A Pinoy @ The Movies: Gifted

It was a bit strange watching Chris Evans without his Captain America costume, and it was even stranger nobody addressed him as Captain Rogers.

Here, in Gifted, he's a hunk of an uncle to a super-genius niece, whose mother killed herself after proving the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness, a super-difficult problem, the solving of which was an achievement that could have won her a Nobel prize.

Mckenna Grace, playing the genius and gifted niece, became the subject of a custody battle between Evans and his own mother, who wanted to send her granddaughter to a school for smart kids, while Evans wanted her to grow up a normal child.

Although thirty minutes before the end, I sort of knew already the outcome of the custody battle and the ending because movies like this always made sure that everyone went home happy.

But mid-way, Gifted reminded me of Changeling, which starred Angelina Jolie. In Changeling, Angelina was a single mom who lost her son to a kidnapper. In Gifted, Chris Evans became a single dad to his niece but lost her, although temporarily (oops!).

Maybe this film's primary audience would be single parents, who could learn a thing or two on how to raise a child, and on how to keep off meddling grandparents. 

Octavia Spencer, the Oscar best supporting actress for The Help, was the good neighbor who helped babysit Mckenna when Evans was away. 

You can skip this film, unless you're a big Chris Evans fan, or into difficult math problems.  You could probably help Mckenna Grace help solve one of the Millennium Prize Problems after watching the movie.

Me? I hate math.

A PInoy At The Movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

(The offiicial Korean poster. 

Whose image do you think

is so photoshopped?)

Having seen the actual shoot of Avengers 2, Age of Ultron, here in Seoul, I was encouraged to watch this film, which is part of Marvel Studio's superhero series of films. Chris Evans was here in Seoul to film his scenes in Avengers 2, by the way. But lucky were his fans who saw him.

As a superhero film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was expected to be super. And it was! Even on the early minutes of the movie, anyone can see that Captain American isn't somebody you mess with. Chris Evans, with all his bulked-up muscles, could still be Captain America even without his shield. 

And looking at the official poster above, although we all know that Scarlett Johansson has the body, I don't think her waistline is that small. Can we at least be realistic with her built since she's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which means she needs to eat her carbs and pizza to fight off bad guys in hand-to-hand combat? And her red hair in the film isn't that long. Natasha Romanoff's cut was just above her shoulder. Oh, well. So Photoshopped.

If you saw the first of the series, Captain American: The First Avenger, it would be easier for you to understand the beginnings of this superhero. In this film, his early years from being drafted as a soldier in World War II were told in dialogues and a few visits to the Smithsonian.

Even though this was more than two hours long, the fast pacing of the film and the action scenes made sure everyone in the audience were kept awake and eager to enjoy the next action scene.

And speaking of action scenes, the ambush of Nick Fury in the middle of Washington D.C. was especially amazing. As he was being shot at, chased and bumped at, I was thinking what it would have felt like to see such explosive and violent stunts involving dozens of cars in Gangnam. Instead of those fiery mash-up, what I saw, along with hundreds of spectators that day in Gangnam, were slow-moving cars in front of shops and cafes. It wasn't even a chase; it looked more like a parade. Ha-ha-ha! (Watch the video here.)

And being a superhero action film, that wasn't the only action I enjoyed. There were more, and you should watch it.

Perhaps, the only disappointment for me was Robert Redford playing a S.H.I.E.L.D. senior official, Alexander Pierce. Although he turned out to be a bad guy, Redford looked more like a professor in his role in Lions For Lambs, a film with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise released in 2007. (That's also where I first saw Andrew Garfield in a film before he went 'Social' and 'Spidey'). Here, Redford looked so bland, monotonous and preachy. With white hair and a few wrinkles, I could play his role! Ha-ha-ha! 

What surprised me in the movie was the sudden appearance of Emily VanCamp of the drama series, Revenge, who was Chris Evan's neighbor and turned out to be an agent. She definitely could use the martial arts skills she learned from the drama series in this film. (But I wondered why she hasn't used those in breaking Victoria Grayson's neck as part of her revenge). 

I love watching superhero films because the superhero always wins in the end. But Captain America is different in a way. He was an exemplary soldier before he became a superhero. He's a gentleman, respectful and ready to do anything for his country, with or without a shield. 

In the meantime, can Marvel Studios please hurry up the next Marvel comics movie?