Superheroes beating the crap out of other Superheroes – does that float ya boat? No? You don’t even own a boat yet alone have an interest in anything nautical? In that case don’t go and see Captain America: Civil War. However if that sounds like a hoot and a half and gives your box a big warm tick then this movie is for you.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead! This is a review after all.
I have seen nearly every Marvel movie they have made except two – Antman and Captain America: Winter Soldier. And it turns out that CA2 is one of the few movies you probably would do better to see before you see this flick. However I was able to pick up the basics of what had happened – Cap’s best buddy Bucky got turned at some point into a brainwashed super soldier with a metal arm and he’s a good guy that goes into trances and does bad things – nuff said.
First Half Hour – Plot Devices
The movie starts off with the obligatory action scene which ends with the Scarlet Witch accidentally blowing up a bunch of civilians in order to save Captain America. In the comics that came out several years ago along the same theme there was the ‘Hero Registration Program’ which caused all the heroes to choose sides with all the registered ones hunting down those that refused to register. In this film it’s done on a smaller scale, simply focusing on the Avengers – because they keep causing collateral damage and accidentally killing innocent folk the United Nations want them on a leash. Iron Man agrees, Captain America doesn’t. That’s the first half hour in a nutshell. Drags a tiny but but not too much.
Next Hour – Character Development
The next hour of the film is essentially reminding us of old characters such as Vision and Hawkeye and introducing new characters like Spiderman and T’Challa. Chuck in a few decent action scenes and a bunch of CA and IM having restrained arguments and it boils down to set up for the last hour where it really begins to kick off. Again, there is the tiny drag here and there as they set up plot points you know already are going to happen but the pace never becomes too dull.
Oh, have I not mentioned the bad guy yet? That’s because he’d pretty uninteresting though quite believable. No Superpowers or anything, just hates the Avengers because his family were some of the aforementioned ‘collateral damage’ (the A team never even sent a “sorry” car which is pretty cold!), he is only in this film to set up plot points to make the Heroes fight each other. In fact that’s his intent so he sets it up that it looks like Bucky was responsible for a bomb that went off that killed T’Challa’s Dad. This causes the rift in the Avengers to widen, with Cap trying to save Bucky and getting a bunch of the team on side, while Iron Man vows to hunt them all down and gets the rest of the team on side as well as recruiting Black Panther and a pubescent Webslinger.
The Big Fight!
At the hour and a half mark you get what you call came to see – 6 Avengers on either side beating the crap out of each other! On one side Iron Man, War Machine, Vision, Black Widow, Black Panther and Spiderman. Opposed are Captain America, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Ant Man, Scarlet Witch and Falcon. This is a pretty damn good beat down! In fact I’d go as far as to say it’s the best Hero vs Hero action sequence I’ve ever seen in a movie with everyone using their powers to fight or counteract multiple members of the opposition. The fight goes for 10-15 minutes and at no point does it tire or become gratuitous. Very well done indeed!
And the end is in sight…
Final 45 minutes? Cap and the WS go off to fight the real bad guy. Iron Man follows along to help having a change of heart. The end is rather good, instead of the fight with the other super soldiers one was expecting all the bad guy does is show a film of Bucky killing Tony Starks parents which, understandably makes Tony a mite cross. In fact one might say he is freakin pissed! Cue final fight scene, everyone lives, everyone doesn’t like each other anymore and it’s goodnight nurse. Predictable but entertaining.
Overall thoughts
So is this movie worth a watch? Well I usually find most movies that go over two hours to be that bit too long with too much filler but this flick moves at a fairly good pace. No poor acting to speak of, although I doubt anyone is going to win an Oscar with their performance here. I particularly liked Ant Man, the actor made me want to see that movie. Scarlet Johansson is showing her age a bit too much be the obligatory sex symbol she was in the first Avengers movie so instead of gratuitous butt shots of her like in that flick, they have tried to make up with it by making Elizabeth Olsen’s top that bit extra low cut. Not a lot of eye candy for the ladies with Thor being absent from the roster but Cap is still a nice looking fella. The fight scene is great and the heavy drama of the last leg of the movie works on several levels. I’ve not seen Batman vs Superman as every person I’ve spoken to that has seen it has had very negatives reviews of it, so if you are after a Super Hero Beatdown than CA: CW is the movie to see!