Category: Road to Infinity War

REVIEW: Thor: Ragnarok (Road to Infinity War)

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

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue80QwXMRHg[/embedyt]

We are on the second to last film for the RTIW event folks! Today’s review is going to be a good one because we are checking out the third movie in the trilogy of Thor. After The Dark World left a bad taste in our mouths, will Thor: Ragnarok redeem Thor or will he burn in the flames of Ragnarok?

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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 came out last year, you should have seen it already).

This is going to be my longest review because I love the film so much and there is a lot to talk about. Alright, with that out of the way, it’s main event time!

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The story picks up where we hear Thor (Chris Hemsworth), monologue while stuck in a cage with a skeleton. I want to say that Thor is in hell but it is never really said where he is. Anyways, the bottom of the cage opens up and Thor is dangling on a chain in front of Surtur (Clancy Brown). Surtur tells Thor about Ragnarok, a prophecy that will end Asgard and have it start a new. Before Surtur can finish Thor, Thor busts out of his chains with his hammer and fights Surtur and his hellspawn while a dragon also fights Thor as well. Thor defeats Surtur and grabs his crown before reaching the Surface. Thor tries to call for Heimdall (Idris Elba), but he is banished from Asgard. There’s a new gatekeeper in town, Skurge (Karl Urban), he is showing off his stuff to some ladies when he finally hears Thor’s cries for help and he teleports Thor back to Asgard, along with the head of the dragon causing the Bi-Frost to be covered in blood and brains. Thor goes to see Odin (Anthony Hopkins) when he sees that everyone gathers for a play about Loki’s (Played by Matt Damon during the play), death and celebration of his life. Thor is able to see through this ruse and reveals to everyone that it’s actually Loki (Tom Hiddleston), himself. Thor questions Loki about where Odin is and this takes them to Earth where we see the retirement home that Loki supposedly put Odin in being demolished. Loki is then taken away by a portal and Thor is left with a business card on the street with an address, 177a Blecker Street. The home of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Thor meets with Strange and Strange agrees to help Thor find Odin, who is now in Norway. Before Strange sends Thor on his way, he gives back Loki, who has been failing for 30 minutes in a pocket dimension. Strange sends Thor and Loki on their way to Odin and the three of them have a heart to heart before Odin passes away. Odin warns them that Ragnarok is coming and their long-lost sister, Hela, The Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett). Odin passes away and Hela is free from her prison that Odin kept her in. Hela then confronts the two brothers and destroys Thor’s Hammer and fights them. Loki calls down the Bi-Frost and Hela knocks them both out and emerges in Asgard.

Meanwhile, Thor lands on a planet known as Sakaar. Some of the locals try and capture Thor for food but we meet Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), who is drunk and kills the locals to steal Thor for herself and take him away. We cut back to Asgard, where we see Hela starts her invasion by killing off most of the Asgard Soldiers and ships. While that is taking place, Heimdall who is still alive takes the Bi-Frost sword so that no one else can use it. Back on Sakaar, Thor is strapped to a chair and is taken to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), and Valkyrie sells Thor to Grandmaster so he can become the next fighter in his Contest of Champions. Thor is thrown into a circle prison and we meet Korg (Taika Waititi), Meek and Doug (Oh wait, Doug’s dead). Korg talks to Thor and tells him about how things are and gives him some encouragement to fight the champion. Back on Asgard, Hela and Skurage go through the vault and find the Eternal Flame. Hela tells Skruge that her army and pet wolf are buried beneath the vault and she goes down with the flame to bring all of her soldiers and wolf back to life. Back on Sakaar, Thor and Korg are getting ready for the contest when Thor learns that Valkryie is from Asgard and was apart of the Valkyrie, a force of female warriors who were the toughest of Asgard. Thor is then taken away to be processed and he also get’s a haircut.

Thor is then put into the gladiatorial arena where he finds out who this champion is. The champion of Sakaar is none other than, HULK (Mark Ruffalo). This excites Thor to see a friend from work and he goes off explaining what has happened to him in the past few days. Hulk doesn’t care and this is the big fight between Thor and Hulk goes down. It’s a real smackdown of gods but when Thor seems to be on the winning edge, he is then stopped by Grandmaster who zaps him because Thor has a chip in the side of his neck that Valkyrie put on him and Hulk ends up winning with one big ground pound. Back on Asgard, Hela dubs Skruge as her Executioner and when they plan on attacking the nine realms, they realize the Bi-Frost sword is gone. Hela wants Skruge to rally the citizens in order to find the sword. Meanwhile, on Sakaar, Thor wakes up from being knocked out by Hulk and finds himself in Hulks living quarters. Thor looks around and finds Hulk in the bath where Thor wants to know how Hulk got to Sakaar. Of course, since we last saw Hulk in Age of Ultron, he was in the Quinjet which was flying out to space and Hulk landed on Sakaar from the Quinjet. Hulk shows Thor that they Quinjet is outside Hulks place and when Thor tries to go to it but learns that he is being kept there by the chip in his neck. While Hulk goes out for training, Thor contacts Heimdall and talks to him through a vision communication power that Heimdall has. Thor learns about what is going on at Asgard and tries to tell Heimdall he is coming back home to stop Hela.

The next day, Hulk and Thor talk to Valkryie. Thor tries to convince her to help him escape and get back to Asgard. Valkryie doesn’t want to leave and Thor is able to distract her and get the device that controls the chip and is able to take the chip off. Thor escapes through the window and goes to the Quinjet. Before Thor can do anything, Hulk comes and smashes up the Quinjet before seeing the same message from Black Widow from Age of Ultron. This causes Hulk and Banner to fight over control and Banner is able to win the fight with Thor watching and helping Banner out by telling him what happened and where he is. This causes the Grandmaster to send out a message to the people asking them to look for Hulk. Then, Grandmaster tasks Loki and Valkryie with finding both Thor and Hulk. They both have one hour to do it and this causes them to fight with Loki learning Valkryie’s past and making her see visions of her past fight with Hela. We then cut to Thor and Banner talking to each other about what is happening and the fact that Banner was stuck as the Hulk for 2 years. While they are on the run, they stumble on a crowd of locals who are celebrating the Hulk. This causes Thor and Banner to get lost but, they soon find each other and Valkryie also finds them as well. She takes them to her place where she has Loki chained up to a chair. They interrogate Loki and they all devise a plan to go save Asgard. They need a ship strong enough to go through the Devil’s Anus and survive the gravity of the Wormhole so they can fly to Asgard.

The first part of their plan, break into Grandmasters Vault full of ships and take one. This plan causes the people of Sakaar to start a revolution. Loki tries to double cross Thor and he sets off the alarm but Thor put the Chip on Loki and leaves him on the ground to be Electrocuted for as long as the machine can. Once Thor gets the ship, words get’s to the Grandmaster who sends out a public alert. Grandmaster sends his right-hand Woman, Topaz (Rachel House) and a squad of ships to stop Thor. Valkyrie comes in with her ship and shoots down some of their ships before getting her’s destroyed. Valkryie survives and starts to hop from ship to ship destroying them by hand. Thor does the same thing and leaves Banner to drive their ship alone. Banner presses a button which causes fireworks to come out and that ends up killing Topaz. Korg and his revolution team find a ship in the vault and bring Loki along with them. Team Thor rejoins on the ship and escape Sakaar through the Wormhole and get to Asgard. On Asgard, Skurge has gathered up the citizens of Asgard hoping for someone to tell him where the Bi-Frost sword is but no one wants to tell so Skruge gets ready to execute a citizen when someone finally reveals the location, and Hela goes to the place where Heimdall is keeping the Refugees. Once Hela gets there, she finds no one and Heimdall is telling everyone to move to the Bi-Frost.

When Thor makes his return and gets Hela’s attention back at the palace. She rushes back to the palace where she and Thor fight each other while Valkyrie and Hulk fight off Hela’s army, and wolf that is going to kill the citizens at the Bi-Frost. During the fight with Thor, Hela manages to cut Thor’s eye, leaving him with only one eye, just like his father. Loki comes in with Korg and is able to get the citizens of Asgard on their ship while everyone fights. Everything seems to be looking good when Hela is able to come back from Thor using his lighting powers. However, Thor makes a plan to use the Eternal Flame to resurrect Surtur and cause Ragnarok while everyone gets on the spaceship. Hela’s arm manages to get on the ship and Skruge finally decides to stop hiding and help save the people while also dying in the process. Loki goes to the Vault and puts Surtur’s head on the flame and he is reborn and starts to destroy Asgard. Everyone manages to get on the ship and leave behind Hela and Surtur to fight it out. Once they are out in orbit. They make a plan of where to go next after Asgard’s destruction. Everyone agrees to go back to earth. Before they can, they are stopped by Thanos’s giant ship.

Alright with the story section out of the way, let’s break it down:

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The acting this movie is simply outstanding. Every single person brought their best to this movie and it really pays off because everyone does their part and no one feels wasted at all. That is one of the movies biggest strengths, no one in this movie feels out of place. Everyone is in this movie to serve their purpose and some will even leave you wanting more. Like, Korg, Grandmaster and Valkriye (Where are their solo movies, Marvel?). Besides, who doesn’t love Jeff Goldblum?

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The CGI is outstanding and very colourful (A Weird thing to say but I’m saying it anyway). Sakaar is beautiful, Hulk is awesome, Thor’s lighting powers are great and the huge arena fight with Hulk and Thor is absolutely stunning. This movie is just full of colourful visuals and great looking sets. Sakaar looks like a real planet and the people also look very alien and real. It almost feels like they are trying to top Guardians of the Galaxy and they succeed.

Everything about this movie just screams visually stunning and entertainingly fun. The story of this movie is simple and easy to follow which is also great. What makes this movie special though is all in the execution, this movie is filled with jokes and action and all of them hit and not a single one of them miss. This movie is able to strike a very amazing balance and it knows when to make you laugh or excite you with what is happening. This is a huge leap from the last Thor movie and it also changes Thor and his world in a huge way that makes him both a badass and a very relatable hero. Thor is still a god mind you but, he is the most human of his people and that is what makes him so likeable.

Thor has gone from a headstrong warrior to a king who is now looking for a new home for him and his people. Whether or not he finds it before Thanos get’s through with him is gonna have to wait till Avengers: Infinity War. Thor may have rejected the throne at first but, now he finally understands why he has it and it’s nice to see his journey come to a close in such a stylish and entertaining fashion.

This has to be one of the best Marvel movies ever made (Sorry Black Panther).

The Verdict:

Wow, Thor: Ragnarok is a triumph. Not since The Avengers have I felt that a movie transcends being a movie and turns into an event. Thor: Ragnarok is a movie that has non-stop laughs, action, drama, spectacle and heart. Everything in this movie is perfected and Thor: Ragnarok is easily the best Marvel/MCU movie to come out ever. This movie will be studied and people will try and replicate the formula for this movie. However, there can only be one true king, Hail the king of New Asgard and long live Thor.

10/10

Next up, the last movie we are going to look at in the RTIW. The most recent one to come out and it also has a king in it, The King of Wakanda that is! Of course, it’s Black Panther.

Avengers: Infinity War Gets new EW Covers and New Photos

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we have 15 new connecting covers showing most of the superheroes that will be in Infinity War and Thanos as well.

You can check them out below:

Avengers: IW Cover 1
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Avengers: IW Cover 12
Avengers: IW Cover 13
Avengers: IW Cover 14
Avengers: IW Cover 15
Avengers: IW all Covers connected

Along with the new covers, Entertainment Weekly also released 8 new photos from the film as well.

You can check them out down below:

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With all the new covers and pics released it really feels like this film is going to be the biggest and most devastating MCU ever made.

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

Source: Entertainment Weekly

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Homecoming (Road to Infinity War)

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

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wNgphPi5VM[/embedyt]

Now, with Spider-Man officially in the MCU, he deserves his own solo movie. Although this Spider-Man is another reboot, this also isn’t an origin story as well. Think of it as a continuation of Civil War. With that being said, does Spider-Man: Homecoming do Spider-Man justice? Or should this movie be squashed like a bug?

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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 came out last year, you should have seen it already).

The story begins with a flashback to after The Avengers and we get to see something we haven’t seen in a superhero film, what happens after a battle and who cleans it up the mess? Well, the answer is Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), and his group of scavengers. During their cleanup, a group from the government called Damage Control comes in to take over the job. Before clearing out, Adrian’s team manage to steal some alien tech in order to make weapons and gadgets out of them. Fast forward 8 years to before the airport scene in Captain America: Civil War. We see Peter (Tom Holland), being driven around by Happy (Jon Favreau), and Peter is filming his adventure to Berlin, his hotel room, filming himself during the Airport fight and then filming his return home with Tony (Robert Downey JR.). Once Peter puts the camera down, he is dropped off back home with his new suit and Tony tells him to stand by for his next mission. 2 months later, Peter is still going about his daily life, going to high school and also going around Queens in his new suit. One night Spider-Man runs into a group of thugs with Avengers masks and they also have some of Toomes’s new alien tech. A fight occurs and it ends with one of the weapons malfunctions and destroying the bank and a shop nearby. Peter goes back home where he soon discovers his bestie Ned (Jacob Batalon) has his LEGO Death Star in hand and drops it when he sees Peter with his Spider-Man costume. Ned now knows Peter’s secret and they argue back and forth with Ned agreeing to keep a lid on it. Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) comes into Peter’s room and says they are going out for Thai food. May asks Peter what’s wrong because he is down and Peter says that it’s his internship with Tony. Aunt May responds to her saying she is starting to dislike Tony because he keeps overworking Peter.

The next day during gym class, Peter hears his crush Liz (Laura Harrier), talking about how she likes Spider-Man and Ned lets slip the fact that Peter knows Spider-Man. Liz then invites both Peter and Ned to her party later that evening and asking if Peter can bring Spider-Man along. Later on, Peter and Ned go to Liz’s party and Ned asks Peter to put on the Spider-Man costume and swing on by to the party. Peter puts the suit on but sees some explosions in the distance and get’s distracted by that and goes towards that point to investigate. This leads Peter to under a bridge where we see an alien weapons deal going down. Peter intervenes and this ends up in a chase were Peter is hanging on the side of the van when he is able to pull one of the weapons from the van and toss it on someone’s lawn. Before Peter could actually stop the van, we see Vulture come and pick him up and take him several feet into the air. Peter is able to escape and release his parachute but then lands into a lake where he almost drowns. Iron Man saves him at the last minute, brings him to shore and gives Peter a pep talk. During the pep talk, we find out that Tony isn’t in the suit because he is down in India. Peter later goes back to retrieve the weapon that was dropped so he can study it.

The next day in shop class, Peter and Ned take the weapon apart and manage to keep the core of it intact, before they could leave school, some of Toomes’s goons come to the shop to take back the core. Peter puts a tracker on one of the goons, Peter goes back home with Ned and they track Toomes’s movements. They both discover that Toomes’s is headed for Maryland. Peter then goes to school the next day wanting to join back in with the decathlon team because they are headed to Washington for the nationals. While at their hotel, Everyone else sneaks out to go to the pool during nighttime while Peter sneaks out to follow Toomes. He discovers that Toomes is going to steal from a Damage Control truck headed back to its HQ. Peter and Vulture fight on top of the truck when Peter gets knocked out and locked in the truck. When Peter wakes up, he discovers that he is in a lower vault of Damage Control and tries everything to get out. Peter finally manages to get out but he misses the nationals altogether but his team still wins. Before he could meet back up with his friends. The alien core that Ned put in his backpack explodes while they are in the elevator of the Washington Monument. Peter suits up and tries his best to save his friends. Peter manages to get inside the building and the elevator and save everyone before he swings away. Back in New York, Peter learns his suit records everything and is able to identify one of the guys that were under the bridge, Aaron Davis (Donald Glover). Peter tracks him down to a parking garage and learns that Davis was looking to get weapons so he could escape his neighbourhood while also telling Peter that Toomes and some buyers will be on a Ferry later that day.

While on the Ferry, Toomes and his squad show off his product to Mac Gargan (Michael Mando), when the deal is interrupted by Spider-Man and also the FBI. Toomes gets his Vulture suit on and he fights Spider-Man on the Ferry. One of the weapons Vulture was using explodes and cuts the Ferry in half. Spider-Man tries his best to save it but is saved at the last minute again by Iron Man. After Iron Man repairs the ship, Tony and Peter have it out on a rooftop where Tony is actually there this time and after his fight with Peter, he takes the Suit he gave Peter back. After this, Peter goes back to his normal life and tries to leave the Spider-Man andInternshipp days behind him while he focuses on school and also getting a date for the Homecoming Dance. Peter confesses his feeling to Liz and asks Liz to the dance and she says yes which makes Peter very happy.

When Peter goes to Liz’s house later that night, he finally meets her father, ADRIAN TOOMES. This puts Peter on edge while at her house and when Toomes offers to give them a ride to the dance, he starts to pick up on the fact that Peter is Spider-Man. Before Toomes lets Peter out of his car, Toomes gives Peter a speech about how he needs to stay away from his work of he will kill him. Peter goes to the dance and when he finds Liz, he apologizes to her and runs away because he wants to stop her father. We later find out that Toomes has one last job in mind, stealing from the moving day plane with all of Tony’s stuff on it. Vulture gets to the plane and everything seems to be going smoothly until he sees that Spider-Man tagged along with him and they both fight on the outside of the plane. While fighting on the outside, they both manage to destroy most of the plane and the plane crash lands on the beach. They continue their fight until Vultures wings explode when he is trying to steal some tech. Toomes survives this and Peter makes sure to gift wrap Toomes and all of the plane cargo for Happy and the police to find. Later on, we find out that Liz is moving away with her mom to Oregan because it will be safer there than New York. Happy finds Peter at school and tells him to that Tony wants to see him at the New Avengers Base. Tony scolds but congrats Peter on what he did to Toomes and Tony shows Peter a new suit while also giving him an invitation to join the Avengers. Tony also says that there are real reporters waiting outside so that Tony can make the announcement but, before that can happen Peter declines the invitation to join and leaves Tony dumbfounded. Peter later gets home to find a paper bag with the suit that Tony made for him and when he puts the suit on, Aunt May sees this and ends the movie by saying, “What the F***!”.

The acting in this movie is simply spectacular (Sorry, not sorry). Tom Holland does an amazing job and has really cemented himself as the new Spider-Man. Michael Keaton is excellent as a villain and really knows how to balance being charming but scary at the same time. Robert Downey JR isn’t in this for long but he still does a great job. I was afraid that since they got RDJ, he was going to be in it a lot. Good thing he is only there when he needs to be a mentor/father figure to Peter. Everyone else does an amazing job as well. The only bad thing I can say is that Liz just feels one-dimensional as a love interest and a character. They should have spent more time developing her character so that we can actually have a good reason why Peter likes her so much.

The CGI is spectacular as well (I can’t help it with the spider puns). Everything looks visually stunning and Vultures suit really looks amazing and it makes me want one because it’s so awesome. The Spider-Man suit (Even the homemade suit), looks awesome as well. I would have loved to see Peter put on the Iron-Spider suit in this movie but we are gonna have to wait till Avengers: Infinity War (Hint, hint).

The Verdict:

This is the best Spider-Man movie out of all them. Marvel finally was able to do justice to the character when they were able to share the rights between Sony. Spider-Man: Homecoming is an all around fun and entertaining movie that really get’s it right. The villain is scary but also charming, the story is easy to follow and the cast is amazing. If you have gotten sick of Spider-Man movies or you haven’t seen it yet, this is a breath of fresh air and I can’t recommend this movie enough.

9.5/10

Next up, it’s main event time! We are nearly done the RTIW event, and what better time to see how Thor is in his third and best adventure yet, Thor: Ragnarok.

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the fifteenth movie in the lineup, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW1BIid8Osg[/embedyt]

With the first Guardians being a huge success, you know Marvel had to make a sequel. Now, the guardians are back for another adventure full of action, humour and a rockin soundtrack. Does the sequel live up to the hype or does it crash and burn?

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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 came out last year, you should have seen it already).

The story begins with a flashback to 1980 where we see Ego (Kurt Russel), is driving along with his new love Meredith Quill (Laura Haddock). They crusin along the countryside when they make a stop at a DQ to go out to the forest so that Ego can show Meredith a plant he planted that he promises will grow into something beautiful one day. Flashforward to the present where we see the Guardians on the planet Sovereign. They are on a mission to stop a big monster who plants to drain their batteries. The Guardians engage the monster while Baby Groot turns on the tunes and dances his cares away. The Guardians slay the beast and collect their reward, Nebula (Karen Gillian). Rocket (Bradley Cooper), steals some of their smaller batteries when no one is looking and this later comes back to bite the Guardians in the butt. Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), and the Sovereign soon figure out they stole some batteries and they send their fleet to kill the Guardians. When all seems lost, a mysterious ship comes and destroys all the Sovereign ships. The Guardians soon crash land on a remote planet where the same ship that helped them earlier also lands with them. We soon find out that on that ship is Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Ego who claims to be Peter’s real father.

We then cut to Contraxia where Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his Ravagers are relaxing at a hotel/brothel. A bunch of other Ravagers come to the same place but then leave in disgust once they find out Yondu is there because Yondu betrayed them and broke the Ravager code when he took in Peter as a young boy. Later, some of Yondu’s crew talk bad mouth Yondu and this plants the seeds for a mutiny. However, The Sovereign come and request to speak to Yondu about a job. We then cut back to the planet Ego and the Guardians are on and they talk to Ego about who he is and where he is from. Peter (Chris Pratt), still in shock about Ego being his father still doesn’t believe him. Ego offers to take some of the Guardians to his home planet to show Peter his origins. While they leave, Rocket, Groot (Vin Diesel), and Nebula stay behind with the broken ship so they can try to repair it. Later on in the night, the Ravagers find Rocket and crew and try to ambush him, Rocket sets up a bunch of traps to stop them but Rocket get’s captured in the end. It’s here that the Mutiny finally happens when Taserface (Chris Sullivan), shoots off Yondu’s fin and becomes the new leader of the Ravagers. They put Rocket and Yondu in their holding cells, Nebula joins the New Ravagers and they also take Baby Groot.

Meanwhile, Ego and Mantis take Peter, Drax (Dave Bautista), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to his home planet which we find out is actually Ego and his Human form is an extension of himself. He goes into detail about how he is a celestial and that his mission was to create life on other planets to help extend his life. We cut back to the New Ravagers where Nebula is given a ship and Baby Groot is being used for entertainment. When Baby Groot is walking around, he stumbles upon Rocket and Yondu and he agrees to help them back Yondu’s Prototype fin in order to control his Arrow and escape. After many failed attempts, Kraglin (Sean Gunn), finally helps Baby Groot get the Fin to Yondu because Kraglin is still loyal to Yondu. Once Yondu puts on the fin, they all escape and manage to get an escape ship before blowing up Taserfaces ship. Before Taserface dies in the explosion, he contacts the Sovereign and gives them the coordinates to where Yondu is headed so they can kill all of the Guardians at once.

Back on Ego’s planet, Gamora is frustrated with Peter because she believes there is more than meets the eye and walks off to blow off some steam from fighting with Peter. While out in the field, Gamora is ambushed by Nebula with her ship. This leads to a chase and fight scene where the sisters finally have it out and share their feelings with each other. While in a cave, they discover something evil, a bunch of Skeletons of Ego’s other children. This is where we finally learn Ego’s true intentions. Ego plant himself on every planet so he can control everyone and everything. He wants Peter to help rule by his side, but after once Peter learns that Ego put the Tumor in his Mother, he refuses and starts to fight his father. This leads to all of the Guardians coming together and coming up with a plan to kill Ego. Rocket builds a bomb using the batteries he stole and get’s Baby Groot to plan it at the centre of the planet (AKA Ego’s Brain). The Guardians try their best to fight Ego while also fighting off the Sovereign who track them down and they destroy the Sovereign ships and get back to the task at hand, destroying Ego. The bomb finally goes off and all the Guardians make it out except for Peter and Yondu. Yondu is able to rescue Peter but pays the ultimate sacrifice when Yondu rockets Peter out to space and gives his air shield to Peter so that Peter can live. This hurts Peter and everyone mourns for Yondu, even the Ravagers who banished Yondu honour his sacrifice in the end.

The acting in this movie is on par with the first Guardians. You can tell that everyone has a formula down and the cast does an amazing job. Except for Taserface and the Sovereign. The Sovereign seem like they are going to become a huge pain for the Guardians but, they come off as bland and one dimensional (I don’t know if this was intentional or not but I’m making a note of it anyway).

The CGI is, of course, your standard MCU budget now. However, you can tell a lot more work and love was put into the effects in this movie. The scene where Yondu, Rocket and Kraglin make the jump to Ego is hilarious and is a highlight of the CGI. Also, all the ships, battles and even Ego himself are amazing. Another shoutout goes to the de-aging of Kurt Russel. Marvel really does know how to make actors look young again and it is impressive to see.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 isn’t better than the first one. However, this isn’t a bad thing, most movie sequels try and top the original one. Vol. 2 instead just tries to stick to the formula of the first one and tell a more personal story then a universe exploding one which is one the movie’s strengths. Everyone wanted to know who Peter’s father was and this is the story of Peter’s father and how Peter deals with that revelation.

The Verdict:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 doesn’t try to top its first movie. It instead decides to answer the question of who is Peter’s dad? The movie succeeds in giving us more Guardians and a very personal story about Family and Fathers. The movie does suffer from killing off both of the main villains again (But who will really remember Taserface anyways?), the parts with Ego do tend to drag on a little bit and Mantis doesn’t get much development before she joins the team. However, if you can look past those flaws, you will find another awesome mix of an adventure with the freaking Guardians of the Galaxy.

8.5/10

Next up, After making his debut in Civil War and winning over audiences everywhere, it’s time for the webhead to get his own solo movie in the MCU, Spider-Man: Homecoming.

REVIEW: Doctor Strange (Road to Infinity War)

Alright, let us continue The Papi Chulo RADIO Road to Infinity War (RTIW for short) review event with the fourteenth movie in the lineup, Doctor Strange.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-U_t2pUHI[/embedyt]

With the Avengers now split and everything changed once again. It’s nice to know that Doctor Strange is here to give us a break and give us his origin before moving forward with the new status quo. does this new movie deliver or is it dead on arrival

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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).

The story starts with a flashback when we see Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), with a group of his followers behead a librarian in order to steal pages from one of the mystic books that also contain dark magic in them. This leads to a trippy fight with Kaecilius running from The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). We then cut to Steven Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who is a brilliant doctor who also has a massive ego. After a successful surgery, he then talks to his friend Christine (Rachel McAdams), who is also a former lover of Strange because she talks to him about dating and other things when another doctor comes to them with an x-ray showing that someone has a bullet stuck in their brain. They rush to surgery and Strange is able to get the bullet out. Later we cut to Strange in his fancy apartment (Complete with Spinning Watch display/drawer) when he gets into his Lamborghini and drives off when he gets a call from one of the doctors and starts to give him cases he can work on. Being distracted, Strange gets into an accident causing him to end up in a river. He is later rushed to Surgery when he wakes up to discover that he has destroyed his hands.

While Strange is recovering, he tries to look for options to fix his hands when no doctor will take his case and nothing else will work. He learns of a mystical place that can heal all from a former patient, Jonathan Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt). Strange uses every last resource he has in order to travel to Nepal in search of the palace known as Kamar-Taj. When he is cornered in an ally with some thugs, a mysterious man who has been following him saves him and takes Steve to wear he seeks. We later find out that this man was Baron Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). With Strange in the right place, he talks to the Ancient One asking her about what kind of medicine do they have and she tells him that it’s magic that Strange will never understand. Strange grows frustrated at all of this and the Ancient One finally gives Strange a taste of what power she possesses. When the magic trip is over, Steve wants to be taught by the Ancient One how to perform magic and she rejects him.

Steve is then kicked out and left on the doorstep when he begs to be let back in. Mordo talks to the Ancient One and they both agree to let Strange back in and teach him the ways of Magic.  We spend a good chunk of the movie on Steve’s training and at first, he can’t seem to get a grasp on it but then slowly but surely he starts to learn very quickly. Going through all the books, learning all the spells and surprising/harassing the new Librarian Wong (Benedict Wong). However, Strange is hungry for more, he sneaks into the library and gets the Eye of Agamoto. This is an artefact that allows the wearer to manipulate time but it’s really an Infinity Stone. While using the Eye, he is also looking through the forbidden text and restores the lost pages to see what Kaecilius took. Mordo and Wong discover what Strange is doing, they scold him for it and tell him that the power is too much to handle.

With Steven doing more training, one session is cut short because Kaecilius attacks and Steve is then transported to the New York branch of their safe houses. A battle ensues in the safe house and we finally get to learn more about Kaecilius. He then tells Strange that the Ancient One draws her power from the Dark Dimension just like him. While distracted by this new knowledge, Strange is stabbed by one of Kaecilius’s goons and teleports himself to the same hospital that he used to work at. Christine then has to save his life while Strange fights in Astral form with one of the goons who is also in his Astral form. Once Strange is healed, he goes back to the safe house and meets with Mordo and the Ancient One. This is when Strange tells Mordo about the info he just got and both of them start to question everything about the Ancient One. Before they could finish their conversation, Kaecilius comes for Round 2 and this time they take the battle all across New York. Using their powers, they bend, mould and reshape the world around them. This leads the Ancient One to step in and fight her former student and his goons head-on when she is then stabbed. Strange rushes her to the hospital and hopes to save her but she dies right before they both go into their Astral forms and have a nice heart to heart.

This all leads to one final battle in Kong Kong where Kaecilius seems to have the upper hand and destroys the last safe house in order for the dark dimension to consume everything. Strange is able to stop this by using the Eye and reverses time so that the destruction can be stopped. While time is being reversed, everyone gets into a fight. Just before Strange can restore everything, he is stopped and then he gets the idea of going into the Dark Dimension to fight the greatest evil of them all, Dormammu. Dormammu is the one who rules the Dark Dimension and Strange is able to stop him by putting him in a time loop. Once Strange is able to get him to bargain with him, he escapes and Kaecilius and his goons are sucked into the Dark Dimension with him. The day is saved and Strange becomes to new Sorcerer Supreme.

The acting in this movie was great. Almost everyone did a great job and you can tell that the cast had fun making this movie. This is one of the more weird MCU movies but everyone did their part to make it enjoyable for us to watch. However, Rachel McAdams didn’t do a great job and she comes off as one-note and forgettable.

The CGI is hands down the best part of the movie. Once you get to the scene where the Ancient One has Strange go on a mind-bending trip, it is truly something out of this world. Even when they are bending the world around them it is a visual treat to see. This is some of the best effects I have seen from a Marvel movie ever and it will surely stick with you when you watch this movie.

The Verdict:

If you are looking for something different from the MCU and Marvel, you have come to the right place. Doctor Strange is a fun, entertaining and very trippy movie that anyone can enjoy. However, the movie does suffer from the MCU villain problem because once again the villain is killed off. Also, not everyone gets enough time to be fully fleshed out. If you can look past these flaws, then a great time awaits you.

8/10

Next up, once again we take a trip into space with our favourite band of idiots, Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

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