The Cap: Civil War review

This blog shall be my first dedicated to one film so stick with me as I scratch a new itch. My history of reviewing films mainly consists of two sentence Facebook posts that say “hurrah!” and “splurge” a lot. Today I’m going to write about Captain America Civil War. No spoilers! Hopefully…

First thing that stood out for me, this is very much a sequel to Winter Soldier. A few folk I know have asked why didn’t just call it Avengers but there’s a different tone here and a real focus on that Cap/Bucky relationship from the last film. Like Winter Soldier before it, a lot of the film feels like a spy thriller (albeit with brightly coloured costumes and big open brawls as opposed to stealth) Secrets and lies, misdirection and a lack of trust drives much of the characters motives. And then there’s Bucky, his relationship to Cap being integral to pretty much everything. 

The core argument that leads to the Civil War is also brilliantly done. Despite all the marketing pushing for Team Cap or Team Iron Man, it’s never that clear cut in the film. There is no real right or wrong here, and neither hero has suddenly been portrayed as a villain. Both sides make sense and as they spar on screen, both verbally and punch-punch-headbutt-ingly, you’ll feel for both. It’s not a detailed argument on either side to be fair but it’s enough to set them apart and lead the way to a big old fanboy dream of a fight sequence.

Two teams get assembled and come face to face in what is without any doubt in my mind, Marvels best action sequence ever. Twelve characters (I think) duke it out and every single one them gets their moment to shine. Yes even Hawkeye. Punches and shots are flung about but it’s the quips and character beats that make it perfect. Friends holding back, other friends intent on knocking each other down, one liners and every character without a mask having a look on their face that says “I don’t want to have to do this.” This is not just a series of kids action toys having fisticuffs, it’s a group of expertly developed characters each with motives and emotions. And then there’s funny bits too..

You might not be expecting Spider-Man and Ant-Man to be two of your favourite things about this but well, they will be. Both are similar characters with jokes being used to cover up that they don’t really know what they’re up too. They’re the regular folks, with super powers. Both in a fight that’s bigger than them, alongside heroes they’re in awe of. Neither is confident of their place in this group of titans but they want to do their best, and do the right thing. In visual terms they also happen to be the best of the lot. I’ll admit to a bit of bias with Spider-Man, I’ve always found his movement and swinging as terrific to watch. Its way more fun than watching someone fly. Ant-man... I don’t even want to say. You’ll love it, trust me.

I’m looking at my page length here and thinking I could go on for five times longer, so much to cover, so many thoughts… Pardon my lack of structure as I just fling stuff out there now in excitement

This version of Spider-Man already feels like my favourite, a young Peter Parker with geeky awkwardness and a fast mouth. I am now really excited for his film.

Falcon was flipping superb in this compared to his previous bits. The character was great already but his movement and capability in a fight was really ramped up.

The villain was genius. Subtle, clever and with real reason behind his action. Everything the BvS Luthor wasn’t.

Black Panther was also nifty and had a good chunky role. Not completely sold on a solo film for him yet but there’s promise.

The actual finale and the scene that sets it up… Gut wrenchingly effective. Well played.

Soooo much to talk about, so much to love. Any faults? Barely. Marvels best? It’s a very different film from Guardians, so that comparisons unfair. In strictly superhero terms, with any of these characters… yes it is. It’s genuinely a comic come to life and it’s fudging glorious. Hurrah and splurge.

Taking a huff with Nintendo

I could start this blog with nostalgia filled tales of growing up on Nintendo or remind you all of the Zelda wedding cake topper, but you see... I’m grumpy. And it’s all Nintendo’s fault.

Last Thursday night I received my shiny new copy of Starfox Zero. Here was an HD reimagining of one my favourites from yesteryear. For you non-gamers it was probably the equivalent of buying tickets for the The Force Awakens. It’s that thing you loved, remoulded into something new but filled with nods to what the kid version of you bloody loved. Now imagine you’re sitting in the cinema, the film starts on screen and then… You’re asked to look at the floor, then back again, then do a handstand whilst rubbing your belly and aaaAARRRGH!

I’ve played plenty of bad to average games before but never have I found a game as frustrating as this. Flicking your eyes between two screens whilst constantly moving, working two control sticks and using motion controls… Mental. I went online to see if I was playing it wrong and found a bunch of suggestions on different sitting positions, ways to cross your leg and ideas on moving your furniture to a different angle. When it gets to that point then it’s probably no longer a leisure activity. I wanted to love this game so much but then I had to admit that I was just torturing myself. I sold it on Saturday morning.

After that it was back to the interweb, to gorge myself on forums and twitter. Starfox may have sucked but there’s always something new to look forward too. People have been talking, hoping and getting carried away about a mythical device we know nothing about, but we know it’s coming. Nintendo’s currnet console is dying a slow and miserable death, there’s barely a game due out this year and more people will read this blog than buy a new Wii U this year (…that may be a gross exaggeration) so surely their next glorious gaming box is going to land soon…

It has to release this Christmas! The biggest media event in the gaming calendar is only two months away and Nintendo are going to blow us all away with a Zelda led missile barrage of fun stuff!

I’ve said these things and I’ve read them, as has every follower of Nintendo news bits.

Wednesday 27^th april 2016, a day that will live in infamy. Nintendo announce that there next console, codenamed the NX, will release globally in march 2017. Zelda, the first home console Zelda since 2011 has been delayed to March 2017. At E3 in June, with the world watching, with PlayStation and Xbox fighting for coverage… Nintendo will have one playable game. 

If I had been sitting in a pram this morning, toys would have flown through windows.

I’ve 101 thoughts on the whole thing, both positive and negative. I’ve theories on their strategy mixed with general bemusement and then there’s been about one moments pause to allow for “It’s only flipping games, joe.”

I’m writing this blog because I’ve had enough of reading the internet go ape-shit over the news. In theory 2016 looks like a write off for the big N and there are many people delighted with the news, who’ve revelled in Nintendo’s failure over the past four years. Despite my crazy mood swings this morning I still have faith. They can’t mess this one up and at the end of the day, it’s still going to come and it’ll have a new freaking Zelda with it. 

Until then I’ve still got plenty to play (mostly due to having a PS4…) On the Nintendo side it’s about time I dusted off some oldies, instead of waiting for them to mess about with my nostalgia I should just relive that stuff now. Let Nintendo take their time, let them make something new. Let me getting insanely hyped another day and let me have some stress balls at the ready just in case it’s not the greatest thing ever in all of time and space. No pressure Nintendo.

Final thought: This quote from the main man…

The Comic Book Movie Love In

Last week I saw Batman vs Superman. There’s plenty of reviews online and loads of you have seen it already. From what I hear most people seem to think it's alright. I considered writing a whole blog about my take on it, then I asked myself "do people really want to read a whole page of alternative words for excrement?"

I did not like it. Rather than go on a rant that would give me a husky Batman voice... I’m going to pick my main gripe and then fling a comic-film fanboy love-in your way.

To me the film is built around action set pieces, things that might look cool such as flying fists or exploding buildings. Characterisation comes second.

I absolutely love superheroes. I adore comics and I've been an X-Men fan for as long as I remember. The reason I love them is not because I like seeing folks in spandex punching each other (although I’m not denying that can be fun when done right...) Nope, I get excited about the characters, their motives and their relationships.

X-Men is really a big old soap opera that just uses lightning bolts and metal claws instead of hair pulling. If X-Men 2 had just that Nightcrawler intro or the Deathstrike fight then it'd be an ok film, what makes it great is all the other stuff. Iceman’s family tension, Wolverine as a babysitter and the jewel in the crown... That Jean Grey and Wolverine romance.

Jean Grey "Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, they don't bring him home; they marry the good guy."
Wolverine "I can be the good guy."
Jean Grey "Logan, the good guy sticks around."

Aargh! He loves her! She fancies the sideburns of him! So much brilliance on screen and better than any fight. While I’m talking about love stuff I have to bring up Spider-Man 2. Some people will tell you it's about a kid who shoots webs from his wrists fighting a crazy man. Those people are imbeciles. It's a story about one man's love for a woman and how not being with her makes him a lesser version of himself. Yes really!! Then there’s that end scene and those lines about standing in his doorway, followed by the beauty that is "Go get em tiger." *sniff*

Enough of the word love for now, I’ve got a bunch of other examples to get through featuring these armour clad vigilantes being brilliantly written humans. Think back to Avengers. Did you love Captain America punching those aliens at the end? And Iron Man shooting things? They wee ok-ish. Avengers was great because it was mostly a set of egos having a battle of wits. Oh and Hulk. Hulk was everyone’s favourite. "Puny God," that punch to Thor, Banner saying he's always angry before transforming and punching that giant worm thingy... Punching’s fine when you've got great dialogue and a character with heart to back it up. Take that away and you get, well you get Hulk in Avengers 2. That Hulk sucked.

I’ve written before about my wedding and how there were bits of Nintendo weaved in. Also on that day were a couple of elements from my number one comic book movie. That morning I had a present from the wife to unwrap, it was a baby Groot funko pop. Second dance of the night was ‘Hooked On A Feeling,’ from the soundtrack to the masterpiece that is.. Guardians of the Galaxy. Same theory applies here as what I’m been trying to say all blog. Those characters are brilliant. Every word, every look and every move they make is part of a finely crafted tapestry of personalities and relationships. They shoot things, blow stuff up and move through a whole bunch of weird sci-fi locations, but… everything that happens is just there to give these personalities reason to express themselves on screen. The whole plot about a bad guy and an all-powerful stone is secondary. It’s an excuse to put these five people together, to watch them interact, make quips, hate each other, grow to love each other and find redemption together. And it’s glorious.

Next up on the comic slate: Captain America Civil War. The trailers have me giddy.  Cap and Iron Man punching each other looks cool, but its’ not half as epic as Tony’s “So was I,” line. As long as it doesn’t end with them saying Martha then consider me hyped.