"Captain America: Civil War" is Another Home Run from Marvel

It may all look alike, but some film is better than others.

I was finally able to see "Captain America: Civil War" this past weekend. Now, before I get into my review, I just wanted everyone to know that it is going to be filled with spoilers. So, if you haven't seen the movie yet, and you plan on seeing it, DO NOT READ PAST THIS SENTENCE, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Let's get to it.

I loved this movie. Once again, Marvel absolutely hit it out of the park. They are in a wonderful, amazing, creative movie making groove right now. They do action, drama, comedy and anything else you expect to see in a superhero movie absolutely perfectly. "Captain America: Civil War" starts out with a flashback to 1991, with Winter Soldier executing an assassin he was assigned to. He does his job and he leaves no physical evidence, or so he thinks. We then flash to present day and Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon and Captain America in another country, trying to stop a crime from happening. They are doing their job very well, as they always do, but when the fight nears the end, Captain America is fighting Crossbones, they hit a big hiccup. Crossbones is willing to blow himself up because it will also kill Captain America. Right before the bomb goes off, Scarlet Witch uses her powers to put Crossbones in a bubble so the bomb only affects him. Her plan works until she starts to float Crossbones in the air. While mid air, Scarlet Witch throws Crossbones into a hospital, and the whole wing of the hospital blows up.

Many people are now upset with the Avengers. People on the news are bringing up all the destruction that happens when they come in to save the day. I have to say, it's a justifiable complaint. Sure, they defeated Loki in "The Avengers", but they also destroyed New York City, killing thousands of innocent people in the process. Yeah, they stopped Ultron in the next movie, but they also destroyed an entire town in Russia. Basically, they do as much damage compared to the good they do. The US government wants the Avengers to register. They are, technically, weapons, so the government wants to make sure that they are only used for good and in a controlled environment. Iron Man, Vision and Black Widow are immediately on board. Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Falcon are hesitant.

During their discussion, Captain receives a message that his former girlfriend, Agent Carter has passed. He rushes away to the funeral in London, with Falcon by his side. Black Widow goes to an African country to sign the bill and give her rights to the government, but while there, the building where they are holding the event gets blown up by what everyone assumes is the Winter Soldier. They have pictures of him and his face is plastered all over the papers. Also, he wouldn't remember if he did it or not because his mind is controlled by Hydra. He's an easy target. Captain doesn't think he did it because he has always believed that the Winter Soldier is not his old friend, Bucky Barnes. Bucky is a good guy, so he thinks that he can make the Winter Soldier realize that he is his old friend. This is where my distaste for Captain America reappeared. He is so blinded by his friendship, he doesn't care who he takes down or hurts, as long as he can convince Bucky that they are old friends. Captain America is a selfish asshole.

In the aftermath of the bombing, Iron Man is on a crusade to get all the Avengers to sign because it is the right thing to do. I totally agree with Iron Man. But, Captain, once again blinded by his friendship, refuses to sign and decides he is going to go against his government, if you'll remember, the government created him, and go off the reservation to find out who really bombed the embassy.

This is where we meet Helmut Zemo. He is a bad dude. He is a manipulator. He can pull strings. And he is obsessed with finding out why the Winter Soldier does what he does. He also wants to destroy the Avengers. Zemo is a very, very bad guy. Captain believes that Zemo is the one behind the bombing and he starts to assemble a team to stop him.

Iron Man also starts to assemble a team to stop Captain from making a careless and stupid mistake. Captain gets Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant Man to fight on his side. Iron Man gets War Machine, Black Widow, the awesome and super cool Black Panther, there will be more on him in a minute, and Spiderman. Black Panther shows up earlier in a chase scene between him, Captain and the Winter Soldier. Black Panther's dad was killed in the bombing and he is out for vengeance, mainly after Winter Soldier. Black Panther is kick ass. Iron Man also goes to Queens to recruit a very young Peter Parker and their back and forth is great. Almost like a father son relationship.

When the two sides meet at an airport hangar to fight, it was breathtaking. To see that many superheroes, in one spot, using their specific powers against each other, it is so awesome. The fights are so even and so incredibly shot. When Ant Man turns into Giant Man, I lost my shit. It was so cool. Eventually, they all realize that they are too even, so Captain and Winter Soldier retreat to a plane to go after Zemo. They look to be stopped when Black Widow appears and Black Panther is attacking from the back, but black Widow stuns Black Panther enough to let Captain fly away. Black Widow and Captain will always be friends, no matter what. Once Captain and Winter Soldier get away, Iron Man and War Machine go after them. Iron Man notices Falcon is about to attack them and he calls on Vision to get rid of him. Vision shoots a ray at Falcon, but he side steps in and it hits War Machine, making him tumble to the ground. He is hit and paralyzed. Iron Man is crushed and pissed.

When the big battle is over everyone that was on Captain's side, except for Captain and Winter Soldier, are put in jail. Ant Man is used to it, so it doesn't bother him. Hawkeye is pissed at Iron Man because he just retired, but Captain needed him, so he came to help out and ended up in jail. Iron Man lets him know that he made the choice to side with Captain and he knew the consequences. I agree with Iron Man. Falcon is really pissed at Iron Man, but he also tells him everything he knows about Zemo and where Captain is headed. Iron Man takes this new found knowledge and looks into Zemo. He realizes that Captain is right and goes to Siberia to help Captain and Winter Soldier. It seems like everything is back to normal. Iron Man shows up and says that Falcon told him everything and that he wants to help. The three of them enter a building filled with other "Winter Soldiers". Black Panther is also seen lurking quietly in the shadows. It appears that Zemo is looking to build a super army of Winter Soldiers, and when they finally find him, he has shot and killed all the soldiers and is hiding behind thick glass. Zemo explains that he does not wish to hurt the Avengers himself, he wants them to hurt each other. Here he reveals a video from 1991. It's the video of the Winter Soldier executing his hit. We come to realize that he was told to kill Iron Man's parents and he did it with no regard or change of expression on his face. Winter Soldier is a stone cold killer. We also come to realize that Captain knew this all along and did not tell Iron Man. Captain, once again is being a selfish asshole. He chose to keep this horrible secret from Iron Man because he knew that Iron Man would be, rightfully so, pissed and want to get revenge.

This is the start of one of the best fight scenes, possibly the best, in any superhero movie ever. Iron Man, Winter Soldier and Captain trading blows is absolutely wonderful and must see. It is a tremendous piece of film making. Iron Man eventually is able to rip Winter Soldier's metal arm off, but Captain is able to lodge his shield into Iron Man's chest piece that helps him live. Iron Man stops fighting and Captain takes winter Soldier away to help fix his arm. Meanwhile, Black Panther finds Zemo and we get to hear why Zemo is doing what he's done the whole movie. Zemo lost his entire family when the Avengers defeated Ultron. it happened in his hometown and he lost everything. Throughout the movie he is listening to a phone message because it is the last thing he has from family. It's his last memory. After explaining all this to Black Panther, he tries to shoot himself, but Black Panther stops him and says that the world is not done punishing him. Near the end we see Zemo is in a very high security prison, but has a smile on his face, he clearly has something planned. Iron Man is helping War Machine walk again with prosthetic legs he created for him. Vision is hanging out at the Avenger complex with his sweater vest combo on. and the people on Captain's side are still locked up. Captain sends some bullshit letter to Iron Man "explaining" why he did what he did and we see Falcon smiling while the letter is being read because Captain has shown up at the prison to get his friends out. End credits.

As I said, I loved, loved, loved this movie. I thoroughly hate Captain America now. He is a selfish prick that only cares about his one friend, who is a brutal murderer. He is way too single minded and he is nuisance. I fully side with Iron Man, He did what was best and right for the people he cared most about. He didn't just single out one person, he wants everyone to be safe. "Captain America: Civil War" is a tremendous movie that everyone should go see. It is a masterpiece.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was trying to get in and see Batman v Superman, but since it was sold out he settled for Captain America: Civil War. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Better Late than Never to Catch the Great "Ant-Man"

Early screen test footage

With the release of the new "Captain America: Civil War" trailer being dropped today, I want to talk about another superhero movie I recently saw and loved. Yes, it does feature one of the heroes that will appear in "Captain America: Civil War", but it's not Spiderman. That's right, Spiderman is going to be in the movie and his appearance at the very end of the trailer is awesome. Seriously, if you haven't watched the trailer yet, read this, then watch it. "Captain America: Civil War" looks like it is going to be great.

The superhero movie I want to talk about today is "Ant-Man", and yes he is going to be in the new Captain America movie, presumably fighting on Cap's side. But, "Ant-Man", in my opinion, was a really fun and very entertaining movie. I had my doubts when I heard all the stuff about the movie. I didn't think Paul Rudd could pull off a superhero. I heard that they kept pushing the release back. I didn't think an action movie about a guy that can shrink to the size of an ant seemed that cool. And when Edgar Wright said he wasn't going to direct anymore, that was almost the last straw for me. I didn't see the movie in the theaters because I thought it was going to stink and I have two young kids. When it did come out, it got pretty good reviews, clocking in at right around 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, my interest became piqued again. Then, I had friends and relatives tell me that it was pretty good and they thought I'd enjoy it. I kept putting it off, even renting it from Netflix, but not watching it for almost three months, but man am I glad my wife and I watched it this past weekend. I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Like I said before, it was entertaining and completely action packed. I really loved that they got right down to the action. First scene of the movie is action packed and the rest is much of the same, with some slower moments sprinkled in.

But, let's look at all the things that kept me from watching it in the theaters.

First, the Paul Rudd thing. I didn't think he could pull it off, but he is really good in his role. The thing about Paul Rudd, he is just a really good actor. He can play goofy, like "Wet Hot", he can be charming, like "They Came Together", he can be an asshole, like "Knocked Up", he can be a teen heart throb, like "Clueless" and now he can add superhero action star with "Ant-Man". Paul Rudd is awesome and I will never question his acting ability again. Second, the push back of the release date. This usually happens to movies that the studio is afraid will not do so well, but in the case of "Ant-Man", I just think they had to push it to find a new director once Edgar Wright stepped down. I also heard something about having to recast Wasp, but I think the director thing was the biggest problem. But, this director did a great job with this movie. He portrayed a world of ants that was plausible and believable. He did a great job with the fight scenes too. This was a case of a good reason to push a release date. You want to get someone that will do the movie justice. Which leads me to reason three, Edgar Wright dropping out as director. I am a huge Edgar Wright fan. I love all the stuff he does with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I saw "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End" all in the theaters and loved every single one. I heard they are doing another and I can't wait to see that as well. Wright is a phenomenal director, so when he dropped out, I instantly became worried. What I failed to recognize though, he stayed on as a writer and a producer. He still was involved, just not the way I thought he should be. But, after watching the movie, you can tell that he had his hand in on most of, if not all, the jokes. This made me happy that, at least, he stayed on as a writer. 

Now, my main original gripe prior to watching "Ant-Man", who in the hell would want to watch a movie about a guy that shrink to the size and control ants? Me, now, that's who. This movie pulled this off to perfection. I believed that a guy like Scott Lang(Paul Rudd), would take on a job like this so he could be with his daughter. He was a thief that just got out of jail and couldn't even keep a job at Baskin Robbins because of his past. Becoming Ant-Man was his last option in life. I also loved Michael Douglass as Dr. Henry Pym, the original Ant-Man. He was older, but wiser and still had an ass kicking attitude. Guys like Michael Douglas and Robert Redford should be thrilled when they get asked to be in superhero movies and these two are excellent in them. Evangeline Lilly, playing the new Wasp, was totally awesome. She was great as the bad guy's, Yellow Jacket, assistant that was spying on him for her father Dr. Pym and she was a total ass kicker too. The scene where she is training Lang and continues to brutally beat him is very funny. When she shows Lang how to control ants, another great scene. Lilly is great in this movie. Yellow Jacket is menacing and creepy and your typical over the top bad guy, but that is the beauty of playing bad guys in superhero movies, you're encouraged to chew scenery and this guy does it great. Then there's Lang's crew who are all very funny, especially Michael Pena.

"Ant-Man" was so good. I'd watch it again before I'd watch the second "Thor" movie, the second and third "Ironman" movies, any of the "Hulk" movies and any "Spiderman" movies, except for the first two. In fact, the only two, recent superhero movies I'd pick before "Ant-Man" would be "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", but "Ant-Man" is a close third. If you are a fan of superhero and Marvel movies, and you haven't seen "Ant-Man" yet, check it out. It's super enjoyable and extremely entertaining.

Can't wait to see how they use him in the new Captain America movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wonders if Marvel can make a good Ant Man movie, is Dazzler next? You must follow the tiny adventures of Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The SeedSing (half) Year in Pop Culture: The Top Five Movies of 2015

Time to fire up the projector

Being that the new year is coming up on Friday, I'll be doing my best of 2015 all week. Today, I'm going to start the week off with my top five movies of the year. Everyday I'll do a different top five and today I want to start with movies.

I see a lot of movies. Some I see in the theaters and others, I watch at home. I love movies and this has been a pretty good year for movies. So good in fact, movies like "Inside Out" and "Me and Earl and The Dying Girl" and "The Wolfpack" didn't make my top five and I really, really liked those movies quite a bit. So, on with the countdown.

Coming in at number five, we have a tie. My number five movies are "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Kingsman: The Secret Service". These are both blockbustery type movies, "Avengers" way more so. "Avengers" was fantastic. Go back and read my review. This was an absolutely breath taking super hero movie. There was action, adventure and even a bit of a love story. We also got Hawkeye's back story, and that made me like a character I once never really cared for. My favorite scene was when the Avengers were fighting Ultron and his army of robots and everything was in slow motion and we got to see each hero fight in super slow motion, it was excellent. "Avengers" Age of Ultron" is one of the greatest superhero movies of all time. "Kingsman", on the other hand, was a gory, action heavy, hand to hand and weaponry combat movie for the ages. This movie was criminally under the radar. I heard almost nothing about it while it was in the theaters and I didn't watch it on DVD for about five months. But, I'm so glad that I took the time to watch because this movie was incredible. My review was put up fairly recently. I loved pretty much everything about this movie. The opening fight scene with Colin Firth and the bar patrons was phenomenal. The fight scene in the church, once again featuring Firth, was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long, long time. The tests given to the future Kingsman were heart racing and incredible to watch. The main character, Eggsy, was expertly played. Samuel L Jackson was excellent as the villain. "Kingsman: The Secret Service" is the perfect summer action movie. Go check it out if you haven't seen it and I promise you, you'll love it.

My number four movie is "The End of the Tour". This is one of the most quiet, yet most poignant movies I've seen. Jesse Einsenberg is great as Rolling Stone writer David Lipsky. He plays the jealous, yet enthralled writer perfectly. I cannot picture anyone else in this role. Jason Segel, as David Foster Wallace, is absolutely phenomenal. He plays Wallace so realistically, it's almost like watching a documentary. He shows vulnerability, anger, sadness and genius all very, very expertly. He one hundred percent deserves an Oscar nomination for this role. This movie is basically just these two talking for two hours, but it never seems boring or dull. I was into the story and the movie the whole time. "The End of the Tour" is great.

Coming in at number three, I have "Ex Machina". This movie was so creepy and eerie because something like this could very well happen in the very near future. I mean, honestly, how far away are we from having robots walking amongst us? It's going to happen. Some rich, eccentric genius is going to create a humanoid robot and it will only grow bigger and bigger from there. Oscar Issac plays that eccentric genius billionaire so well. He is every bit creepy as he is lonely in this movie. He has his own lush home in the woods and he invites an employee, played by Domhnall Gleeson, to come out for what seems to be a vacation. It couldn't be more different. He is thrown into a type of lab project to see how he interacts with a female robot played so well by Alicia Vikander. This is another movie small in structure, but huge in story. As I said, something like this is going to happen very soon and this movie made me terrified for that future. It was haunting and terrifying and I'm not looking forward to the robots taking over. The final scene, I won't spoil it, was one of the scariest things I've seen in a movie in a very long time. It still aunts me. "Ex Machina" was the best horror movie of 2015, even though it's categorized as science fiction.

My number two movie is "What We Do in the Shadows". This was the funniest movie of the year by far. "WWDITS" follows the lives of vampires living together in a flat in New Zealand. Being that it was made by Taika Waititi, one of the "Flight of the Conchords" primary directors, it was so funny. It was done mockumentary style and it was perfect. Jermaine Clement, playing Vlad the Poker, was so great. A once powerful vampire, he now was not so powerful after his break up with "The Beast". He was excellent in this movie. Taika Waititi played Viago, the pretty boy vampire, and he was great as well. He was worried about keeping the flat clean and he longed for his lost love that was now in her mid to late 80's. The scene where he lays paper down to keep the blood of a victim off the couch, then hits a vein and bloods spills everywhere, is hilarious. The star of this movie, to me, was Johnny Brugh who plays Deacon. Deacon was a German vampire during the reign of the Nazis and he fled to New Zealand after stating, "if you are a Nazi, people hate you. If you're a vampire, people hate you. If you're a Nazi vampire, forget about it. I had to get out of there and flee to someplace safe". His character had me in stiches the whole movie. "WWDITS" is the best comedy of the year by far.

My number one movie should come as no surprise to anyone, "Mad Max: Fury Road". What else is there to say about this movie that hasn't been said already? It's the best action movie ever. It has the best social commentary. It lets a female be the lead badass. It has the best imagery in a movie in about 30 years. I mean, this movie is perfect from start to finish. Tom Hardy is excellent as Max. He's just as understated and hard core as Mel Gibson was in the original "Mad Max". Hugh Keys-Byrne was so creepy and so good as the ultimate bad guy, Immortan Joe. His breathing apparatus he wore still scares me when I watch the movie. Nicolas Hoult, playing war boy Nux, was surprisingly badass and totally cool. All the young ladies that played Joe's wives were awesome for many different reasons. But, Charlize Theron as Furiosa was absolutely phenomenal. She was the biggest badass, the toughest fighter and the smartest person in the whole movie. She was so great. Much like Segel for "The End of the Tour", Theron one hundred percent deserves not only an Oscar nomination, but she deserves to win. She was so perfect in this role. She beat so much ass and won at the end of the day. Theron was incredible. "Mad Max; Fury Road" is not only the best movie of 2015, it's probably the best movie I've ever seen. It's that good.

So, there you have it, my top five movies of 2015. Tell me what I left out in the comment section and come back tomorrow for my top five albums of the year.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is lover of movies and a passionate lover of good movies. Feel Ty's love by following him on twitter @tykulik.