The Raid 2

Prisons are horrible places.  But that's where Rama must go to work his way into the crime family that killed his brother, expose them all, and bring them down.  If that's not enough - - what is?

I loved the audio track of the first Raid.  This time upgrade your screen.

The Raid 2
2014, directed by Gareth Evans

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

I'd heard this was surprisingly good.  I see now that this must be placed in context with how awful it was expected to be.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
2012, 105 minutes, directed by Timur Bekmambetor

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I really appreciate what they are trying to do with the Marvel universe.  It's expansive, it's dynamic, and sometimes you need to tear the old establishment down to build a better one.  That's the purpose of this film, not the most obvious "bridge" I've ever seen, but perhaps the bridge connecting the two largest film masses.  S.H.I.E.L.D. has a problem, and that problem is Red Skull infiltration.  It's cancerous, and it's metastasized, and if S.H.I.E.L.D. and humanity want to survive, it's time to cut it out.

It's a little incredulous that they don't just point out that the bad guys were fucking Nazis.  I think Steve and Nick and the rest of the team would get more sympathy for what they had to do if they'd just point that out.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2014, 136 minutes, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

District 9

I'm impressed that a South Africa production was so eloquently able to disguise apartheid critique under a thick gory blanket of sci fi, the way it's meant to be done.  Plus Wikus Van De Merwe is such an awesome action hero, it's hard to not root for him as both a speciesist mid-level manager and a blood-thirsty killing machine.

For more commentary see my original review from 2009.

District 9
2009, 112 minutes, directed by Neill Blomkamp