Details: Released in 2018. About two hours and forty minutes long. Directed by Ryan Coogler. Stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o.
Despite all the glowing reviews I’ve seen all over the place claiming that this film is a cultural phenomenon, this is simply a good movie. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even close to being the best Marvel film ever released in my opinion (that goes to Captain America: Winter Soldier).
If your buying a ticket for this movie, then you should be well aware of the reason you want to see this movie: the action. Everything else is tertiary, supplemental, not that important.
There are a number of plots going through this film. They are all pretty bare. The acting is standard action movie fare; no one’s taking an academy award home for this movie. Maybe special effects.
But the action… man, that action. I’ve read a number of reviews comparing this film with other films and the consensus is that the action is some of the best, if not THE best of the Marvel movies. And they’re right. The entirety of this film consists of five set pieces: opening terrorist scene, Bucky taken in, Bucky breaks out, airport scene, and the final scene with Iron Man. Every action scene is amazing and it’s wonderful to see the Russo brothers continue their brand of action cinematography from the last Captain America movie. It’s visceral, suspenseful, and funny. There are lots of special effects being thrown around, especially in that airport scene, and yet it keeps the audience’s attention. Something Star Wars: Episode One could not do.
Worthy of mention are the two new superheroes being introduced: Black Panther and Spider-Man. I found their inclusion not as amazing as other reviews make them out to be. Black Panther is a great addition, but he doesn’t get a lot of screen time without his mask. Spider-Man is also great and the actor they picked is spot on. However, it’s clear they threw him into the movie the moment they got the rights to him, probably sometime after the majority of the film had already been filmed. Spider-man is not essential to the story.
Score: 7.4/10 Fun movie. Well worth the ticket price. Do not bring people who hate superhero movies and action movies. This is not for them.
Muse Bank 