Tag: Anthony Mackie

Avengers: Infinity War in 3D

The Avengers and all of their Super Hero allies have their hands full. This is one of the most complicated and deadliest missions they have ever been faced with. They must all come together and fight as a total united front if they expect to be victorious.

The Avenger’s arch nemesis Thanos is on the move and wrecking-havoc across the universe. He and his warriors are destroying communities everywhere. Thanos is after the 6 jewels that collectively will give the owner the utmost power. He will have to battle several of the Avengers and their super hero allies to gain the jewels. Thanos is aware of this and starts his fight by coming to earth. The story unfolds from there…

The 3D aspects of the movie are excellent. It was awesome to see the Avengers and their Super Hero allies come together. They each have their own stories and the movie was able to bring everything together nicely.

The cinematography and special effects are awesome. There is plenty of action and intrigue. There is even some comic relief. This installment is part one. There will be a part 2 and this installment ends perfectly to allow part 2 to take over.

If you are a Marvel Universe fan, “The Avengers: Infinity War” should not be missed.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Detroit

“Detroit” is a very well executed movie that is hard to digest.

It’s 1967 and racial tension is at an all-time high in places like Newark, Watts, Philadelphia and Detroit. The promises of a better life are not being realized by people of color. In Detroit, the Civil-Rights movement isn’t being recognized or adhered to.

The movie “Detroit” depicts the summer of 1967 when the city of Detroit endured one of its darkest time in its history.

“Detroit” is hard to take. It’s Brutal, Honest and Gut-Wrenching. I wanted to leave, but I stayed so that I could give an honest and accurate review. I did not enjoy the movie, but that does not mean it was a bad movie. Academy Award Winning Director, Kathryn Bigelow cuts to the chase. The absolute only bright spot in the movie is regarding the 1970’s R&B Group known as “The Dramatics”. “Detroit” shows how this group got started and went on to fame.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Captain America: Civil War the IMAX 3D Experience

It’s Thursday Night at the movies with The Movie Warrior!

I previewed “Captain America:Civil War” this evening. All I can say is the movie is “EPIC!!”

They took the best parts of The Avengers and the best parts of Captain America, threw in Spidey (Spiderman), The Black Panther and Ant Man and you have got yourself an action-packed non-stop “Live Comic Book”.

There are so many characters and sub-plots that if you are a fan of the HBO hit Game of Thrones, you will be right at home. The movie keeps it moving and keeps it coming. The stories and plots are real life.

The special effects are awesome and the cinematography is great. The movie is a must see in IMAX. The 3D aspects are pretty good. I caught myself ducking a few times.

At the end of the day, “Captain America: Civil War” all boils down to friendship and conflicts and how to best solve them.

It looks as though the Blockbuster season is getting off to a great start!

This is a 5 Star Movie!

Triple 9

“Triple 9” is a “Dark Brooding” Cop Drama based in Atlanta, GA.

A band of dirty cops are being black-mailed by the Russian Mob. This band of dirty cops go about performing virtually impossible heists. The only way to successfully pull off these heist are to issue a “999” police call which represents “Officer Down”.

You know what happens when you have a crew of people working together and money is involved. People get greedy and paranoid. In “Triple 9” the Rookie Cop in the band is setup to die, but he foils the attack. This sets up what turns out to be the best part of the movie which is only a few minutes from the end.

“Triple 9” is strange and subdued. The movie starts off on the wrong foot and it never stands up straight. Kate Winslet is horrible as a Russian Mob Boss.
There is drug use throughout and blatant nudity. Once again you have a movie with “Heavy Weight Actors” who come across as “Light Weight Actors”.

“Triple 9” is best viewed on Cable.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Our Brand is Crisis

“Our Brand is Crisis” is in and of its self a “CRISIS”.

“Our Brand is Crisis” is a political satire that doesn’t quite hit its mark. Sandra Bullock plays Jane a political strategist who is enjoying semi-retirement until she is summoned to assist a team that goes down to a war-torn area in South America to help install a new leader. The story unfolds from there…

There are a few intense comedy moments, be hard hitting and have some meat, but unfortunately “Our Brand is Crisis” does not contain any strong elements to endear its self to the movie going public. Sandra Bullock is the best element in the movie.

“Our Brand Crisis” is best viewed on cable. It’s not worth the price of a DVD or Blue Ray.

This is a 1 Star Movie!

Black or White

Imagine losing your seventeen year old daughter when she is giving birth and then losing your wife in a tragic traffic accident. All you have left is your granddaughter.
The extended family hasn’t really been part of your granddaughter’s life and definitely not her biological father, but now that your wife has died, the extended family wants to play a bigger role. They even want sole custody.
This is what the movie “Black or White” is about although during some parts of the movie it becomes more about “Black or White”.

The story is a bit disjointed. You have to piece it together bit by bit. The movie is not bad. At times it’s rather entertaining. The young lady (Jillian Estell) who portrays the granddaughter Eloise Anderson is cute and adorable. She plays well with Kevin Costner.

The paid critics were rather harsh about “Black or White”. I think it deserves a look.

This is a 3 Star Movie!!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier The 3D IMAX Experience

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is action packed, a wild ride and very entertaining!

This installment finds Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) living in the Nation’s Capital trying to adjust to modern life.

There is an attack on S.H.I.E.L.D that could put the entire world at risk. Captain America joins forces with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and an new ally the Falcon together they struggle to get to the bottom of this latest ploy before all man-kind is eliminated. They soon find out that things are not what they seem and they are up against an unexpected enemy. The story unfolds from there…

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” contains non-stop action, suspense and intrigue. There is a lot more butt kicking going on than in the previous installment. Things are not what they seem. There are plenty of twists and turns. You will be on the edge of your seat!
Don’t be too quick to exit when the credits start to roll…there is a nice lead into the next installment at the very end. This sets things up nicely for next year’s Avengers installment.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is a MUST SEE in IMAX. It’s definitely better than the first installment.

Runner Runner

Sometimes the paid critics do get it right! This is the case with “Runner Runner”. It’s not good!!

Believing that he had been swindled by an online gambling site, a Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake) makes his way to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the gambling site a multi-millionaire by the name of Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Ivan thanks Richie for bring the error to his attention. Ivan of course checks Richie out and uncovers that he is a grad student in need of money.
Ivan dangles the idea of making millions in front of Richie. Richie decides to take Ivan up on his offer, but quickly finds out that he could be in over his head and the FBI (Anthony Mackie) have been closely watching Ivan Block and are hoping to use Richie to get him. The story unfolds from there…

Yawn…I was bored out of my mind. Been there done that!! There are some similarities between “Runner Runner” and another movie centered on gambling and casinos that opened in 2010 call “21”. “21” was a lot better movie. It was more exciting and had more intrigue.
I found “Runner Runner” to be flat and uneventful. Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) is boring. The movie is a fast-paced thriller that has no real direction and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. There is no reason to hurry to see “Runner Runner”.

“Runner Runner” is from the director of “The Lincoln Lawyer”. “The Lincoln Lawyer” was an excellent movie. Too bad I can’t say the same of “Runner Runner”.

Pain & Gain

“Pain & Gain” is based on a true story about three guys who are tired of the poor life and are looking for a fast way to get rich.
Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) is a regular bodybuilder and personal trainer at a Florida Gym called the “Sun Gym” along with his friend Adrian Doorbal (Anthony Mackie). They both concoct a plan to kidnap and extort money from a gym member Victor Kershaw (Tony Shalhoub) who is a rich business man.
Along the way Daniel and Adrian convince a recently paroled convict Paul Doyle (Dwayne Johnson) to help them. They became “The Sun Gym Gang”. They successfully get Kershaw to sign over all of his holdings and money, but when Kershaw survives their murder attempt on him, he convinces investigator Ed Du Bois (Ed Harris) to try and get his money and property back. The story unfolds from there…
I found it very hard to believe that this story was true. It’s such a hare-brained scheme. Some of the events seemed impossible to pull off.
There is a tremendous amount of crude sexuality, nudity and profane language used in the movie.
There are some really funny parts where you will be laughing out loud at them, but not with them. There are too many plot wrinkles. Too much graphic violence and the saga is just plain dizzy.
If you are familiar with this story then by all means do see “Pain & Gain” otherwise wait for it on DVD, Blue Ray or Cable.