Blu-Ray Review: Captain America The Winter Soldier

Mitchell Stein- In quite possibly what is the most brilliant Marvel movie yet to date, Captain America returns to the big screen, in an unbelievable nail-biting adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. It's intelligent story keeps the movie fast-paced and suspenseful, and the characters that fill it are all incredibly enjoyable to watch move the story along. Marvel has yet created another masterpiece and set Anthony and Joe Russo to direct it. Major kudos go out to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for giving it such an entertaining and suspenseful story, being far more than just "your average comic book movie", but rather a political spy thriller, but with the same action and excitement you'd expect from Marvel.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a major game-changer for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, preparing us for what's to come in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and by the looks of it so far, we're in for a pretty awesome ride.
Finally, this awesome adventure is available to own on Blu-Ray, so let's take a quick look at the Blu-Ray release to see if it matches up with the theatrical film.

Most notably, there's On The Front Line: An Inside Look at Captain America's Battlegrounds which gives insight from the Russo brothers and stunt coordinators at the wonderfully-choreographed battle sequences of the film and some behind-the-scenes looks at how they filmed some of the iconic scenes of the movie.
Along with that, there's Steve Rogers' Notebook, which is a short two minute feature about Steve's notebook, and specifically how the notebook was edited for international versions of the film according to the culture. Also there's another short delightful feature, On Set With Anthony Mackie: Cut the Check! with Anthony Mackie, a.k.a Falcon, (a.k.a your new favorite Marvel character) and how Mackie has brought life to the character on set, ending off each of his perfect scenes with "Cut the Check!". I have no idea where Mackie even thought up the idea, but it's pretty hilarious.

That's not it though! There's also an awesome Audio Commentary, four deleted scenes, and a hilarious blooper reel. The deleted scenes are rather short but still perfectly incredible, and the reason it was likely cut was due to the movie's time duration.

In the end, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a worthy Blu-Ray release, adding fun and exciting bonus features to an already brilliant movie. I very much reccomend you pick up a copy of this fantastic masterpiece.

Film: 4.5/5 
Blu-Ray Bonus Features: 3.5/5

Review: Iron Man & Captain America Heroes United

Mitchell Stein- Following the events of Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United Captain America must team up with Iron Man in order to stop HYDRA and the Red Skull from taking over the globe with a new army of super soldiers. The two Avengers must face off the villainous Red Skull and his trigger-man, Taskmaster.

 From the moment it begins, Iron Man and Captain America is a visually stunning treat. Featured in a brand-new groundbreaking CG animation platform first unveiled in Iron Man and Hulk the film shows spectacular new animation which raises the bar in the direct-to-video superhero flicks, keeping Marvel ahead of the game once again, although the lip sync isn't very exact with what the characters are saying, the design and the animation, (especially in the battle sequences) are stunning. Kudos the entire VFX and animation team on the great work.

With Leo Riley, one of the men responsible for the brilliant short-lived television series Tron Uprising, it's not much of a shock of the greatness of this film. The entire film is fast-paced and hilarious, with a talented voice cast as well. Credit is also due to writers Henry Gilroy and Brandon Aurman for the story. Ever since Marvel's The Avengers, the studio has been on a roll, on and off-screen and expanding into their short television shows and direct-to-video films. With Guardians of the Galaxy released just last week, I hope the DTV universe will continue to expand to those franchises as well.

For Marvel fans, I'd highly recommend this film. It's a great new addition to the DTV Marvel universe, and is far more enjoyable than Iron Man and Hulk was and features longtime legendary Marvel antihero Taskmaster. There's not much of a shortage of fun to be had in this film. Strangely enough, there is no additional scene found at the end of the credits which the last film did have. I hope this is still more to come from this series and the team, even though there is no sneak pek at what is yet to come.

Unfortunately, unlike it's previous film, this feature is only available in Digital form through Disney Movies Anywhere and iTunes, and there's no bonus features. The film alone stands up greatly, but it does make me upset that this isn't available in DVD/Blu-Ray form and is missing the bonus features it deserves.

Hulk and Iron Man: Heroes United is now available to own on Disney Digital Copy 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Review

Ryan Dosier - The Marvel Universe is filled to the brim with weird, out of this world characters. Yet, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has stayed mostly grounded in its approach, with human characters in incredible circumstances (sans Thor, of course). Guardians of the Galaxy, in theaters tomorrow, takes this trend and slays it. The film stars a green alien girl, a muscled olive-skinned alien man, a walking, talking tree, and a machine gun toting raccoon... and it just might be the most perfectly executed Marvel film to date. Not since The Avengers have I left the theater feeling so completely satisfied and entertained by a superhero movie.

The phrase "superhero movie" may not be applicable to Guardians of the Galaxy, honestly, because the characters are anything but heroes--at least at the start. In fact, Peter Quill, aka Star Lord (Chris Pratt) is a self-described "legendary outlaw," Gamora (Zoe Saldana) is working with and related to the main bad guy, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) is in a maximum security prison, and Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) are mercenaries. It's watching these flawed individuals come together as a team that brings out the best in them and makes them heroes. The scenes of development for the Guardians usually involve them beating each other up or insulting one another. It's a refreshing change of pace and every scene is surprising and invigorating.Every character in the film is perfectly written and performed.

Chris Pratt is a revelation as Peter Quill, giving him the right amount of snark, humor, and character development. His performance is immensely impressive and shows that he truly has what it takes to be a movie star. He gave everything he has to this role, playing, comedy-focused, action-heavy, and emotion-driven scenes with incredible ease. By the end of the film, Pratt has disappeared into Star Lord and becomes an extremely welcome addition to the Marvel film world. Standing tall alongside Pratt is Zoe Saldana as Gamora, who is fierce, unforgiving, and stunning. Saldana takes on the role with glee and gets some of the best fight sequences, displaying some truly incredible physical prowess.

Most surprising is Dave Bautista, who gives brilliant life to Drax. Bautista has some of the funniest lines and perhaps the most meaningful storyline in the film. Drax is probably the Guardian forgotten by most people, since he was used so little in promotion for the film, but you'll walk away loving the character. You can tell that Bautista took this role seriously and he gives one of the most resonant and focused performances in the film.

Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel both provide only their voices for Rocket and Groot, respectively, but wow are they incredible. Cooper, especially, vanishes behind the volatile and hysterical Rocket Raccoon. Cooper delivers one of the finest voice acting roles I've seen outside an animated film in some time. Rocket swiftly became my favorite character in the film and high up on the list of my favorites in Marvel movies as a whole. He is a blast (literally) from start to finish. This should not be taken as a discount of Groot, however, who is a beautiful, wonderful character. Vin Diesel only gets to say "I am Groot!" throughout the film, but the various ways the writers and filmmakers found to have him say it is fantastic. Rocket and Groot are going to explode in popularity very soon. Be ready!

The film is also littered with other hugely talented actors playing smaller roles. Lee Pace is awesome and terrifying as Ronan the Accuser, the main villain. He doesn't get too much screen time, but what he does with it is impeccable. He's terrifically horrible and vicious. Benico Del Toro as The Collector, briefly seen in Thor: The Dark World returns for a slightly more substantial part here and he's still as creepy as ever. John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, and Michael Rooker also deserve shout outs for their fantastic work.

Visually, Guardians of the Galaxy is absolutely the most stunning Marvel film venture. Director James Gunn has set a new bar for the look of not only superhero films, but sci-fi films as well. The character and creature designs are impeccable and done practically with makeup and costumes where possible, the computer generated work on Rocket and Groot is flawless, the space scenes are amazing, and the set designs are breathtaking. The film is a tour de force of colorful, boundless visual experimentation, and it all pays off in droves.

The much-discussed soundtrack for the film is heavily populated with pop hits from the 1970s, given to Quill on a mix-tape from his mother before he was taken to space. Every time a new song came on, my face lit up with a smile, as every single song choice was perfection. The ways that Gunn uses the music to accentuate scenes added to the feeling of mischief and mayhem pervasive throughout the film. And when one song is used at the climax of the film... you might just fall out of your seat laughing so hard. It is absolutely the finest soundtrack of any Marvel film, and perhaps any superhero film yet. Credit also has to be given to Tyler Bates, who penned the fantastic score for the film. The score is dynamic when it needed to be and fun when it could be.

Basically, everything about Guardians of the Galaxy works, and works really, really well. The film is the most fun I've had at the movies all summer. James Gunn and Marvel have shown that even the most obscure comics can work as films. The scope, the characters, the visuals, and the soundtrack all come together perfectly and elevate Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the finest Marvel films, period. Marvel's winning streak is baffling at times, and never more so than it is with Guardians. Who could have foreseen this film working as well as it does? The stars aligned to bring us the most fun movie of the summer and one of the best films Marvel has delivered (and that's saying something).

5 out of 5 Awesome Mix Tapes

Book Review: The Marvel Character Encyclopedia

Mitchell Stein- Well, DK Publishing has done a great job once again. In this latest revised and expanded (strong emphasis on expanded! This thing is huge) edition of The Marvel Encyclopedia, the folks at DK have provided us with in-depth analysis and info on much information throughout the entire Marvel world beginning from the early days of Marvel up until today, with the exception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Encyclopedia gives us info on big-name characters like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Wolverine, as well as info on some more lesser-known characters whom I’ve never heard of. This book helps readers rack up knowledge on all aspects of Marvel, including some that are large in the cinematic universe. It helps really give some more insight on the Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise for example, which is being adapted into a film later this summer from Disney/Marvel, so if you are like me and didn’t really know anything about the Guardians prior to this movie announcement, this book is for you! This book is also for the die-hard Marvel comics’ fan who would like to read about new and old info about their favorite heroes and villains in a fun brand new way and all in one place. It also made me remember how many incredibly strange Marvel characters there are out there (Ego the Living Planet, Egghead, MODOK, Howard the Duck, Hammerhead just to name a few).

I would have to say it was rather disappointing to see the absence of any references to the current Marvel films, but of course the legal contracts surrounding those properties would just be far too complicated, and the chances of seeing live action Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) standing aside live action Captain America (Chris Evans) would probably be very unlikely. It does make references to newcomers like Agent Phil Coulson (in comic book form), Agent Maria Hill, and others. For a fan of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D this book sort-of comes in handy too. It gives valuable insight to characters old and recently created that are involved in the show, such as Deathlok, Victoria Hand, Nick Fury and others.

Overall, I’ve truly become more of a fan of the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short) and less fond of the comics, but overall this encyclopedia was insightful and entertaining throughout. A must-have for any Marvel comics fan! 

The Marvel Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded Edition is now available. 

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Captain America: The Winter Soldier coming 9/9!

No Level Seven clearance needed for this announcement! As announced by Marvel Home Entertainment on Friday, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is coming to Blu-Ray combo pack September 9th 2014 along with the entire first season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on DVD. The releases feature making-of-videos, behind the scenes, deleted scenes.

SHIELD's bonus features include Marvel: Assembling a Universe, the very same special that aired on television earlier this year, VFX Breakdowns, and Journey into S.D.C.C. which spotlights the show at it's first appearance in San Diego Comic Con last summer.

With the Winter Soldier tying into the SHIELD television show, it would only make sense to release the two Marvel productions on the same day. The Winter Soldier will be available on Blu-Ray Combo Pack and DVD September 9th with a digital release on Disney's Digital platform Disney Movies Anywhere on August 19th.

In case you missed it, read our review of the season finale and season one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D  (Spoilers).

UPDATED: A trailer for the Blu-Ray release has been released on June 3rd:

FULL Bonus Feature Details:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: 

• Journey into S.D.C.C.
• Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe
• 5 Behind the Scenes Field Reports
• VFX Breakdowns, 
• Audio Commentaries, 
• Gag Reels 
• Deleted Scenes

Captain America: 

       Making-of Featurettes
·       Audio Commentary
·       Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
·       Bloopers
                ·       And More…
1 Disc DVD:
·       Making-of Featurette
·       Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scene

X-Men: Days of Future Past Film Review

Ryan Dosier - In our efforts to explore how the Marvel film properties are being handled outside of Disney, we'll be reviewing the latest FOX Marvel film effort, X-Men: Days of Future Past. The sixth installment in the X-Men film franchise unites the casts of the first three X-Men films and the rebooted, younger cast from 2011's X-Men: First Class in an epic time-traveling adventure. The film takes place in both 1973 and a post-apocalyptic future where mutants have been annihilated by the Sentinels. Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back in time using the powers of Shadowcat (Ellen Page). In the past, Wolverine has to unite young Xavier (James McAvoy) and young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) in order to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from doing something that causes the dystopian future.

The film is jam-packed with high-caliber actors in both timelines, and the cast alone is enough to make Days of Future Past soar. The returning X-Men cast members fall back into their roles extremely well. It was such a treat to see Iceman, Colossus, Shadowcat, and other familiar faces again. Halle Berry's Storm felt a little slighted on screen time, but she was fantastic with what she was given. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are, as always, spectacular. Their friendship shows through and adds another wonderful layer to these storied characters. Their work in the film is flawless. Ellen Page is also awesome and does some great work.

Hugh Jackman probably has the most screen time, and, as always, he proves that he was born to play Wolverine. His wit and skills as both an actor and an action star are sharp as ever. He transcends both timelines extremely well and there's no better choice of character to be the connection between both worlds. His work with the fantastic James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence is great as well. All three of those actors are dynamic and deliver some of their best performances. There are so many actors in this film that I'm forgetting to mention some great ones... Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast is omnipresent and great, Peter Dinklage is really good as Bolivar Trask, and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) has absolutely the greatest scene in the film.

The storytelling in Days of Future Past is handled incredibly well. With such a complicated story, I was so impressed by how quickly the action moved, how all of the actors had enough to do, and how impeccable the characters were balanced. There was never a dull moment and the plot holes were minimal. Incredibly, everything worked. With a film dealing with time travel head on, that's truly surprising. The plot exposition was interesting and the explanation of the rules of the world were never confusing. The script was one of Days of Future Past's finest elements.

I was also impressed by the effects used in the film. Practical effects like Beast and Mystique's actual makeup and costuming looked great--much better than they did in First Class. All of the other mutant powers were really, really well done as well. Magneto and Quicksilver especially. But really, all of the effects worked. The Sentinels looked and moved really incredibly and you could tell that most of the stunts were actually performed by actors, not computer generated mutants. Kudos to the effects and stunt teams for their great work. When Magneto lifts an entire baseball stadium across Washington DC, I gasped.

The film also solved many problems caused by the mostly-despised X-Men: The Last Stand. I won't spoil anything, but the use of time travel explained away some of the character issues that fans had with the third X-Men film. There are some incredible cameos that come about that made the X-Men fan in me freak out. As a fan of both the comic franchise and the films, I was incredibly pleased with how the story played out by the end.

Overall, X-Men: Days of Future Past was dynamic, thrilling, and unafraid to pull any punches. It was fun, brutal, and a very fine film. It was infinitely better than The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but not quite as satisfying as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. FOX handled the X-Men very well with Days of Future Past and I'm extremely excited to see where they go from here. They may just give Disney/Marvel a run for their money.

X-Men: Days of Future Past opens nationwide today. Rated PG-13.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D "Beginning of the End" Finale In-Depth Recap and Review

INCLUDES MAJOR SPOILERS TO AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER AND THE AVENGERS: 

Mitchell Stein- Almost a year ago, I was unsure of where this TV show would be heading. I loved Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in the Avengers films, but if there's anything I dislike, it's when characters are resurrected after the studio realizes killing them off was a bad idea.

Well, I will say I'm glad that Coulson was brought back to life, otherwise Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D would have felt a bit of a boring show if he weren't, and becuase of this mistake, the writers needed to create a story to back it up. They introduced the TAHITI project, which we keep finally digging up and learning more about the way that Coulson was brought back to life. When Nick Fury showed up in last night's episode, I was super excited. Finally! It was time to get some answers from the man himself. What is the TAHITI project? Why was Coulson brought back to life? But the answers just continue to pile up, and Fury doesn't really answer any questions but just leave Coulson in the dark even more. The entire season, Coulson was chasing after Fury looking for answers, but finally he shows up with no answers and Phil just lets him go on his way, without getting the answers he's looking for.

I really liked where the show was going with this whole T.A.H.I.T.I project, but it was time to wrap things up on that case already. Questions are piling up too much, and it's time to give us the info we're waiting for, before we get bored and give up on waiting for the answers. I give this show one more season to wrap up all these loose ends before they pull a "Lost" and leave all the answers open or pretend like they never even happened.

Above that complaint, this season has been nothing short of incredible. At first, a bunch of ordinary agents fighting crime didn't really appeal to me all that much, but it was Marvel, so I chose to watch it. I was rather disappointed with the pilot episode, but things picked up really quickly with it's next episode, "0-8-4", but it was the next episode "The Asset" that really got me hooked. It introduced many important plotpoints that will come into place in future episodes, and was really exciting and fun.
The first nine episodes took some time establishing the story and all, but shortly after returning from the holiday hiatus, things really picked up with gripping nail-biting mysteries and betrayal, and the rise of Hydra.

Last night's story begins with "the clairvoyant" John Garrett, who just got a major boost of GH-325 and seems to be going mad, at least in the eyes of Ward. Garrett has completely gone off the course of the plan, and keeps speaking about seeing things behind his eyes and stuff, which Raina finds quite interesting and impressive. Apparently, Raina and Garrett have the same sort of abilities and so do Skye, who we found out is an 0-8-4 earlier this season.
During Garrett's crazy outbursts, Ward is growing suspicious and less on board with Garrett in the operation. Much of the time it seemed like Ward was having a change of heart (like not killing Fitz-Simmons in the last episode) and would end up being the good guy. I was totally speculating that Ward would end up having a change of heart and would be welcomed back in open arms back into the group, which did not end up happening, (and I was glad), but I'll talk about that more in a moment.

It was nice to see the spotlight a lot more on Mike Peterson again. If you look at it, he's really the one that brought the S.H.I.E.L.D agents together in the first place, so he actually plays an integral role in the origins of the show. I liked the story plot with Mike being forced to become the next Deathlok, but now that Garrett is dead, he's free and now allowed to go back to his son! Except he doesn't.
Once Mike becomes Deathlok, the only thing he wants it to be reunited with his son again, just like things were before, but when the clairvoyant is gone (for now at least) he chooses not to go to his son, for he's concerned that his son will see what kind of monster he has become, so in trying to help him not see what you become...he won't see you at all? This didn't really make any sense to me, and I find it frustrating that they choose to continue with this Mike & Ace story with the same plot for another season. How long can they keep this up for already? Hoping this will wrap up early next season and move on.

Throughout the episode, I thought they would pull a typical cliche with Ward, and have him somehow save the day and then they'll magically forgive him and welcome him back into the group as I mentioned earlier. Luckily that didn't happen.

Although Ward does seem to have a bit of a change of heart the past couple of episodes, mainly because of his feelings for Skye, he's a rotten, back-stabbing villain who killed countless people. Although he's been evil from the start, the reveal was completely shocking and well-done, putting us on the same level as the other agents and making us feel just as shocked as the characters in the show. I think I liked his betrayal element on the show, but it killed my liking for the character in retrospect, and he murdered Patton Oswalt's character (which I'll weigh more on later) so I can never forgive Ward for that.

I also thought that they could have possibly gone a different way and have him be the hero of the episode, but then fall to his cinematic death, and then be deemed a hero. None of that happened, and they went the opposite direction and his justice is serving time in solidarity confinement, (although I have no idea where they'll be holding him, as SHIELD doesn't exist anymore). I would have liked it if they killed him off at this point, so we wouldn't have to see him again, but since they have not, I'm positive this will not be the last we've seen of Grant Ward.

How fantastic were Fitz-Simmons in this episode? We really need to see more of this side of the characters. They have a few various episodes where they really shine, and they play well into the story. But the other half of the time they are just two annoying science-sidekicks who spout out random scientific terms that no one ever understands. When they get their chance to shine and sacrifice themselves for each other and the group is when they are really fantastic. There are some episodes where their roles are really well written and I actually enjoy the characters in the story. Many SHIELD fans will disagree with me on this one, but that's my own opinion.

My favorite would probably have to be in the episode "F.Z.Z.T." where Simmons sacrifices herself for the rest of the group by jumping out of a plane. That was the first time I actually cared about these characters. Before that, they were just annoying to me.
In this episode, the roles are reversed and Fitz sacrifices himself to save Simmons, which puts him in limbo and left his fate unanswered for now but to be explored in season two.

Now about Patton Oswalt:
Okay, so this is a bit of a rant. When they introduced Patton Oswalt to play Agent Eric Koenig, I was excited, because I'm a fan of Oswalt, he's a fantastic and hilarious actor and he fit in really well. So when Ward killed him, I was pretty bummed, but I got over it the character death.
When they re-introduced Patton back to the show last night, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I love Patton, but I hate character resurrections. To make matters worse, they revealed that Patton Oswalt is not Eric Koening, but rather, Bobby Koening, his identical brother! It seems that whenever a Marvel character dies, they come up with some excuse to bring them back. I love everything Marvel so, so much but please Marvel, even if you kill off my favorite characters, just please, leave them dead. Please think twice about killing them off in the first place so you don't have to come up with excuses for their return. Please. Character deaths strengthen my love for the series, so don't come up with any more excuses to bring back dead people.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the writers quickly came up with an excuse for bringing back Oswalt after they saw the out-pour of love after the character death.

That aside: Was John Garrett really the Clairvoyant? I'm not convinced he actually was, and I still believe there's someone far above him pulling the strings. They also need to wrap up the story with Skye's parents, which WILL be covered next season as the teaser at the end promised, plus, I do hope Gravitonium has a prominent role in the next season, which I'm certain it will. They just quickly got to wrap up the current questions they have right now quickly before people get bored of them.

Overall, really fantastic first season. It went places most first seasons don't and normally don't attempt making it one of the greatest breakout TV shows in recent history. The Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in was incredible (the Thor: The Dark World tie-in not so much). It looks like they didn't even bother to do a tie-in to Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters August 1st. I'm just curious if Guardians and the Avengers will ever cross over (maybe in Days of Ultron? Who knows?)

 I really feel sorry for the people who chose to give up after it's mixed pilot episode, because things really picked up shortly afterwards. It's been nail-biting and gripping, hilarious and exciting.
Maybe we'll even get an appearance by one of the Avengers next season! I really hope one of these guys make an appearance in some future Marvel movie, most preferably in The Avengers: Days of Ultron for May 2015.

Can't wait to see what the writers have ready for us next season.

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Film Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Although The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn't a Disney-released Marvel Studios film, we thought it would be interesting to highlight the differences in Sony's filmmaking with Marvel as compared to Disney's.

Ryan Dosier - Last night I trudged along to the theater to see Sony's latest contract-keeping Spider-Man feature, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  I'll be the first to admit that I didn't love the first film in Marc Webb's series, but I didn't hate it either. That is most certainly not the case with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, because I despised it. The film is a clunky, convoluted, and (dare I say it) boring chore. I left the theater not feeling at all impressed and left with nothing but frustration at the amount of wasted potential that was flopped on the screen.

The plot of the film is one of the most all-over-the-place and disjointed I've seen in a superhero flick. The movie tries to cram in Peter and Gwen's will they/won't they romance, Peter's relationship with Harry Osborn, Peter's relationship with his Aunt May, Peter's relationship with his dead parents, Harry's sudden and fatal disease, Gwen's acceptance into Oxford, Jamie Foxx turning from a nerd into a super villain, and New York's acceptance of Spider-Man. Plus a bunch of other things I'm probably forgetting. It's unbelievable and it doesn't work. At all.

Of all the terrible things in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the greatest offense has to be the terrible performances delivered by really talented actors. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) is the worst of the cast as Harry Osborn, which is terrible because Dane DeHaan is a very impressive young actor. His dialogue is ridiculous (although almost all of the dialogue in this thing is), he chews his way through scenes in the worst way, and he has the most unbelievable character arc. My biggest issue with the film is that Harry is just dropped into the middle of the story with the most heavy-handed expositional scene I've ever seen and then we're just supposed to believe that he and Peter are best friends after one exchange... even though we've never seen this character before. Ugh.

Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Chris Cooper, Paul Giammatti, and Sally Field are other actors who suffer immensely due to a disjointed script and poor direction. Jamie Foxx has some lines that are truly laughable ("It's my birthday. Time to light my candles.") and his performance is stoic and unmemorable. Chris Cooper and Giamatti are relegated to glorified cameos. Sally Field's randomly thrown in to dish out sage advice and Emma Stone is a plot device and nothing more, which is despicable.

The effects and fight sequences in the film are paradoxical. For every great thing, there's a laughably stupid thing. There's a huge battle sequence early on in Times Square that was really, really well done... but Jamie Foxx's Electro looks idiotic. There's wonderful montage moments of Spider-Man protecting the city... and then Green Goblin shows up and looks and acts so foolish that it derails what was left of the film. It's endlessly frustrating because Marvel's other, non-Sony films have shown us that it can be better.

As you've probably realized by now, I haven't mentioned Andrew Garfield yet. That's because he is far and away the best part of this film. In fact, Garfield is really, really good. He's snappy, brilliant, and embodies Peter Parker and Spider-Man better than anyone else could. Garfield is such a fine, fine actor and he is the only reason The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is even passable. Garfield is as smart and charming as ever in the film and it's an incredible shame that he (and the Peter Parker/Spider-Man he embodies) is saddled with such a mess of a movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 loses all the wit and charm of the first movie and replaces it with seven plots going on at once. There were a whopping four writers attached to the screenplay, and it shows in the most terrible way. The film is two and a half hours long and yet nothing really happens until the last 30 minutes. No intrigue, no real danger, nothing interesting. Spider-Man is one of the greatest superheroes of all time and he deserves so much better than what he's given here. This will probably be the last film in Sony's Spider-Man series I see in theaters.

News Update: May 1st 2014

The cast has been revealed! Disney and Lucasfilm have officially unveiled the cast line-up for Star Wars VII set to hit theaters next December. The announcement brings back original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew. Newcomers to the scene include actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis (who you may be familiar as Gollum from the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films. We speculate that Serkis’ character will follow something along that line.) 

A group photo of the cast has been released as seen above.

Disney Interactive made a giant announcement this week around Disney Infinity, and at an event in Los Angeles Wednesday morning April 30th, they revealed that Marvel’s Avengers are coming to Disney Infinity, joining a large cast of already existing characters, but until yesterday, Marvel characters were absent from the game. You can now play as any of the Avengers, consisting of Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Thor. You can play with many different devices and locations by purchasing additional power discs, one including Agent Phil Coulson’s “Lola” vehicle from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What more could you possibly ask for? 

With the opening of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train just weeks away, Disney Parks continues to tease at the the upcoming ride, and released yet another video of almost the entire ride-through of the attraction. The construction walls recently came down around the ride, and the carts going around the track can be seen quite frequently on regular days in Magic Kingdom, so expect a release date to be announced soon. We’re suspecting of possibly an end of May opening.

Just a few weeks ago, we announced a brand new upcoming home video film starring Mickey and the rest of the gang from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The film, Around the Clubhouse World, takes the gang on a journey across the globe, learning about different cultures in various different countries. Below is a clip that became available this week. The film is available on DVD May 20th, 2014. 

Going viral in Disney circles this week is this hilarious fan-made video made by two fans of the film Frozen and filmed in Disneyland. The video features a couple singing to the hit Frozen song, “Love is an Open Door”, and it shines among many of the other Frozen parodies found on the internet. 

Love is an Open Door Fan: 

A week ago we reviewed Disneynature’s latest film, Bears, a truly wonderful film. Disneynature promised to donate part of the movie’s financial success with the National Park Foundation for every ticket sold on opening weekend. We’re super excited to hear that many people saw the film and Disney delivered the donations to the NPF, and announced that it will be expanding it’s commitment to conservation and would be donating an additional amount than the one previously promised. If you missed seeing the film opening weekend, Disney will also give a portion to the NPF if you purchase any of the following: 

•       Young fans unlocked an exclusive bear costume on Disney Club Penguin to support the National Park Foundation: www.ClubPenguin.com.
•       The Disney Music Group is contributing a portion of each iTunes download of Olivia Holt’s Friends for Change anthem “Carry On”: iTunes.com/CarryOn. 
• The Disney Store committed a portion of “Bears” plush purchases to the National Park Foundation:www.disneystore.com.
•       At Disney Parks, a special Duffy the Disney Bear benefited the National Park Foundation in April.
•          Disney Cruise Line made a contribution in celebration of the movie, which also premiered on the high seas.
•       Regal Entertainment Group introduced a gift card program in conjunction with “Bears” that resulted in a contribution to the National Park Foundation: www.regmovies.com.
•      New York jewelry designer Alex Woo designed eco-friendly pendants inspired by the film, available in Sterling Silver & 14kt Gold—a portion of each sale benefits the National Park Foundation: www.alexwoo.com.

More details have been unveiled about the It's a Small World film which is being developed at Disney. Director John Turtletaub (National Treasure, The Sorcerer's Apprentice) has been signed on to direct the film. No release date has yet been announced.

Muppets Most Wanted, Disney's latest fantastic Muppet adventure hits Blu-Ray and DVD August 5th 2014! No bonus features have been revealed yet, but the film will be available this summer to own. Muppets Most Wanted takes the Muppet gang on an adventure throughout Europe, only to get caught up with Constantine, the World's Most Dangerous Frog and get tangled up in a jewel hesit caper. The film is still playing in theaters worldwide. Read our review of the film here on The Mickey Mindset as well as our review on our other site, The Muppet Mindset. 

And in very sad news this week, legendary actor Bob Hoskins has passed away at the age of 71 on Tuesday. Hoskins was well known in the Disney circles as Eddie Valiant in Disney/Touchstone's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. We pay tribute to Hoskins for his brilliant acting in this video below, showcasing his wonderful acting talents, and what process he went through to film the Roger Rabbit movie.

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

News Update: April 11th 2014

Starting off the news this week, the first teaser trailer for Disney Channel's Upcoming show, Girl Meets World has surfaced the internet. The show is a spin-off of the Disney Channel show which ran from 1993 to 2000. Characters Cory and Topanga return to the spin-off show, this time playing the parents of the main child characters. Watch the first teaser here:

Season two of the new Mickey Mouse shorts premiere on Disney Channel today, April 11th! Make sure you keep you DVRs running at 9:00 EST to catch the new wonderful shorts! 

This week, the Disney Parks celebrated fifty years of the famous "It's a Small World' attraction with a major worldwide celebration. The folks over at Inside the Magic have the full scoop, which you can read right here. Coverage of the entire event can also be found over at The Disney Blog as well right here. 

Toughpigs.com published this great article setting the record straight: The Muppets are still puppets, and no CGI was used in Muppets Most Wanted, contrary to internet rumors of the Muppets being replaced by CGI in some scenes. You can read that great article right here.

Speaking of Muppets, our friends over at This Happy Place Blog raised an excellent idea. What if the abandoned "Wonders of Life" exhibit became "Muppet Labs?" Make sure to check out their creative and exciting new ideas of what could quite possibly be of use for the abandoned building in a new, fun and creative way. You can read the article here: 

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is the show on TV that just keeps getting better and better. This week, ABC aired an episode leading directly off of last week's new film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The episode includes spoilers of the film, and this seems to be the new direction that the show will be taking from now on. Marvel released this all-new video where the cast and crew of the TV series talk about the new direction the show will be taking. Spoilers ahead. 

An all-new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse adventure will be hitting DVD shelves May 20th 2014! Around the Clubhouse World takes the Fab Five on a journey through France, China, Italy and more, and learn about different countries and cultures, with lots of song-filled fun, and will feature a slew of bonus episodes from the series. 

The date draws closer for the opening of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in New Fantasyland in Walt Disney World, and today, Disney Parks released a thirty-second video taking a look at some of the impressive new Audio-Animatronics that will be featured in the attraction. 

UPDATE: Disney Parks ALSO released this 16-second CGI ride through of the attraction. Now we'r really, really excited. 

Disneynature's Bears opens next Friday, and in anticipation for the release, Disney released two more clips from the film, two of some of my favorite clips from the movie. In fact, the whole film is wonderful. We'll be reviewing the movie in it's entirety later this week. 

Speaking of Disneynature, the trailer for their next big film has been released yesterday online. The film, Monkey Kingdom will swing into theaters Earth Day 2015.

For the final bit of news this week, Disneyland Paris announced that Marvel's Spider-Man will start making meet-and-greet appearances starting April 19th in the Walt Disney Studios park! Disney also released this artwork to anticipate the upcoming appearances.

That's it for this week's short weekly news roundup! Be on the lookout for some special brand-new reviews this week, including our review for Disneynature's new film: Bears. 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Film Review

Mitchell Stein- Following up to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, The Winter Soldier follows up directly after the events of The Avengers which took place in New York, and Steve Rogers (a.k.a Captain America) is currently trying to settle down in Washington D.C. and adapting to his new current lifestyle in the present day. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D colleague comes under attack, Steve gets tangled up inside a series of events that would ultimately put the entire world at risk.

Ever since Disney purchased the Marvel franchises in 2009, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown tremendously with incredible new movies, and they have really outdone themselves this time around, really stepping up the game in superhero flicks in general. This movie steps up from being the "silly comic book" movie with the typical building smashing and the good guy vs. bad guy for two hours. Rather, this movie felt more like a spy thriller, filled with suspense and uncertainty. No one can be trusted any longer.
I won't go any more in-depth than that, as there's just an enormous amount that can easily be spoiled for this movie, but I will say I enjoyed it throughout the whole fim. Although, if you are expecting another version of "The Avengers", you'll be disappointed. The Avengers was a once-in-a-decade kind of film, and therefore is not manipulated in the other Marvel films. This is probably one of Marvel's more realistic movies, which ends up being a fairly good thing.

Chris Evans returns to play Steve Rogers, Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson returns to play SHIELD director Nick Fury. One of my favorite things about this film is the spotlight that Fury gets. In the other movies, he’s overshadowed by all the other superheroes and only makes cameos in the other ones, but in this installment, we finally get to see some more of Jackson’s interpretation of Fury, and he does it rather well. I would have to say that Fury really steals the stage in this movie out of all the characters.
Also starring in the movie is Anthony Mackie as Falcon, and Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, who seems to be one of the people who currently run S.H.I.E.L.D.

As a fan of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC) I enjoyed this movie on an even higher level. The two current story-lines inter-connect to each other but doesn't affect any of the continuing stories. Since The Winter Soldier is mostly based around "S.H.I.E.L.D", it would only make sense for Agents of SHIELD to have a tie-in to this film, which is rumored to air next week. I’m assuming this film is really just a preparation for next year’s Avengers: Days of Ultron, unless Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is also supposed to tie into that film, which there’s a lagre possibility which could end up happening.

The Winter Soldier is directed by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who you may know from directing episodes of Arrested Development, Community and Up All Night. They translate well into this this new Marvel action thriller, and fill it with a lot of great comedy.

If you didn't know, every Marvel film has an additional scene at the end which teases at an upcoming movie. Please stay all the way until the final credits to see both additional scenes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film a lot. It really raised the bar in super-hero films and sets the stage for next year’s Avengers movie which will wrap up “Phase 2” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before heading into “Phase 3”.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens nationwide today across North America