Back from my fan screening in Tempe, AZ. Both Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan showed up. The movie was about 10mins late getting started and I was wondering what the hold up was - then they came out. They didn't stay (obviously) but it was still a cool surprise nonetheless. The whole crowd went nuts. Sorry for the poor quality, but it's a screenshot of the snapchat video I took:
Man, I don't think I've ever felt like this before after coming out of a movie. It marks the first time where honestly I have to let everything settle in my mind and then see it again. It's such a large and ambitious superhero film. That can be both a blessing and curse. I apologize ahead of time, but I will more than likely end up editing this after I post it.
The blessing is that there is enough superhero-ey goodness to last your comic book heart a long time. They really do an effective job tying all the strings and collateral damage within the MCU. We've grown to know and care for most of these heroes and the film does a great job servicing all of their various perspectives. Nearly everything that happens or is spoken actually matters, with very few throwaway moments - an amazing feat considered the size of this ensemble. The Russo's had some very interesting choices with their camera work too. There's a lot of intimate shots where you're up close near their faces - particularly with Steve Rogers.
- The critics were spot on about the airport fight in Germany. It's not quite a "brawl" so to speak, but honestly I kind of figured that going in. I knew it would be similar to when brothers are antagonizing each other and wrestling in the house. Spiderman and Ant-Man definitely shine in the fight. Spiderman fans are going to be verrrrrry happy when it comes to his power level, skill, and commentary.
- Tom Holland nails the role. Albeit I still think it's ironic that given Stark's new stance he would jeopardize bringing a teenager into the fight. Some of the sequence requires you not to over-analyze what you're watching. I can't even imagine how hard it was to put that together coherently. Scott Lang has one of the movie's most memorable lines when he shrinks and [BLACKOUT]gets in Iron Man's suit. When Stark becomes aware he's in there Lang remarks, "This is your conscience speaking. I know we haven't talked in a while, but ....."[/BLACKOUT] That got a great laugh from the crowd.
- Everyone really does have something to do in this movie and more importantly contribute to the narrative. Arcs are revisited for most of them from prior films. I gotta say Hawkeye returns in pretty badass form and at one point puts that to the test vs [BLACKOUT]Vision[/BLACKOUT] of all people. You can tell the Russos like Clint Barton a lot and I would watch a standalone movie with no questions asked if they directed it. I can't forget our boy Black Panther who's suit in the movie is just beautiful, not to mention his fighting abilities. He could almost be considered the 4th lead in this.
- Steve's story is definitely at the core of this movie. It was fun to watch the camaraderie between Steve, old friends, and new (i.e. Falcon, Bucky). In my mind though it's a three way for the "lead" of the movie between Steve, Tony, and Bucky. We finally get to see Winter Soldier speak and interact in other ways beyond fighting, not to mention getting a glimpse of more of his past.
- Speaking of fighting, there's plenty of it after the movie's first act. I'm so glad the Russo's understand how to show these guys in action - which is something I don't think Whedon ever quite got in the Avenger movies.
The curse is that there are fairly large segments of the film without Steve Rogers, as service is being paid to new characters being introduced. The fact that they go deeper into Tony's psyche and then let us into Winter Soldier's world a bit more - that's the price that was paid. In fact the story (I believe it was Vision) laments and I'm paraphrasing here - that all the meta humans and villains exist because of Tony Stark and the Iron Man suit. It's the kind of thing that nudges the movie's focus away from Steve.
- Daniel Bruhl was excellent as Zemo by the way. Verrrrrrrry sinister. [BLACKOUT]He's central to all the manipulation[/BLACKOUT] going on - which I'm sure many could have already guessed. His plan however is not very different from everyone else [BLACKOUT]i.e. break them apart from the inside[/BLACKOUT]. In some ways as fun as that has been to watch, it's also getting too feel a little bit too familiar. Thunderbolt Ross suffered the shortest end of the stick. He transitions really quickly from a guy who's acting as a voice of reason for the Accords to a guy who's almost hateful of the Avengers.
- Some of the CGI on Black Panther needed more work. There were also moments in the airport fight where the green screen was kind of evident.
- My largest complaint is that there is a handful of situations lacking proper segue/transition. Those things happen out of convenience in order to hit important plot points. Example, [BLACKOUT]I have no idea how Steve Rogers knew where Bucky lived, let alone that he was in Bucharest[/BLACKOUT]. There's a chance I may have missed something though. I also thought there was quite a conflict of moods between the way the Stark/Rogers brawl and how the movie ended. I was expecting there to be a lot more static remaining from their schism based on everything we were hearing.
EDIT: Adding another critique.
One of the things I keep coming back to when I think about what I saw at the fan screening is how it ended.
Tony finally finds out Cap knew about Bucky assassinating his parents. We get a knock down drag out fight where if it weren't for Cap's character - we might have seen Tony's death. Then we end up with it all being unwound. Cap mails a burner phone and letter to Tony that pledges he will always be there for him. This is followed up with mid-credit scene of Bucky going back into cryo - to which there's really no discussion. You'd think after all Cap has gone thru to finally have him back in his life he wouldn't be so easily to go along with it.
It's just kind of anti-climatic. I would have preferred they maintained their separate ways for a while. Seemed like The Russos were just trying to squeeze in another Cap speech. I understand movies shouldn't end on a crappy note. Seeing Stark helping to rehabilitate Rhodey would have been enough, along with Cap breaking some of the captured Avengers from the Raft would have done the job.
For now I'm giving this movie an 8.5. I never gives movies 10, so bare that in mind. That may bump another half point when I see it again. I think CA:TWS was a tighter film overall and pays more service to Steve Rogers. Then again it might be unfair to compare the two as this film is much larger in scale and more ambitious. I don't envy the Russo for taking on Infinity Wars, this had to have been hard enough as it was.
Gotcha. I mean that's fine because the movie needed that to happen, but it's amazing it even did considering how well he was a ghost for so long. I probably would have found it more effective had Steve followed him back there. But obviously the Russos wanted to show Cap sifting thru his belongings.
You can already see that at the IMDB where the extremely bitter have voted about 20% 1s to get the rating down.
This movie is AMAZING. I want to give a full review but feel like incoherent gushing noises will ensue.
As for leads - Steve is the lead though as said he's not in the film 95% of the time as with TWS. Then it's Tony. Almost 1A and 1B. Next tier I think T'Challa had as much to do as Bucky and he has a great arc. So does Wanda. Nat, Vision and Sam as well. Scott & Peter are scene stealers. Even the smaller roles- Rhodey, Hawkeye, Ross are just so well done. It's textbook 101 screenwriting and directing for a large cast with important characters.
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