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.
No comments:
Post a Comment