I'd argue that Marvel has a few of these under their belt already.
Guardians of the Galaxy...
The Avengers...
Captain America: The Winter Soldier...
Now you can feel free to add one more to that list, quite possibly to the very top. Captain America: Civil War is not only another win for Marvel, it's their best movie to date.
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"What'd you say about my suit?" |
Civil War picks up several months after the events of previous Marvel efforts such as Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Tony Stark is dealing with continued guilt of the aftermath of Avengers "rescues", mainly in Sokovia, while Cap and the new team are performing special ops missions around the world, often without any sanctions. After another mission goes awry, but yet still successful, the United Nations, and nearly every country in the world, wants the Avengers to sign the Sokovia Accords -- a piece of legislation that would make the Avengers a team only usable by the United Nations when and if they deemed it necessary. With the world requiring that each member sign these Accords, a riff in the group begins over the morality of the idea of being a restricted team run by men with agendas. On top of all this, The Winter Soldier has been identified as the culprit of a UN bombing and is being hunted, but Steve believes there's more to the story.
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Nerdgasm commence!! |
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Despite the fact that they can fly anywhere, Stark and Rhodes still go the airport first |
Now, all of this comes to a head in the much advertised airport scene. The scene feels as natural as it possibly can but there's still the obvious realization that it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Did they all need to fight? Probably not. You might think this is a complaint, and it very well might have been had this airport fight scene not been one of the best scenes I've ever seen in my entire movie-going career. Some may think that's an overstatement or me being over-dramatic. I don't care because for 15 solid minutes last night I was in movie-nerd nirvana with the biggest grin plastered on my face. It will be a movie magic moment that I remember for the rest of my life and it's an expert blend of insanely cool action, well-inserted humor, character interactions, and unique combinations of powers. I can't think of a single way that part of the film could have been any better other than hopelessly wishing that it never would have ended. If a single scene has ever sold an entire film I'd say that this airport scene is it. Luckily though it's surrounded by a film that's very nearly equally as impressive.
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"Buck...he doesn't want to dance off. Stand down." |
My first call-out is the action because, much like The Winter Solider, the choreography of Civil War ranges from great to bats**t insane. Aside from a tad too much shaky-cam (that doesn't go too well with IMAX 3D) the hand-to-hand combat is impressive and absolutely brutal. Most importantly though, it's inventive. Superpowers/abilities aside, there was some serious thought put into how each of these characters fight. Black Widow twirls and flips around her foes, Cap uses some classic boxing moves with martial arts, and the Winter Soldier goes for power with hay-maker after hay-maker. The film serves as a launching point for Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and garners so much excitement for the character that his solo debut film in a couple years can't get here soon enough. His fighting is lightning quick and when up against The Winter Solider their fights are mesmerizing. The several chases throughout the film are fun too and even garnered a "OhhhhHHHHH f**k yeah!!" from this usually-quiet movie-goer when the Winter Soldier steals a moving motorcycle with one arm. Yes. It's exactly as cool as it sounds.
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One main takeaway: Black Panther is going to be awesome |
I had high expectations for Civil War and they were absolutely crushed in the best of ways. Marvel continues to astound me and I'm beginning to think they can do no wrong. Combining strong storytelling, utilizing the history and familiarity of the characters, amazing action, inventive choreography, and just a general sense of awe, Captain America: Civil War cements itself as one of the very best blockbusters I'm ever likely to see. The two and a half hours flew by without even a nary of a glance at my watch and I was entertained from the very beginning through the very end of the credits. That airport scene is aiming to be my main highlight of 2016, but I'd be foolish to not recognize that the remaining minutes of the film are some of the best Marvel has made yet. Given how far along we are into the MCU, it amazes me that they're still producing them at a quality like this and the future remains bright as can be given that Anthony and Joe Russo (directors of this film) will also be in command of the next Avengers installments.
I'm already excited for those but more so I'm just excited to see Civil War again, as quickly as possible. It's a watershed moment for the MCU.
CONS:
- Another forgettable villain in Zemo
- A little too much shaky cam during hand-to-hand scenes
- Lacks a super compelling original score
- Elizabeth Olsen's on-again off-again accent
- Newcomers will be lost, especially with relation to The Winter Soldier and Hydra
- A complex plot that effectively balances the intertwining stories of the Sokovia Accords and The Winter Solider. This is all managed well and is another great example of a film being strong on its own, but also building the world and overall plot considerably
- Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans give their best performances yet as Iron Man and Captain America, respectively. This is still very much Cap's film, but their struggle with each others opinions is well thought out and explained. There was a lot of thought given to why these two characters are doing what they're doing
- That. Airport. Scene. Doe.
- Successfully manages a ton of characters all while effortlessly rebooting Spider-Man and introducing Black Panther. I don't know how they do it, but damn, Marvel! Impressive
- Other actors/actresses give strong performances. ScarJo is once again superb as Black Widow (probably her best performance in the MCU to date as well), Chadwick Boseman fits right in and establishes himself as a heavy hitter, and Tom Holland instantly makes about as positive of an impression as possible. If anything, it's obvious that the future is very bright for the MCU
- Action that just reeks of "cool". Hits come fast and hard. The choreography is on point. Foes are disposed of in inventive ways and there are several "Holy s**t!" moments
- Have I mentioned the airport scene yet? Because it's basically perfect
- Logically separated into three main acts that result in a logical conclusion. The main plot reveal is well planned out and implemented...giving credence to a lot of the conflict that follows
- Technically impressive with outstanding visuals, solid cinematography, and expert sound editing/mixing
- Some of the best laugh out loud moments the MCU has produced thus far
- Features really cool uses and combinations of powers between characters
- I found very close to every scene to be entertaining in some way and the blend of all these elements is impressive, creating a smart blockbuster that's as fun to watch as it is to think about
Rath's Review Score: 10/10 -- Instant Classic
Crikey! A glowing endorsement! I preferred Winter Soldier myself, but it is a great film and I adored Spidey. I found the first half a little dull in places but loved the airport fight. In terms of the argument, I was #TeamCap all the way! Please go and check my review out - it's back a week as us Brits were blessed early!
ReplyDeleteIf I could have kept glowing about it, I would have...just didn't figure many readers would stick around for a 3000+ word review lol!
DeleteI loved Winter Solider as well...it's right up there...but the airport scene in this one really elevated it into the stratosphere.
Going to your review as we speak!!
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Delete(Whoops, I accidentally commented this as a reply before. :P) I totally agree that this was a better Batman v Superman in every single way. I think the main problem for me is in the basic principle of what a "hero vs. hero" movie is. I saw things being forced and characters being changed to bring the plot around, and I didn't like that. Tony got most of it, and practically turned into a full-blown bad guy at the end, and that just seems so wrong. Characters argued their sides well, but it seemed like they should have really been arguing at all. Basically, I just found the plot's foundation to be really contrived and it tainted a lot of the movie. But it had to happen for the movie to exist! Anyway, besides that...
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about the airport sequence was how everyone seemed to be not really trying. They were all still friends. And Spidey made that bit! He was awesome. I totally agree with your thoughts on the action. Besides some shakiness it was on point and impressive. And when the characters weren't serving the plot I liked them a lot too. Bucky really stood out. Out of all the characters I felt for him the most. And I'll always love Cap. :D
Great review, Jordan! I'm glad it was such a huge success with you!
Thanks Sarah!
DeleteInteresting points about the plot, even if I may not agree with them. I think the stakes and reasoning for each character served their purpose well and I could realize their frustrations as they appeared on screen. But to each their own!
Thanks for the read and the comment!
Can’t agree more! Yeah, we are in total agreement here. Civil War is Marvel’s best work yet for so many reasons. It blew me away so completely. So much emotion, so incredible action, and so well plotted. I desperately need to watch it again. The Russo Brothers are really killing it as the directors. Now I have no idea how any Marvel movie could top this one. Excellent review Jordan!
ReplyDelete-James
It was probably one of the most well-deserved 10's I've given since I started this site. I'm not sure I've ever had as much fun in a theater as I did with my first-night showing of this one. It's an expertly well crafted film and definitely Marvel's best. Which is just so insane to say given how many films we are into their Universe.
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