Category: Disney

REVIEW: Captain America: Civil War (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the thirteenth movie in the lineup, Captain America: Civil War.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrVegVI0Us[/embedyt]

After Ant-Man proved to be a success, it was finally time for Phase 3 to kick off and what better way to start then with Captain America: Civil War. Does the huge cast of Captain America: Civil War help make the movie a hit or should you pass on this?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 2 years old, you should have seen it already).

A lot happens in this movie so bare with me, this may be my longest recap I have to write. Ready?

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The story opens with a flashback to December 1991 when Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), was still under Russian mind control as the Winter Soldier. We see him carry out an assassination mission in order to retrieve a briefcase with serum in it. We then cut to present day where the New Avengers in Lagos on a mission to stop Crossbones (Frank Grillo), and his team of rouge HYDRA from breaking into the Disease Centre and stealing a virus. Near the end of the fight, Crossbones sacrifices himself with a bomb but Wanda (Elizebeth Olsen), uses her Witch powers to contain the blast and she sends him towards the side of a building causing in an explosion that kills 13 people. Some of which who were from Wakanda (Wakanda Forever!). We then cut to Tony Stark (Robert Downey JR.), who shows off some impressive de-ageing CGI which is also supposed to be a simulation. After that, we learn that he is at an MIT conference talking to students when he tells them that he has made a new fund for them and grants all of their projects. After the presentation, we see Tony go to the elevator when a woman is standing there waiting to talk to him. The mother gives Tony a speech on how he killed her son manages to shake Tony to his core.  Later we see King T’Chaka (John Kani), who makes a statement on TV about what happened in Lagos.

Everyone meets back at the New Avengers HQ where Tony brings along Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), who we haven’t seen since Incredible Hulk (I think there’s a good reason for that). Who tells the Avengers that they need to be put in check and he gives them the new Sokovia Accords. The Accords would put the Avengers and anyone who signs it under UN watch and it will only allow the Avengers to go if the UN tells them to go. This causes a lot of infighting between the team because not everyone is on board with the Accords. While this is going on, we get see that Zemo (Daniel Brühl), has tracked down the Russian general who lead the Winter Soldier program and tries to get information out of him with no luck. However, Zemo doesn’t leave empty handed, he is able to find files and a red booklet that gives the commands to control Bucky. We cut back to everyone still arguing over the Accords when Steve (Chris Evans), learns that his love Peggy Carter has finally passed on and he goes to London to help with the Funeral. While there, he discovers that his neighbour is related to Peggy, known as Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp). After the Funeral, we cut to Vienna where a conference between the UN, Wakanda and most of the Avengers is supposed to take place. It’s here that we meet T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who came with his father to attend the conference. However, the UN building is bombed and T’Challa’s father is killed by the blast which makes T’Challa the new King of Wakanda. This bombing later sends everyone on a chase when the news shows that Bucky was the one who planted the bomb. With Bucky in Bucharest, Cap tries to warn him before everyone comes after him. This leads to an awesome chase scene where we get to see the Black Panther in action for the first time. Everything leads to a tunnel chase before everyone is stopped and arrested by the police and taken to Berlin where Bucky is put on lockdown in the basement and everyone else meets in the Task Force base.

Zemo then uses an EMP planted at a power plant to cut of the power to the building so he can use the red book to take control of the Winter Soldier. Once Bucky’s mind has been switched, he does on a rampage in the building and nearly escapes before Steve stops his helicopter from taking off and they both take a dive into the water below. Steve then takes Bucky out of the Water and they run off with Sam following them.  This causes them to be on the run from the law and this is where we finally get both sides divided with Team Cap and Team Iron Man. Team Cap goes to an abandoned warehouse where Bucky tells Steve and Sam everything he knows about the Winter Soldier program. We learn that there are multiple Soldiers like Bucky but they were all put on ice. Later, we cut to Tony talking to Natasha (Scarlett Johansson), when he then tells her that he is going to bring in someone who can help Team Iron Man. We cut to Queens where we learn that Tony is recruiting Peter Parker (Tom Holland), to his team when he tells Peter that he knows about his Spider-Man powers and he wants to help him with an upgrade. We then cut back to the Avengers base where Vision (Paul Bettany), is watching Wanda and sees an explosion outside. We learn that this was a ruse so that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renier), can slip Wanda out and have her join Caps team. This leads to a fight where Wanda in the end, puts Vision six feet under (Quite Literally but she doesn’t kill him).

Later we cut under a bridge were Sharon was able to steal all of Team Caps gear to help them with there fight. This means that Agent 13 is of course on Team Cap and she seals the deal with a kiss for Cap. Later on, Team Cap goes to an airport parking garage where we meet the final recruit of Team Cap, Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). This all leads to the big smackdown of Avengers V Avengers when Cap tries to take Bucky to Moscow to finally find out more about the Winter Soldier program. This all leads to the huge Airport Battle of Team Cap VS Team Iron Man. I won’t go into detail on it but I will say that it is worth the price of admission alone. After the battle is done, Only Steve and Bucky manage to make it out with the rest of Team Cap getting arrested and put into an underwater prison. Tony is able to find out where Steve and Bucky were going and he goes there right after Steve and Bucky manage to get into the old Russian Building. The three of them go deeper into the building and find Zemo is there behind a protective Bunker and he shows the three heroes the footage of Bucky killing Tony’s parents. This causes Tony to lose it and attacks his friends and they all end up in a giant three-way brawl across the building. Zemo escapes and is sitting outside in the snow where Black Panther finds him and stops him from killing himself, forcing Zemo to pay for his crimes because the living isn’t done with him yet. While everyone is still fighting, Tony manages to destroy Bucky’s metal arm and then it becomes Steve V Tony. They beat each other senseless and in the end, nobody wins. Tony’s armour is damaged, Bucky lost his arm and Steve officially goes rogue and ditches the sheild after Tony tells him that it isn’t his. After everything is said and done, Tony goes back to his house and get’s a package from Cap with a letter and a phone. Tony reads the letter it basically says that Steve is sorry for what happened but is still Tony’s friend and will be there if he needs him. We then later see that Bucky is taken to Wakanda and put on ice until Bucky can be free of the Russian brainwashing.

Alright, I am finally done with the story recap, let’s get into the other aspects, shall we?

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The acting is on par with Avengers. Everyone shines and even the newcomers Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman really bring their roles to life and make us want solo movies of their own (Spoiler Alert: They already got them). Daniel Brühl does a good job as the villain and we finally get another MCU villain who doesn’t die this time. However, I feel they should have done more with Zemo because after everything is said and done, he can come off as forgettable.

The CGI is absolutely amazing in this movie. From Spider-Man’s suit and webs to Giant Ant-Man, you can tell that a lot of work was put into getting them right and it pays off with those being the most memorable part of the movie. The fact that we got more Ant-Man after his awesome movie and to see him become Giant-Man is a treat to see on screen.

I really did enjoy the whole splitting the Avengers up but even when you see both sides of the argument, I still find myself agreeing with Team Cap. You can disagree with me on this but Superheroes should be able to operate without the government because as Cap put it in the movie, “Governments have agendas and agendas change”. Team Iron Man isn’t wrong but in the end, they sure ain’t what’s right for the people.

One last thing I want to mention is that Captain America: Civil War doesn’t feel like Caps third movie and more like Avengers 2.5. This movie serves as a better sequel to the first Avengers than Age of Ultron. If we got this as the second Avengers movie, it would have been so much better and it would have stuck out more.

The Verdict:

Much like Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War gave us some big changes to the MCU as a whole. There were a lot of characters in this movie to the point where it doesn’t feel like a Captain America movie anymore. However, Captain America: Civil War is still a fantastic movie. Splitting up the Avengers and introducing new characters really help grow the MCU even more and open it up to a lot of new movie ideas. Captain America: Civil War is a great popcorn flick and is one worth checking out.

9/10

Next up, it’s time to warp reality, space and time with this trippy origin story of the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange.

REVIEW: Ant-Man (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the twelfth movie in the lineup, Ant-Man.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdKf3MneyI[/embedyt]

After Avengers: Age of Ultron comes another film about a superhero that is mostly unknown. Well, can Ant-Man be like Guardians of the Galaxy or will this film be Marvel’s first flop?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 3 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story is another origin story but it’s also a heist film as well. We open up with a flashback to 1989 where Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), meets with Howard Stark (John Slattery) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). The board of Pym Industries votes to kick Pym off and this causes him a lot of anger. We then flash forward to present day where we meet Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), is being released from prison. His friend Luis (Michael Pena), is there to pick him up from prison and take him back to his apartment. Scott along the ride talks about how he has a degree in engineering and wants to use it to find a job but ends up in a Baskin Robins. While at work, Scott is called into the back by his manager and he is then fired when the manager learns who he really is. When Scott comes home, Luis introduces him to his friends Kurt (David Dastmalchian) and Dale (Tip “T.I” Harris). Luis tries to interest Scott in a job but declines because he wants to remain on the straight path. After this, he visits his daughter for her birthday party at his ex-wife’s house. While there, he sees Maggie (Judy Greer) and meets her new boyfriend Paxton (Bobby Cannavale). While there Scott talks to both Paxton and Maggie and they both shun him and forbid him from seeing his daughter. Taking this to heart, Scott goes back home and asks Luis on the details for the job. We learn that the heist involves breaking into Hank Pym’s house to steal something from his vault. When Scott breaks into the vault, he only finds a suit, the Ant-Man suit. He takes the suit and flees the scene. Later on, he tries the suit on and discovers what it can do and then Hank talks to him over comms and shows Scott what he can do with the suit (It involves being small and Ants). Later, he wakes up in Pym’s house and meets his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), and they inform Scott on what is happening and why he has the suit and that they need him for what is coming. We then see that Pym’s company is being transformed into Cross Industries lead by Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). When Pym left his company, he took a substance called Pym Particles with him and Cross has been trying to replicate his formula ever since. This causes Pym great fear because he doesn’t want it falling into the wrong hands and we later find out that Cross is working on an Ant-Man suit of his own called the YellowJacket. He wants to create the Yellowjacket suit so that he can sell it to the highest bidder. This new info causes Pym and Hope to speed up Scott’s training on how to use the suit and we get a montage of him learning. Later on, we see Cross finally is able to create his own Pym Particle formula and is going to sell it to HYDRA. This leads to one final mission that leads to Scott going to the new Avengers base where he fights with Falcon (Anthony Mackie), in order to obtain a device that will help with the big heist. The rest of the film is spent on that big heist, which is breaking into Pym Industries in order to steal the Yellowjacket suit and when that plan fails, all hell breaks loose. When Cross tries to escape with the suit, the Pym building is imploded, destroying all of Cross’s work. This causes Cross to go mad and leads to a big epic battle between Ant-Man and the Yellowjacket. They fight each other until they are separated by Paxton who tries to arrest Scott but when he gets a 911 call from his house, he goes to investigate when Scott escapes his handcuffs and fights Yellowjacket. Scott destroys the Yellowjacket suit and kills Cross by going subatomic Shrinking smaller than reality). Scott is able to escape and come back to regular size and get’s his happy ending.

Ant-Man is basically an Origin-Heist film. It’s fun and entertaining to watch the heists unfold and Scott Lang is a Thief/Hero that is so likeable that you will route for him, even when he is doing wrong.

The acting in this movie is amazing. Paul Rudd absolutely kills it as Ant-Man, Michael Douglas is also great as Hank Pym. Michael Pena is also a barrel of laughs being Luis, the gullible but lovable best friend of Scott. The rest of the cast also did such a great job that all the characters in this movie are funny and likeable. However, the villain Yellowjacket falls short. His motivations are clear but he comes off as one-note and he dies in the end as well. I really hope Marvel will fix this problem soon because it’s really starting to get on my nerves.

The CGI and effects are outstanding. These are some of the best effects I have seen in a Marvel film. The Ants look awesome and cute and when Scott shrinks or is small it looks great. The Particle world is also visually stunning looking both trippy and gorgeous as well.

The Verdict:

Man, Marvel has done it again! Ant-Man is a fun entertaining heist film with some action thrown in. The characters are fun and entertaining and the effects are some of the most visually stunning effects that you will see in a Marvel movie. It feels like at this point, Marvel can do no wrong when it comes to there movies. Ant-Man is the perfect movie to watch with friends and family if you want to have a good time.

9/10

Next up, is the third film for Captain America but it’s really Avengers 2.5 when you think about it. Of course, I am talking about Captain America: Civil War.

REVIEW: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the eleventh movie in the lineup, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do[/embedyt]

After The Avengers shattered records and is one of the most loved movies of all time. A sequel was in the works, and there was a lot of hype surrounding it. Does Avengers: Age of Ultron deliver on that hype or does it fall under the pressure of the first one?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 3 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story starts with the Avengers attacking a fortress in Sokovia looking for Loki’s staff. While there, the Avengers meet twins with strange powers (But don’t call them mutants or else FOX will get mad), known as Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Wanda has Telekinesis powers while Pietro has speedster powers (Kind of like Flash). Wanda starts to mess with the Avengers minds with her powers and the twins escape. With the Avengers regaining Loki’s staff, they return to home base to and Tony (Robert Downey JR.) and Bruce (Mark Ruffalo) go to the lab to talk about the Ultron project right before they attend the party that Tony is hosting. During the party, Ultron (James Spader), becomes sentient and takes over JARVIS so that he can grab a body and show the Avengers he is alive. While this is going on, Ultron talks about destroying the earth and humanity and attacks the Avengers with Iron Man bots that Tony built for safe keeping. After Ultron escapes, he finds the twins and is able to make a new body for himself and the three of them swear to take the Avengers down. After the Avengers regroup and try to figure out what happened, they figure out that Ultron is trying to build a new body out of a material known as Vibranium (The same material used for Caps Shield). This leads them to track down an arms dealer known as Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), who specializes in Vibranium. Ultron and the twins get to him first and buy Vibranium off of Klaue but get into an altercation leading Klaue to lose his arm. At this point, the Avengers come to stop Ultron but Wanda finds Bruce and takes control of him causing him to become the Hulk and go on a rampage causing destruction to Sokovia. After everything is brought under control, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), leaves to chase down the visions that Wanda gave him and the Avengers regroup at Hawkeyes (Jeremy Reiner), safe house. Meanwhile, Ultron goes to Korea in order to force some scientists to make him a new body. Once the Avengers discover this, they go after Ultron and cause a chase in Korea for the body in a capsule. Once they retrieve the capsule, they take it back to base and this causes a fighting between members of the Avengers which is stopped by Thor when he brings the machine body to life, which then creates Vision (Paul Bettany). Thor explains that Vision is powered by the Mind Infinity Stone and Vision joins the Avengers to stop his father Ultron. Everyone regroups and prepares to stop Ultron who uses the Vibranium to create a device that lifts Sokovia in the air in order to destroy it. The Avengers do everything they can to stop Ultron and bring Sokovia back down. After the big battle is done, Ultron is presumed dead, Thor leaves earth to find more information about the Infinity Gems and the Avengers changes it roster into The Avenger 2.0.

First thing I will say is that a lot happens in this movie but its only events that will happen in different movies. While the first Avengers focused on the task at hand. Avengers: Age of Ultron cares more about fleshing out other movie ideas instead of its own. This really hurts the film because Ultron and the twins could have used a lot more development if the movie wasn’t so focused on other things. We barely get to know Ultron before he is finished.

The acting in this movie isn’t as good as the first one. This time around the cast seems to try their best but not put in 100% effort. I will say that James Spader as Ultron is a great casting choice because Spader brings his menacing voice and tones to the roll to make Ultron scary. Paul Bettany as Vision is also great as well because instead of just being VO, now he also plays an actual character and it looks really cool to see him on screen.

One good thing I will say is the CGI is amazing in this movie. From Ultron to Vision, all the effects in this movie look spectacular and stunning. It makes me feel that there was a heavier focus on effects than actual story and plot.

There was actually rumours and speculation that a lot of stuff was cut from the film to reduce the runtime and it clearly shows. There are scenes in the movie that feel cut up and it really hurts the movie because the scenes where the Avengers go on their vision quests and later Thors return to those visions could have used a lot more fleshing out. They just come off as pointless and random scenes that feel out of place in this movie.

The Verdict:

Right off the bat, I will say that this isn’t a good sequel to Avengers. Avengers: Age of Ultron loses the magic of what made the first one so great. It’s darker, less focused, boring at times and tries to do a lot more with so little time. Avengers Age of Ultron spends more time introducing us to a lot of new things that won’t pay off until future movies instead of focusing on the task at hand. It feels less like an Avengers film and more MCU World Builder Simulator. I can only recommend Avengers: Age of Ultron if you haven’t seen it yet. Don’t think I’m saying it’s a bad movie, just one that only requires either 1 or 2 viewings to fully understand everything.

7/10

Next up, the MCU shrinks down to find the smallest hero who can pack the biggest punch, Ant-Man.

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the tenth movie in the lineup, Guardians of the Galaxy

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d96cjJhvlMA[/embedyt]

After Captain America: The Winter Soldier proved to be a massive hit, Marvel wanted to do something different this time. They wanted to take a bunch of unknowns and make them known. Well, did the gamble pay off or are the Guardians best left forgotten?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 4 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story takes us into space when we meet our new hero, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). After seeing a flashback to the death of his mother, we cut to him entering a temple to retrieve a mysterious orb. Once Peter gets the orb, he is ambushed by a bunch of Kree soldiers who are looking for the same item. A fight/chase goes down with Peter escaping with the orb in the end. After this, Peter gets a call from Yondu (Michael Rooker), who wants Peter to give the orb over to the Ravagers so they can sell the orb and spilt the money. However, Peter tries to cut the Ravagers out of the deal and Yondu places a bounty on Peter’s head. Peter then arrives on Zandar to sell the orb to the buyer. When the buyer learns that Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace), is also after the orb, he backs out and kicks Peter out of his shop. When Gamora (Zoe Saldana), is sent to retrieve the orb for Thanos (Josh Brolin). She intercepts Peter when he is kicked out and tries to steal the orb. However, Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and his friend Groot (Vin Diesel) are trying to capture Peter for the Bounty. This all ends with everyone getting arrested by the Nova Corps and being sent to prison. While in the prison, we meet Drax (Dave Bautista), who wants to kill Gamora for being connected with Thanos. However, once everyone calms down, they devise a plan to escape and bring the orb to someone known as The Collector (Benicio Del Toro). While there, they discover that the orb was hiding an Infinity Stone which powers cause the Collectors Vault to be destroyed. The Guardians leave the vault and they agree to give the stone to the Nova Corps. Before they can do that, they are ambushed by Ronan and his crew who steal the stone and leave the Guardians defeated. Once the Guardians pull themselves together, they go where Ronan’s ship is headed too in order to stop him. Everything leads to an all-out battle on Zandar where the Guardians defeat Ronan and give the stone to the Nova Corps so they can protect it. After this, the Guardians have all of their criminal records dropped and are free to roam the galaxy for their next mission.

The acting in this movie is absolutely stellar. The entire cast of the movie is absolutely perfect and they all have chemistry with each other and have so much fun with their roles that you can tell a lot of fun went into this movie. Of course, the villain of the movie is forgettable because they once again meet their doom while the good guys survive. This trend of killing off their villains is really starting to become a problem because they only good villain that has survived is Loki.

The CGI is out of this world as well. all the sets and planets come to life in a great way and gives the cosmic side of the MCU its own unique identity in the MCU. You have the Kree, Zarnians and other forms of life that all look really awesome and really give a sense of life and density to the film and universe that makes saving Zandar all the more satisfying in the end.

Marvel really does know how to keep the hits coming. Everyone was excepting this movie to fail but the fact that Marvel back it 100% shows that if you show the director and characters some love, anything can be possible (Looking at you Warner Bros. and the DCEU).

The Verdict:

Wow, this movie is awesome. I never thought that a movie with a talking Raccoon and Tree would ever be this damn good. Guardians of the Galaxy is a prime example of how to take a forgotten comic book franchise, and turn it into one of the most marketable and entertaining movies that Marvel has ever made. Although it’s not perfect, Guardians of the Galaxy does enough elements right that in the end so it’s truly out of this world.

9.5/10

Next up, we take a look at another mixed bag of a movie. the long-awaited sequel to the first Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Avengers: Infinity War Gets New Release Date

In a surprising twist, Marvels most anticipated film to date has just gotten a new release date. Avengers: Infinity War was supposed to open on May 4 (Aka Star Wars Day).

However, now Disney and Marvel have decided to make their fans more hyped by changing the release date thanks to a Twitter exchange by RDJ and Marvel.

You can see the tweets below:

This all seems like one big giant PR move but it’s a great one at that. Can we get more announcements like this in the future, please?

Avengers: Infinity War will now be in theatres on April 27th.

Source: Twitter

 

REVIEW: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the ninth movie in the lineup, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbayiPxkUMM[/embedyt]

After another bland entry to Phase 2 with Thor: The Dark World, will Captain America: The Winter Soldier be able to steer the ship in the right direction or will the MCU finally sink?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 4 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story beings with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), and his new friend Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) going for a jog in the morning. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), arrives to take Steve in order to lead a strike team against a stolen SHIELD ship taken over by a private military op. The action goes on and while Steves mission is to save the hostages, Widow has a different mission of downloading SHIELD intel onto a hard drive for Director Fury (Samuel L Jackson). The mission is a success and everything seems to be going to plan when Fury shows Steve what he is hiding from Cap. Underneath the SHIELD Base, they are constructing Helicarriers so they can be used to protect the people. Shortly after, Director Fury is attacked by a new villain called The Winter Soldier and his squad. While Fury is half dead, he breaks into Steves apartment and after Steve finds him, he takes him to a hospital where Fury is presumed dead. With everyone mourning the loss of Fury Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), takes over operation on SHIELD and turns everyone against Captain America and Black Widow. When they both go on the run, they find themselves being hunted down by SHIELD and come across an old SHIELD lab where they find out that after the WW2, SHIELD and HYDRA both joined forces and HYDRA has slowly been taking over SHIELD from the inside. Once they discover this, they bring Sam into their group and when they try and to escape. They are ambushed by the Winter Soldier and are locked into battle with this new foe. After their battle, Steve finds out that the Winter Soldier is actually Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who now has a metal arm. After Steve and friends are captured by SHIELD, they escape with the help of Maria Hill (Coble Smulders), who takes them to see that Fury is actually alive. Once everyone regroups, they go back to the SHIELD Base in Washington for one last assault again the SHIELD/HYDRA Operations. While they are fighting, HYDRA tries to launch the Helicarriers into the air and target about 1 million civilians who are deemed a threat. Once they are brought offline, all of SHIELD/HYRDA files get leaked online and this causes SHIELD to disband with Fury (Dead Man Walking), goes his own way while Steve and Sam try and go after Bucky.

The story seems like there is a lot going on but that’s ok because it is all told in such a fun, interesting and very James Bond way. It’s a mystery that unfolds right before your eyes and it’s a great non-stop thrill ride from start to finish.

The acting is amazing in this movie. Everyone brings their A game with the Winter Soldier and Alexander Pierce being the best and most likeable villains in an MCU movie so far (Aside from Loki of course). Chris Evans is always amazing as Captain America and Evans is starting to embody Cap much like RDI embodies Iron Man. Scarlett Johansson is also badass as Black Widow and continues to show off her #GirlPower.

The CGI is also a huge step up from the last two movies. Everything looks more clean and crisp then what we got more previous MCU movies and the Winter Soldier’s metal arm looks dope as well. Even the fancy tech they use at the SHIELD Bases looks really awesome and makes me wish we had that type of tech that we could use.

Trust me when I say that this movie really changed the MCU as a whole. Not only did it disband SHIELD, it also changed what is possible in the MCU. The fact that HYDRA was able to get into SHIELD without anyone noticing really begs the question, can our heroes trust anyone anymore? These types of ramifications really set this film apart from the others. Captain America: The Winter Soldier dared to change everything and it had the balls to pull it off. All the while doing it in such a great style that it comes out swinging while also asking, “Who’s next?”.

The Verdict:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an excellent movie. Not only is it a great sequel to the first movie, but it is also a fantastic MCU movie in general. What is it about Captain America that Marvel always seems to give him the best movies in each MCU Phase? Whatever Marvel is doing, they need to stick to it because Captain America: The Winter Soldier steers the MCU back in the right direction and also changes it forever as well. If you haven’t seen this yet, change that because it’s on Netflix still (At the time of writing this anyway), and it serves as a great popcorn flick that everyone can enjoy.

9.5/10

Next up, Ground control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmets on because the MCU is going to space! With the next massive hit, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Official Teaser Trailer

Here it is! The official teaser trailer for Ralph Breaks The Internet:Wreck-It Ralph 2!

In the trailer, we see Ralph and Vanellope begin their trip into the fascinating world of the Internet and a rather overwhelming encounter with a game.

We don’t see too much yet of the problems Ralph will face during his time in the Internet, but we do see a few silly scenes of the film.

Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 breaks into theatres November 21.

REVIEW: Thor: The Dark World (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the eighth movie in the lineup, Thor: The Dark World.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvJ9FTgZbM[/embedyt]

After the rocky start of Phase 2 with Iron Man 3, will Thor: The Dark World deliver something more or will it be forgotten like Iron Man 3?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 5 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story takes place after The Avengers where we learn the origins of the Dark Elves and an Infinity Gem know as the Aether. We cut back to present day where Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), is trying to move on from Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and is on a date when she is interrupted by Darcy (Kat Demmings). They soon go to an abandoned building to discover an anomaly when Jane is transported to Asgard where the Aether takes control of her and brings her back to earth. Shortly after, Thor comes back to earth to retrieve Jane so that they can find a way to remove the Aether from Jane. Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), brings his army of Dark Elves and invades Asgard in order to retrieve the Aether so he can destroy the nine realms with it. Malekith is soon defeated and retreats from Asgard with Thor planning to travel to the Dark World with the help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), in order to stop Malekith and bring peace. Loki is then killed and Jane gets the Aether extracted from her by Malekith who soon sets his sights on earth realm. Once in Greenwich, London, the final battle for the nine realms commences and Thor does everything he can to stop the convergence from happening. When the day is saved, Thor returns home to Asgard to speak with Odin (Anthony Hopkins), and Thor no longer wants to be king. He wants Odin to remain the King of Asgard so he can go back to earth realm to be with Jane. Odin accepts this and then we learn that Odin was actually Loki in disguise.

The acting in this movie was good but not everyone pulled their weight. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are always great to see on the screen when they are together and really help make the movie somewhat fun to watch. Anthony Hopkins always brings his best when he is Odin. Everyone else was either one dimensional or just forgettable.

The CGI is up to the Marvel standard but you can start to tell that some of the scenes were green screened. This can be distracting at times and can somewhat take you out of the movie because it can be noticeable. The Dark Elves in this movie also look really bad because only Malekith and his right-hand man, Algrim look really cool as Dark Elves. Every other Dark Elve just looks like some guy in a cheap costume and is really bad and noticeable.

This review would have been longer but there just isn’t much to talk about in this movie. Don’t get me wrong, stuff does happen but none of it has any major consequences for the MCU as a whole (Expect for Thor’s mom being dead and Loki disguising himself as Odin).

The Verdict:

I’m not gonna sugar coat this, Thor: The Dark World is bad. While it’s not as bad as Incredible Hulk, I would much rather watch Iron Man 3. When I have to write a sentence like that, you know you have a stinker on your hands. Just like Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World is forgettable and bland. It packs a lot of noise but no substance to make it the least bit enjoyable.

5.5/10

Next up, let’s cleanse ourselves of these bad marvel movies with one of the best MCU movies to date, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Trailer Coming Soon

Wreck-It Ralph is coming back, but this time he’s breaking the internet.

The trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 is coming out tomorrow! Fans got tease of this when an announcement from the movie’s Twitter showed the first teaser for the movie.

Following this teaser, the account released another short clip indicating a full trailer release set to come out tomorrow (Feb.28).

Alongside the return of Sarah Silverman’s Vanellope von Schweetz and Jack McBayer’s Fix it Felix Jr, fans are expecting cameos from some of gaming’s – and Disney’s – biggest names.

We know that Vanellope will be sharing girl time with some well-known Disney princesses, while Iron Man will seemingly have a part to play too.

The Late Late Show host James Corden has also nabbed himself a mystery role, while Taraji P Henson is playing Yesss, Ralph’s guide through the World Wide Web.

The movie is set to premiere in November.

Keep your eyes peeled for that trailer!

Source: Digital Spy

REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the seventh movie in the lineup, Iron Man 3.

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After the ground backing Avengers, we start Phase 2 of the MCU with the third entry in the Iron Man trilogy. Is Iron Man 3 a great threequel or does it go down in flames?

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Before we get into it, it should be said that there will be spoilers if you haven’t seen it yet (Although since it’s 5 years old, you should have seen it already).

The story takes place after the Avengers and we see Tony Stark (Robert Downey JR.), doing his own thing and still trying to make improvements to his Iron Man suits. While everything seems to be holly jolly (Because this movie takes place around Christmas Time). The Ten Rings terrorist group resurfaces bring a new leader known as the Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley), he is threatening the President (William Sadler), with war and destroying certain monuments around the US. The newly branded Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle), is tasked with serving his country and putting a stop to Mandarin. While this is happening, an old colleague from Tony’s past, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), resurfaces with a new advanced form of genetic manipulation called Extremis. When Tony threatens the Mandarin with war, the Mandarin destroys Tony’s Mansion and he is saved by JARVIS who blasts him to rural Tennessee. While in Tennessee, he meets a young kid named Harley (Ty Simpkins), who helps Tony repair his suit and also investigate more into AIM. Tony is finally able to locate the source of the Mandarin broadcasts and breaks into the mansion using a bunch of cool DIY weapons. While he is there, he finds out the truth. The guy who we thought was the mandarin was nothing but an actor named Trevor Slattery (Sir Ben Kingsley). Tony is then captured along with Rhodes and Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), Tony and Rhodes escape but the Iron Patriot suit is stolen from Rhodes. The president is then kidnapped from Air Force One by one of the Mandarins Extremis goons in the Iron Patriot suit. This all leads to one final confrontation at a docking area where the president is being dangled from a height in the Iron Patriot suit and it’s up to Tony and Rhodes to save him along with Pepper. This all leads to a giant epic battle with a whole lot of Iron Man suits and the big twist finally revealed to be Killian as the true Mandarin. After this, Tony saves Pepper, destroys all his suit and starts to rebuild a new life for him and Pepper. Tony gets the shrapnel removes and Pepper is cured of the Extremis.

One major theme of this movie is Rebirth. We see Tony trying to keep busy after the new york incident while he deals with PTSD, Insomnia and Panic Attacks. Then when everything is taken away from Tony, he rebuilds and defeats not only the bad guys but also comes to terms with his inner demons in the end. This is the best part about Iron Man 3 because every hero has to eventually rebuild themselves from the ground up in order to discover their true selves.

The acting in this movie is also good. RDJ always kills it as Iron Man and Tony Stark and he has practically become the real-life Iron Man in a way. Ben Kingsley also does a great job as the fake Mandarin and also as Trevor Slattery. Even though I still hate that twist, you can tell that Kingsley had fun with the dual role and he makes it work. Everyone else just kind of blends in and doesn’t leave such a mark on the viewer. Especially Guy Pierce as the real Mandarin. He doesn’t really make a great villain and ends up dying in the end so it’s just forgettable at best.

The CGI is another one of the stronger aspects of the film. Iron Man always looks great, the Extremis people look awesome but scary at the same time and the huge sets look impressive as well.

The Verdict:

I remembered Iron Man 3 being way better. The Mandarin twist was a huge piss off and I never liked that at all. However, I thought everything else in the movie was good. After rewatching it, I can say that Iron Man 3 is a mess. The story is fine but the execution and everything else about it is misguided or downright fails. Out of all the MCU movies to date, this one is one of the forgettable ones (But still not as bad as Incredible Hulk). The best way to sum up this movie is that it has a lot going on but no substance behind it.

6.5/10

Next up, we return to Asgard to see what Thor is up too in the other mixed bag of a film, Thor: The Dark World.