Captain America Civil War Thread

[Freya]

I think this movie amped me more for Thor ragnorock more than anything. the whole time I'm wondering wtf is Thor getting up to, him and HULK? Where are they. All this petty stuff going on, and they're missing, that's strange! I bet they have some serious trout to deal with instead of putting a firm stop to the nonsense.

[Miriel]

I really liked it!

I thought that they did a great job of showing that both sides were kinda right, kinda wrong, so you end up rooting for both?? What a tough thing to sell but they managed it pretty well.

I'm also usually pretty good about spotting how the storyline might play out in any given movie or show, but all the foreshadowing totally went WHOOSH right over my head with the end reveal about Tony's parents. So that scene was smurfing horrifying to watch. It was SO brutal. My god. I know it wasn't Bucky's fault. I know he's Cap's BFF. But damn dude, at some point maybe it's better if you just died? Like, seriously?

The "He killed my mom" just gutted me and I totally was on Stark's side in that fight. I mean, even if it wasn't intentional, you can't go around killing people's moms yo. I'm extra sensitive to it right now because of some real life events, so that smurfing tore at my heart y'all. Jesus.

Also, Spiderman was so perfect and adorable, omg. He had me rolling during the fight scene. That whole fight scene was amazing. I also really loved the animosity between Falcon and Bucky.

Captain's biceps were HOLY smurfING BALLS. Damn.

I wish there were some Asian people in this movie.

[Slothy]

I thought that they did a great job of showing that both sides were kinda right, kinda wrong, so you end up rooting for both?? What a tough thing to sell but they managed it pretty well.

This is actually one of the things I was happiest about. The comics did a terrible job of this to be honest. It's one of the things that had me the most worried about this. Hanging your hat on a story element this important means it needs to work and it absolutely did.

I also liked that it wasn't just they each have a stance and start fighting. They were trying to talk things out and find common ground. Tony even agrees the deal isn't perfect and argues for trying to push for improvements after they agree. The thing pushing them to conflict being Bucky's return and framing forcing Cap to act which in turn puts pressure on Tony to bring him in works brilliantly. I couldn't be happier with the movie.

[Formalhaut]

My god. I know it wasn't Bucky's fault. I know he's Cap's BFF. But damn dude, at some point maybe it's better if you just died? Like, seriously?

That's pretty cold.

I mean, talking about cold, he agreed to have himself cryogenically frozen, so it isn't as if he's just roaming free waiting for someone to mind control him.

[Mr. Carnelian]

Me and Mr. Carny just saw it. Hard to say if it was the best Marvel film to date (I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man) but it is definitely up there and was the Avengers film Age of Ultron never was.

Some general thoughts:

(SPOILER)

- Stark is still a dick. The most laughable moment came at the end. The big revelation that the big bad was manipulating the heroes to fight each other went over Stark's head, who then proceeded to hulk out and... fight Captain America and Bucky. What the hell, Iron Man? You're literally doing what the evil villain wanted you to do.
- It even seems to rubbed off on Vision as well, who I really liked but now Vision adopted this strange air of superiority as well at times, like a vaguely annoying lawful good character.
- Vision is too overpowered. I mean, did you see the fight between Vision and Hawkeye? He's way too perfect. Which folds into the reason why my estimation of Vision has decreased slightly. He's just too good.

- Grievances aside, I loved the introduction of Black Panther. He came across as more balanced than Captain America and Iron Man, by the end, actually learning the lesson of the film and letting go of his vengeance. Looking forward to his solo film later.
- The reintroduction of Ant-Man were great, too. Hawk-eye was his usual self. It's almost as if the actor knows how underpowered he is and sort of plays on that for laughs.
- Spiderman was okay. Though the voice is grating - has that sort of teenage American boy vibe. Maybe he'll grow on me. It was funny for a time, playing on his youth and ineptitude but it got tiring after awhile. His adoration of Stark won him no favours with me either. Creepy award for Stark being in his room going "Your aunt May will never have to find out". Eww. Also Stark: recruiting a teenager? Seriously?

- The central dilemma is compelling and pretty well done. Those supporting oversight were always at a disadvantage because the law of films dictate that there's always something more going on - the whole 'Bucky didn't do it' was pretty obvious.
- Ultimately, by the close of film, no clear resolution occurred. The Avengers still exist under oversight (looking fairly glum, truth be told) and the others, under the secret protection of Black Panther. You've basically got two competing groups now, and things are still looking very unstable.
- I like that Black Widow provides a compromise approach. Because honestly there are good arguments for both sides. Though it is interesting that there doesn't seem to be a riposte for the assertion that oversight could be corrupted in some way.

I agree with all this. The only thing I would add is that Stark should NOT have brought a teenager into a superhero war when he could have literally ended up being torn into pieces. Bad Tony. Also, I'm sick of high-school Spiderman, we've had enough of him over the last decade or so in films. Give us middle-aged Spiderman, struggling to balance superheroism with a full-time job and a mortgage.

[Slothy]

Forgot to mention that I loved Spidey mentioning that Cap's shield doesn't obey the laws of physics. About time someone acknowledged it.

And to be fair, we've never actually gotten teenage Spider-Man before. Tobey McGuire was in high school for all of thirty minutes and Andrew Garfield was playing someone but it wasn't Peter Parker. Also gives us a good chance to see Peter age into adulthood in his own movies, and without the need for another origin story.

[charliepanayi]

On a sort of related note, this had me in stitches:

https://twitter.com/hownottodraw/sta...97659431686144

[Freya]

Captain's biceps were HOLY smurfING BALLS. Damn.

Seriously! When he has the helicopter I was like "Holy trout dude"

[Slothy]

Cap is sexy as smurf.

[Del Murder]

The helicopter scene was pretty badass. I think the audience forgets sometimes how strong Cap is. He's not just some buff guy with a shield.

[charliepanayi]

The helicopter scene was pretty badass. I think the audience forgets sometimes how strong Cap is. He's not just some buff guy with a shield.

I like the brief reference to his strength in Age of Ultron, when (until later anyway) he's the only one who can budge Thor's Hammer even a tiny bit (along with the worried look Thor has for a moment).

[Slothy]

He wasn't able to budge it because he's strong though. Remember in the first that Hulk wasn't even able to lift it. He was able to budge it because he's the closest to being worthy of the hammer that any human probably is. Thor looked worried because he didn't expect any human to be able to lift it and he's a lot less special if they can.

[Formalhaut]

Yeah, physical strength isn't the prerequisite for lifting the hammer. Worthiness is. I actually rather enjoyed that scene, because it tells us that there could be more than one 'worthy' individuals at any one time.

[Ffamran mied Bunansa]

Saw it last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Mostly liked what they did with Spiderman. Cap was kind of an idiot through the whole movie. Never tried very hard to convince anyone or explain himself.

[DMKA]

Just got back from seeing it. It was very good, but kind of sad that (SPOILER)the team is all broken up now.

Should it have even been called Captain America? The Avengers: Civil War would have been far more appropriate.

While the first two thirds of the movie really did everything it could to make (SPOILER)Tony Stark look like a shortsighted tool that major revelation of a plot twist video made it nearly impossible for me to feel any sympathy for (SPOILER)Captain America and Bucky. All in all it certainly had far more emotional conflict and moral nuance than any of the other MCU films have had. The fact that you find yourself switching sides through the course of the film and completely changing your view and feelings toward the characters is something that the movie truly deserves credit for.