so we saw Civil War last night
So, I really loved this movie. Paladin said he thought it was the best one since--and possibly exceeding--Avengers 1, and I agree. I really loved how much character development they managed to pack in, especially with all the characters they had to juggle. I laughed a lot, I literally cried a few times, I cheered for people, and holy shit I am fucking here for the flawlessness of how Cap and Bucky fight together.
Basically this movie took my two biggest weaknesses--knights and teamwork--and gave me two and a half hours of them, and I'm slain.
There were things I didn't like, of course--as
owlmoose pointed out, we really didn't get as much of Cap as we should have given that he's in the title of the movie (poor Cap, he's got 3 movies by the titles but only the first one was really his since Natasha stole the second one and this was really an ensemble).
I also felt a little shaky on Tony's reasoning for picking the side he did. Natasha makes perfect sense (Natasha is once again my favorite thing about this movie, always and forever Natasha) and I guess this is supposed to be an outgrowth of Tony being "taken down a notch" from IM3 and Ultron, but I wanted to see more of why those were pushing his buttons, where it felt like the kid who died in Sokovia was Pastede On Yey (I mean I get that there had to be something as a trigger point in case you hadn't seen the entire MCU, that's legit, but. Fussin')
I loved all the action scenes. I loved how everyone's skills got to shine and how hilarious it was while also being dead-serious. I loved how fucking torn apart Tony was. (I clued in about 5 seconds before my husband did to what the video from 1991 was going to be. The only comics I've ever read in my life are the Sandman series so other than friends' chatter I had no real knowledge coming in.) I loved Sharon and Steve.
I love that neither Steve nor Tony is right nor wrong. They both make compelling points and it's messy, the way it should be. I do think Tony and Natasha should have been more suspicious of the powers of an organization like the UN, and its ability to have any fucking decision making power in a reasonable span of time, especially Natasha given her history. But then again, I also love that Natasha is perpetually split down the middle, and the ways this played out in the movie. I actively cringed when I saw that it was her vs. Hawkeye and whispered "no, no, no, oh God no" and then the bit about "we're still friends, right?" just. yes. I needed that because I was about to shatter over something so (comparatively) small.
I loved Black Panther and I look forward to his movie. I liked this Spider-Man (I watched the first....two? Spidey movies and skipped all the rest, but I used to be a devoted cartoon viewer.) I hadn't actually seen Ant-Man but maybe now I will. I also want to rewatch the entire MCU, oops. We ordered a bunch of DVDs last night in service of this decision. (We had everything up through Avengers already, and decided we weren't that invested in IM3, so Ultron, Winter Soldier, Thor 2, and Ant-Man happened.)
One thing I really loved, actually, is the moment when Steve and Bucky are fighting their way out of Bucky's apartment and Steve goes to so much trouble in all that chaos to make sure nobody dies. It ties back to some of what I was complaining about with Arkham Knight, except done right this time.
The thing I'm really torn about is Bucky putting himself back in coldsleep. I agree with Steve's argument--you didn't have a choice--one hundred percent, because yes, that is in fact the literal truth. Bucky did not have a choice about what he was going to do. Bucky is a gun. A gun does not choose who fires it, or whom it kills, or whether it is used for relative* good (such as defending one's family) or relative evil (murder for profit.) He's a tool. I also understand why there are people in the world who would blame him because he remembers, and those people are fucking wrong and I will fight them, but I grok where that feeling comes from.
The part of me that is actually a paladin and believes in truth and justice and has to help everyone in video games because I can't do it in real life is actively angry that Bucky is back in coldsleep because he deserves better and he has suffered enough and it is time to stop punishing him for things over which he literally had no control of any kind.
So....it's complicated, because I get why the writers would do that and I get why Bucky thinks he belongs there, but I'm still angry and hurt on his behalf.
Still, I didn't even realize how long the movie was until they were fighting in Siberia and I went "...whoa what how long have I been here?" which was like legitimately the one place the pacing broke a little for me, and that was mostly my own fault.
tl;dr I loved this movie so much, and the entire concept of the Accords is complicated and grey, and everybody needs therapy and kittens, and I'm mad about Bucky.
* I say relative because I understand both of these situations are morally grey, which hey! whole point of the movie!
...how the shit did I not have an MCU tag before this?
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1145182.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.
Basically this movie took my two biggest weaknesses--knights and teamwork--and gave me two and a half hours of them, and I'm slain.
There were things I didn't like, of course--as
owlmoose pointed out, we really didn't get as much of Cap as we should have given that he's in the title of the movie (poor Cap, he's got 3 movies by the titles but only the first one was really his since Natasha stole the second one and this was really an ensemble).
I also felt a little shaky on Tony's reasoning for picking the side he did. Natasha makes perfect sense (Natasha is once again my favorite thing about this movie, always and forever Natasha) and I guess this is supposed to be an outgrowth of Tony being "taken down a notch" from IM3 and Ultron, but I wanted to see more of why those were pushing his buttons, where it felt like the kid who died in Sokovia was Pastede On Yey (I mean I get that there had to be something as a trigger point in case you hadn't seen the entire MCU, that's legit, but. Fussin')
I loved all the action scenes. I loved how everyone's skills got to shine and how hilarious it was while also being dead-serious. I loved how fucking torn apart Tony was. (I clued in about 5 seconds before my husband did to what the video from 1991 was going to be. The only comics I've ever read in my life are the Sandman series so other than friends' chatter I had no real knowledge coming in.) I loved Sharon and Steve.
I love that neither Steve nor Tony is right nor wrong. They both make compelling points and it's messy, the way it should be. I do think Tony and Natasha should have been more suspicious of the powers of an organization like the UN, and its ability to have any fucking decision making power in a reasonable span of time, especially Natasha given her history. But then again, I also love that Natasha is perpetually split down the middle, and the ways this played out in the movie. I actively cringed when I saw that it was her vs. Hawkeye and whispered "no, no, no, oh God no" and then the bit about "we're still friends, right?" just. yes. I needed that because I was about to shatter over something so (comparatively) small.
I loved Black Panther and I look forward to his movie. I liked this Spider-Man (I watched the first....two? Spidey movies and skipped all the rest, but I used to be a devoted cartoon viewer.) I hadn't actually seen Ant-Man but maybe now I will. I also want to rewatch the entire MCU, oops. We ordered a bunch of DVDs last night in service of this decision. (We had everything up through Avengers already, and decided we weren't that invested in IM3, so Ultron, Winter Soldier, Thor 2, and Ant-Man happened.)
One thing I really loved, actually, is the moment when Steve and Bucky are fighting their way out of Bucky's apartment and Steve goes to so much trouble in all that chaos to make sure nobody dies. It ties back to some of what I was complaining about with Arkham Knight, except done right this time.
The thing I'm really torn about is Bucky putting himself back in coldsleep. I agree with Steve's argument--you didn't have a choice--one hundred percent, because yes, that is in fact the literal truth. Bucky did not have a choice about what he was going to do. Bucky is a gun. A gun does not choose who fires it, or whom it kills, or whether it is used for relative* good (such as defending one's family) or relative evil (murder for profit.) He's a tool. I also understand why there are people in the world who would blame him because he remembers, and those people are fucking wrong and I will fight them, but I grok where that feeling comes from.
The part of me that is actually a paladin and believes in truth and justice and has to help everyone in video games because I can't do it in real life is actively angry that Bucky is back in coldsleep because he deserves better and he has suffered enough and it is time to stop punishing him for things over which he literally had no control of any kind.
So....it's complicated, because I get why the writers would do that and I get why Bucky thinks he belongs there, but I'm still angry and hurt on his behalf.
Still, I didn't even realize how long the movie was until they were fighting in Siberia and I went "...whoa what how long have I been here?" which was like legitimately the one place the pacing broke a little for me, and that was mostly my own fault.
tl;dr I loved this movie so much, and the entire concept of the Accords is complicated and grey, and everybody needs therapy and kittens, and I'm mad about Bucky.
* I say relative because I understand both of these situations are morally grey, which hey! whole point of the movie!
...how the shit did I not have an MCU tag before this?
I've posted this at http://lassarina.dreamwidth.org/1145182.html and you may comment there or here. On Dreamwidth, this entry has
comments.