Triple Movie Review - Friend Request, Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie + Captain America: Civil War

So I decided that rather than spread these three films out into separate posts over the course of a few weeks, I instead felt it be easier if I review them all in one go. Why? Well first of all, there are some films coming out this month that I intend to see and review and second of all, at least 2 of these 3 films are big ones and a lot of you will want to hear my opinion on them. Its not often that I do something like this, but it happens from time to time. So let's get right to it as we see another psychological horror that uses social media, the Channel Awesome crowd in another event film (with Linkara at the helm instead of The Nostalgia Critic for a change) and another VS film featuring the first and oldest of Avengers and some rich dude in a suit of metal armour:

Friend Request

About this time last year, I went to see a film called Unfriended. This was a film that used the found footage formula that was introduced in Paranormal Activity, with most of the action taking place on a laptop. It involved a person who committed suicide and sought revenge on those who she felt hurt her by simply killing off a group of friends one by one until ultimately coming face to face with the true culprit behind her death. Friend Request is kind of the same thing, but has a lot more going on. For a start, it doesn't all take place in one place and its not found footage. It does involve Facebook and it does involve the person who died, hacking into people's accounts in the hopes to destroy them. So the film revolves around a popular girl called Laura (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey who some of you may know from Into the Storm and Fear the Walking Dead) who attends college and has a great social life with friends and family and has over 800 friends on Facebook. But one day, she gets a friend request from a girl called Marina Mills (played by Liesl Ahlers) who has no friends. Laura accepts her request, but when she shares photos of her birthday do, Marina full of anger and jealously, confronts Laura, only for then to be unfriended by her. Marina soon commits suicide and her demonic spirit takes over Laura's Facebook account to exact her revenge to show Laura what it means to be lonely. I got to admit, this film really pushed me to the limits of jump scares and it just has those moments where you just want it to get the scares over and done with and I was so glad when it was over because I felt really uneasy afterwards. Its not that I'm scared of jumpscares, its just knowing that they are coming that made me feel uneasy. I will happily see films with jumpscares in them as long as they are worked in, in a non predictable fashion. Aside from that, the film has some great acting from everyone involved (which I believe the majority of are not very well known) and some great music. Worth a watch if you're into this sort of thing. 8/10

Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie

Unlike Channel Awesome's previous event films, I chose to not watch this online. I don't know why, I just wasn't feeling up for it. So for those of you who don't know, Channel Awesome is this website and community of people who do all sorts of things revolving around pop culture. This can be anything from gaming, satire and its most popular thing, reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to different forms of media. One of the people who has been on this site even while its was That Guy With The Glasses, is Linkara. He hosts a show called Atop the Fourth Wall in which he reviews bad (and sometimes good and OK) comic books while having an original storyline thrown into the mix as well. And now, following in the footsteps of the Angry Video Game Nerd, he too has now got a movie and it was thanks to a successful IndieGoGo campaign that it was made possible. So in the film, Linkara (reprised by Lewis Lovhaug from the show) celebrates his birthday, but when the government calls him to investigate a ship in space that the government has lost communication with, he and his friends set out to find it, unaware that an old foe who was thought to have died in To Boldly Flee, has returned and wants revenge. Much like with other films similar to this, don't expect it to have the triple A quality that these other two films have. Aside from that, its actually quite good. It picks up from where To Boldly Flee left off and manages to bring some closure to some of the storylines that the online series has had looming over the years. Its also great to see all these people doing another thing like this together as its been a while, even though not every single person on Channel Awesome is involved. Despite this, it does feature some of the more recognisable people on the site. Really can't say anymore than that. If you're a fan of it or at the very least a fan of something Channel Awesome do, check it out. You won't regret it. 7/10

Captain America: Civil War

Lastly, we have Marvel's VS film which to critics, is far better than Batman V Superman, but for everyone else, it really depends on whether you're a DC fan or Marvel fan. But at the end of the day like for everyone, its all personal preference. So in preparation for this film, I had a read of the comic book that this film is loosely based on and for obvious reasons, its not exactly the same because of some Marvel characters not been established in the MCU because of licensing deals with Fox. However, despite this, the premise of the comic is still the same in the film with Captain America opposing the government act and Iron Man being in support of it with old and new Avengers being divided on which side to join. But enough talk, let's dive into the film. So the film begins by taking us to the late 90s where Bucky (reprised by Sebastian Stan) has been recovered and bought into the mordern world where he gets brainwashed by Hydra into doing their bidding and goes on an assassination mission. In the present, the Avengers handle a mission in Lagos, Nigeria which involves an old adversary of Cap (reprised by Chris Evans) which ends successfully, but at a cost. Elsewhere in the world, Tony Stark (reprised by Robert Downey Jr.) gives a speech at MIT, only to then be confronted by a grieving mother who lost her son on Sokovia the day that the Avengers blew it up to stop Ultron's plans from succeeding. Back at Avengers HQ, Stark arrives and brings with him Thunderbolt Ross (reprised by William Hurt, the first time to do so since The Incredible Hulk back in 2008) who talks to the Avengers about a new governing body which would take account of the rapidly growing number of superhumans. This of course has the Avengers devided with Stark being in support of the act and Cap being against it. As things start to get out of hand, Cap becomes a criminal in hanging out with Bucky which ultimately forces the Avengers to divide while a greater threat who had a hand in making all this possible, emerges. I think everyone played their parts well. We find out how Tony Stark's parents died, the motives of all the characters and why they choose to be on whoever's side. We also see a more heroic side to Bucky as well as a shocking truth about his time being part of Hydra. It is a great film that does make everyone question on whether to see these characters as heroes or vigilantes and whether the destruction that they have bought onto the world, can ever be seen as an act of terrorism or just pure justice. I will also admit that I went into this being undecided on who to root for and I'm glad it went the way it did. I loved the fighting between all the characters as well as the humor and yes Stan Lee is in the film like always. Can't say anymore than that. Go see the film. 9/10