2010-2019, Film Review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Posted on April 11, 2014February 9, 2025 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

winter-soldier-poster — **Image is property of Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios**

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Film Review

Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell, Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson

Directors: Joe and Anthony Russo

Synopsis: Taking place after the events of the Avengers, Steve Rogers continues to struggle to adapt to the modern world, and find his place in society. However, his allegiance to S.H.I.EL.D is called into question amid the rise of an adversary known only as the “Winter Soldier”

Review: Phase Two of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is now in full swing and with the second solo film featuring our favourite starred and striped hero, as he struggles to adapt to an era in which he knows nothing about. All the while he is working for an organisation that is holding some sinister secrets. All in all, what we have is one of the best Marvel films ever made and by far the best Marvel film of Phase Two of their cinematic Universe.

The film is set in Modern USA after the events of The Avengers with Cap living his life whilst working for S.H.I.EL.D. It is soon realised that S.H.I.EL.D has some conflicting ideas to what he stands for, and of course this creates friction between Rogers and his employer. He is the patriotic, do it for your country superhero, but S.H.I.EL.D is not on the same wavelength as he is. This conflicting ideologies causes Rogers to question who he really works for, in doing so it adds real depth to the character of Captain America. While all this is happening, a new enemy appears and begins to cause some destruction. The ruthless Winter Soldier is out on a mission, to eradicate Captain America. The Winter Soldier was a terrific, deadly foe played brilliantly by someone who you may recognise, and ranks as one of the best villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, second only to the God of Mischief Loki.

winter soldier

Chris Evans was again superb in the role of Captain America, the character had almost unprecedented depth and he was awesome in the action scenes once more. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow was likewise superb. This is her biggest role in a Marvel film to date, and she gave an excellent performance. Similarly, Samuel L Jackson gives his best performance in the role of Nick Fury. There are a number of excellent newcomers also. Anthony Mackie as “Falcon” was an excellent addition to the case and provided some great moments in the film. Likewise with Robert Redford playing S.H.I.E.L.D boss Alexander Pierce.

Along with some great characters, new and old, the film has some incredible action sequences. The first action scene at the start of the film was intense and enthralling, but as the film progresses they only get better. The scenes with the Winter Soldier are particularly thrilling, especially when he faces off against Captain America. Cap’s shield remains one of the coolest weapons in the Marvel universe.

By now, it is evident that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is all interwoven at this point, and this is particularly true. there are many expansions on what went on in the first Captain America film that are touched upon in this film. Thus you should ideally have seen the first film before going into watch this instalment as a lot of of the plot points will make much more sense, and the film will be much more enjoyable.

Nevertheless: Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a superb film and a definite step up from The First Avenger. There were improvements in every respect from villain, to action, to character development. It is the best stand-alone film from Marvel since the first Iron Man film. It does not quite eclipse The Avengers, but it sets the story up perfectly for next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel fans should rejoice as it is currently ruling the Superhero genre of films. DC’s untitled Batman VS Superman film is still two years away, and if this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy, is a success, there may be no stopping the Marvel Cinematic Universe from world domination, of the superhero genre of films.

A terrific story with some outstanding performances from Evans and Johansson, this is the MCU’s best movie so far, without a question of a doubt.

2010-2019, Film Review

After Earth (2013)

Posted on January 5, 2014May 29, 2017 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

Image rights belong to Columbia, Overbrook Entertainment, Relativity Media, Blinding Edge Pictures

After Earth – Film Review

Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz, David Denham

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Synopsis: When a ship carrying father and son Cypher and Kitai Raige crash lands on an abandoned Earth, and Cypher is injured as a result. Thus Kitai must brave the perilous planet that is crawling with predators and activate a distress beacon in order to get help…

Review: A film that had the potential to be an exciting story about a fight for survival. When in reality, it was a fight for the retention of concentration and to stay focused on the film. A struggle to resist the urge not to drift away due to sheer boredom of what was going on screen as a father and son duo battle to survive on what was once Planet Earth. It should have been an exciting adventure, the reality is that it was far from that.

With the Smith father and son duo being basically the only actors in this film, the film needs to have those two to be strong characters in order to carry the film through, and this was simply not the case. On the one hand, Will Smith was a very distant and emotionless character. He showed no emotion even to his own son and this made him a very distant and boring character to watch. Similarly, Jaden Smith’s character was equally uninteresting and borderline annoying at times. It is obvious that his character has something to prove, but he just lacked sincerity and conviction when delivering his lines. As a result their father-son bond that is central to the entire film was insipid and made the film almost painful to watch.

Shyamalan’s previous films are generally slow in terms of plot but some of them have had good acting in them and there was intrigue in his earlier work, the likes of The Sixth Sense come to mind. These films were slow except they were good. Yet, with After Earth again the plot was slow, except this time the intrigue was just not there as the two main actors were just uninteresting to watch. The chemistry between them was nowhere to be seen due to Will Smith’s emotionless character and the film suffers as a result, and it suffers badly.

To the film’s credit the scenery of an uninhabitable post human Planet Earth is something to behold. No humanity is left and the planet is just a vast jungle. However, the CGI is at times, completely bland. The majority of the creatures that occupy the planet are just not convincing. In a world where Avatar and the like has shown us what CGI is capable of giving cinema, yet the CGI on show in After Earth was just mediocre. A decent score accompanies the film but it is not enough to redeem it from the overall mess that this film is.

A visually impressive world, minus some of the predators, is ultimately buried in a slow and tedious plot with tedious and annoying characters. The once great career of M. Night Shyamalan has slowly descended and After Earth may well be the final straw for many people. There was something great in the potential of this film, but that greatness frittered away into blandness and mediocrity.

Visually it’s impressive, but the woeful acting from Jaden Smith, with a very weak script makes this another nail in the coffin of Shyamalan’s career.

2010-2019, Film Review

Pacific Rim (2013)

Posted on November 23, 2013May 29, 2017 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

All image rights belong to Warner Bros and Legendary Entertainment — **Image is property of Warner Bros and Legendary Entertainment**

Pacific Rim – Film Review

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman,

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Synopsis: When a portal opens at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and huge alien monsters called Kaiju begin to attack human cities and wipe out thousands of lives. The leaders of the human race pit their resources together and construct huge robotic machines known as Jaegers in order to prevent the oncoming apocalypse

Review: When the notion of a film’s plot line consists of big robots taking on huge alien monsters , it is a plot line that sounds strangely familiar and one that has been done to death. The likes of Godzilla and Transformers come to mind. However, under the guidance of the visually brilliant Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim is a fantastic blend of the two and is a terrific and thrilling ride.

The film sets the scene with a prologue in which these frightening Kaiju creatures have destroyed plenty of cities and slaughtered lives across the world. Humanity’s last line of defence against these creatures is the Jaeger program, headed by Marshal Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) who seeks the help of Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) to come out of retirement and pilot one of these machines.

The acting on show here is of a decent order with Charlie Hunnam proving to be a strong willed and determined protagonist. Alongside him we have Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), a young and untested Jaeger pilot who is keen to prove herself to Marshal Penetecost. The two form a solid relationship as the film progresses and their relationship is a crucial element to the story as they must work together to build a solid neural link together to ensure humanity does not reach its doom at the hands of the Kaiju. Idris Elba is as awesome as he always is in everything he’s in and you can see the fuel in him that drives him to lead the ship through the difficult storm of mayhem and destruction that the Kaiju are bringing to the people of Earth. This desire is apparent within all of the leading characters and through it it drives the story forward.

On the other hand, the apocalyptic mood of the film is counteracted by the humour of the two scientists in the film with Dr Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) and Dr Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day) who whenever they are on screen always seem to be bickering and squabbling with one another as to how to best defeat the monstrous invaders. Their rivalry and differences of opinion is fun to watch but deep down their desire to ensure humanity’s survival is apparent within both of them.

While the relationship between the three leading characters is central to the story, the fight scenes on show are of monstrous proportions. The size of both the Kaiju and the Jaeger takes your breath away and you watch with glee and suspense as these two titanic monsters go head to head in jaw dropping and exhilarating fight scenes that are among the best that we have seen in this year’s selection of films. Cars get crushed and buildings are reduced to rubble as these great beasts do battle against these great machines of war. An Oscar nomination for Best Special effects could definitely come Pacific Rim’s way next year.

Thus with interesting characters and some thrilling action sequences, Pacific Rim is certainly a fantastic adventure that gets the adrenaline pumping and leaves the viewer excited and wanting more. Combined with great action sequences and some interesting characters Pacific Rim is certainly one of the finest films that emerged from the Summer Movie season of 2013.

You come for Transformers VS Godzilla essentially and that is precisely what del Toro gives you, and it is nothing but damn good fun.

2010-2019, Film Review

Captain Phillips (2013)

Posted on November 6, 2013May 29, 2017 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

All image rights belong to Columbia Pictures, Michael De Luca Productions, Scott Rudin Productions, Trigger Street Productions — **Image is property of Columbia Pictures, Michael De Luca Productions, Scott Rudin Productions, Trigger Street Productions**

Captain Phillips – Film Review

Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky

Director: Paul Greengrass

Synopsis: From the director of The Bourne Ultimatum and United 93, comes a factual account of the Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009. A group of Somali pirates board the Maersk Alabama and take Captain Richard Phillips hostage and demand a ransom while the US Navy pursues the pirates to rescue Captain Phillips.

Review: A nerve-wracking, suspenseful and riveting thrill ride. Right from the beginning of the film, the suspense immediately begins to build as Captain Phillips and his crew set out on their journey on their ship full of goods. As Phillips and his team set off, the perspective switches as we see the Somali pirates and what drives their malicious and cruel intentions. The fact that they must go out to these cargo ships and return to their superiors with hostages and or money, otherwise they will face dire consequences. This desperation is displayed emphatically by the leader of the Somali pirates Abduwali Muse, who is portrayed brilliantly by newcomer Barkhad Abdi in what is a fantastic debut big screen appearance. You see the dark desires that haunt him and the motives that force him to do what he has to do. You can see in his eyes his rage drives on the other pirates to carry out their evil intentions and that there is a point where there is no going back. It is either deliver the goods, or in this case hostage, or die.

From the minute the pirates begin their pursuit of the Maersk Alabama, your heart is immediately racing and you are kept on edge right throughout the pursuit as you watch it unfold on the screen. When the pirates board the ship, your heart still continues to pound as there is a constant fear that the pirates will at any given moment shoot one of the ship’s crew dead. For every action that is taken by both sides, there are consequences and these consequences can be fatal. You are kept on the edge of your seat throughout the raid. The suspense escalates even further when the pirates take Phillips hostage and threaten dire retribution against him unless they receive monetary gain. However, the final climax of the film sees the intense drama on screen go up another gear as the standoff between the pirates and the US Navy reaches an unbearable level. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest as the climax was unfolding. Even after the film had reached its conclusion, my heart was racing.

Along with a great breakout performance from Abdi, Tom Hanks is on magnificent form here as the titular character. He is calm and collected when he appears to be facing certain death at the hands of the pirates. Yet at the same time, when he is put in this awful situation, he comes out fighting and shows the desire of a man determined to win his freedom and see his family again. While they are two very different characters, the two main men are both play out their roles exceptionally well. Yet the best is saved to last with one scene right towards the end of the film that leaves you completely taken aback by Hanks’ magnificent acting. This is a film that should at the very least land Hanks an Oscar nomination next year for his breath-taking performance and also maybe even land Greengrass a nomination for his outstanding directing.

This film is one of the most intense films that you will ever watch in your life. The two main men are brilliant in their roles. The action was incredibly intense and the score of the film was equally impressive. Great films sink their claws into you and ensure you are thinking about the film long after you have left the cinema. A thrilling adrenaline ride and this film is definitely has definitely sailed into one of the best films of the year so far.

Packed with terrific suspense, brilliant acting from Hanks and Abdi with masterful direction from Greengrass, a thriller that thrills in every sense of the word.

2010-2019, Film Review

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Posted on October 30, 2013May 29, 2017 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

All image rights belong to Annapurna Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and Icon productions — **Image is property of Annapurna Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and Icon productions**

Zero Dark Thirty – Film Review

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Kyle Chandler

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Synopsis: An account of the mission to locate Bin Laden in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001.

Review: From start to finish, this film is very gripping. It starts with a brief flashback to 9/11 via use of the recording of the phone calls that took place on that terrible day. From there, it moves on to “the greatest manhunt in history.” The film leans largely on the intelligence and behind the scenes office work that went into finding the location of the world’s most wanted man at the time. Whilst the opening scenes use some graphic scenes of torture that have attracted a lot of controversy with some critics accusing the film of glorifying torture. In spite of all this, the film gives the viewer a solid depiction of all the events that occurred when the world was hunting for Bin Laden, and it does this very well.

A considerable focus of the film is on Jessica Chastain’s character Maya, a CIA operative who leads the CIA efforts as they sought to capture their number one target. Chastain excelled in her role, and her character development is fantastic to see as she starts the film as a very inexperienced CIA agent. As the film progresses, she becomes a very confident woman and she refuses to let anything get in the way of her goal of capturing and killing Bin Laden. And as you watch her bury herself in her mission, you hunt for Bin Laden with her. You feel elated for her when she makes a breakthrough in her mission and you feel her pain when she suffers a setback. With so much focus on Chastain’s character and her objectives, the other characters that are in the film suffer from a lack of character development as they get very little screen time to make their mark.

After the 9/11 flashback, the film starts from 2003 with the torture scenes. It touches upon events such as the July 7th bombings, the bomb attack that took place on the Islamabad Marriott Hotel in 2008, the 2009 Camp Chapman attack and leads right the way through to the 2nd of May 2011, the day of the operation that killed the Taliban leader. The final scene is among the most intense scenes that have been filmed in the history of cinema. The viewer witnesses the US Navy seals attack the compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden was hiding. The full extent of the raid on the house is witnessed with the US soldiers killing many of the house’s residents and leads up to the moment when the world’s most wanted man at the time was killed. The subsequent raid of all Bin Laden’s possessions is also witnessed

A film like this must have been very difficult to shoot and while some aspects have been criticised for not portraying certain events in the way in which they actually happened. Kathryn Bigelow does a good job in giving us a deep and powerful film that will certainly leave its mark on the viewer. With Chastain fully deserving of her Oscar nomination for Best Actress among many other accolades, Zero Dark Thirty is a gripping tale of the hunt for the world’s most wanted man and it will leave you with a lasting impression when the film has reached its conclusion.