Tweet Credit to +Superhero Feed 

Rewatch Review: Captain America The Winter Soldier

Captain America: Civil War springs into theaters tomorrow. In honor of the Captain's third solo MCU outing, I decided to go back and rewatch his previous two films and see how they hold up or if I feel any differently about them from multiple viewings. Today's movie is Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).

In my last rewatch review, I talked about how I never saw Captain America: TFA in theaters. That was not the case for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I was so hyped that I saw the movie in a Thursday night preview screening. I even wrote a short review for the film on this site. Here is an excerpt:

"Last night the Informers got together to see the premire of Captain America :The Winter Soldier. Wow, was it great.  The group had a lot of praise for Cap's second outing and trust us that the universal acclaim is deserved."

I went on to list ten aspects I loved about the film and then two I did not. I didn't go into extensive detail on any of the 12 points (I'm a lazy bastard sometimes) so it's kind of funny to look back and try to remember what I was thinking. Here are those lists: 

What we loved

• Awesome fight sequences
• Great balance of action and comedy
• Very current themes
• BLACK WIDOW!
• The Cap and Falcon bromance
• Nick Fury's action sequence
• Mid Credits Scenes
• Winter Soldier's knife skills 
• HAIL HYDRA!!
• Cap and Widow at the mall

What we didn't like

• No Hawkeye
• Maria Hill's portrayal

Now after rewatching this movie again, I can tell you I still agree will a lot of my initial thoughts, but I really question what I was thinking when I picked out what I didn't like about it. So here is what I thought about the film this time around.

• The Winter Soldier upped the ante on action. We get to see Cap mow down countless bad guys in many different environments. The best part about it was Cap was not just running and jumping around like he was in TFA, this time he was beating ass in every way he could. He also gets a lot more use of his shield this time around. It's hard to pinpoint my favorite actions sequence so I'm gonna give you my top three fights. Each of one of these is a masterpiece:

1. Elevator Brawl

2. Knife Fight in the street against the Winter Soldier

3. The opening ship siege sequence

Solange vs Jay Z: Part 2

• Captain America's allies are a lot more interesting than his last movie. Look back at my last review and notice I do not mention the Howling Commandos once. That's because besides Bucky they are interchangeable and the movie never gives you a reason to give a shit about them. Now Cap has a different team in place for this outing. He gets to hang out old Avengers favorites like Black Widow and Nick Fury, while also being introduced to a new ally in Sam Wilson/Falcon. I really enjoyed the dynamics between all of these characters. Especially the comradery between Cap and Falcon. They are the kind of guys you would wanna grab a beer with.
• "Hail Hydra" is an amazing catchphrase (even though it basically confirms you are a Neo-Nazi). Shout out to the late great Gary Shandling playing a Hyrda supporting Senator. Here are some of the my favorite Hail Hydra memes.

• As every person who has reviewed this film has already pointed out, this movie is a 70's political thriller. It's just as much a spy movie as it is a superhero one. The opening ship siege is very reminiscent of a James Bond cold opening.
• Loved the scene with Zola as a computer. Gave the audience answers in a cool way while also giving a nod to Zola's comic book counterpart.
• Hydra's infiltration of SHEILD was an interesting path for this movie to take. It also helps fuel Cap's motivations for Civil War.
• The culmination of Hydra's plan leads to the end fight scene aboard the 3 giant death ships. It has solid action, but I find it less memorable than those 3 sequences that I listed earlier. Although Falcon's air acrobatics are pretty stunning. Actually fuck what I said, this scene kicks ass too.
• The only real problem (if you even want to call it that) is that this movie lacks a big comic book villain such as the Joker or Loki. Alexander Pierce is essentially the bad guy, but he is kind of barely in the movie. So the brunt of the evil workload is handed off to Pierce's muscle, the Winter Soldier. Now while The Winter Soldier certainly makes for an tough physical opponent for Cap and his crew the real nitpick I have is that I prefer a villain whose motivation is more than just that he is brainwashed and being told what to do. That being said he was still a cool presence throughout.
• Lastly, I have two questions about my dislikes from my old review. 

1. Was Hawkeye not in this movie because he was busy working on his farm that we saw in Avengers: Age Of Ultron? Seriously he is a high level SHEILD agent and he didn't show up when his place of work was being destroyed because he was too busy fixing a tractor? I call bullshit. Do your job Clint!

2. Who gives a shit about Maria Hill? Why did I care about Maria Hill's portrayal? I didn't create the character. She was utilized fine in the movie. Why did I give shit? That is an answer I would like to know.

I love this kick.

In the end I loved this movie two years ago and I still do. I nitpicked more than I did before, but in spite of that I'm going to give it a higher score than I did two years ago. My rematch of Captain America: The Winter Soldier gets an A

What did you think of Cap's second solo outing? Did you like the first one better? Do you Hail Hydra? Sound off and the comments and make sure to follow me @cstrand73 on Twitter and Instagram for all my superhero insights.

Today is the Day!

Rewatch Review: Captain America The First Avenger

In anticipation of Captain America: Civil War I decided to go back and rewatch some old Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to see how they hold up. Leading off this parade through the MCU is Joe Johntson's 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger.

Captain America: The First Avenger is the one MCU movie that I didn't get to see in the theater. In fact I didn't watch it until after I saw Joss Whedon's The Avengers in 2012. My college friends and I were so jazzed up about Marvel after watching The Avengers that we started talking about all the solo movies that came before it. What we quickly discovered though was that none of us had seen Captain America: The First Avenger. So without much hesitation I loaded the movie up my TV and we were off. 

Now I'm gonna tell you the truth. The first time I watched this movie I didn't like it. In fact all of my friends and I spent the majority of this film shitting on it. Now in retrospect that is probably because all of us had just seen The Avengers and we looking forward to this film being akin to that. 

In the 4 years that have passed since my first viewing I have seen (and loved) this movie's  sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier and enjoyed another great Cap outing in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I have also read some Captain America comics and grown more fond of the character every time I've see him. In fact he is my favorite character on Marvel Studios roster now and I'm riding the #TeamCap train right into my Civil War screening tomorrow. So I think the combination of tempered expectations and more fondness of the character lead me to enjoying this movie a lot more in my second viewing. The first time I watched it I would have given it a D. Here is what I thought about it this time.

My Thoughts

• The movie is very much a character piece. It is fully focused on showing it's audience how Steve Rogers is a great guy and hero at heart. Overall it's a great intro to the character.
• Most of the action beats are solid though out, but full use of Caps fighting abilities (like kicking fuckers off boats and using his shield to take down a helicopter) are better showcased in The Winter Solider. This movie seems to be really focused on telling us that Cap can run fast and jump high. Now if this was a movie about how a shrimpy dude used a super soldier program to cheat his way into the Olympics then I would be fine with it. The problem is that this is a superhero flick and not The Ringer.

Watch Cap run and jump through the streets

• A criticism for the MCU as a whole has been that there are no good villains besides Loki. Red Skull continues that trend by being the very one note evil German guy. In his defense though his makeup looks amazing.
• Thorin Oakensheild, Margery Tyrell, and Damien Darhk are in this? That's cool. Also did anyone notice both of the announcers from the Hunger Games are competing German scientists? Coincidence I think not!

Hyrdra?

• Most of this movie is great set up. Setting up Cap for the Avengers. Setting up Zola for his return in The Winter Soldier. Setting up Hydra and their utter awesomeness (I do not like Nazis I just like saying Hail Hydra!). Through all this set up is one crucial mistake. That is the mishandling of Bucky's death. He falls off a train and is never talked about again.They Han Soloed him. It was like in The Force Awakens how Leia hugged Rey and not Chewie. There is never a moment of Steve morning or saying anything about his best friend for the rest of the movie. Because Bucky's death was so unmemorable, The Winter Soldier has to drill what happened into the viewers head over and over for it's big twist to work.
• The movie is poorly paced. So much exposition in the beginning then the end feels like a clip show of action moments. Don't get me wrong I liked a lot of the action and a lot of the exposition, it just felt like they were clustered together at the beginning and at the end.
• I totally forgot about Cap's budding movie career. The old movie within a movie. 

Final Grade: Overall Captain America: The First Avenger is more enjoyable than I remember. It has great character moments and does a good job introducing the Captain we all know and love.

I'm giving my rewatch of CA:TFA a B-

What do you think of Captain America: The first Avenger? Was there to much running and not enough punching? Sound of in the comments and make sure to follow me @cstrand73 on Twitter for all my takes on superhero stuff.

Cannot wait for tomorrow 

The Results For The 2nd Annual Capeys: Movies

The 2nd Annual Capey Awards: Movies

The votes have been cast, the points have been tallied, and the winners have been chosen. Welcome to the results to the 2nd annual Capey Awards. Your favorite Caped Informers got together and decided what was the best of the best in Superhero films in 2014. Well, Jabba looks excited let's get started!

Did someone say the Capey Awards?

Comic Movie of The Year
Amazing Spiderman 2
Captain America: The Winter Solider
Guardians of The Galaxy
TMNT
X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Winner: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier only beat out Guardians of the Galaxy by a single vote.  So in short you could say it was a great year for Marvel Studios. Both their films were both critical and box office successes, but we gave the edge to the Captain. His 70's esque political thriller was riveting. It also helps that it had Scarlet Johansson. Never hurts to throw in a little Scarjo

Best Sci-Fi Movie of The Year
Dawn of The Planet of The Apes
Edge of Tomorrow (Live, Die, Repeat)
Godzilla
Interstellar
Snowpiercer

Winner: Dawn Of The Planet Of the Apes

This was another tough race. All five movies were excellent sci-fi, but at the end of the day we choose Dawn. The apes may have been the most compelling characters in cinema in this year. It's truly amazing how great the reboot to the classics have been.

Best Lead Hero
Captain America (Chris Evans)
Spiderman (Andrew Garfield)
Star Lord (Chris Pratt)
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman)
Caesar (Andy Serkis)

Winner: Captain America (Chris Evans)

No other hero has had as big of a character arc as Captain America has in his 3 movie appearances. He has gone from a government lap dog to full on rebel.

Best Supporting Hero
Black Widow (Scar Jo)
Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper)
Professor X (James McAvoy)
Groot (Vin Disel)

Winner: Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper)

Rocket and Groot burst into the mainstream this year. It was another close race here. In the end thought the raccoon edged out the tree because of his brilliant prison escape.

Best Villain
The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan)
Ronan (Lee Pace)
HYDRA
Magneto (Michael Fassbender)
Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford)

Winner: HYDRA

HYDRA is that evil organization that you just can't help but love. HAIL HYDRA!



The Grab Bag Award
Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone)
Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence)
Quicksilver (Evan Peters)
Drax (Bautista)
Gamora (Zoe Saldana)

Winner: Quicksilver (Evan Peters)

For having easily the coolest sequence this year, Qucicksilver gets the Capey!

Best Director
Russo Bros. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
James Gunn (Guardians of Galaxy)
Brian Singer (X-Men: DOFP)
Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Chris Nolan (Interstellar)


Winner: Russo Bros. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

The Russo Bros. came in and took over a character that had been under-appreciated within the MCU and turned him into a star.


Best Movie Fight
Cap 2 Fighting WS on the Highway
TMNT vs. Shredder
GOTG Prison Break
X-Men Against Future Sentinels
Spidey vs. Gobby

Winner: Cap 2 Fighting WS on the Highway

Esquite knife work

Funniest Movie Scene
Quicksilver Saves the Day
Groot Murder a Few Guys
Drax Steals a Dude's Knife
Rocket Needs that Guy's Leg
Captain America Goes to the Apple Store

Winner: Rocket Needs that Guy's Leg

Best Elevator Scene
Professor X Punching Magneto
Gwen Stacy Meeting Max Dillon/Harry Osborn
Cap Critically Injures 15 Guys
The Turtles Jam session on the elevator

Winner: Cap Critically Injures 15 Guys

2014 was truly the year of the elevator. Whether it was Gwen Stacy conveniently meeting both bad guys from Amazing Spiderman 2 or Cap beating the piss out of HYDRA agents, everything was happening on an elevator. Even in real life, shit was going down in elevators. Solange beat the shit of Jay-Z. Then Ray Rice struck his wife like the piece of shit Raven he is. Was just a crazy year behind those closed doors.

Worst Movie Villain (The Aldrin Killan Award)
Electro
Ronan
The Rhino
Green Goblin
The Shredder

Winner: Electro

Best Buds!

I have shat on Electro countless times before, so I won't do it again here. I would like to instead thank Marc Webb for providing 3 villains for this list. Great job buddy, keep up the good work. You made Aldrin Killan proud by filling out this category.

Biggest Disappointment
Amazing Spiderman 2
TMNT
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Winner: The Amazing Spiderman 2

Wouldn't exactly call it his greatest...

Another thank you for TASM 2, for being so bad that Sony had to run to Marvel for help. Though it is a shame you wasted Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone's talents.

You Need To Be Replaced Award
Marc Webb (Director of TASM 2)
Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec (Writers of TMNT)

Jonathan Liebesman (Director TMNT)

Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach (Producers of TASM 2)

Megan Fox (Actress in TMNT)

Winner: Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach (Producers of TASM 2)

Immediately after I wrote these nominations these two dumbasses were demoted. #IMadeItHappen #NotReally

Best Sexually Charged Moment

Hipster Cap and Black Widow make out on an escalator

Peter stalks Gwen as Spiderman

Gamora does not succumb to Star Lord's pelvic sorcery

Wolverine's ass shot

Winner: Wolverine's ass shot

Last year, Hugh Jackman took home the Capey for best lead hero. This year he takes home the Capey for best ass. His wife must be proud.

Best Animated Movie

Justice League: War

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis

Batman: Assault on Arkham

Son of Batman

Lego Movie

Winner: Batman: Assault on Arkham

Any movie that gratuitous violence, sex, and Batman is an automatic winner. Sorry, Lego Movie. You got snubbed at the Oscars and at the Capeys.

Best Movie Trailer/Teaser

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Guardians of The Galaxy

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

Ant-Man

Winner: Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens

88 seconds of pure bliss. December cannot get here fast enough!

Thanks for reading and congratulations to all the winners! What was your favorite movie last year? Let us know in the comments or on twitter @Caped_Informers or @cstrand73. Be sure to check back regularly for more show/movie reviews and editorials regarding the comic book universe. The Capeys TV winners will be posted later this week!

Batman And Captain America Plead Guilty To Deflating Balls

All of us here on the blog are big Patriots fans. Needless to say this two weeks of non-stop "Deflategate" coverage has really pissed us off. So who will swoop in and shut the 24 hour news cycle the fuck up? Batman and Captain America of course. Here is their leaked confession from last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, that states that they were responsible for the deflation of 11 of 12 Patriot footballs. Thank you boys for stepping forward. This is why we love superheroes!

If Ben Affleck says that Tom Brady and The Patriots are innocent then it's a done deal. On to Seattle!

Informers Superbowl Prediction: 31-17 Patriots! 

You can't beat a team that makes amazing videos like this.

Captain America 3 Will Be CIVIL WAR And Will Co-Star Iron Man

A few days ago it was reported that Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) was in negotiations for Iron Man 4. Well it turns out that Downey was in negotiations, but not for a new Iron Man flick though. According to Variety, he was signing on to co-star in Captain America 3! Which will supposedly adapt (or begin to adapt) Marvel's famous Civil War storyline that was written by Mark Millar (Kick Ass) and drawn by Steve Mcniven (Old Man Logan).

Source: Variety

Fuck you Stark

Variety wrote that "The deal is significant for the Marvel cinematic universe considering the plot will pit Stark against Captain America’s alter-ego Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, as they feud over the Superhero Registration Act, which forces anyone with superhuman abilities to reveal their identities to the U.S. government and agree to act as a police force for the authorities. Stark supports the program, but Rogers does not, saying it threatens civil liberties, causing sides to be taken and Rogers, among others, to go on the run to avoid arrest. The moral question and battle with his Avengers teammate essentially makes Stark a villain of sorts in “Captain America 3,” providing Downey with a meaty role he could play out into future Marvel films, including a fourth “Avengers.” Sounds awesome so far and the report went on even further to say that this film will "drive the plots of sequels and new franchises for the next seven years" because "The fallout from the government and Stark’s actions would factor into a new “Avengers 4″ film and beyond that will assemble new characters being introduced like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, among others, in their own movies." So get excited for 2016 cause now we can add Captain America vs. Iron Man in addition to Batman vs. Superman. Holy Shit it is a great time to be alive!

HEYY SEXY LADY!!!

WOW. Just wow. We live in a time where anything can happen with comic book movies. Civil War could be an incredible addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It really gives Iron Man a new role to explore within this world and expands the roster of heroes for future film projects.

I am just blown away of how excited I am right now for 2016. I have just one thing to say (or rather plead). HEY SONY PICTURES! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LOAN OUT ANDREW GARFIELD TO MARVEL STUDIOS. SPIDERMAN NEEDS TO BE IN THIS MOVIE! 

It was was recently reported actually that Sony was in talks to loan the character out to Marvel. This is because they are desperately looking for a new direction with the character after Amazing Spiderman 2 had a lukewarm reception. I'm not gonna say that this will happen, but I did start this rant by saying anything can happen in comic book movies...

2016 is going to change lives. Batman Vs Superman in March and Cap Vs Iron Man in May. Everyone's deepest comic fantasies are coming true. I'm in shock that it is actually happening. In fact I haven't been this surprised since Tony Stark revealed he was Iron Man.

Thanks for reading! For all your Marvel movie and comics news make sure you follow us on Twitter @Caped_Informers or follow me @cstrand73.

I AM THE CAPTAIN NOW!

In this week's episode of the Caped Informers, the gangs talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier and of course Arrow. Listen to the guys discuss the best Marvel movie since the Avengers. Enjoy! (Recorded on 4/5/14)

Follow us Twitter: @Caped_Informers

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

Last night the Informers got together to see the premire of Captain America :The Winter Soldier. Wow, was it great.  The group had a lot of praise for Cap's second outing and trust us that the universal acclaim is deserved. Here's some short spoiler free thoughts on the film.

What we loved

• Awesome fight sequences
• Great balance of action and comedy
• Very current themes
• BLACK WIDOW!
• The Cap and Falcon bromance
• Nick Fury's action sequence
• Mid Credits Scenes
• Winter Soldier's knife skills 
• HAIL HYDRA!!
• Cap and Widow at the mall

What we didn't like

• No Hawkeye
• Maria Hill's portrayal

All and all go see this great addition to the Marvel Cannon, which could be considered the best Marvel solo outing to date. The Informers give Cap 2 a 9/10.

Honest Trailer for Captain America: TFA!

Have a few laughs and get ready for Captain America: The Winter Soldier by watching Screenjunkies' newest honest trailer on the first Cap film. Before Cap hangs out with the likes of Black Widow and Falcon reminisce on how he was skinnier than Christian Bale in The Machinist. Anyway we are only 10 days away from 4/4/14!

Watch more honest trailers: http://www.youtube.com/user/screenjunkies

Here is the trailer for TWS again!