Captain America: Civil War, and Stuff
Before I say anything about the movie, I think I should remind my friendly readers that I've been reading the comic books off and on for over 20 years. It very much colors my reactions to things in the movie.
Okay, with that out of the way, onto the movie. I actually saw it May 5th, all dressed up for the big opening. Life has been so busy that I'm only getting this post up now. Short version, I liked it a lot. It doesn't make my Top Three. Those remain--
Top Three
[Updated 11/6/16]
1. Doctor Strange (2016)
My favorite presentation of a Marvel comic book on film.
2. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
My favorite presentation of an individual Marvel comic book character on film -- Tom Hiddleston's Loki.
3. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
My favorite reinvention of an individual Marvel comic book character on film -- Sebastian Stan's Bucky.
But Captain America: Civil War comes in either fourth or fifth. I'll have to see it again before I can decide whether or not it trumps the first Thor movie. It certainly trumps Captain America: The Winter Soldier hands down. I watched that solely for the return of Bucky, and didn't care for the whole HYDRA in SHIELD aspect of the story, not to mention the need to top the amount of damage done to a helicarrier in the first Avengers movie. *Shakes head.*
Oddly one of the reasons I like Civil War better than The Winter Soldier is also one of the things that has bothered me about the movie since it was first announced. I didn't like hearing they were going to cram the Civil War story into one of Cap's movies instead of doing it in a team movie. That overstuffed state is hit and miss for me actually watching the movie. I love the attention Clint and Wanda get! I could've done without pretty much everyone on Tony's side, and frankly wonder if one way they could've spread Civil War out better was to divide it between a Cap movie and an Iron Man movie. Follow just Cap's team in Cap's movie, and leave things like Tony's recruiting Spiderman onto his team for Tony's movie.
Of course between Tony's actions in Age of Ultron and Civil War every bit of goodwill Robert Downey Jr had built up in me towards Tony over three Iron Man movies and the first Avengers film have gone right out the window. I didn't like Tony in the books as a kid. I knew RDJ was good casting for him when he was first announced, but wondered what the writing would be like. Between the writing and RDJ's acting I've had some sympathy for the character in the movies. Had is definitely the keyword these days. I was loving watching Bucky and Steve fighting him two on one in the trailer, and it was at least in some ways even more satisfying with the full context. Of course in others I'm pretty grumpy about how Bucky is handled through out the whole film, but for the moments when Bucky and Steve are fighting Tony... joy.
Even if they weren't prepared to kill off Steve Rogers in the film Civil War the way they did in the comics, the movie should still have given Bucky more development than putting him back on ice. That is such an utter cop out--especially after having spent so much time talking about him being at the center of the story in the hype building up to the film. The only way in which Bucky being Bucky ultimately had any value to the story as it was presented in the film was the extra value it placed on him as someone Steve would protect from the super hero registration crap, which by the way has always been a bad idea in Marvel comics and I'm pretty sure has never ended well either. For me Bucky's crap treatment in Civil War highlights how lucky fans of Loki like myself were that Loki was treated as well as he was in the second Thor movie. Things could've been sooo much worse. Course they probably will be worse in the third Thor movie, but that's not do for release until fall next year. One disaster at a time.
You might still remember I mentioned having been able to do without pretty much everyone on Tony's side, well the big exception proved to be the Black Panther. I hadn't been at all sure about Marvel insisting on debuting the latest Spidey (don't get me started on him), and Black Panther in such an overstuffed supposedly solo movie. It turned out that the Black Panther more than held his own in the crowd. I would be interested in the arrival of his solo movie after Civil War even if I didn't have some vague hope that there might be more of Bucky in that film, and I do have that vague hope. He was so much less corny than the Black Panther I remember as a kid. I mean that Black Panther might have risen above the quality of 70's black exploitation movies, but he still didn't have the grounded feel of the movie Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa was human without being any less of a prince. He was great.
Not that Anthony Mackie was bad either. I've loved seeing how well Sebastian Stan and he have gotten along off screen, and getting to see the few moments in the film when Bucky and Sam were dealing with each other as Bucky and Sam were just as much fun. It was easy to understand why people were asking them whether or not there might be a Bucky & Sam road trip movie in their future. Of course Sam's, "I hate you," addressed to Bucky at one point in the film also illustrated how Mackie has been answering the characters have a long way to go before they'll be comfortable stuck on a road trip with each other for the length of a whole movie. Seriously, Steve's team is just the opposite of Tony's for me. While the Black Panther was the one redeeming team member on Tony's side, the only team member on Steve's that's main value seemed to be in a single sight gag at the airport was Ant Man.
Anyway, 1) I loved the movie, 2) I'm Team Steve/Rogers/Cap/Freedom and every other name I've seen for Steve's side in Civil War all the way, and 3) I'm disappointed I'm going to have to continue to wait for Bucky to truly get his due, but I'm a patient girl. I'll wait and hope.
In other news, I marched at my college Commencement on May 14th. I haven't actually earned my Bachelor's Degree in English yet, I've got to finish up a Spring class, and take a couple of Summer ones, but at my school if you want to march you have to do it the Spring of the year you'll be graduating. Not that it mattered much commencement wise. The people who did have their diplomas earned will be getting them in the mail. They didn't get them handed to them at the ceremony anymore than I did. The "I'm almost there!" part of me is really excited, but the "Oh God what am I going to do for Health Insurance when my Student Insurance expires?" part of me and my "Oh God now I really need to get a real job to pay my student loan debt" part of me are totally freaking out. I think it's good, if scary, but we'll see how I am six months from now.
*
Okay, with that out of the way, onto the movie. I actually saw it May 5th, all dressed up for the big opening. Life has been so busy that I'm only getting this post up now. Short version, I liked it a lot. It doesn't make my Top Three. Those remain--
Top Three
[Updated 11/6/16]
1. Doctor Strange (2016)
My favorite presentation of a Marvel comic book on film.
2. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
My favorite presentation of an individual Marvel comic book character on film -- Tom Hiddleston's Loki.
3. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
My favorite reinvention of an individual Marvel comic book character on film -- Sebastian Stan's Bucky.
But Captain America: Civil War comes in either fourth or fifth. I'll have to see it again before I can decide whether or not it trumps the first Thor movie. It certainly trumps Captain America: The Winter Soldier hands down. I watched that solely for the return of Bucky, and didn't care for the whole HYDRA in SHIELD aspect of the story, not to mention the need to top the amount of damage done to a helicarrier in the first Avengers movie. *Shakes head.*
Oddly one of the reasons I like Civil War better than The Winter Soldier is also one of the things that has bothered me about the movie since it was first announced. I didn't like hearing they were going to cram the Civil War story into one of Cap's movies instead of doing it in a team movie. That overstuffed state is hit and miss for me actually watching the movie. I love the attention Clint and Wanda get! I could've done without pretty much everyone on Tony's side, and frankly wonder if one way they could've spread Civil War out better was to divide it between a Cap movie and an Iron Man movie. Follow just Cap's team in Cap's movie, and leave things like Tony's recruiting Spiderman onto his team for Tony's movie.
Of course between Tony's actions in Age of Ultron and Civil War every bit of goodwill Robert Downey Jr had built up in me towards Tony over three Iron Man movies and the first Avengers film have gone right out the window. I didn't like Tony in the books as a kid. I knew RDJ was good casting for him when he was first announced, but wondered what the writing would be like. Between the writing and RDJ's acting I've had some sympathy for the character in the movies. Had is definitely the keyword these days. I was loving watching Bucky and Steve fighting him two on one in the trailer, and it was at least in some ways even more satisfying with the full context. Of course in others I'm pretty grumpy about how Bucky is handled through out the whole film, but for the moments when Bucky and Steve are fighting Tony... joy.
Even if they weren't prepared to kill off Steve Rogers in the film Civil War the way they did in the comics, the movie should still have given Bucky more development than putting him back on ice. That is such an utter cop out--especially after having spent so much time talking about him being at the center of the story in the hype building up to the film. The only way in which Bucky being Bucky ultimately had any value to the story as it was presented in the film was the extra value it placed on him as someone Steve would protect from the super hero registration crap, which by the way has always been a bad idea in Marvel comics and I'm pretty sure has never ended well either. For me Bucky's crap treatment in Civil War highlights how lucky fans of Loki like myself were that Loki was treated as well as he was in the second Thor movie. Things could've been sooo much worse. Course they probably will be worse in the third Thor movie, but that's not do for release until fall next year. One disaster at a time.
You might still remember I mentioned having been able to do without pretty much everyone on Tony's side, well the big exception proved to be the Black Panther. I hadn't been at all sure about Marvel insisting on debuting the latest Spidey (don't get me started on him), and Black Panther in such an overstuffed supposedly solo movie. It turned out that the Black Panther more than held his own in the crowd. I would be interested in the arrival of his solo movie after Civil War even if I didn't have some vague hope that there might be more of Bucky in that film, and I do have that vague hope. He was so much less corny than the Black Panther I remember as a kid. I mean that Black Panther might have risen above the quality of 70's black exploitation movies, but he still didn't have the grounded feel of the movie Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa was human without being any less of a prince. He was great.
Not that Anthony Mackie was bad either. I've loved seeing how well Sebastian Stan and he have gotten along off screen, and getting to see the few moments in the film when Bucky and Sam were dealing with each other as Bucky and Sam were just as much fun. It was easy to understand why people were asking them whether or not there might be a Bucky & Sam road trip movie in their future. Of course Sam's, "I hate you," addressed to Bucky at one point in the film also illustrated how Mackie has been answering the characters have a long way to go before they'll be comfortable stuck on a road trip with each other for the length of a whole movie. Seriously, Steve's team is just the opposite of Tony's for me. While the Black Panther was the one redeeming team member on Tony's side, the only team member on Steve's that's main value seemed to be in a single sight gag at the airport was Ant Man.
Anyway, 1) I loved the movie, 2) I'm Team Steve/Rogers/Cap/Freedom and every other name I've seen for Steve's side in Civil War all the way, and 3) I'm disappointed I'm going to have to continue to wait for Bucky to truly get his due, but I'm a patient girl. I'll wait and hope.
In other news, I marched at my college Commencement on May 14th. I haven't actually earned my Bachelor's Degree in English yet, I've got to finish up a Spring class, and take a couple of Summer ones, but at my school if you want to march you have to do it the Spring of the year you'll be graduating. Not that it mattered much commencement wise. The people who did have their diplomas earned will be getting them in the mail. They didn't get them handed to them at the ceremony anymore than I did. The "I'm almost there!" part of me is really excited, but the "Oh God what am I going to do for Health Insurance when my Student Insurance expires?" part of me and my "Oh God now I really need to get a real job to pay my student loan debt" part of me are totally freaking out. I think it's good, if scary, but we'll see how I am six months from now.
*