What’s up, internet homies? I’m back with another review. Grab a snack because it’s a doozy.
This Friday, May 06, 2016, Marvel Comics’ newest blockbuster hits theaters. Captain America: Civil War is the third film in the Captain America franchise. It’s personally my second favorite, Winter Soldier being the best out of all of them for me. I wasn’t really a huge fan of the first one.
Now, let me start by saying that I’m very torn about what letter grade to give this movie. There were some elements that I was totally in love with and others that I almost hated. But I feel that if I dock the overall grade of the movie just because of the parts I didn’t like, then I’m not giving the great parts enough credit. Maybe I’ll solidify my thoughts by the time I finish writing this review.
First off, if you haven’t even watched the trailer for Captain America: Civil War, go do that and then come back. Here’s the link to watch it.
Now that you’ve done that, let’s get down to business.
This movie was poorly titled- Marvel should’ve named it “Winter Soldier and Falcon: Civil War” because both Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie did a hell of a lot better job than Chris Evans did and his role didn’t seem to be the most impactful in the movie. They could’ve also called the movie “Avengers 3 but with Very Important Characters Missing.” I mean seriously, everyone and their mother showed up in this flick. It was like one giant superhero orgy. The worst part about that for me was you had all these heroes; Captain America, Falcon, Iron Man, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Spiderman, War Machine, but then Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and Chris Hemsworth as Thor weren’t sent an e-vite to the party?! Come on. We even got a small cameo from Crossbones AKA traitor asshole Brock Rumlow played by Frank Grillo.
The next detail of this movie that I didn’t particularly like was the Black Panther’s suit. If you are familiar at all with how he is illustrated in the comics, you’d know that his “outfit” in the film was off completely. It was more like a slightly less feminine version of a Cat Woman costume than a suit fit for the honorable bad ass Black Panther. Though I will say that as far as character portrayal/acting goes, Chadwick Boseman did an incredible job.
I’d like to take a moment to focus on the leading ladies of Captain America: Civil War. Scar Jo and Elizabeth Olsen are no doubt beautiful and talented but I wasn’t sold on them this time around. Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch lacked a certain edge and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow was dry and bland compared to her usually feisty self. But who I hated most out of this entire movie, not just the heroic women of the film, was Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter. Good grief, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman look less attracted to Chris Evans. She is supposed to be super into him and she really just looks unamused. Their inevitable kiss was bullshit, it came out of nowhere and seemed to be placed at about the only time they found to fit it in and it still didn’t work. It was pointless and unconvincing.
Now I’m going to move on to the things I did enjoy.
I already mentioned that Chadwick Boseman as the Black Panther did an amazing job but I’m saying it again because he was really that good. Sebastian Stan, the love of my life if y’all didn’t already know that, did an awesome job too. He played both sides well, he was convincing as the cryptic and haunted Winter Soldier as well as Steve Rogers’ BFF Bucky Barnes.
The star of the whole film had to be Anthony Mackie as Falcon. I’ve always liked him. He is great as Sam Wilson (the most loyal friend ever known to man) and he’s the perfect amount of cool when he’s all suited up. His role as a devoted hero is believable and he does a fantastic job of putting his heart and soul into the character.
Robert Downey Jr. showed some nice range in this movie. He was still tough and commanding as Iron Man but we really got to see a soft side to Tony Stark. Iron Man isn’t usually one of my favorite characters but this movie made me really appreciate the role he serves in the Avengers. This movie gave his character some interesting dimension and showed layers of emotion that I personally don’t feel the audience has seen in previous movies to date.
If you have ever read any of the Avengers comic books or you are familiar with the story lines, you’d know that Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision have a bit of a romance. I’m happy that they hinted at this in the film, it was one of the few aspects of Elizabeth Olsen’s character I really loved. Paul Bettany as Vision is iconic to me in a way, his character is so dynamic and he has this “personality” that warms my heart.
Lastly, I just want to touch on my thoughts towards Tom Holland’s debut as the new Spiderman. That kid is adorable. He embodies everything Spiderman should be from the original comics. It’s nice to see Spiderman played by someone who actually looks and acts like the goofy teenager he’s supposed to be. The only thing I didn’t particularly care for was Marissa Tomei as Aunt May. Not because she did a bad job, but because Aunt May is supposed to be older. Instead she is this young and hot aunt that Iron Man occasionally flirts with.
So, after reading my ridiculously long review, I hope I’ve convinced you all to see it. Give it a shot, even if this kind of movie isn’t really your cup of tea. I do recommend watching both Captain America movies and at least Avengers: Age of Ultron before you venture to the theater. That will definitely help you follow along better, which in turn will allow you to better enjoy the movie. Especially if you haven’t seen them each a thousand times like I have.
Leave a comment down below letting me know if you’re #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan. I’m 100% #TeamCap, strictly because I’m on whatever side Bucky’s on. He’s just the cutest thing.
With love and warm internet hugs always,
Kady (She)
OVERALL GRADE: A-
