Captain America : Civil War DVD Review

Avengers Angered 

Released : April 29th 2016

Certificate : 12A

Director : Joe Russo, Anthony Russo

Cast : Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Scarlett Johansson

Plot : After a mission goes wrong, the governments of the world decide that the Avengers too dangerous to not have restrictions. The political proposition that restricts their actions divides the team, while Bucky reemerges to cause additional friction.

As the Avengers world enters its final films before the climatic epic that will be Infinity Wars, Civil War stands out as both an Captain American independent film and a Avengers film. The buss for the film was monumental due to the trilogy of impressive trailers, the marketing campaign of which team (Captain America or Iron Man) you side with and the fact that the Russo brother return to direct after making Captain America : Winter Solider, what many consider one of Marvels best films. With the hindsight of this review being late, it is now evident that Civil War is one of Marvels most critical acclaimed films to date.

Aspects of the film that were rightfully praised across the board were that of the films ability to involve both in depth and emotive story lines as well as the spectacular action. Something that the Russo brother were able to bring to the second CA film, and have definitely done so a second time. It will be interesting to see whether the Russo brothers or Joss Whedon take the mast on Infinity War. Whedon wasn’t the writer for this film, as he was for the other Avengers movies. Instead this time we have Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have written for all of the CA films. They deserve mention as Civil War had a near perfect balance of humor and drama that keeps the film entertaining from multiple stand points. The one liner for all the characters within the climatic airport scene, kept the film from taking itself too seriously very effectively.

Another aspect of the film that is also a stand out, and should set and example for the recent comic book universe is that of utilization of character. As DC continues to be diversity among audience despite such big characters on screen such as Suicide Squad, it seems the films need to utilize the character more effectively. Civil War does this brilliant, with a lengthy run time there is plenty of time devoted to the differing characters, which was needed since there was introduction of new characters. A common complaint in the vain of character for this film would be that of the villain, many labeling him as unnecessary and forgettable. The villain played by Daniel Brühl has a subtle nature to his performance that is likely the reason behind this criticism, where the film is filled with larger than life characters.

Issues with the film are few and far between in a very high standard Marvel outing. The films ending, avoiding spoilers, uses poetic licence to a large degree to allow for the set up of Infinity Wars. Which in a way makes the Civil War itself seem slightly rushed in its resolution to allow for a idealistic return to a ‘team’ formation for the hero’s next outing.  Some could complain about the lack of gritty nature to a film that is stage as a dramatic and daring division between one of cinemas greatest assemblies. But there are little issues that many die hard fans as well as general observers will find in this picture. With action sets and stunts that will please many cinema goer, and the emotional edge and depth to story that is unprecedented in the Avenger universe to this date, Civil War is a real game changer. It can be easily seen that Infinity War will be held to the same quality as this film, and it will have a lot to live up to. As here we have the intelligence, character drama and action quality that possibly surpasses all previous Avenger films.

Verdict : Big on the brains, action and heart, this is one of Marvels finest.

Verdict : 4/5

Quote : Can you move your seat up?

Mini review: Deadpool

Year: 2016

Certificate: 15

Director: Tim Miller

Screenwriters: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, TJ Miller, Gina Carano, Karan Soni, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapicic

Ryan Reynolds finally finds his metier as Wade Wilson, a smart-mouthed thug for hire turned superhuman on the hunt for revenge against the man who tortured and disfigured him. Fast-paced, sharp and hyperbolically violent, Deadpool explodes out of the gate with a slow-mo car-crash fight sequence set to the strains of Juice Newton’s Angel of the Morning, and proceeds to flash back, forwards and sideways to fill in the recent history of its vengeful protagonist. Reynolds- who, despite his considerable aptitude as an actor, has heretofore been pushed from pillar to post in Hollywood- is a revelation here, his physicality and voice acting adding up to a magnetic performance underneath Deadpool’s bright red and black mask. Director Tim Miller does an admirable job of keeping a firm hand on the tiller while driving the action forward at such a pace that it’s easy not to notice until afterwards how generic the story actually is. Disappointingly, despite Deadpool’s eagerness to poke fun at the foibles of superhero movies (quips about green spandex and the straight-lacedness of the X-Men abound), it makes little effort to subvert that genre’s underlying tropes. A case in point is Wade’s girlfriend Vanessa (Morenna Baccarin), whose ‘dream girl/ damsel in distress/ prize for the hero’ story arc couldn’t be more clichéd, a fact not quite remedied by her sharp tongue and Baccarin’s admittedly strong performance.

Verdict: 4/5

Image credit: foxmovies.com