Captain America: Civil War

iron man vs capAs a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I am obligated to hate this movie and tell everyone how the Marvel movies are horrible. Obviously if you have been reading my blog for any significant amount of time, you know that I cannot do that. I love the Marvel movies. They have created a shared universe that actually feels like the comic books. I suppose you could argue that sort of makes them uninspired. You know, there is no real interpretation of the characters, just a straight retelling of comics, but into a new medium. I respect what both companies are doing. Marvel keeps it simple. They have a formula that works, why mess with it? DC is trying something as well, if they copied the Marvel method then people would freak out.

I think I am one of the only people out there who was not super-impressed with Winter Soldier. And someone involved with CA:CW must have read that post because they really took some of those complaints and addressed them in the film. I definitely liked this one better than CA: WS and maybe even the first CA. I wonder if it has anything to do with how much I liked Civil War as a comic series? I was okay with how the movie differed from the comics. In fact, I thought that Tony and Steve’s reasons were actually much better in the movie.

Tony has definitely changed throughout these movies. He is not the same guy who stood at a podium and said “I am Iron Man.” And those changes have led him down a path where he agrees that maybe someone should be telling them what to do with their powers. But on the other side, Steve Rogers has seen what happens when bureaucrats interfere (or in the case of SHIELD, when an agency is completely taken over by the enemy). He also makes a good point when he says “what do we do when this committee says we have to attack someone or go somewhere that we disagree with?” I love this question and the whole debate about sovereign nations. Do the Avengers have any right to be in a country like Nigeria? Yeah, they are stopping terrorists, but did they ask for permission? If they are part the United States military, could nations looks at their interventions as an act of war? And yet, Captain America is right when he says “if I see something bad happening, I am not going to just stand by.” Almost a “better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission” type thing.captain-america-civil-war-tv-spot-spider-man-01

The movie does not really answer the question. In fact, I would say that it does a pretty good job of allowing us to make up our own mind. In the comic, it was a little easier to agree with Iron Man because of the catalyst for the Superhero Registration Act: the New Warriors are a young superhero team and they track a bunch of villains to a small town. The New Warriors are filming a reality television show and so they do things for ratings. They attack the bad guy, Nitro, who can cause massive explosions, which he does and like 800 people are killed. The argument from Tony Stark is that there are so many superheroes out there that they need to be registered, they need training, etc. It actually makes sense. However, since the MCU does not have like 1200 superheroes (yet), they had to make it more relevant in those terms and that means the argument becomes a little bit more nuanced. I loved it.

Sorry, I really started to ramble there. Anyways, here are some of the things I liked about the movie…

-Spider-Man! The introduction of Peter Parker into the MCU was very well done. The whole conversation between him and Tony was perfect. Tom Holland pulls off the much younger version of Spider-Man that we were all hoping for over the years. Also, his line while fighting Ant-Man of “hey guys, you remember that part in that old movie, Empire Strikes Back?” In fact, any of his scenes basically stole the show, made me laugh, or gave me a nice tingling feeling, such as fighting with Falcon and Winter Soldier and being told “there is usually not this much talking during a fight.” I look forward to his own movie.

jcEg7Ze-Black Panther! I am definitely ready for his solo movie. I hope that this is another character that Marvel can explore a different style of storytelling. I feel like Dr. Strange could be the movie where they do something different and hopefully Black Panther can get the same treatment. Quick complaint though, when the helicopter is shooting at Black Panther (and Winter Soldier/Captain America) during the car chase, did the gunner ever consider if there were innocent civilians around? Or do German police just not care?

519482792_c_o-Even though it was a large ensemble movie, the action was dialed back. The car chase scene worked well, there were some cool things happening, but nothing over the top. And during the airport fight, there was just the right amount of action. Different characters battling each other and whatnot. The thing I was most happy about though: no insane destruction. You know, like a bunch of hellacarriers crashing into a river or a flying alien taking out a building.

-I thought for sure that at least one character would die. From the preview it looked like War Machine. I guess a death would have made any reconciliation almost impossible. Whereas now, when Thanos attacks and Iron Man needs help, he will be able to call on Captain America & Friends.

-I do need to mention that there were so many great things happening during the airport fight. Aside from all of the Spider-Man antics, there was also the fight between Hawkeye and Black Widow (we are still friends, right?), or the fact that Ant-Man shows off a new ability (and rides Hawkeye’s arrow–which sounds like a sexual euphemism). Sam Wilson and his hatred of Bucky (I hate you so much). It just goes to show that a large melee fight scene can work and be entertaining.

-The mid-credits scene was probably the better of the two credits scenes. It features Bucky being put into cryogenic sleep in Wakanda until they can find a way to fix his mind (I wonder if he will be available for the next Avengers movie OR if he will be featured in the Black Panther movie). I enjoyed how Black Panther realized the error of his ways and agrees to help Cap. If Steve Rogers has to live in Wakanda for awhile, should he change his name and uniform to Captain Wakanda? What if his rank wouldn’t transfer to the Wakandan military? Private Wakanda. Just does not have the same ring to it. Also, how come Captain America never receives a promotion? He should be a Major at least. How many times has this question been asked?

-The final credit scene was of Peter Parker telling Aunt May about getting into a fight. He then receives a gift from Tony Stark that has a type of Spider Signal. Meh, it was okay. Speaking of Spider-Man one last time. I loved that Tony helps Peter with his costume. That makes so much sense. One of the more unbelievable things from the movies is that Peter Parker sews this suit together and it looks that good. Tony Stark using his vast resources though? Definitely better.

Alright, I think that is just about it. I really loved the movie and look forward to the next Marvel movie…

Author: Ngewo

1 thought on “Captain America: Civil War

Comments are closed.