My Thoughts on Captain America: Civil War

Released after Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, I was equally excited to see what the latest instalment of the Captain America franchise had to offer. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have certainly proved themselves capable of directing a mega-franchise. In fact Captain America: The Winter Soldier is my favourite film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the idea of turning one of the most significant comic book events into a 2 hour film was always going to be a challenge. And the end result is something that’s entertaining but also deeply flawed. 

Firstly, the action set pieces are pretty special. The chase scene between Bucky, Cap and Black Panther both shows the Russo brother's eye for filming action, but it also proved to be a well-conceived way of introducing the character of Black Panther. Of course, the airport scene is the clear highlight of the entire film, again suitably introducing the latest Spiderman into the mix. Overall from a typical blockbuster standpoint, it was an action-driven one that looks and sounds good.

However my main problem with Civil War boils down to the writing. Liberties were taken to transfer the renowned comic series Civil War onto the screen, and it evidently proved too grand and complex a challenge. The film attempts to simultaneously highlight and showcase the division within the Avengers, emphasise the changing attitudes towards them, introduce the likes of Spiderman and Black Panther, and pave the way for the Infinity War storyline. And the film never really succeeds at explaining any of those narrative elements. Instead we're given a series of absurd coincidences, woeful justifications and a questionable level of hypocrisy.

But the more worrying problem is that when you step back and look at the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, the only narrative tread that is connecting it all together is through the arrival of Thanos. Civil War attempts to use the aftermath of Sokovia, New York and Washington (with some laughable death tolls) to justify the film’s conflict; the UN enforcing a registration act on the Avengers. There’s no global tension or resentment towards the Avengers. Instead you have frustrated government officials and passing comments from news stations, but there isn’t an atmosphere of anger towards superhero kind which feels decidedly necessary to the entire story. 

In my opinion, Marvel really needs to actually do something significant with the overall narrative of it’s universe, something with genuine consequences. In fact Marvel did this with the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D and the rise of Hydra during the events of Winter Soldier, but never really built anything decent from it. Civil War has similar opportunities to instigate real repercussions, but the film plays it far too safe. The death of James Rhodes (Warmachine) would have added some emotional weight to the conflict. Meanwhile the entire premise of a divide and conflict between Captain America and Iron Man is subsequently made redundant through an email between the two at the end. It's all too safe. 

In the battle between the superhero blockbusters, Civil War proved to be the better overall package when compared with Batman Vs Superman. But after watching it, I still think that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is my favourite of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Civil War had the action set-pieces, the characters and the visuals, but I don’t have a urge to watch the film again and continue to ask “Why is there a Civil War in the first place?”. 

Noteworthy Films of 2014: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

While Captain America: The First Avenger was a rather mediocre affair, it’s sequel highlighted a very different approach to the character, the genre and Marvel Studio’s overall direction. Look back throughout the history of “superhero” cinema and it’s clear that the origin story and the standard “arrival of a new threat” approach has been done to death. However Winter Soldier evoked memories of 1970’s espionage thrillers such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Conversation, maintaining a strong balance between action and an engaging plot. Suspicion, conspiracy and ulterior motives provided a narrative that felt refreshing and relevant both to the character and the nature of S.H.I.E.L.D. The rise of Hydra and fall of S.H.I.E.L.D has indefinitely left a creative platform for Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War to build on, which should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Captain America is quickly becoming my favourite superhero character alongside Black Widow, and this has been helped by Chris Evans. He lives for the role, and it’s clear that he has melded perfectly with the character, providing a touch of charm and genuine charisma to the role. Meanwhile Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Anthony Mackie’s surprisingly enjoyable Falcon offered a strong supporting cast, so too did Robert Redford as the film’s main antagonist. Marvel Studio’s first menacing villain makes his appearance, the Winter Soldier, and even though he’s only a small part of the bigger picture, he still proved an impressive and formidable adversary with some impressive set-pieces and brawls. 

Winter Soldier is my favourite film from the Marvel, blending intense action with an engrossing plot that feels relevant to the character and the franchise. Though the burdensome prospect of a yearly barrage of superheroes over the next 5 years is worrying, I still have hope for Captain America’s own cinematic progression.

Things A "Movie Lover" Collects: Statues/ Figures

A very recent and expensive voyage I’ve taken has been into the world of overly priced and highly addictive action figures and statues. Namely Hot Toys and Sideshow, my unfortunate obsession with the Marvel Femme Fatale ‘Black Widow’ and the LiveForFilm website brought them to my attention after their Avengers line had been announced. Hot Toys, a Hong Kong based company, specialises in 1/6th and 1/4th representations of iconic and recent film characters. Acquiring film licences such as The Dark Knight, Predator and The Avengers, the end result has been a stream of specularly recreated figures that are simply works of art. From the headsculpts and costumes to the buckles on their footwear, Hot Toys’ artists/ craftsmen spend an incredible amount of time and effort to implement these intricate details and screen accuracies: 

 

On the other hand Sideshow, an American distributor of Hot Toys, has also made a name for itself through their foray into 1/4 scale statues. Similarly attaining licences from Iron Man, Star Wars and actual comic books, they have produced an impressive breadth of highly detailed and well crafted representations. With prices ranging from £200-500, my collection only comprises of Black Widow from Iron Man 2, obviously:

I myself had always had an apprehensive train of thought towards the idea of collecting statues and figures. Back in the good old days Star Wars was the craze with the re-releases in the cinemas. Naturally my brother and I collected the figures, sets and ships that are all currently presiding in the attic. Gundam Wing and Totoro Plushes increased with my exposure to my Japanese roots, but the thought of spending £155 on a “toy” never crossed my mind. But are they worth it? Some people collect these things as an “investment”, and while I stand to make a tidy sum if I were to sell them, to me their simply works of art created by fans and enthusiasts of films and cinema. I love the characters and, for the most part, the films. While the likes of Sucker Punch and The Spirit were absolutely terrible, their costume designs and visual look always appealed.  A larger percentage of my collection surrounds The Avengers, primarily because of their creative and unique designs. Whether it’s Captain America’s iconic red/white/blue design, to Iron Man’s impressive stature, there’s a joy in gazing upon each figure and changing their poses. 

In a cynical light, the hobby could be labelled as glorified ‘doll collecting’, but after spending a lot and time staring/ displaying them, I can’t help but appreciate these as a near-perfect, artistic and physical representations of beloved film characters. Like the rise of vinyl toys, these optimise the new pop-cultural nature of "art" in general. Mind you, my wallet is crying. 

Captain America: The First Avenger Review

Captain America: The First Avenger 

‘Superhero Summer’ is over, and Thank God!! However what started with the average Thor (Review), finishes on another average action film. The ‘Captain America’ franchise remains relatively unknown when compared to the likes of Batman and Spiderman. However with Marvel’s push towards ‘The Avengers’ film, Captain America was inevitably going to receive his own theatrical release. Early trailers showed a gritty, and more restrained, realistic approach to the superhero, without the gaudy costume. But after the likes of Green Lantern (Review) and Thor, my patience with the ‘superhero’ film had and still remains thin. In terms of the director, Joe Johnston’s track-record has been sketchy and lacks experience in action film-making. While the likes of Hidalgo, October Sky and Jumanji  were relatively entertaining films, Jurassic Park III  and 2010’s The Wolfman aren’t exactly high-points of his sparse directing career. So with a big budget and a well-established Marvel franchise, what has Johnston conjured up? 

Set in 1942, the plot follows the frail and young Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he attempts to join the American military. Constantly being rejected, his ambitious nature catches the eye of a German scientist, Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci). Erskine’s scientific experiment results in changing Rogers into the ‘super soldier’ Captain America. Meanwhile, Nazi Germany’s HYDRA research development, headed by Johann Schmidt/ Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), is attempting to weaponise an ‘alien’ energy source and dominate the globe before Hitler. It’s up to Captain America to defeat Schmidt and end the war. 

Following the same structure of many superhero films, Captain America focuses on the origins of the Marvel superhero. Thus we see Steve Roger’s inadequate life, disappointments and physical limitations. We then see his transformation as gains his powers, gets the girl and saves the day. It's all cliché but remains interesting. Yet it's hard to ignore glaring problems and faults in the film’s story and pacing. The film starts off well, quickly establishing Roger’s character and showing his route to ‘super-soldier’. It is exactly when he gains his powers that the film starts to slip into a dawdling bore. Captain America’s demotion to a mire propaganda tool, performing in shows and theatres, is over-long and agonising to watch. From here we are introduced to too many characters, weak story-telling, and tame action scenes. The film is definitely lacking in its intended action department. With all the explosions and gunfire, there isn’t one lengthy action scene. Instead we are treated to a ‘montage’ of battles and motorbike stunts which seems out of place, and hilariously over-the-top. The scene would have been complete with ‘America, F**k Yeah!’ being blasted out. It’s ironic that a ‘training montage’ would have possibly be more suited and relevant. Rogers seemingly is able to know how to throw and ricochet his iconic shield off walls, he’s able to parachute out of planes, and he knows the limits of his new abilities. 


The film’s style is another area which raises eyebrows. While the film is set in the 1940s, there is a clear generic, stereotypical look and tone to the feature’s atmosphere. Simultaneously, HYDRA's soldiers look more like robots with a stupid 'Superman' salute than actual human soldiers. The blurry CGI backgrounds have a similar look to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow  and thus really become tiring and distracting. However the forests, bunkers, and snowy mountains offer a needed change of scenery from the constant ‘superhero ‘cityscapes of New York and Gotham. 

Acting-wise, Chris Evans does his job as ‘Cap’, bringing nothing amazing but nothing terrible to the screen. Meanwhile, Hugo Weaving’s performance is somewhat hindered by awful dialogue and a significant lack of development. While the ‘red skull’ looks off, there is an interesting background to the villain. However it’s never explored, and we merely are told about his ‘transformation’ and his ideologic, aspiring character through uninspired talk and a barrage of bad accents. Tommy Lee Jones puts in excellent performance that brings most of the laughs, while Dominic Cooper also does well as Howard Stark, giving slithers of the personality that Robert Downey Jr gave Tony Stark in the Iron Man films. Hayley Atwell breaks the cliché damsel in distress formula giving a genuine performance that plays well off Evans. However, like Green Lantern and Thor, we see various significant characters from the comic books that are are never adequately explored or even properly introduced. 

Overall, Captain America: The First Avenger is a dumb, dumb film of averageness. While it doesn’t induce the sorts of pain and anger as Green Lantern did, it still remains flawed, unorganised and cliché. While the film starts well, it withers to boring mess that fails even to inform the audience of the villain’s evil plan. Good performances come to the aid of a stale script, but the lack of a bona-fide action scene hinders this ‘action’ summer blockbuster.

5/10