CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

* * *       

(More Marvel Mayhem)

A black Captain America and Harrison Ford as the president aren’t enough to save this Marvel Comics movie from tedium and familiarity.

Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford do their best, but it is still the same old “save the world” from destruction theme. Throw in assassinations and a few other surprises and you have lots of running around and destruction.

The plot is contrived and complicated, involving mind control, broken treaties and the familiar brink of total war, this time with the Japanese.

It goes on too long before the battle in the sky with Captain America trying to stop the jets from both sides from destroying each other to the final showdown between the captain and the Red Hulk (Guess Who) as they destroy most of Washington DC.

paddington in peru

PADDINGTON IN PERU

* * * *

(Delightful Family Adventure)

Paddington, that delightful, cuddly, marmalade-eating English bear is back, and this time he and the entire Brown family are off to find their aging aunt in Peru.

Aunt Lucy is missing from Home for Retired Bears. The entire family hires a riverboat and along with the Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) heads up river through the jungle to find her, guided by the Captain (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter.

Their adventures are exciting and funny, delighting children and parents who watch llamas, giant spiders and piranhas hinder their journey.

The ancient Incan ruins look quite familiar as Paddington is finally reunited with Aunt Lucy, uncovers a villain, and leads everyone to safety.

zero day

NETFLIX

Zero Day

* * * 1/2

(Politics, Terror and Intrigue)

Robert De Niro stars as former president Mullen who is called out of retirement just as he is starting to write his memoirs because of a serious cyber threat to the United States.

The cyber attack causes chaos in New York City as trains stop, lights go out, computers fail and thousands of people die.

Mullen, who is well-liked and respected is named head of the Zero Day commission by the current president.

He forms his team and begins the investigation, with the Russians becoming the top suspects.

The commission uncovers a group of local radicals, and the plot thickens.

Meanwhile, the former president is having some memory and reality problems, hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t there.

His daughter, a congresswoman who wishes him to step down, is concerned about his mental abilities.

Chief of Staff issues get complicated, along with some prior sticky family situations.

The press, public and fellow politicians begin to doubt Mullens theories.

Before long, politics plays a major role and more suspects enter the complicated picture.

While the six-episode story has a  few red herrings and far-out theories, the acting is superior, especially from De Niro.