Blah's film reviews: Captain America: Civil War

[blah the Prussian]

Lately, I've been noticing that a lot of works of fiction have been pitting heroes against each other. "Batman v Superman" is the obvious example that first comes to mind; Fire Emblem even got in on the action with Fates. Now, Marvel has throw its hat into the ring with "Captain America: Civil War". Of all the works I just mentioned, only one of them is successful. And given that I've already made my opinions on both "Batman v Superman" and Fire Emblem Fates perfectly clear, it really doesn't take a genius to figure out that I really liked Civil War.

I feel bad for DC at this point. This feels like Marvel grinding their face into the dirt after DC already proved its inferiority with its most recent cinematic outing. It is accurate, though; this film does virtually everything BVS failed so miserably at, but better. Both sides of this conflict have legitimate reasons to fight each other. Both sides make normal, human mistakes. The conflict isn't solved by Iron Man finding out that his and Captain America's mothers are both named Martha. The villain not only has a clearly explains motivation, its a motivation that makes sense and makes you feel bad for the guy.

This film, though, really should have been called Avengers 3, because that's essentially what it is. Even if Captain America and Iron man have most of the screen time, all of the Avengers except for Thor and Hulk are present. Debuting in this film are the Black Panther and Spider Man, both of which are absolutely splendid in this film; Black Panther is exactly the badass warrior king he should be, and this is honestly the best Spider Man I've ever seen, in terms of humor and general likability. Neither character, unlike in a certain other movie, interfere with the main action; they are supporting characters as they should be. This is what BVS should have done, and another way that this movie one ups its rival.

Generally, I like to think that I'm a rather cultured individual; that it takes more than a simple explosion to please me. I must admit, though, this film's action scenes completely and totally brought out my inner man child. Of particular note is a fight scene between the Avengers in the middle of the film at an airport, which is probably the best action scene in any superhero movie ever. I was grinning like an idiot throughout the entire scene, and I am not ashamed of it. One problem arising from this scene is that it completely outdoes the climactic battle at the end; the best part of the film is not at the end, and so the end, while good, feels worse as a result. The climax, though, has its own, more emotional struggle, so it is good in its own way.

I cannot recommend this film enough, honestly. It succeeds essentially everywhere where both BVS and Fates failed, and goes to new heights with its action and story. I don't know why you're still reading this; go to your theatre, and watch the movie. Just go!

[PeaceRibbon]

I personally liked it, kinda, but am on the fence about it being the best yet. It felt like it took until that airport scene to get truly interesting since I was bored to tears until then, and you pretty much sum up my feelings about the last battle: great, but a little less impactful because of how good the set piece preceding it was. And while I do agree each character had clear motivations, I felt Cap was pushing it a bit. "Oh, I'm gonna be a criminal and protect a fugitive because my girlfriend died and I made a very convenient interpretation of one of her words of wisdom!" Yes, I think even though Bucky was mind wiped that doesn't change the fact he did those things and he should be imprisoned accordingly.

I did like the sub cast a lot, because just... Tom Holland people. He alone makes this movie worth dropping a few bucks for. Sir Blah also makes a good point about Black Panther and I liked his character development, small but powerful. The villain has to be one of my favorites too, since he's doing it differently from the riffraff, and I enjoyed seeing the emotions behind him.

But the one thing that hold this movie back for me [spoiler=Worst design choice ever]BIG. WHITE. LETTERS. I'm dead serious and never thought I'd actually want to see the crane shots so badly for once. So annoying!

Overall, this movie left me satisfied, but not amazed. When it shines it shines bright, but when it's not shining it just throws out fluff that failed to entertain me. Maybe I'm just getting kind of sick of seeing so many action flicks or something and really need a change of pace, but my opinion wasn't made in comparison to any one movie in the series so I hope it doesn't sound too biased.

[blah the Prussian]

I think he should be imprisoned but not killed; if you were brainwashed you absolutely are not responsible for your actions, but you are still a threat to others so you should be imprisoned until you are not a threat, which, you know, was what ended up happening to him.

[PeaceRibbon]

I never said I wanted him killed. Capital punishment is dumb.

[blah the Prussian]

I never said I wanted him killed. Capital punishment is dumb.

Okay fine, then he shouldn't be imprisoned for any time unrelated to him not being susceptible to brainwashing.

[Rei Rei]

One of the most competent Marvel movies. Managed to provide reasonable motivations for both sides (Iron Man, Cap and Zemo - the latter being quite a bright spot in the movie), as well as having tons of awesome action scenes, good humor (although sometimes it felt like they were telling way too many jokes) and managed to introduce two new characters that stole the goddamn movie.

Seriously, Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman are A+ casting. Holy shit.