Just saw Captain America: Civil War

@buttersdaman000: interesting how we can all vary so much. To me it's the best CBM ever made. Granted I've only seen it twice, but the writing, acting, directing, freakish balancing act of the whole thing is too amazing to deny for me. But to each their own I suppose :)

I think that while the movie had some issues, the writers and directors handled them exceptionally well. The issues present were more issues that were going to exist no matter what they did; i.e., juggling a lot of characters while introducing new ones, set up future stories and weaving it all into one cohesive narrative etc. It was a very big task, the MCU is just so big in content at this point, it's difficult to manage big interrelated juggernaut films like this, all in all, I think they handled it as well as anybody possibly could to be honest.

I'm sort of split, I think it functions as a Captain America film, the focus did feel firmly placed on him as he navigated thisstory -- but it wasn't hisstory. Though, honestly, I didn't mind, I think the MCU is leading towards this formula in the future, with a story told through the lens of one character but with multiple characters and their arcs in it. I will say that when you look at the Captain America 'Trilogy', it really didn't function as one, you can watch TFA and TWS without A1, but you really need to watch A1 & A2 to understand this film. I think this is simply an inevitability of extended universes though. I don't think it's the best film in the MCU, I still say that title rests in the hands of Iron Man, the silver medal going to TWS -- but it is probably my personal favourite.

In regards to BvS -- eh, I really don't like bringing this film up to be honest, all that's going to happen is there'll be a ton of bashing, and while I didn't like the film, some of the bashing I see throughout the internet is clearly born of a lust to see DCEU crash and burn and I hate feeling like I'm getting lumped in with them. All I can really say is that BvS didn't do anything for me on any level, not as entertainment or art... and it utterly betrayed its most prestigious characters. It really was a mess in my opinion, I don't wanna keep beating the dead horse. There were maybe five scenes I actually liked in the film, and they were pretty much all in the Bruce Wayne and Alfred, they felt better written, better motivated, constructed and there was more character work at play. Honestly felt like they belonged to a different film. I swear, after hearing about Affleck re-writing scenes, I'm waiting for the reveal in 15 years that Affleck ghost-directed some of the scenes in this. We also basically know Snyder changed a lot from the vision of the film, i.e. Cranston Lex. I pray Affleck can save the soul of this serial-killer, psychopathic Batman. I still hope it's salvageable. I hope they have somebody stood behind Snyder with a stick at all times whilst he's filming JL, cracking him around the ear until he makes the right decision.

While there were similar underlying low points/issues between the two films, in BvS, the lows were far lower and the highs not nearly as high. Then when you factor in how it treated some of it's characters... I mean, I just don't think it compares to CW, despite it's gritty tone and Snyder's flair for visuals, Civil War was honestly the smarter and even more stylish film. You have to respect how the Russos handled this leviathan of a film, it was a pretty monumental task.

I think that while the movie had some issues, the writers and directors handled them exceptionally well. The issues present were more issues that were going to exist no matter what they did; i.e., juggling a lot of characters while introducing new ones, set up future stories and weaving it all into one cohesive narrative etc. It was a very big task, the MCU is just so big in content at this point, it's difficult to manage big interrelated juggernaut films like this, all in all, I think they handled it as well as anybody possibly could to be honest.

I'm sort of split, I think it functions as a Captain America film, the focus did feel firmly placed on him as he navigated thisstory -- but it wasn't hisstory. Though, honestly, I didn't mind, I think the MCU is leading towards this formula in the future, with a story told through the lens of one character but with multiple characters and their arcs in it. I will say that when you look at the Captain America 'Trilogy', it really didn't function as one, you can watch TFA and TWS without A1, but you really need to watch A1 & A2 to understand this film. I think this is simply an inevitability of extended universes though. I don't think it's the best film in the MCU, I still say that title rests in the hands of Iron Man, the silver medal going to TWS -- but it is probably my personal favourite.

In regards to BvS -- eh, I really don't like bringing this film up to be honest, all that's going to happen is there'll be a ton of bashing, and while I didn't like the film, some of the bashing I see throughout the internet is clearly born of a lust to see DCEU crash and burn and I hate feeling like I'm getting lumped in with them. All I can really say is that BvS didn't do anything for me on any level, not as entertainment or art... and it utterly betrayed its most prestigious characters. It really was a mess in my opinion, I don't wanna keep beating the dead horse. There were maybe five scenes I actually liked in the film, and they were pretty much all in the Bruce Wayne and Alfred, they felt better written, better motivated, constructed and there was more character work at play. Honestly felt like they belonged to a different film. I swear, after hearing about Affleck re-writing scenes, I'm waiting for the reveal in 15 years that Affleck ghost-directed some of the scenes in this. We also basically know Snyder changed a lot from the vision of the film, i.e. Cranston Lex. I pray Affleck can save the soul of this serial-killer, psychopathic Batman. I still hope it's salvageable. I hope they have somebody stood behind Snyder with a stick at all times whilst he's filming JL, cracking him around the ear until he makes the right decision.

While there were similar underlying low points/issues between the two films, in BvS, the lows were far lower and the highs not nearly as high. Then when you factor in how it treated some of it's characters... I mean, I just don't think it compares to CW, despite it's gritty tone and Snyder's flair for visuals, Civil War was honestly the smarter and even more stylish film. You have to respect how the Russos handled this leviathan of a film, it was a pretty monumental task.

Good, but definitely not better than The Winter Soldier...and maybe even The First Avenger. The movie felt more like Avengers 2.5: Captain America: Civil War than it did a straight Captain America movie. I don't know if I liked it more than BvS, but I do see where it exceeded in areas BvS didn't. However, I do see areas in which it failed just as much, or even more-so.

Right now, i'm in between 7.5-8.25.....

EDIT: Ant-Man definitely was one of the biggest highlights for me, and Black Panther was amazing. Spider-Man was a little cringey at first, but at the end he won me over.

I liked it more than BvS, but there are indeed areas in which it fails just as badly. The only thing that bothers me in that regard is that it appears some are willing to overlook that for CW but not BvS.

Is that a pun?

It was definitely Avengers 2.5 more than Cap 3.

I hated how forced Spidey felt in the movie. But that's because of my particular passion for the character. The apartment scene was totally out of place and disrupted the movies flow. And his fight scenes while enjoyable were cliche and predictable

The plot was convoluted as all he'll too but whatever I guess. Better than some of the other shallower stories we've seen

There were lots of great character moments though which is I think the movies strong point. Particular between Cap and Bucky and Cap and Iron Man.

Hawkeye too had some great moments. I think I actually like him now

I liked it more than BvS, but there are indeed areas in which it fails just as badly. The only thing that bothers me in that regard is that it appears some are willing to overlook that for CW but not BvS.

In regards to BvS -- eh, I really don't like bringing this film up to be honest, all that's going to happen is there'll be a ton of bashing, and while I didn't like the film, some of the bashing I see throughout the internet is clearly born of a lust to see DCEU crash and burn and I hate feeling like I'm getting lumped in with them.

Dude, I was called an MCU fanboy.... ME!

I think that while the movie had some issues, the writers and directors handled them exceptionally well. The issues present were more issues that were going to exist no matter what they did; i.e., juggling a lot of characters while introducing new ones, set up future stories and weaving it all into one cohesive narrative etc. It was a very big task, the MCU is just so big in content at this point, it's difficult to manage big interrelated juggernaut films like this, all in all, I think they handled it as well as anybody possibly could to be honest.

I'm sort of split, I think it functions as a Captain America film, the focus did feel firmly placed on him as he navigated thisstory -- but it wasn't hisstory. Though, honestly, I didn't mind, I think the MCU is leading towards this formula in the future, with a story told through the lens of one character but with multiple characters and their arcs in it. I will say that when you look at the Captain America 'Trilogy', it really didn't function as one, you can watch TFA and TWS without A1, but you really need to watch A1 & A2 to understand this film. I think this is simply an inevitability of extended universes though. I don't think it's the best film in the MCU, I still say that title rests in the hands of Iron Man, the silver medal going to TWS -- but it is probably my personal favourite.

In regards to BvS -- eh, I really don't like bringing this film up to be honest, all that's going to happen is there'll be a ton of bashing, and while I didn't like the film, some of the bashing I see throughout the internet is clearly born of a lust to see DCEU crash and burn and I hate feeling like I'm getting lumped in with them. All I can really say is that BvS didn't do anything for me on any level, not as entertainment or art... and it utterly betrayed its most prestigious characters. It really was a mess in my opinion, I don't wanna keep beating the dead horse. There were maybe five scenes I actually liked in the film, and they were pretty much all in the Bruce Wayne and Alfred, they felt better written, better motivated, constructed and there was more character work at play. Honestly felt like they belonged to a different film. I swear, after hearing about Affleck re-writing scenes, I'm waiting for the reveal in 15 years that Affleck ghost-directed some of the scenes in this. We also basically know Snyder changed a lot from the vision of the film, i.e. Cranston Lex. I pray Affleck can save the soul of this serial-killer, psychopathic Batman. I still hope it's salvageable. I hope they have somebody stood behind Snyder with a stick at all times whilst he's filming JL, cracking him around the ear until he makes the right decision.

While there were similar underlying low points/issues between the two films, in BvS, the lows were far lower and the highs not nearly as high. Then when you factor in how it treated some of it's characters... I mean, I just don't think it compares to CW, despite it's gritty tone and Snyder's flair for visuals, Civil War was honestly the smarter and even more stylish film. You have to respect how the Russos handled this leviathan of a film, it was a pretty monumental task.