I cannot tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this movie. We missed Batman Vs Superman due to a remake of Contagion in our house with H as the monkey. Due to this I didn’t want to tempt fate by buying our tickets to Civil War too early just in case. We had two nights of unbroken sleep and a week of no runny noses/coughs before I bit the bullet, tempted fate and mortgaged my house to buy tickets for Gold Class. By the by, the ATMOS sound systems in the newer cinemas are amazing. It really does act as complete surround sound.
When we first got our Marvel Unlimited subscription, M and I celebrated by reading through the entire Civil War event together – over 100 comics in total stretching across over 10 titles. It seems like an insane undertaking post baby to be honest. I wasn’t sure how well Marvel would be able to pull off the scope, especially since they don’t have access to any of the mutants or the Fantastic Four who all played pivotal roles in the comic event.
What I Loved
First and foremost we have to talk about Spiderman. Probably going to get a bit of internet hate but Tom Holland is the best cinematic Spidey I’ve ever seen. His dialogue and delivery were completely on point. He’s not a wiseass like Tony – he’s just excited to be asked along. I also loved how they skirted around his origin story – no-one needs to hear about that goddamn radioactive spider again. Thanks Marvel! Black Panther was also well introduced and written. Not a lot of back story there either which I liked, but I assume they are saving that for his solo outing.
The technical achievements in this movie were quite frankly jaw dropping.The CGI on the youngified Robert Downey Jr is probably the most exceptional I’ve seen. No creepiness about it, he just looked like they’d spliced in footage from Heart and Souls.
As a Community fan, I was so happy to see the Russo Brothers pop in another little cameo for one of their mates. The Dean was always my favourite character so good to see in basically playing the same guy. Love love love.
What I Didn’t Love
We all know Marvel has a bit of a problem with female heroes, often side-lining them in the films to focus on the dudes. It was a bit of a disappointment to see this trend continue in Scarlet Witch, who didn’t seem to have a lot of agency in this film. She stayed in her room because Vision told her to and then she broke out because Hawkeye told her to. And why does Hawkeye call her a kid? I can’t find an age for Scarlet Witch but Elizabeth Olsen is twenty freakin seven and looks about mid twenties. That’s not a kid. They were treating her like a teenager who’s not responsible for her actions which bugged the hell out of me.
Crossbones and Zemo is two more in a long line of forgettable Marvel villains. With the exception of Loki (who I think we can all agree is practically perfect in every way), Marvel has a habit of using fairly awesome villains from the comics once, casting them beautifully, then disposing of them never to be seen again. Think Red Skull, Ronan, and Malekith. I could go on for hours.
At times dialogue felt a little like the Russo Brothers take on Joss Whedon. I feel like given the gravity of the situation it should have been closer in tone to The Winter Soldier than Age of Ultron. There was a lot of snappy banter which given the fact that they were all at each others throats made the fight scenes a little uncomfortable. Also given the amount of material to cover, some of the pacing felt a little fast, like they forced a bit too much in. I’m hoping that it will stretch out over more of Phase Three to give the story more depth.
My Rating: (3.5 / 5)
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about this movie’s flaws and while it’s definitely not my favorite Marvel movie (Guardians of the Galaxy FTW), it’s still pretty entertaining and definitely worth seeing as a Mum/Dad night out at the cinemas.
PS There’s two post credits scenes, so don’t leave right away.
Did you watch Captain America: Civil War? Did I get it right or terribly wrong? Let me know in the comments.
12 comments
I’m not sure I’m the right person to comment here. We attended the premiere here in Perth. Hubby loved it. I felt nauseous the entire night. Not sure if it was due to where we were sitting (side on) with the stair lights reflecting on my 3D glasses or it was just too much action for me.
I’ve actually heard from some people that the quick camera cuts and shaky cam action sequences caused a bit of nausea so could be that too.
I can’t wait to see this! 🙂
Oh it was so good. I’m excited for X-Men Apocalypse now!
Can’t wait for this one!! We have become big Marvel fans in this house, Of course I am in love with Iron Man …
#teamironman all the way!
Oh interesting. I haven’t seen any of the Marvel movies though loved the TV show Jessica Jones which I borrowed from a friend. I think I could be tempted to watch more!
Loved loved Jessica Jones! Can’t wait for season 2.
I used to really love superhero movies, probably still do. I haven’t sat down to watch a movie for donkeys. I have said before I need to date myself to the movies once in a while.
Going to the movies together was our big thing pre-baby so we’ve been trying to make the effort to give him to the grandies once a month and get out of the house. It’s so hard sometimes though!
I think we are going to use this as our date day this month. My sister was raving on about Spiderman too!
It’s so worth watching in the cinema. Spiderman really was a highlight. Can’t wait til his solo movie.