Posts Tagged ‘Giancarlo Esposito’

Captain America: Brave New World

Director: Julius Onah

Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Sebastian Stan

Running Time: 1 hour 58 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10  

It’s been nine years since the last Captain America film and a lot has changed, hence the title of the new film Captain America: Brave New World.

Nigerian born American director Julius Onah takes the helm of this Marvel film with Anthony Mackie (Detroit, Gangster Squad, The Hurt Locker) in the lead role as the new Captain America Sam Wilson opposite Oscar nominee and Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford (Witness, Star Wars, as American President Thaddeus Ross, who is desperately trying to piece the world back together post Avengers: End Game.

Anthony Mackie does a brilliant job as the new Captain America complete with a new shield and some really cool gadgets along with his young sidekick Falcon played by Danny Ramirez (Top Gun Maverick) as Joaquin Torres. Mackie and Ramirez make a good team as they battle the so called evil American President played with considerable irritability by Harrison Ford. President Ross is trying to negotiate a special deal for the celestial island in the Indian Ocean with Japan, France and India, while taking special pills for his heart and trying to retain his equanimity.  

Things go wrong for Thaddeus Ross when he survives a strange assassination attempt supposedly by Captain America aka Sam Wilson’s friend Isiah Bradley played by Carl Lumbly (A Cure for Wellness, Men of Honour). Bradley is locked up and then tried to be disposed of by the evil Serpent commander Sidewinder expertly played by Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects, Do The Right Thing).

All of these characters seem to be out of sync, as the real villain only emerges much later in a complicated narrative concocted by scriptwriters Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Masson. That’s already one too many scriptwriters but fortunately what saves Captain America Brave New World is the appearance of the creepy villain, a shadowy Elephant man type figure named Samuel Sterns expertly played with gothic relish by character actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Bricklayer, Nightmare Alley).

Tim Blake Nelson is excellent as the mastermind who manipulates not only Thaddeus Ross and Sam Wilson but the entire Washington establishment. Funny how life is imitating art right now.

With high end production values and Disney’s affluence behind it, Marvel does a decent job of reimagining Captain America in the mid 2020’s. This Brave New World is one that is a media-saturated American society filled with devious misinformation, manipulation and megalomaniacs.

The action is cool, the suits are awesome and there is a big red surprise at the end of the film, so catch Captain America Brave New World in cinemas now.

Captain America Brave New World gets a film rating of 7 out of 10. This film is entertaining, action packed and filled with a unique quirkiness which elevates it firmly into the fantasy realm.

As usual with Marvel films, wait until the very end for a golden nugget.

Recommended viewing for Marvel fans only.

Money Monster

Director: Jodie Foster

Cast: Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitriona Balfe, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Denham

Young British actor Jack O’Connell certainly seems to be handpicked by Oscar winner female actresses turned directors to star in their films. First it was O’Connell’s brilliant portrayal of Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini turned prisoner of war in the World War two epic Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie and now he is cast as the disgruntled young investor Kyle Budwell in Jodie Foster’s live action hostage drama, Money Monster set on Wall Street, New York city.

Echoing a similar vibe to the brilliant Spike Lee film, Inside Man, in which Jodie Foster starred, Money Monster is a gripping tale of TV show which is taken hostage by the unhinged yet scared Budwell, who holds the show’s vain TV host Lee Gates hostage. Gates is wonderfully played by Oscar winner George Clooney (Syriana) who literally has to put his life in the hands of the Money Monster show producer Patty Fenn, a sharp and sassy performance by Oscar winner Julia Roberts.

The fact that Money Monster has Julia Roberts and George Clooney as the two main leads is testament to the film’s star power yet rising star Jack O’Connell holds his own as the desperate and slightly idiotic Budwell who has literally bitten off more than he can chew, when he creates a live hostage drama so that the show, Money Monster can ascertain the real truth behind an investment company Ibis mysteriously losing $800 million which is initially blamed on a glitch due to a trading algorithm.

As Money Monster develops, it soon emerges, that the slimy CEO of the murky multi-national Ibis, Walt Camby wonderfully played by Dominic West, last seen in the brilliant series The Affair, has done some dodgy stock manipulation as well as orchestrating some labour unrest at a platinum mine in South Africa. No surprise there.

Money Monster is a taut, watchable thriller and whilst the plot is at times contrived, it is a fascinating indictment on the power of broadcast media especially in the public’s hunger to witness a dramatic spectacle unfold, made more pertinent as the conflict being televised relates to the incomprehensible world of international high finance, where a chosen few are entrusted with the financial futures of millions of shareholders in these precarious economic times.

As a director Jodie Foster highlights the immediacy of Live Television while skilfully blending in the less than glamorous, but flawed characters behind the scenes which generate such flashy media content. Clooney and Roberts are particularly well cast as TV host and producer while O’Connell once again demonstrates that his star is on the rise.

Money Monster is highly recommended viewing, extremely watchable, unpredictable and very entertaining.