Captain America: Civil War
So, I went and watched Cap 3 and then got all nostalgic for the times I used to write review-y thoughts on LJ after I watched something (in fact, I think the last time was the Merlin finale, and wasn't that a laugh?), so decided to do that now.
I feel so giddy and satisfied, with a slight tinge of disappointment. On the one hand, so many characters so well-handled and a believable conflict that didn't feel forced, where you could see everyone's reasoning and agree with both sides, until shit got real and you rooted for one side but completely understood the other.
On the other hand, it was the best Avengers movie so far, but felt more like that than a Captain America movie. While I approved that Steve and Bucky was at the very core of it, I missed a chance for them to really reunite properly. That small exchange where they talk about nostalgic things that they BOTH REMEMBER was so beautiful and I wanted roughly ten thousand more scenes like that, but I suppose that's what fic is for.
So let's begin with Bucky. He was so beautifully played by Sebstan, there was no doubt it your mind when he was Bucky and when he was the Winter Soldier, and it broke my heart when he was forced into the mindset of the Winter Soldier again, how he railed against it, and his pragmatic "what did I do?" after. I feel like while he wasn't going to take any punishment lying down, he had come to terms with it in a way that Steve hadn't. When Steve sees him again for the first time since their fight and Steve tells him that it doesn't have to end in a fight, and he goes "it always ends in a fight", ugh, feels. Basically, I have a lot of feelings about Bucky. I also have a lot of feelings about Bucky calling himself Bucky. <3
I was also extremely happy with how they handled Natasha, as I'd been concerned ever since the posters with her on the opposite side of Steve were released. I was so worried that their friendship would fall to the side and her siding with Tony would be forced, but it was handled perfectly, her siding with Tony because it was the path of least resistance. She backed Steve when he needed it and her "I didn't want you to be alone.", AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Also, did I read stuff into her line toward the Winter Soldier, or did they hint at a past there?? Her fight scenes were also amazing (also unsurprising) and I'll stop now before I get cross over her lack of movies.
As one friend pointed out: the movie had three black guys, and none of them died! Was not let down by T'Challa, whose motivations were understandable, whose character was fleshed out a fair bit in a very short time, whose fighting and outfit was BADASS, and who didn't follow his thirst for revenge blindly at the end. Really looking forward to the Black Panther movie now!
Then there was Tony, who I expected I'd disagree with so much but who I understood every part of the way, even when I stopped agreeing with him. Him just trying to get it to work, to keep everything together even when things started to fall apart, even though at the end of the day, so much could have just been avoided if they'd just sat down at hashed things out. I didn't agree with how he handled things with Wanda, but other than that his actions were rational until the end, when he found out about the Winter Soldier killing his parents. (How sad that out of the two scenes we've been given of Maria Stark, one is a chilling one where she is killed. The death of Howard and Maria may be the darkest Marvel has gotten yet, especially with Howard recognizing Bucky D:) I'm glad that it wasn't like the trailer made it out to be, that he lost if because of Rhodey, that Rhodey actually fell due to friendly fire, which makes sense, when a bunch of superheroes are duking it out. I also really liked that the trailer used different takes of RDJs lines, and that they were different in the movie. But my heart also breaks for him, for his loss, how he just looses it at the end. I disagree with it, but I get it.
When leaving the cinema, I was vastly outnumbered by people who sided with Tony, which I get. At the end of the day, I'm not sure I didn't agree with Tony either, as it became two separate issues: how to deal with superheroes, and how to deal with Bucky. Steve disagreeing about the former was more of a sidenote, the latter was the deal breaker, and while Tony has rationality on his side, I stand by Steve because I too react emotionally to Bucky, the last piece left alive of Steve's past. (I totally teared up at Steve being sad about Peggy's death, and the funeral was beautiful. Steve and Sharon still feel slightly iffy, but at least their kiss was more of an afterthought rather than the main reason she was there. Yay for competent!Sharon!) Add to that the injustice of Bucky being taken in alive and the UN attempting to deal with him in a good way, but that being sabotaged by Zemo and reflecting unfairly on Bucky.
I hate to say it, because I have so many different issues with the Ant-man movie and the Spidey movie, but I adored Scott Lang and Peter Parker. They both added something extra, a light-heartedness that the movie needed. That said, if a Black Widow movie wouldn't have been perfect after this one, when she's a wanted woman, I will eat my fucking hat. But oh, I forget, she's had such major parts in several movies, unlike Tony, who still has three of his own. /bitterness
I also adored the parts with Wanda and Vision. Do I ship it? I don't know. I don't don't ship it. Basically I just love them interacting, and Vision trying to protect her, their mutual fondness even when at odds. Sigh. Oh, Paul Bettany...
While I understand Wanda's guilt, and the guilt of everyone, it bugged the shit out of me that not one person in the movie acknowledged that without her interference, a lot of people on the ground would have blown up. There was a lot of talk about accountability etcetera, but I think that point was Steve's strongest: had they not been there, how many more would have died?
Sam, unsurprisingly, was awesome. I love how his fighting style foreshadows him becoming Captain America (using his wings as shields more than once) and heeee, Redwing! I love that in the end, he recognized that Tony wanted to help and told him how to find Steve. I kinda wish that he'd had more interactions with Bucky, but the ones he had were hilarious, and I realize that if Steve and Bucky almost had no heart to hearts, there was no time for a lot of Sam/Bucky.
Hawkeye was good. I feel like my opinion of Jeremy Renner renders me incapable of being unbiased, but he served a function and he was pretty good.
I really liked how Zemo was a very low-key villain, because that was his whole plan. He wasn't the bombastic Loki, his plan was more insidious than that. I also loved how while there was a lot of action, which can be tedious if gratuitous, it all served a function, and how they managed to make the fights in the first half of the movie relatively light compared to the one at the end where there was no rationality left, just anger and vengence vs defending your best friend. So many feels...
I guess at the end, I wanted more, which isn't a bad thing. I wanted another movie straight away, that shows what happens after more than half of the Avengers are branded criminals on the run. I loved how Bucky and Steve got help from T'Challa, and T'Challa's insistence that both his father and Bucky were victims, and if he could help one of them find peace, he'd do it. Gah, more feels...
*sits and waits impatiently for everyone to see it*
I feel so giddy and satisfied, with a slight tinge of disappointment. On the one hand, so many characters so well-handled and a believable conflict that didn't feel forced, where you could see everyone's reasoning and agree with both sides, until shit got real and you rooted for one side but completely understood the other.
On the other hand, it was the best Avengers movie so far, but felt more like that than a Captain America movie. While I approved that Steve and Bucky was at the very core of it, I missed a chance for them to really reunite properly. That small exchange where they talk about nostalgic things that they BOTH REMEMBER was so beautiful and I wanted roughly ten thousand more scenes like that, but I suppose that's what fic is for.
So let's begin with Bucky. He was so beautifully played by Sebstan, there was no doubt it your mind when he was Bucky and when he was the Winter Soldier, and it broke my heart when he was forced into the mindset of the Winter Soldier again, how he railed against it, and his pragmatic "what did I do?" after. I feel like while he wasn't going to take any punishment lying down, he had come to terms with it in a way that Steve hadn't. When Steve sees him again for the first time since their fight and Steve tells him that it doesn't have to end in a fight, and he goes "it always ends in a fight", ugh, feels. Basically, I have a lot of feelings about Bucky. I also have a lot of feelings about Bucky calling himself Bucky. <3
I was also extremely happy with how they handled Natasha, as I'd been concerned ever since the posters with her on the opposite side of Steve were released. I was so worried that their friendship would fall to the side and her siding with Tony would be forced, but it was handled perfectly, her siding with Tony because it was the path of least resistance. She backed Steve when he needed it and her "I didn't want you to be alone.", AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Also, did I read stuff into her line toward the Winter Soldier, or did they hint at a past there?? Her fight scenes were also amazing (also unsurprising) and I'll stop now before I get cross over her lack of movies.
As one friend pointed out: the movie had three black guys, and none of them died! Was not let down by T'Challa, whose motivations were understandable, whose character was fleshed out a fair bit in a very short time, whose fighting and outfit was BADASS, and who didn't follow his thirst for revenge blindly at the end. Really looking forward to the Black Panther movie now!
Then there was Tony, who I expected I'd disagree with so much but who I understood every part of the way, even when I stopped agreeing with him. Him just trying to get it to work, to keep everything together even when things started to fall apart, even though at the end of the day, so much could have just been avoided if they'd just sat down at hashed things out. I didn't agree with how he handled things with Wanda, but other than that his actions were rational until the end, when he found out about the Winter Soldier killing his parents. (How sad that out of the two scenes we've been given of Maria Stark, one is a chilling one where she is killed. The death of Howard and Maria may be the darkest Marvel has gotten yet, especially with Howard recognizing Bucky D:) I'm glad that it wasn't like the trailer made it out to be, that he lost if because of Rhodey, that Rhodey actually fell due to friendly fire, which makes sense, when a bunch of superheroes are duking it out. I also really liked that the trailer used different takes of RDJs lines, and that they were different in the movie. But my heart also breaks for him, for his loss, how he just looses it at the end. I disagree with it, but I get it.
When leaving the cinema, I was vastly outnumbered by people who sided with Tony, which I get. At the end of the day, I'm not sure I didn't agree with Tony either, as it became two separate issues: how to deal with superheroes, and how to deal with Bucky. Steve disagreeing about the former was more of a sidenote, the latter was the deal breaker, and while Tony has rationality on his side, I stand by Steve because I too react emotionally to Bucky, the last piece left alive of Steve's past. (I totally teared up at Steve being sad about Peggy's death, and the funeral was beautiful. Steve and Sharon still feel slightly iffy, but at least their kiss was more of an afterthought rather than the main reason she was there. Yay for competent!Sharon!) Add to that the injustice of Bucky being taken in alive and the UN attempting to deal with him in a good way, but that being sabotaged by Zemo and reflecting unfairly on Bucky.
I hate to say it, because I have so many different issues with the Ant-man movie and the Spidey movie, but I adored Scott Lang and Peter Parker. They both added something extra, a light-heartedness that the movie needed. That said, if a Black Widow movie wouldn't have been perfect after this one, when she's a wanted woman, I will eat my fucking hat. But oh, I forget, she's had such major parts in several movies, unlike Tony, who still has three of his own. /bitterness
I also adored the parts with Wanda and Vision. Do I ship it? I don't know. I don't don't ship it. Basically I just love them interacting, and Vision trying to protect her, their mutual fondness even when at odds. Sigh. Oh, Paul Bettany...
While I understand Wanda's guilt, and the guilt of everyone, it bugged the shit out of me that not one person in the movie acknowledged that without her interference, a lot of people on the ground would have blown up. There was a lot of talk about accountability etcetera, but I think that point was Steve's strongest: had they not been there, how many more would have died?
Sam, unsurprisingly, was awesome. I love how his fighting style foreshadows him becoming Captain America (using his wings as shields more than once) and heeee, Redwing! I love that in the end, he recognized that Tony wanted to help and told him how to find Steve. I kinda wish that he'd had more interactions with Bucky, but the ones he had were hilarious, and I realize that if Steve and Bucky almost had no heart to hearts, there was no time for a lot of Sam/Bucky.
Hawkeye was good. I feel like my opinion of Jeremy Renner renders me incapable of being unbiased, but he served a function and he was pretty good.
I really liked how Zemo was a very low-key villain, because that was his whole plan. He wasn't the bombastic Loki, his plan was more insidious than that. I also loved how while there was a lot of action, which can be tedious if gratuitous, it all served a function, and how they managed to make the fights in the first half of the movie relatively light compared to the one at the end where there was no rationality left, just anger and vengence vs defending your best friend. So many feels...
I guess at the end, I wanted more, which isn't a bad thing. I wanted another movie straight away, that shows what happens after more than half of the Avengers are branded criminals on the run. I loved how Bucky and Steve got help from T'Challa, and T'Challa's insistence that both his father and Bucky were victims, and if he could help one of them find peace, he'd do it. Gah, more feels...
*sits and waits impatiently for everyone to see it*