"This isn't Freedom... This is Fear."

Captain America: The Winter Solider, released Friday April 4th and this just seemed like a good movie to bring my blog back to life. This film is fantastic for the genre it is a part of, aka: The Superhero Movie. It is one of the better superhero action movies I've seen in a while. I really enjoyed Thor 2: The Dark World but I think I like this one a little more.

The first Captain America, which was released in 2011, in my opinion, was a decent film. However, I will say it was not my favorite superhero movie, but hey it showed promised. I think one reason I am sort of biased toward these movies is because I love Captain American. Let's be honest, he is one of the best superheros around. Yes, he has powers but at the same time he is a regular guy. He is easy to relate to and he's honest. He stands for truth, justice, and freedom. The thing I love about these movies is the fact that the creators don't take that away from him. If they ever corrupt him I will be so pissed because we need more classic heroes in movies today.

Chris Evans makes the perfect Captain, I don't care what anyone else says. He looks the part; he is straight up, "classic American". In this film you can see that Chris put on double the muscle mass, so he looked so massive, which helped with the fight scenes in this film. They made Captain America pretty BA. His fight scenes are amazing. They really let him show off and they show how awesome he really is, which I love. It's good to see some solid combat scenes as well. I mean I love Iron Man as much as the next girl, but these close combat fights were so intense it was a nice change. Let's not forget Black Widow, played by the beautiful Scarlett Johansson. She was stunning as usual and her fight scenes are just as awesome as in the movies before.

Samuel L. Jackson, reprising his role as Nick Fury was hilarious as usual. That man has so much sass I cannot take it. He as quite a few one liners that are so funny you will laugh at them throughout the whole film. Other characters have good one liners as well, but Fury is just one of my favorite characters so I was glad he was in this film. Anthony Mackie also co-stars in this film playing Sam Wilson and he does a great job. I don't want to ruin the purpose of his character for those who do not know the story, but his character's plot takes a fun little twist that is enjoyable to watch.

The best part of this film was the mystery. The plot in this film far exceeds the plot of the first Captain America. The first one was literally 90% exposition. In this film, they jump right into the action. From the beginning of the movie you are trying to find out exactly where the story is going. The writers keep you in your seat, that much is true. The Winter Solider in this movie is a great opponent for Captain America. Their fight scenes are some of the best scenes in the whole film. They are both fast, strong, and smart; all this together creates so much tension that you might catch yourself with sweaty palms. The special effects in this movie are also really good. It is a pretty action movie in the sense that even though jank is blowing up all around the characters, you can still see the art in what the effects team is creating. The movie works however, because there is a happy marriage between effects and a good plot.

Overall, I give this film a solid A. It was a good action film and does justice to the Marvel Universe. It will be interesting to see where the Marvel Universe goes from here. Also stick around after the credits to watch the special scene. I had no idea what that scene meant but I'm excited to find out. So when you have time go see Captain America face his greatest challenge yet, in theaters now.

- Megan O'Neal

"Tonight we are cancelling the apocalypse!"

Pacific Rim, released July 2013, is a whole new spin on the alien apocalypse. The story follows the idea that an alien species called the Kaiju, are trying to take over our world. The movie does have some good action scenes and some intense moments. However, the writing, in my opinion is not the best. This movie is predictable in many cases and the acting was decent at best. Overall I would give this film a C. The action was good and I would probably see it again but I wouldn't actually buy it.

The special effects in this film were the best part of this movie. The Kaiju look real and are designed in a cool way. They are neon sea creatures that are actually pretty frightening. This film does present a new way to look at aliens and that is refreshing considering all the apocalyptic films that have been coming out lately. The robots in this film are cool as well. The robots, which are called Jaegers, are the soul of this film. They way they operate is that two pilots are connected in one robot and together, with their minds linked, they control the Jaegers. With the mix of the Jaegers and giant sea aliens, some pretty awesome fight scenes are created.

To me this movie was just okay because I was not very impressed with the writing. It was easy for me to figure out exactly what was going to happen. I prefer when movies have some twist and turns that catch me off guard. Or the film at least has really good writing that help the actors shine, so that even if I can figure out whats going to happen next, I am still impressed with the performance. The acting was okay, nobody was a bad actor but the script didn't really give many opportunities for them to shine. I must say though, I do like Charlie Hunnam. I do see some potential in his acting skills. I have never watched Sons of Anarchy but I hear he is pretty good, plus, he isn't bad to look at either. Also there is some romance in this movie, so guys if you thought you could escape that, well you're wrong. Honestly, I kinda wish there was no love interest in this film because I don't think the movie really needed it. I think that the character Marko, played by Rinko Kikuchi, should still be in the movie, but she didn't necessarily need to be a love interest.

This movie did have some funny moments, however. I found myself laughing more then I expected. Granted, sometimes I was laughing because some of it was so cheesy, and I love cheesy things. Most of the funny moments were due to Charlie Day, one of the stars from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is just a really funny guy so most of the time when he was on screen, he was cracking me up, even if he wasn't trying to. I actually really enjoyed the funny moments because I wasn't expecting them.

Overall, this movie is a total "Dude Flick". And I love action and "guy" movies as much as the next person, but this one was not one of my favorites. But that being said, I know that many guys will enjoy this movie. I mean robots fighting aliens; those are two of guys favorite things. Honestly, if it were me I would wait for this movie to hit the dollar theater or rent it. But if you want to have an action movie night, this movie isn't a total waste. Enjoy the movies, until next time...

 - Megan O'Neal