Brief Reaction - Captain America: Civil War
I don't know if anyone's going to read this, but here, have a reaction post anyway.
This movie. YES.
It's hardly worth mentioning that Captain America: Civil War is better than Batman vs Superman, although it is infinitely better than Batman vs Superman. B vs S was thinly excused and just as thinly dismissed rock-em-sock-em robots with loads of unearned and frankly comical angst, darkness, religious allegory, and a criminally underused Wonder Woman. If you haven't seen B vs S yet, don't bother, just wait until someone does a recut of the twenty decent minutes in it and uploads it to You Tube.
Captain America: Civil War is a superhero movie. Everyone thinks they're on the right side, and are making morally and civically responsible choices. And they are. Both sides are right in different ways, and both sides have their downsides. (This is explored slightly in the film, mostly through action, partly through debate, but only explored as much as it needs to be for a general audience going to a superhero movie. It is not dumbed down, it is not spoon fed, and it is not a cardboard cut-out that says "motivation for conflict" (looking at you Batman vs Superman). There's enough explanation there for a casual audience member to get the motivation, and it doesn't beat you in the head with it.
There could have been more discussion of the central issues, and in fact I suspect there will be a deleted scene on the dvd release which adds more. However, the deeper moral relativism and real-world parallel applications of each side is for fan meta and pro reviewers to explore more fully.) Everyone is doing what they feel is the right thing to do, which by some perspectives they all are, and everyone is still a hero even though some of their actions put them in a situation where some perspectives would disagree.
There was a Civil War in the comic books as well. I haven't read the comic book arc the film's title came from, but I know the basic points of that arc. I'd say the movie has a superficial resemblance at best. On the bus home a group who had also seen it was holding court in the back, and one fellow was very loud and excited about how he'd been dreading the movie because he'd read the comic arc, but how the movie had been NOTHING like the comics, so take that how you will.
A situation like the one in the film where hero characters are pitting themselves against each other can be uncomfortable to watch (ask any Supernatural viewer), because you don't want to see people on the same team fighting each other of their own determination. But friends do fight. Friends hurt each other, sometimes without knowing it. Sometimes there's a way past it and a renewed and strengthened friendship on the other side, and sometimes there isn't, or isn't for a long while. It's a realistic, if painful social dynamic, and having that aspect of character development included in the characters here adds to the realism of them. They are a diverse group of individuals who make their own decisions for their own reasons. They are not a hive mind. There will be conflict, and sometimes deep enough conflict to lead to a rift between them. Knowing that they can have this conflict and that it will be resolved and moved on from in whatever way is important.
In the film, this conflict was handled deftly, as was the combat. The emotional and mental stakes remained serious throughout, while not losing that bright edge of hope and humour intrinsic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, this movie contains what I think may be my favourite combat scene in anything ever. I say this as a person who usually HATES when hero characters I like fight each other. When it comes out on DVD, I'm going to watch that scene alone on repeat many many times.
Aside from the central themes and issues in the movie, it also contained a character introduction that might be my favourite character introduction yet, and a new character I had had no previous experience with. Due to their appearances and in-movie character development, I am now very interested in both of them, and any future MCU movies that may feature them. And that's as vague as I can get on that without spoiling things.
I very much liked this movie. It wasn't perfect, there were scenes that dragged a little, and there were things that could have been done better, but I really really liked this movie. I consider it to be better than Ultron, and I liked Ultron a lot.
I intend to go see this movie again in the theatre the second I can scrape together the money and time to do so. And then do it again.
This movie. YES.
It's hardly worth mentioning that Captain America: Civil War is better than Batman vs Superman, although it is infinitely better than Batman vs Superman. B vs S was thinly excused and just as thinly dismissed rock-em-sock-em robots with loads of unearned and frankly comical angst, darkness, religious allegory, and a criminally underused Wonder Woman. If you haven't seen B vs S yet, don't bother, just wait until someone does a recut of the twenty decent minutes in it and uploads it to You Tube.
Captain America: Civil War is a superhero movie. Everyone thinks they're on the right side, and are making morally and civically responsible choices. And they are. Both sides are right in different ways, and both sides have their downsides. (This is explored slightly in the film, mostly through action, partly through debate, but only explored as much as it needs to be for a general audience going to a superhero movie. It is not dumbed down, it is not spoon fed, and it is not a cardboard cut-out that says "motivation for conflict" (looking at you Batman vs Superman). There's enough explanation there for a casual audience member to get the motivation, and it doesn't beat you in the head with it.
There could have been more discussion of the central issues, and in fact I suspect there will be a deleted scene on the dvd release which adds more. However, the deeper moral relativism and real-world parallel applications of each side is for fan meta and pro reviewers to explore more fully.) Everyone is doing what they feel is the right thing to do, which by some perspectives they all are, and everyone is still a hero even though some of their actions put them in a situation where some perspectives would disagree.
There was a Civil War in the comic books as well. I haven't read the comic book arc the film's title came from, but I know the basic points of that arc. I'd say the movie has a superficial resemblance at best. On the bus home a group who had also seen it was holding court in the back, and one fellow was very loud and excited about how he'd been dreading the movie because he'd read the comic arc, but how the movie had been NOTHING like the comics, so take that how you will.
A situation like the one in the film where hero characters are pitting themselves against each other can be uncomfortable to watch (ask any Supernatural viewer), because you don't want to see people on the same team fighting each other of their own determination. But friends do fight. Friends hurt each other, sometimes without knowing it. Sometimes there's a way past it and a renewed and strengthened friendship on the other side, and sometimes there isn't, or isn't for a long while. It's a realistic, if painful social dynamic, and having that aspect of character development included in the characters here adds to the realism of them. They are a diverse group of individuals who make their own decisions for their own reasons. They are not a hive mind. There will be conflict, and sometimes deep enough conflict to lead to a rift between them. Knowing that they can have this conflict and that it will be resolved and moved on from in whatever way is important.
In the film, this conflict was handled deftly, as was the combat. The emotional and mental stakes remained serious throughout, while not losing that bright edge of hope and humour intrinsic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, this movie contains what I think may be my favourite combat scene in anything ever. I say this as a person who usually HATES when hero characters I like fight each other. When it comes out on DVD, I'm going to watch that scene alone on repeat many many times.
Aside from the central themes and issues in the movie, it also contained a character introduction that might be my favourite character introduction yet, and a new character I had had no previous experience with. Due to their appearances and in-movie character development, I am now very interested in both of them, and any future MCU movies that may feature them. And that's as vague as I can get on that without spoiling things.
I very much liked this movie. It wasn't perfect, there were scenes that dragged a little, and there were things that could have been done better, but I really really liked this movie. I consider it to be better than Ultron, and I liked Ultron a lot.
I intend to go see this movie again in the theatre the second I can scrape together the money and time to do so. And then do it again.