F@$ Captain America: Civil War

YIKES
YIKES
YIKES

2 months without a post.  Sorry New Years Resolution.


Anyways back with a movie review.

The Verdict first

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  It is not my absolute favorite MCU movie, but it's easily in the top 5 with Ironman, Avengers 1, and Cap2: Winter Soldier.

The Conception

once again, the Marvel producers conceived this movie well.  It's based on the "Civil War" cross over series, which pits heroes against heroes after the passage of the Super Hero Registration Act.  It's a great story, and to me, it seems like obvious source material for a film.  I speculate that this arc was included in the MCU timeline early on, and a whole bunch of films built to here.

The other thing Marvel does well here, is diverge from the source material as necessary.  The law is an international treaty instead and the story is otherwise really stripped down.

But who cares?  The core of the story is the argument on who should control a 'super heroes' power.

The Writing/Directing/Acting

Writing:  Good for what it was.  Like you're not making Citizen Kane.  I'm going to compare to Mad Max Fury Road here.  MMFR was fantastic because it didn't ever delve into exposition; it kept the story moving and didn't explain stuff when it could show you.  

Now I don't think CA:CW was as good at that as MMFR, but it really didn't have any agonizing slow parts.  

Also, the script gives several characters a chance to shine without derailing the central story line.  That is actually  hard to do (see any number of ensemble films or TV series).  

Directing:  Very very good.  The fight scenes are epic, and the stunts/special effects never look ridiculous.  Again, that is very very hard to do.

Acting:  Again, good for what it was.  The MCU is not casting Olivier, Hoffman or Newman into the key roles.   These films have a knack for getting the actor to buy into the character motivations.

So what specifically did I like about it?

I liked how the previous films shaped the principal characters motivations.  

Captain America :  Wary of organizational interference because of the events of Winter Soldier.  He will not submit to UN control.

Iron Man:  Plagued by guilt from Age of Ultron, confidence in his own judgement shattered, Iron Man wants someone else to hold the reins.

No who's right and who's wrong?  They're both right, they're both wrong.  And that is an interesting dynamic to explore.  

Oh yeah, and the awesome shots and quips.  Antman's big reveal was worth the price of admission by itself, and so was the Spiderman post credits scene.  The final showdown was also epic.

F!@#.  Awesome and Epic in the same paragraph.  Time to quit while I'm behind.