Captain America: Civil War

Actors: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl

Rating: 9 out of 10, As the title suggests this one has the long simmering rivalry between the stalwart Captain America and the narcissistic Iron Man finally flower into full-fledged war. The point of contention is turning authority over the Avengers to the United Nations. The plot was kind of dumb, I mean who in their right mind would grant any real authority to that benighted organization? At the same time we have super heroes zooming around, spells being cast, and 100 year old soldiers so suspending disbelief shouldn’t be that hard. Marvel does what they do best. They give heart and depth to these comic book icons and make even semi-believers care. There’s also non-stop action along with an examination of the repercussions of all their prior city busting exploits. The conflict seems forced as none of them truly hate each other but it does lead to a lively, if very crowded confrontation. The nicest surprise is the introduction of Spiderman which they’ve finally figured out, returning to his comic book personae. So a really, good, movie but that’s what you’ve come to expect when this bunch gets together.

MVP: Evans lends some real depth to the deep thinking Captain

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Actors: Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin, Emily Blunt, Rob Brydon Jessica Chastain

Rating: 7 out of 10, This isn’t as bad as the current scouring it’s undergoing in popular media. The filmmakers did the right thing by removing Snow White and going to the only thing watchable in the original movie – Thor with axes instead of a hammer. They then tried to tap into the popularity of Frozen by creating an evil ice queen to hold the fort/ice palace until Charlize returns late in the movie to chew up some scenery. As stated above, I kind of liked the movie but there was a lot to forgive. The shoe horned prequel/sequel plot didn’t help but let us remind ourselves this is fantasy and stories should be allowed some leeway to breath. Thor’s bemused action credentials are fully redeemed and he seemed to be having a lot of fun. Of course, that’s easy when you’re surrounded by Blunt, Charlize, and especially Jessica Chastain who dominates as the love interest. The four leads and some feisty dwarves made this watchable if not memorable.

MVP: Chastain as the dangerous Sara

Nice Guys

Actors: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Keith David, Kim Basinger

Rating: 9 out of 10, If anyone was wondering what Russel Crowe has been up to for the last couple years I learned the answer last night – he’s been eating donuts. He and Ryan Gosling who they now allow to actually speak in movies were a terrific pair together. The semi-fondly remembered 1970s also got the obligatory skewering. They play a pair of L.A. private eyes who are drawn into a convoluted missing person’s case. The tone is irreverent from the start when a nude porn star drives her car through an adolescent boy’s house. If nothing else this movie points out the danger of hillside living in L.A. but I found it incredibly funny and entertaining. It veers shamelessly between slapstick and action and never forgets to be fun. It’s the best thing Crowe has done in a long while and maybe the best thing Gosling has ever done. I really liked it.

MVP: Russel Crowe as the lovable, but dangerous Jackson Healy

Crossing Over

Actors: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Jim Sturgess, Cliff Curtis, Alice Braga, Alice Eve, Justin Chon, Summer Bishil

Rating: 7 out of 10, A movie that aimed at Traffic territory by creating a series of eventually interlinking plot lines generously peppered with some very good actors. I hadn’t heard of this but felt compelled to learn if the Alice Eve Star Trek bikini was CGI or not. That would be a definite “not”. While Ms. Eve’s generously displayed talents were remarkable enough this wide ranging story about illegal immigrants and their different struggles to remain in the USA was kind of “ehh”. Tough to make a young Muslim girl who defends the 9-11 terrorists as a sympathetic character but the rest of the stories were interesting. Harrison Ford plays a decent man trying to do the right thing as an immigration officer despite rules against same. The ending “bridge” to bring all the plot lines together was kind of forced and completely unbelievable but there were a number of nice moments.

MVP: Alice Eve proving that stuffed Star Trek bikini was not CGI

Hardcore Henry

Actors: Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth

Rating: 7 out of 10, If the opening credits of a movie features bullets entering faces and throats being cut than you have a pretty good idea what’s in store. Non-stop shooting, stabbing, fist fighting, and the odd humorous Sharlto Copley appearance ensued; all told from the point of view of the hero, literally. I was reminded of watching my son play video games which I was too old to be trapped into. It was interesting to watch him venture down passageways dispatching all who came into view with a variety of weapons – that’s Hardcore Henry. It was jarring at times trying to figure out what exactly was happening as the view swung wildly as Henry mowed his way through a horde of Russian gangsters and Moscow subway crowds. He’s a cyborg trying to find his kidnapped wife while Copley plays a mysterious helper who rebounds nicely after getting killed in a number of gruesome ways. I liked this which I’ll probably have to apologize for at some point in the future but the movie makers took chances to really imbed the viewer into the eyes of the action hero. It doesn’t always work well but it was a hell of a ride. When Henry finally reaches the end of the long line of people trying to kill him, he pulls his own electronic eye out of its socket and uses the wiring to decapitate the villain, like I said, kind of a violent movie. It was all very Russian.

MVP: Ciopley as the ever reincarnated Jimmy

Criminal

Actors: Kevin Costner, Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Alice Eve, Michael Pitt, Jordi Mollà, Antje Traue.

Rating: 9 out of 10, I thought this was much better than most critics are giving it credit for. Costner does evil way, way better than most leading men (see Mr. Brooks) and he chews up a lot of scenery here. Once you get over the hump of accepting the impossible science involved in transferring a recently deceased secret agent’s memories into an uber-violent sociopath, it’s a great ride. Costner does an interesting job of displaying the inner conflict of a lifelong criminal having a conscience imposed upon him. The only thing criminal in the movie was the underuse of Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman going a little (lot) over the top. The best scenes involve the dead agent’s wife, played by Gal Gadot, who seems to get better each time out. There’s funny (if very violent) scenes where very polite English society, where the movie takes place, is exposed to the ruthlessly inappropriate Costner character, probably every Englishman’s secretly held opinion of Americans in general. So, ignore the critics and go see this very passable action flick with Costner refusing to wait in any queues to the abject horror of all.

MVP: Costner as the dually minded anti-hero Jericho Stewart

Batman Versus Superman, Dawn of Justice

Actors: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot

Rating: 8 out of 10, I know Batman versus Superman, Dawn of Justice is not getting a lot of love from critics but I actually liked it. It was certainly a departure from the Marvel format of action and hijinks. It was very dark and almost morose at times but the story worked. I didn’t know how they would stage this obvious mismatch – figuring there had to be some kryptonite involved. It’s tribute to Cavill and especially Affleck in the lead roles. I know there was a lot of consternation when Affleck was announced as Batman but he’s very, very good. He plays an older Batman weighed down by the seeming ineffectiveness of his lifelong fight against crime. Gotham City is placed directly adjacent to Metropolis with their competing superheroes on a collision course engineered by Lex Luthor. While every other actor, even those with limited roles like Holly Hunter, shines, it was surprising that Eisenberg was so bad as Lex Luthor. He was so over the top and blatant that you wonder why he wasn’t squashed early on. The villain can be deliciously evil (see Kevin Spacey’s take) but he should not be clinically annoying which Eisenberg certainly was. The movie seemed to take place almost entirely at night but that could just have been the mood the movie makers instilled. Don’t go into this expecting Marvel as this takes an entirely different tone and that’s not a bad thing. The movie works on a number of levels; don’t listen to the critics – go see this nuanced superhero movie.

MVP: Affleck as the aging and conflicted caped crusader