Captain America Civil War: A Review

Marvels most recent film came out this week with Captain America: Civil War.  "Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man."  It stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson.  

The idea is that the Government decides that the Avengers are given too much freedom and that they need to be controlled by, I believe, the UN.  Basically they will be told where and when to go fight and who.  Iron Man wants this after a woman gives him a picture of her son who died.  Captain America disagrees and refuses to sign along with Hawkeye, Falcon and Scarlet Witch.  They then go to war with each other after someone attacks the UN signing of the new law.  

There is a brief summary of the plot without many spoilers.  There will be more below so you've been warned.

I am still torn on this flick.  This starts, I believe, Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It introduced the fan favorite Spider-Man to the MCU making it his debut.  It also introduced Black Panther expanding the MCU a little more.  

Overall I enjoyed the film.  The inclusion of Spidey and Ant-Man I enjoyed quite a bit.  This was the first time I felt they got Spidey right.  The constant talking and jokes and quips and such were done well and it felt right with Tom Holland doing it.  The past film versions just didn't feel quite right.

I also enjoyed the more serious Iron Man even though I missed his smart ass persona as well.  It was nice to see things move forward character wise as I felt things were a little stale in Avengers 2. Although I feel that Scarlet Witch had a more lasting effect on Iron Man then the others which I hope they play off more in the future.

I thought SOME of the CGI was done well but there is SO much of it.  I also felt that there was too much shaky cam usage, especially during the first fight scene.  I feel that it is slowly becoming a standard in action flicks and I'm not a fan it.  

I also feel that there were a few really weird shots...but this might be due to us being a little close to the screen and off to the side.  There was one scene in particular that involved Capt and Black Widow in a church that had each in a solo shot but each one is on one side of the screen if that makes sense. Just a weird choice of camera shots.

Overall it was enjoyable if not a little long which is just the norm in movies anymore.  I felt that a few scenes went a little long including the car chase where Panther shows up.  There also was the seemingly pointless introduction of Martin Freemans character of Everett K. Ross.  I'm sure we'll learn more about this character as the MCU advances.  

If you're a fan of the MCU, and lets be honest who isn't at this point, check it out.  If you can see it in IMAX I think it'd be very good in the large print format.  Overall I give it a 7/10, nothing overly amazing but just yet another stepping stone in the MCU.

Ant Man or a non-Marvel Marvel movie

Last night and went out and saw the newest Marvel Universe flick Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Corey Stoll.  Right now, as of 7/19 IMDB has it rated at 8.1.  I'd give it a 7 personally.  I will say that Michael Peña was probably the best part of the flick.  He is an extremely underrated actor who is amazing in everything I've seen him in.

Here goes, there will be spoilers from here on out so you've been warned.  The flick itself didn't feel like a Marvel flick.  It felt more like mix between Anchor Man and Shaun of the Dead...oh wait because both of the writers worked on this.  I didn't realize Anchor Man author Adam McKay worked on it till writing this.  However some of the jokes had McKay written all over them....horrible pun not intended.

Oh and let me say that I hated Evangeline Lilly hair throughout the movie.  HATED IT!  I was distracted by her hair throughout the film.  Don't know why but it bugged me.

There were a few things I disliked about the flicked.  I felt that Scott Lang (Rudd) accepted the entire thing way too quickly.  I felt that Pym (Douglas) accepted the idea of using a convicted felon way to quickly.  I realize it is a movie and you only have so much time for back story and what not but I didn't like that.  Also I didn't like that they don't mention Howard Stark and Peggy Carter by name in the film.  I saw Carter and thought it was her but didn't think they would just drop her in the film and not atleast say her name.  I had no idea it was Stark till looking at IMDB.  I guess I had to remember seeing him in Iron Man 2 to know it was Stark as it was the same actor.  Slightly disappointed that I had to remember a movie from five years ago to know the characters.  I guess I'm not a big enough fan to remember every actor in every Marvel flick ever!

For the most part that is what I disliked.  A few little things.  I really liked the effects, which are always top notch in Marvel flicks.  However I did feel like I was watching Honey I Shrunk the Kids a few times.  Judy Greer and Abby Ryder Fortson, Lang's ex and his daughter, were really good in their roles and I didn't hate a child actor for once.

There was an Avengers tie in and I like that Lang mentioned calling the Avengers at one point. There is of course a post credit scene that confuses me a bit.  I won't say much about it other then Captain America makes a surprise appearance along with his former friend Bucky Barnes.  But it makes little sense to me right now because I don't have a time frame for it.  It is obviously after Winter Soldier but I don't know if it is after Age of Ultron and if this is setting up Civil War.  Does it take place DURING Civil War?  So that is interesting.

It was an interesting film but I didn't feel like it was a Marvel film.  It felt different and I don't mean that in a bad way.  Guardians of the Galaxy was the same way but this felt even further out there and I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

I'd say go see this flick if you're a Marvel fan or not.  There are a lot of good laughs, lets be honest Paul Rudd is a great actor, and some good action.

There you go, yet another movie review.  Hope you're enjoying these and if you have a movie you'd like to see me review let me know in the comments.  Until next time...abyssinia!!