Hello blogosphere!
Welcome to my new weekly feature: Films for Thought on Thursday.
It's a new once a week feature about, if the title didn't give it away, films! I love movies about as much as I love books. My DVD collection actually surpasses by book collection atm, 500+ of one and 700+ of the other. So it's probably about time that I made time to do a weekly film review or a post about movies once a week.
I am going to allow others to link up to this as well. So if you want to do or already review movies over at your blog than you can come link up once a week. I'd absolutely love to find more movies to watch and read your reviews.
This weeks movie review will be for:
I have to admit to loving a good Superhero movie; good being an important word there. I went into the second Captain America film a little bit sceptical, not sure that it was really going to deliver. I had enjoyed the first film a lot when I had seen it in the cinema, but not as much once I had seen it again on DVD. It was still an okay film, but I had seen better films in the franchise since. So I admit that I went into this film with low expectations and really hoping I wasn't left bored or disappointed. I was neither!
The film is set two years after the events of the first Avengers film and good old Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, is still working for S.H.I.E.L.D and still trying to get used to living in the 21st century. His latest mission for S.H.I.E.L.D leads him to one of their ships where the crew is being held hostage. Here he witnesses Black Widow stealing extracting files from the ships computers. This leads him to question what the mission was really for and what S.H.I.E.L.D was trying to accomplish. Whilst trying to figure out exactly what S.H.I.E.L.D is up to, Captain America finds himself going up against a deadly assassin, the Winter Solider.
I don't want to give too much of the plot away because I think less is more before you go to watch a film like this. I hadn't even seen a trailer for this one and it worked well for me as it left me with more surprises to enjoy. I am pleased to say that Captain America: The Winter Soldier might just be one of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise so far. It really blew me away and I left the cinema wanting to go straight back in and watch it all over again.
The storyline was solid and I never once felt bored. The pacing was perfect and even though it had all the action scenes we have come to expect from these movies, it also had some great emotional moments and a ton of character development. It introduced some really brilliant new characters as well. The Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, is a character that I had limited knowledge of going into this but I really enjoyed him. He provided a lot of laughs but also had the coolest suit, it made me super jealous and I wanted it. The Winter Solider was a truly genius bad guy, even if he did have awful hair! Seriously, the guy needs a hair cut, or maybe just a bath so he can wash it. Clearly being a kick-ass assassin means there is no time to worry if you have extremely greasy hair.
I don't read the comic books and so it means that I can't tell how well these movies stick to them, but frankly I don't care. This movie was a million times better than I expected and I absolutely loved it. It provided me with shocks and surprises. The storyline kept me guessing and I couldn't wait to see how it all worked out in the end. The film did feel really long, but I'm shocked nowadays if I go to a film and it isn't over two hours long. I can't wait to see what they come up with next for Captain America.
And now, thanks to the TWO awesome end teasers, I am even more exciting for Avengers 2 and the new characters that are about to be introduced. This is going to be epic.
5/5 Butterflies!
A great plot that kept me guessing and didn't once bore me. It had all the action you expect, mixed with emotional moments and a lot of character development. This wasn't heavy on the romantic love interest side and I liked that about it. It has me even more excited for Avengers 2. If you enjoyed Captain America you won't be disappointed, this is way better.
I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so it's nice to finally be able to get them done. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday Feature & Okay, Let's Read's Thursday Thoughts feature. This week I will just be using Okay, Let's Read's topic because I didn't have time to prepare for both.
Today's topic is:
Do you enjoy book to movie adaptations? Do you have any favourites? Does it make you mad when movies do not perfectly follow the book? Do you mind seeing the movie before reading the book?
I love Okay, Let's Read's topic today because it works so well with my movie theme. I adore book to movie adaptations, when they get it right. But, when they get it wrong then I am really disappointed and rage for quite a long time. A few favourite adaptations are:
Harry Potter brought the amazing world of Harry Potter to life. Although I will always prefer the books, the movies will always be special to me and I adore each and every one. The Lord of the Rings trilogy are three of my favourite movies of all time and proof that I don't mind NOT reading the book first. I still haven't read the books, I worry I won't love them anywhere near as much as I love those movies. The original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo adaptation is amazing and I prefer it to the Hollywood version. Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander is one of my favourite portrayals ever. The Road was a perfect adaptation to me, the book blew me away and so did the film - beautiful.
Life of Pi was just visually stunning and took my breath away. It captured the spirit of the book without being anywhere near as long winded or boring. The Perks of Being a Wallflower managed to do something that I thought was impossible and that was that is didn't suck. I was certain they couldn't make an adaptation of that spectacular book and not ruin it. Silver Linings Playbook surprised me because it was very different to the book and yet I still loved it. That showed me that I don't always need the movie to stick 100% to the book in all things. The Notebook is just an incredible romance film, I adore it. The Help... INCREDIBLE!
I don't always have to read the book before I go see the film, but that is rare. Lord of the Rings is one of the very few exceptions because most of the time I have to read the book first. I can't help myself, I just have to. If I am going to see a movie based on a book that I love then I need it to stick quite well to the book. If it changes or cuts out a large portion then I am usually really angry and disappointed. I also hate it when they get little things wrong about a character like hair colour, how hard is it to get the hair colour right. If I see a trailer/poster and a main characters hair colour is wrong then I despair. How can I trust them to do a great adaptation when they get something like hair colour wrong?
What are some of your favourite book to movie adaptation? Do they need to stick to the book 100% for you to really enjoy the film?
