Captain America: Civil War Review

This week’s blog will be a review of Captain America Civil War. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about my blog, let me know here.

Films out this week:

Arabian Nights Vol. 2: The Desolate One (15)

Brown Willy (teehee) (15)

Captain America: Civil War (12a)

Demolition (15)

Flickering Truth, A (12a)

God’s Not Dead 2 (PG)

Golden Years (12a)

Hard Tide (15)

Ratchet and Clank (PG)

Safelight (15)

Son of Saul (15)

Captain America Civil War Review

Cert: 12a

Rate: ****

Let me know if you agree with my review, by leaving comments here.

The new instalment to the MCU kicks ass, is a beautiful set up to Infinity War and leaves you wondering where the universe will go next, as it tugs on heart strings and presents awesome action scenes that feel similar to an orgasm.

I’ll start the review spoiler free, for those who haven’t seen it yet and those who haven’t had it released in their country.

The acting is impeccable. Robert Downey Jr absolutely sold it to me, even though I went in Team Cap, I came out with a soft side for Team Iron Man. What I always found with the character of Iron Man/Tony Stark in other films was that he didn't appear to have much conscience for what he’d done (a lot of damage in the films could've been avoided if Stark hadn't interfered with things), but in this film you really see Stark grapple with his conscience and you see a different, more emotional, less egotistical side to him, which Downy Jr smashes. I particularly enjoyed Anthony Mackie as Falcon/Sam Wilson in this movie. I enjoy how his role and character are developing in the MCU. He’s more than just a side kick to Captain America now, and his action sequences were pretty sweet. Chris Evans was awesome as Cap again, lots of emotion, which I will go deeper into in spoilers, and DEM ARMS BRO. Always nice to see a bit of Daniel Brühl on our screens too, who portrayed a rather moving yet sinister performance as Zemo. I actually ended up sympathising with him by the end of the film. Tom Holland might possibly be the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man to date, with his wit and boyish charms, it’s made me very excited for Spider-Man: Homecoming. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the cast and thought they played their parts well, but these were the people I thought were worth mentioning.

Action sequences were good, a lot more hand to hand combat than usual perhaps, but there is a part of the film where all powers are being used, and it is pretty incredible. This film is perhaps less about cool action shots and more about grappling with morality, though. Sometimes the dialogue was cliché and a bit back and forth, so didn't really seem to get Stark and Cap any closer to reaching a negotiation.

I would recommend that you see this film if you haven’t already. If you love the MCU and what it’s about then you won’t be disappointed. I’m not overly convinced that if you haven’t seen the other films you’ll understand what’s going on though, so make sure you watch the other Captain America films and the Avengers.

*SPOILERS*

DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM. IF YOU CONTINUE READING THEN EVERYTHING YOU RUIN IS ON YOU NOT ME.

FINALLY, we see a Marvel villain actually succeed with his plan. Unlike other Marvel villains, Zemo didn’t want to blow up the world or control it- he wanted to divide the Avengers, which he did. The thing that let me down was the use of Crossbones, who seemed underused and undeveloped, especially seeing as he kills Captain America in the comics.

The plot was solid, but there were a few things that I didn’t understand. For example, the Sokovia Accords stem from an incident at the beginning in Lagos where Scarlet Witch tries to move Crossbones out of the way as he is blowing himself up in front of Cap and many civilians, but isn’t strong enough and he falls into a building, killing some people. The Secretary of State obviously sees this as bad, but wouldn’t more people have died if Crossbones had been able to utilise the Bio-Weapon he just stole? Wouldn’t more people have died if he blew himself up in front of a marketplace full of civilians and several Avengers? Also when Stark meets the mother of a man who was killed in Sokovia, it’s like the film forgets that the Avengers did actually stop a meteor from destroying the earth, who else could have prevented it? Sometimes the theory of Utilitarianism comes in handy.

Moreover, at the end of the film in Siberia, Black Panther finds out Zemo’s plan to pit Iron Man and Captain America against each other but he does not interfere in the action to inform them of this, which just results in Iron Man almost getting his face smashed out by Cap. After Iron Man finds out Bucky killed his parents, Cap isn’t massively sympathetic nor consoling to Tony, he just fights him, which I found a little bit out of character for Cap, and he even leaves his shield behind to Tony. Cap also doesn’t seem to care about Rhodey becoming paralysed, which I also found odd. Black Widow also seemed a tad out of character, as I expected her to go full double agent or switch sides completely, but the only sign of this she shows is letting Cap and Bucky go to find Zemo.

Peggy Carter’s death and funeral made me cry so hard. I enjoyed Sharon Carter’s speech, and character. However I would have liked to have learned what happens to her after she gives back Falcon and Cap’s armour and weapons, but I suppose that’s a storyline for another film. At the end of the film my sympathy was definitely with Iron Man, the heartbreak in his eyes as he watched Bucky kill his parents bought me to tears.

Spider-Man was incredible. It was good to see Spider-Man in a film like this, and it was good to not get bored with the origin story again. He had the wit of Spider-Man but also the dorkiness and awkwardness of Peter Parker. I enjoyed the scenes of him and Tony Stark, when he comes into his house, and I look forward to seeing those two together again in Homecoming, where perhaps Stark will play the role of a mentor to Spider-Man.

My favourite part of the entire film was the airport scene, and I particularly enjoyed Giantman. I love Ant-Man he’s probably my favourite Avenger and I don’t massively know why (minor [major] crush on Paul Rudd). He was good in this film, but perhaps a tad underused, but I suppose it was a Captain America film, so the other characters had to take a back seat.

I also very much enjoyed Hawkeye in this movie. I’m glad that they have stepped up the Hawkeye game since the first Avengers movie. He was very good in this film, very sarcastic, and I enjoyed him standing up to Stark. I thought there’d be more difficulty between him and Black Widow being on opposite sides, but there was one quip and that was all. They’ve been implied to have been very close in previous movies, but that didn’t particularly shine through in this movie.

I think I saw a little bit of a love story between Scarlet Witch and Vision, which would be cute, I do wonder how that baby would turn out. Then Scarlet Witch smashes him about 70ft into the ground, and Vision keeps her prisoner, so if a love story was trying to be portrayed, it’s a pretty fucked up one. I initially enjoyed Vision making her some food and asking to order pizza with her, but then it was just so she couldn’t leave, but it’ll be interesting to see the direction they take with it. Scarlet Witch is a very powerful character and I’d like to see how far they go with her abilities, particularly as she seemed to be able to use magic on the Mind Stone.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, there are holes and problems I have with it, this review probably made out that I hated the film. I didn’t. I really enjoyed it, every moment had me on the edge of my seat.

Batman V Superman- Is It All That Bad?

I've started this new blog to talk about movies, books, TV shows, music, etc. If you have any suggestions i.e. you want me to review a song, or go to your gig (discount innit xxx), talk about a book, ask me a question about something, argue with something I've said, etc, just message me on my Facebook page. 

But today I'll talk about Batman V Superman and why it isn't as bad as everyone is making out, because all I've seen down my newsfeed are bad things, and I think they're unfair. So I'll go through all the criticisms I've seen and I'll do what I do best- tell people why they are wrong. Of course we're all entitled to opinions, but I ask you do go to see the movie (if you haven't already) with an open mind. 

"It's too dark"

DC is like a million times darker than Marvel. I think the issue is that we've had so many Marvel films that people start to group all superheroes into one big universe, but it's not the case. DC is very dark, but that's not a criticism, it just makes it different to Marvel, which it has to be. If this film was full of jokes, people would complain that DC are trying to be like Marvel too much, and sometimes, I feel like the jokes in Marvel are irreverent, as if the missions are so easy that the Avengers can make quips throughout, which takes away some suspense at times. 

"It's too long"

People have been waiting about 3 (feels like million) years for this movie to come out. If it was an hour and a half people would complain they waited so long to see such a short movie. It has to be long, because it has to have a lot of exposition. It's the first time we've seen a lot of characters on the big screen, and it was trying to lay the basis for the DCCM (DC Cinematic Universe). It grappled with a lot of subject matter- the consequences of Man of Steel, Lex Luthor, introducing Batman, introducing Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. Perhaps it took on too much in the movie, but I feel like DC wanted to show what they have to offer in the future. 

"There wasn't enough Wonder Woman!"

Wonder Woman will be getting her own movie in 2017. If there was anymore Wonder Woman in this movie, I can just picture people saying "What are they going to do for the Wonder Woman movie now she was in this for most of the film?????" "It's Batman V Superman, not Batman V Superman V Wonder Woman!!!!!!!!!!!". I feel like with the inclusion of Wonder Woman (I found her badass, I loved her in the film), DC took a risk, and people were going to be picky about it.

"Lex Luthor wasn't scary!"

There are rumours that DC might bring Lex Luthor's father in for the next one, because they took a bit of a risk with a younger Lex. I think the end of the movie sets up a scarier Lex, but the whole way through he showed sociopathic tendencies. He was perhaps too funny for people to take seriously, but I think that to make him funnier humanises him a little, which polarises him further from Superman. To make a more human villain is to make a scarier villain, like there's a little Lex Luthor in all of us.

"Batman and Alfred are unexplained" 

Well we do have another Batman film coming, and its not like we're unaware of Batman's origin story. There are subtle links to Jason Todd and his origin story in this movie, which foreshadow upcoming movies. Thing is, if they did explain Batman, there would have been complaints that it was too Batman-orientated. People need patience. We have a darker, older Batman and Alfred for sure, but there has to be some mystery. DC can't give you all the answers in one movie. 

So overall, is it all that bad? Or did people just expect too much from this movie? In my opinion comic book fans won't be happy with many aspects to films, because we all imagine superheroes differently (but c'mon, the widow peak and Batman chin???? AWESOME!). I don't think the low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (not a massively reliable source, but it's all I've seen people use to persuade them to not go and see the film) are justified at all. It was a superhero movie, it was a fun ride, like all superhero movies, and I'm excited to see what DC do in the future with this universe. 

Movies Out This Week:
Hardcore Henry- 18
Midnight Special- 12a
The Huntsman: Winter's War- 12a
The Man Who Knew Infinity- 12a
Couple in a Hole- 12
Nasty Baby- 15
Dheepan- 15
The Absent One- 18
The Last Man on the Moon- PG
I Am Belfast- 15

Hopefully next week I will have questions, suggestions and people arguing with me in order to add more to my blog. Don't forget to like my Facebook page and message questions/suggestions to that page!