tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post8940137752779972683..comments2024-03-27T11:32:34.392-07:00Comments on NOT A HOAX! NOT A DREAM!: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WARMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-31327708167993664502016-06-16T09:46:18.989-07:002016-06-16T09:46:18.989-07:00There are so many great Marvel villains out there,...There are so many great Marvel villains out there, but Marvel seems unwilling to just make them <b>villains</b>. I don't know when we decided that all villains must have some sympathetic hook. Red Skull is about the only Marvel movie villain I can think of who was straight-up evil, and he worked fine. All the others have some backstory involving (directly or indirectly) the hero of the film, leading to the "you made me" thing which is so hackneyed at this point. Imagine if the James Bond movies decided to go that route and say that Bond <b>created</b> Blofeld and SPECTRE! It would be idioti-- oh.<br /><br />The point is, just have villains who are unrepentant villains, who have no backstory with the heroes. It'll work just fine.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-42397463428991425382016-06-09T08:04:36.102-07:002016-06-09T08:04:36.102-07:00Agreed, for the most part. This was definitely a m...Agreed, for the most part. This was definitely a movie where the parts were better than the whole. Specific characters, set pieces, moments, etc. worked, and worked really well, but as a whole, it was kind of a mess. <br /><br />The whole "the Avengers cause destruction in their wake" argument is dumb. Were they just supposed to let aliens wreak New York, and Hydra to kill millions of people? I can get Ross buying into that argument (because he just wants to control them), but not Rhodey, Vision, etc. Sokovia, at least, was caused by Ultron, who was created by Tony and Banner. So I get why the guilt of that could lead Tony into backing the Accords (even without the tarnishing of AGE OF ULTRON), but everything else is bull. <br /><br />Like you said, there's a difference between "let's talk about these accords and hammer out an agreement" and "let's accept them unilaterally as is" which seems to get lost in the shuffle, and I also don't like how Cap's unwillingness to allow Bucky to be executed on the spot, no-questions-asked, without any form of due process, makes him some kind of terrorist. Like, he's not saying the guy gets a free pass; he's saying let's bring him in and I dunno, give him a trial before we execute him? Especially since we live in a world where identities can be faked? <br /><br />Zemo was definitely a dud, which is a shame, but not a surprise, since Marvel has issues with movie villains who aren't Loki (in part because they don't have access to Dr. Doom & Magneto, and Red Skull had to be a done-in-one kind of thing). His whole fake scheme with the other Winter Soldiers reminded me a bit of the Mandarin in IRON MAN 3, the tease of a cool, badass villain showdown followed by a swerve away from it. And I still have no idea why he needed to access Bucky's memories before implementing his plan. If he knew enough from Hydra files to ask Bucky specifically about the date of the Starks' deaths, then he probably knew enough to enact his plan anyway. <br /><br />Spider-Man was shoe-horned in but I too liked the portrayal; the first movie Spider-Man to seem like both a convincing Spider-Man AND a teenager. Cap was great, Black Widow was great, Vision & Scarlet Witch were great. Black Panther was great. Hawkeye wasn't necessary but I really appreciated that they at least acknowledged him and Natasha fighting on opposite sides. I loved the Giant-Man bit (I knew nothing about it going in so was completely surprised by it) and Ant-Man in general, but I wish we'd gotten a better sense of his motivation for helping out, especially since his entire motivation in his film was "be with my daughter" and then his casually does this thing which ends up landing him in jail, and then on the run (and presumably not with his daughter anymore). Which isn't to say he couldn't have decided this was bigger than that, but I would have liked to have seen that. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-965840326717824802016-05-17T08:52:56.582-07:002016-05-17T08:52:56.582-07:00The young Aunt May thing bugged me too, but compar...The young Aunt May thing bugged me too, but compared with so much of the bigger things, I couldn't be bothered to care too much. It'll bug me more when SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING comes out, especially if they go the direction they appeared to be pointing things here and have Tony hook up with her.<br /><br />The apartment thing, I'll let slide for one reason. It bugged me because I prefer Peter Parker living in a house in Queens, but there is precedent for an apartment, sort of -- during the Lee/Romita run (granted, after Peter had moved out to live with Harry), Aunt May did have an apartment for a while. I think she shared it with Anna Watson.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-43211235427710304802016-05-17T08:49:35.462-07:002016-05-17T08:49:35.462-07:00Tony's Pepper speech was odd, but I wonder if ...Tony's Pepper speech was odd, but I wonder if his intention was that if the Accords were signed, he would retire again and hoped to get her back that way?? Who knows...<br /><br />I kind of took the Raft here as an analogue for Guantanamo Bay -- Ross is certainly the sort to hold "enemy combatants" without proper due course, and in the position of Secretary of State, he would have the power to do it, too. But what I don't get is, was he covering it up? Did the U.N. know about the prison? Tony knew where the Avengers were, but he obviously had some kind of clearance level. Cap found out somehow by movie's end, but he could've gotten the intelligence elsewhere, perhaps through Black Panther.<br /><br />So many weirdly unanswered questions.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-6757692749961503582016-05-16T03:25:48.407-07:002016-05-16T03:25:48.407-07:00Two tentpole movies this summer based on the idea ...<i>Two tentpole movies this summer based on the idea of the public turning on superheroes for fighting supervillains...</i><br /><br />On the thirtieth anniversary of the year when two quite well-known installments of comics had that and the following (effectual) ban on super vigilantism as an important part of the backstory.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-66485245764174603192016-05-15T18:46:20.705-07:002016-05-15T18:46:20.705-07:00I saw the movie earlier today, and I've got to...I saw the movie earlier today, and I've got to say you nailed all of my complaints (I'd also add "young, hot" Aunt May to that list...and why can't they live in a house instead of an apartment? Why change this?) I'm still not sure if the questionable premise, which goes out of its way to undermine the point Whedon was making in the last AVENGERS, can be saved by the more entertaining scenes.<br /><br />Two tentpole movies this summer based on the idea of the public turning on superheroes for fighting supervillains...the very thing they were created to do. Basically, the kind of overthinking of a simple concept that's done comics virtually no good.G. Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12279461069684403792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7105844689832543332.post-60982086574281449212016-05-15T13:37:44.460-07:002016-05-15T13:37:44.460-07:00Agreed pretty much 100%. The big fight was fun, bu...Agreed pretty much 100%. The big fight was fun, but a lot of stuff was very extraneous. Also there were two cringe-y parts of the script: Iron Man's monologue about Pepper leaving him b/c he wouldn't stop was both out of character and insane, especially because nobody tells him how insane it is that he seems to think she'll take him back if he's able to sign these accords. The other completely cringe-worthy scene was Zemo, 2:30 in, telling Panther how his family died and so he knew what to do. It'd be one thing if the focus of the scene was on T'Challa, but the film gives way too much focus to this afterthought of a character as he gives a completely lifeless origin story of the "you created me!" variety. <br /><br />Also I know it's just a movie, but everything about the Raft as a concept didn't work for me. It works 1000% better if they're in some German holding cell and Ross is like "when we get you back to the U.S. we're trying you all with treason!" And they basically end up getting out and not coming back to the U.S. As it is, they are apparently extradited from Germany directly into some sort of off-shore holding cell where they are held for days? Have they been charged with whatever stupid U.N. violation they allegedly committed or are they just deciding the Constitution doesn't apply to super people? The whole concept was stupid.Dobsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08884152078310514684noreply@blogger.com