MOVIE REVIEW: Captain America: Civil War

Two iconic superheroes turning against each other due to misunderstanding and because of it forgetting the bigger enemy. Sounds like the other superhero movie released exactly a month ago but that's just the only similarity. Captain America: Civil War the third in the series of the all-American superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first with an all-star cast that can easily be mistaken as an Avengers movie.

The film starts where the Age of Ultron ends and the new Avengers still headed by Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) question their roles in world affairs when the U.S. Secretary of State (William Hurt channeling Kevin Kline) proposed a treaty that would involve the participation of the United Nations in determining if the superheroes can help fight evil in different countries around the globe. On the other hand, Captain America/Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) is opposed to it as his best friend turned assasin Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier will be the first target.

Except for Thor and The Hulk, most of the characters from the last Avengers film are back as they pick their side between Iron Man and Captain America. Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) joins in the fun and making its character debut is Black Panther played by Chadwick Boseman as well as the new Spider-Man played by Tom Holland. Peter Parker/Spidey brightens up each frame he is in and a big thanks should be given to Sony Pictures for allowing the character which is under contract from the Studio to appear in the Marvel/Disney production.

Captain America: Civil War is the darkest and most mature of the Marvel/Disney films but it does not forget to have fun. Looking forward to the Infinity War series that this film was set up for.

MOVIE REVIEW: Bastille Day

Idris Elba ventures into Liam Neeson territory in Bastille Day, an exciting and entertaining action thriller that's reminiscent of the first Taken movie which was also shot in the French capital.

Elba plays Sean Briar, a CIA operative who teams up with Game of Thrones' Richard Madden who plays an American pickpocket with an overstaying tourist visa in Paris, who after stealing a bag from a mule played with Charlotte Le Bon (The Hundred Foot Journey) opened up a vast network that maybe linked to terrorists. 

Director James Watkins (The Woman in Black) made great use of the film's 90 minute running time. A chase scene shot above the rooftops is beautifully shot and executed. It is just unfortunate that some scenes are a bit similar to the recent terror attacks on the city so maybe that's why the film did not get a release date in some other countries, notably the United States. There are a lot of holes in the plot that require you to leave your thinking outside the theater but it's compensated by the good chemistry of the cast.

Elba passes his first lead action hero flick and who knows maybe this is his audition to play the world famous super spy sometime hopefully in the near future.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Jungle Book

Disney's latest retelling of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book is best watched on the big screen and if you have some extra money to spare for 3D or IMAX then by all means go. Not since Avatar has the movies ever come up with a beautifully created world and not since The Life of Pi has there ever been CGI created animals brought to life vibrantly than this film which does not divert too much from the 1967 Disney classic.

Most of us already know the story of Mowgli played by newcomer Neel Sethi, a "human-cub" raised by wolves whose parents are voiced by Giancarlo Esposito and Lupita Nyong'o after the panther Bagheera voiced by Ben Kingsley entrusted him to them for better protection when he found him all alone in the jungle when Mowgli was just a toddler, after his father was killed by the tiger Shere Khan voiced with such evil authority by Idris Elba on an expedition. Guided by Bagheera and the bear Baloo voiced by Bill Murray to bring him to his fellow humans when the tiger came back to seek revenge, the three encounter different situations and meet different animals such as the slithering snake Kaa voiced with seductive perfection by Scarlett Johansson and King Louie the ape voiced by Christopher Walken.

Director Jon Favreau's (Iron Man 1 and 2) take on The Jungle Book is much more engaging than recent Disney live action remakes of their animated classics and it some instances jolting. I sometimes have to close my eyes at some scenes for you know that some predator might surprise Mowgli from the unlikeliest of places in the deep jungle. It's good fun but I know that some little kids might get scared. It's great too

that the film also used some of the songs from the animated version that I'm pretty sure that parents who grew up watching it will sing along much to the amazement of their kids.