Captain America: Civil War (2016) review

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a decade since the release of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Iron Man, back in 2008. At that time, no one ever figured that this franchise would evolve into what it is today. After all, there had never been anything like the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to that point. And yet 8 years later, here we are… two whole phases into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 12 films, 4 TV shows, and much more on the way. Marvel Studios has pretty much established itself as the most prolific force in the superhero genre, so much so that pretty much every other studio has been trying to emulate their success. And sure, the studio has faced some criticism over the years. There are some who argue that their films are ‘all the same’, even though in reality Marvel has actually covered quite a few different genres over the years from heist films to 70’s spy thrillers. And of course, there’s that damn superhero fatigue argument as well as the fact that some people actually think these films are ‘ruining’ the film industry, namely the fact that other studios have tried to use the ‘cinematic universe’ formula with non-superhero franchises. But here’s the thing… it’s not like Marvel was directly responsible for other studios implementing this formula into other franchises. All they’ve been doing is just continuing to produce quality films/TV shows. And now that the infamous Creative Committee that was responsible for incidents like Edgar Wright’s departure from Ant-Man is no more, clearly it looks like things are going to continue to run smoothly for what is easily one of the most critically and commercially successful franchises out there today.

I apologize if that last part went a bit too far into rant territory. Anyone who knows me knows I can get rather irritated when that fatigue argument comes into play. Anyway, kicking off Phase III of the MCU is Captain America: Civil War. Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who prior to Winter Soldier had only been known for comedies, return to helm the final installment of the Captain America trilogy. And as some of you might have already guessed from the title, this particular entry takes inspiration from one of the most notable, and in most cases infamous, Marvel storylines of the past decade, Civil War. Written by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service), this seven-part series saw the heroes of the Marvel Universe split between those who supported and those who were opposed to a new government act intent on regulating superhero activity in the wake of increasingly catastrophic superhero-related incidents. Specifically, this storyline saw Captain America, an opponent of the act, face off against Iron Man, who to the surprise of many supported the act, with each leading their own ‘team’ to combat the other. This new film follows a similar plotline but bases it within the overall context of the MCU’s lore and, as a result, doesn’t feature all of the characters that were in the original storyline. In other words, no X-Men and no Fantastic Four because they’re still over at Fox. And without having read the original series, it seems as if this version is a much more toned down affair compared to the comics. But given the generally polarizing nature of the original story, that might be for the better. Because yet again the Russos deliver another action-packed and character-driven superhero epic that pulls a lot of changes in regards to what will happen next for the MCU and its heroes.  

Captain America: Civil War opens up about a year after the events of Age of Ultron. During this time, it is established that public opinion towards the Avengers has started to wane in the wake of the countless international incidents that they have been involved in. And unfortunately the situation only proceeds to get worse for the team when a mission in Lagos, Nigeria ends up causing even more collateral damage. This immediately leads the United Nations into setting up the ‘Sokovia Accords’, a new act that would put the group under the control of an international governing body. This proves to be a very polarizing point of debate amongst the group’s members. Specifically, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) AKA Captain America opposes it on the grounds that it hinders their ‘freedom’ while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) AKA Iron Man supports it due to him taking responsibility for having started the whole ordeal with Ultron. The situation becomes even more complicated when Cap’s best friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who following his supposed death in 1945 was revived and brainwashed into being the Hydra assassin known as the ‘Winter Soldier’, is suspected of bombing a peace conference. As Cap tries to protect his friend, who claims that he wasn’t responsible for the bombing, the Avengers soon find themselves on opposite sides of ‘the law’. On Cap’s side there’s Bucky, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) AKA Falcon, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) AKA Scarlet Witch, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) AKA Hawkeye, and ‘new recruit’ Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) AKA Ant-Man. On Iron Man’s side there’s Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) AKA Black Widow, Vision (Paul Bettany), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) AKA War Machine, Wakanda prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) AKA Black Panther, and ‘new recruit’ Peter Parker (Tom Holland) AKA Spider-Man.   

For the record, this is not a straight-up adaptation of Civil War, which is probably a good thing considering the storyline’s generally polarizing reception. As someone who hasn’t read that storyline, it seems as if the film takes on a less extreme atmosphere than the comics. Obviously the conflict between the Avengers is still there but in the comics, Iron Man apparently took on an extremely authoritarian role in order to hunt down anyone opposed to the registration act. Thankfully that’s not the case here. Despite what it may seem, Iron Man is not the ‘villain’ of the film and neither are the other members of his ‘team’. And that’s the cool thing about this story; the Avengers aren’t the ‘bad guys’ in this situation and yet it’s still interesting to watch them get into one hell of a moral debate over everything that’s happened since they’ve made themselves public to the world. Not only that, but both sides actually do have valid points to stand on instead of it seeming like the writers are favoring one ‘team’ over the other. Obviously that means that there are quite a lot of scenes where the protagonists talk with one another, perhaps more so than there are action sequences. However, the film is still a fun ride throughout and sports some particularly epic action sequences, once again highlighting the Russos’ talent for directing action with this film giving them the added benefit of having more characters to work with. Interestingly enough, while this did seem like it would be the most serious MCU film to date, it still maintains the generally light-hearted nature of the franchise in general. In other words, the franchise’s trademark humor is still there in droves, and I’m aware that this will turn some people off as there have been some who have been critical towards the MCU films for relying a lot on humor. However, I’ve never seen it as a problem with these films as there are plenty of great and emotional character moments in this film that are effectively balanced with legitimately funny bits of dialogue, mostly coming from the interactions between the characters. 

In the months leading up to the film’s release, there was some discussion over why the film was still being deemed as a Captain America story considering that almost all of the other main superheroes in the MCU (save for Hulk and Thor who, spoilers, are not in this film whatsoever) were in it as well. For those people, it seemed like Avengers 2.5 was a more fitting title. And yet, somehow, the Russos actually managed to make it all work. At the end of the day, Captain America IS the main character of the story. A lot of the plot revolves around him trying to protect his pal Bucky which of course brings him into a major conflict with Iron Man, something that has of course been previously teased in the Avengers films as a result of their numerous ‘squabbles’ with one another. Aside from Iron Man, pretty much every other ‘Avenger’ in the film is in a supporting role. But that’s totally fine because, just like what Joss Whedon did with the Avengers films, the Russos manage to give every major hero/heroine his/her own moment to shine. Also, similar to The Winter Soldier, this film actually does manage to get by without having a major ‘villain’, as the focus is more on the protagonists and their conflict with each other. With that said, this film does have a ‘villain’, Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) and, well… he really doesn’t add much to the story. So as far as that common argument that the majority of the MCU’s villains are weak is concerned, nothing here is going to change that for those who make that argument.

13 films in, there’s really no need to say much more about the franchise’s returning players; Evans, Downey Jr., Johansson, Stan, Cheadle, Bettany, Rudd, Renner, Olsen, Mackie, etc. They’re just as great as they’ve always been in these films, with all of them having played their respective roles at least more than once by this point. So moving on from that, this film introduces two new players to the MCU. The first is Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman. To put it simply, Black Panther is a badass and Boseman absolutely owns the role, both in terms of the action sequences and the character’s overall gravitas. But of course the most hyped element of this film was the return of everyone’s favorite web-slinger, Spider-Man. After being previously unable to join the franchise due to the fact that his character rights are owned by Sony, the recent deal between Sony and Marvel Studios has finally allowed the web-slinger to join the MCU. Now to be perfectly frank, as someone who did like the Amazing Spider-Man films (yes, even the second one), I was a little disappointed that they decided to reboot the Spider-Man franchise, for the second time in five years for the record, instead of just letting the Amazing series continue but with the added benefit of having Kevin Feige and co. in charge to make sure the franchise runs more smoothly in the wake of the second Amazing film’s mixed critical/commercial response. However, even with that said, I have to admit it… Tom Holland is a frigging excellent Spider-Man. Obviously Holland is the youngest onscreen Spider-Man to date as the new series is intent on focusing more on Peter Parker’s high-school years compared to the previous two series. And Holland absolutely owns it in the role, both in terms of the character’s natural wit and the fact that, at least in this story, he is a legitimate ‘outsider’ to the whole ordeal with the Avengers.

13 for 13 when it comes to ‘well-received’ films; there has yet to be an MCU film that has dropped below the fresh percentile on Rotten Tomatoes. Clearly that’s got to be a record when it comes to film franchises. And rightfully so as Captain America: Civil War is yet another sterling success for Marvel Studios. While the film does take inspiration from the Civil War storyline, it doesn’t strive to be a perfect adaptation, which I think many people will agree is a good thing considering the original storyline didn’t go over too well with everyone. By comparison, the film takes on a less extreme route in terms of its plot but still does a great job in conveying the moralistic conflict that the Avengers end up getting into. You actually do understand where both sides are coming from and neither side is meant to be seen as a ‘villain’ even though they are in opposition with one another. Pair that with some particularly excellent action sequences and plenty of great character moments, especially those involving the newcomers Black Panther and, of course, Spider-Man, and you have one hell of a superhero epic. Whereas Winter Soldier was proof that the Russos could handle an action film of this scale, Civil War is proof that they can handle a massive ensemble cast like this one even though the film is mainly focused on Captain America. And that’s very much a good thing because these guys are set to take over for Joss Whedon as Avengers directors with the upcoming two-parter epic that will be The Avengers: Infinity War. Clearly, that film couldn’t be in better hands.

Rating: 5/5!

Godzilla (2014) review

Almost two decades ago in 1998, TriStar made the first major attempt at an American-produced ‘Godzilla’ film (not counting the American-produced cuts to a few of Toho’s original films)… and as we all know, that one didn’t turn out that well and it is pretty much universally despised. While I’m not as critical on it as a lot of people are (probably because I’m not that big of a Godzilla fan, having only seen the original film (after seeing the 1998 film first, for the record)), I too agree that quite frankly, it just wasn’t a ‘Godzilla’ film. Even Toho knew that the creature in that film wasn’t Godzilla and renamed it ‘Zilla’ when it was featured in 2004’s ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’, where the real Godzilla easily kicked its butt. That film was, at the time, the last Godzilla film… until a decade later. Now all eyes are on this new ‘Godzilla’ film, directed by Gareth Edwards, who had previously directed the independent flick ‘Monsters’. I haven’t seen that film, but with a title like that, Edwards definitely sounds like a good choice to helm this new ‘Godzilla’… and overall, he definitely delivers one heck of a monster film. I’m not going to say that it’s ‘perfect’, but at the end of the day, it’s easily miles above the 1998 film.

In 1999, seismic activity starts to occur at the Janjira nuclear plant near Tokyo, Japan resulting in the entire facility falling into ruin. While reports claim that this was caused by an earthquake, the plant’s former supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), who lost his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) during the accident, believes that something else was the cause of it and 15 years later, he and his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an explosive ordinance disposal officer with the U.S. Navy, return to the area to investigate further into the matter. There, they discover that the real cause for the accident wasn’t an earthquake, but a giant winged creature referred to as a ‘Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism’ (MUTO for short). The MUTO ends up escaping, along with a second MUTO, resulting in the military trying to figure out a way to destroy the creatures before they completely ravage the United States. But they soon find out that something else is hunting the MUTOs and this creature could possibly be the only thing that can stop them, and that creature is… Godzilla!

Fans of the franchise might be a little disappointed that Godzilla doesn’t show up until an hour in and that the film itself focuses more on the human characters (more on that in a bit). But overall, Edwards really delivers when it comes to monster vs. monster action… though I wish that during the first few fights between Godzilla and the MUTOs, the film wouldn’t cut away from it. Seriously, there are at least two different times during this film when a fight between Godzilla and the MUTOs is about to occur… and then it cuts away. That scene in the trailer where Godzilla is roaring as a shelter’s doors are about to close? Well, in the film, the doors close during an actual fight. Thankfully, that’s not a problem during the later fights and with that in mind the action was excellent and was pretty solidly-lit considering that most of the fights do take place at night. Overall this film’s Godzilla certainly fits the description of the character quite well and even though it is all CGI… damn that CGI is really good. As for the other monsters, the MUTOs, they look good too but they’re kind of lackluster compared to the other monsters in the Godzilla film franchise and I wish the filmmakers would’ve pitted him against something like Mothra or Rodan.

I’m finding that the general consensus for this film is similar to that of ‘Pacific Rim’ last year; great action but lackluster character development. Well, just like with that film, I ask this… why is that necessarily a problem? Because, again like that film, this film delivers on what it promises; Godzilla and monster fights. In fact, while I haven’t seen any of the other Godzilla film aside from the original, from what I can gather… that’s sort of the point with these films in the first place… though like I said earlier, this one sort of focuses more on the human characters. To the writers’ credit, they at least gave a decent amount of character development… nothing really noteworthy, mind you, but it’s not like this film is completely ‘devoid’ of character. For that matter, the cast is fairly solid; some unfortunately don’t get much to do, like the two main actresses, Elizabeth Olsen and Sally Hawkins (especially in Olsen’s case as the wife of Ford Brody), but there’s also some really good performances from Ken Watanabe and Bryan Cranston. For the record though, Cranston’s only in the film for about 10-15 minutes but even then he does make the most out of his short screen-time. The movie instead focuses on his son, Ford, and while I will agree that he’s not the most compelling lead, Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a fair job here.

If you’re still having bad memories of the 1998 American ‘Godzilla’ film, I believe you’re going to be more satisfied with this take on the character. It certainly is far more fitting to bear the title ‘Godzilla’ than that other film. Godzilla himself looks fantastic, he definitely has the qualities that the character is known for, and the film itself certainly delivers on some fantastic monster action. My only complaint though would be that the film cuts away from the fights quite a lot early on, which wouldn’t be a problem if it was just done once but it’s actually done a few times. But even with that in mind, this is definitely a pretty solid addition to the Godzilla franchise and I’m definitely looking forward to a sequel (they just announced one, so it looks like it is happening). If so, I hope that this next one gives us more monster action and heck, maybe another one of Godzilla’s famous fellow monsters (there’s a pretty neat Mothra reference in here so it’s possible). Also, maybe Toho can be a bit more involved in this one seeing how they are the company responsible for this franchise in the first place? Still, overall, this film serves as a really nice, and much deserved, return to form for the ‘King of the Monsters’.

Rating: 4/5