So, I went and saw it twice this weekend. Worth every penny.
The film was everything I could have hoped for, and more. The Russo brothers did an amazing job showing two sides and letting everyone straddle them evenly.
Not for one second have I ever cared about Team Cap or Team IM, and I didn’t care in the movie either. Both are right. Both are wrong. There’s a middle ground, that needs to be fleshed out, and would be, if they sat down long enough to figure it out.
Tony is right, they do need to be reigned in. Cap is also right, having an oversight committee, led by people, people with agendas, is equally stupid and shortsighted. “The safest hands are our own”
Ross and multiple governments wanted Bucky dead, on sight. A victim, victim of brainwash technology enacted by Hydra. Winter Soldier wasn’t running around murking everyone for sport, dude just wanted to eat some plums. He kept his mouth shut, his head down, and just wanted to be left alone. He wasn’t a threat to anyone. Yet some simple makeup, and just like that the world was shoot on sight, without even an investigation. Just show up and kill him in his apartment. These are the people that want to be in charge of the Avengers?
Cap had every right to want to help Bucky, and prove his innocence. Even the King wanted to murder him, without actual facts or proof. Yes, Winter Soldier is dangerous, yes, he has killed many people, but NONE of them as his own self, but rather as the programmed monster Hydra created. Once he realized what happened, and was able to get his head cleared after the helicopter crash, he gave Cap the info, tried to help neutralize the 5 other soldiers, and when that was done, he willingly put himself on ice to keep the world safe from his own brain. All Cap has to do is show the world why Winter Soldier does these things, and find s away to deprogram him. But again, the world didn’t want that, they just wanted to execute on sight, for a crime he didn’t commit.
LOVED that. Loved the way the Russo’s gave us both sides. And the way they framed it, with Tony seeing how his parents died, and even tho he knows Bucky was programmed, he didn’t care, he still wanted blood. It was an awesome way to set their paths. In time, I suspect Tony will relax on Bucky and maybe even help clear his mind. (maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see)
Black Panther was tremendous. What an introduction. I am pumped for his solo film now, even more than I already was.
Spiderman was great, and I hope they just jump straight into the solo film from this one without any Uncle Ben or other nonsense. I hope this was out introduction to him, and the solo just moves forward without looking back.
I think Winter Soldier still might have been my favorite character of the film. Him and Cap breaking out of the apartment was
Unreal scenes there. Dude is a savage with that arm. Even the humor was blended in well there.
RDJ was terrific, but man, for the first time, you can see the signs of age. He’s gettin up there. I worry a lil bit about 2018-2019-2020 Tony Stark.
Cap was really good, always is, he does a great job being the polite, do right, wholesome characters he’s supposed to be. Lookin out for Bucky, lookin out for Wanda, respecting the kid from Queens, all of it was really well done on his part. Planting the tree, making them move, all of that, really great.
Black Widow always makes me want to get my *** kicked by her. Good lord that looks bun. By all means, wrap your legs around my throat all you need to darlin.
Vision straight from Target.
If they would put a sweater wrapped around his neck like those geeky white college tennis player types, I might have died.
An underrated scene for me. When Iron Patriot went dead stick, Iron Man immediately drops off to pursue AND so does Falcon. Even on opposing sides, Falcon didn’t want anything really bad to happen. He tried to get there, just the same as Tony did. I thought that was an excellent move by the Russo’s to show even in battle, they knew the real stakes still weren’t “to the death”. I almost would have left out the blast from Tony when he apologized, they should have kept that emotion in the moment. (tho there was a good sign by Falcon giving Tony the info in the prison shortly thereafter)
The movie wasn’t perfect. Certainly some plot holes and conveniences. Zemo’s ultimate plan had about 53 layers to it. All happened in perfect order for him. Ok. Wasting the 5 other soldiers was a bit of a letdown, that would have been a great scene to see them come out for blood vs any number of the Avengers. The fact that they recycled Loki’s plan in the original Avengers to tear them apart from within, but I can overlook that, because he was a crafty villain with real reason for doing so. How he happened to gain all the intel of this book of codes, and location of Hydra bases, and decrypting files from Black Widow, ok. I’ll let that slide. Zemo was an interesting villain and he did a really good job.
I was STUNNED there was no Sam L. Dude been in 198 movies in like 10 years, and didn’t get a 2 minute cameo here? I was absolutely stunned. Kept waiting for a door to open with him behind it, or a phone call, or something. Especially after how heavy he was in Cap 2.
Surprised they got rid of Crossbones so quickly. Really not even sure why they bothered to bring him back if that’s all we were gonna get out of him. Could had any nameless/faceless guy be a threat at the CDC type place and saved Crossbones for somethin else down the line.
I loved the humor, didn’t feel much of it was forced, certainly a joke or two were hit or miss, but for the overall movie, it was a real good balance and well timed. Lot of the one liners were simple and effective, some of the looks or moods, like Falcon and WS in the car, or after fighting Spidey, “You have the right to remain silent” was golden, and everything else was pretty on point. Not too many cringe worthy moments that I can recall. The pace was unreal, that 2.5 hours FLIES by, it was crazy when it ended, I felt like I’d barely gotten started. That’s a great sign to me.
Overall, I have it at a solid 7.75/8 Maybe after a couple move viewings, I might settle it in around 7.5 But I loved it.
I need a little time to sort thru it, but between the Dark Knight trilogy and the Cap trilogy, surprisingly, Cap may just be ahead. Iono. I need to give it time to breathe and revisit it in time. But I have them neck and neck for right now. I never expected this outta Cap’s films, but they have been stellar.
This certainly goes somewhere in my top 3-5 CBM films, just not sure where/how I want to slot it yet. But it’s way up there. With crazy rewatchability to boot. I’ma wear this Blu Ray out when it drops.
