Fight choreography: Batfleck vs Cap (CW)

[Kobra]

So, now that we've seen the new Batman, which one do you think received the best fighting treatment in terms of Choreography and Cinematography?

I think they were both great. All of Cap scenes were very good and Batman's warehouse scene was great too. I'm gonna go with Batfleck on this one. Even though i think they're on the same level in terms of choreography, i'm just not a huge fan of the way certain things were filmed in CW. Weird angles, shaky cam, extremely fast cuts and the obvious speed ups made it a little bit nauseating for me in certain scenes. I felt i could understand better what was going on in the Batman scenes. The camera movements weren't as annoying.

 

[The Endless]

This Batman is the best Batman yet, in terms of the visual and physicality. By far.

But we've only seen him fight standard goons who pose no threat really. Fantastic choreography for sure.

But Cap vs Bucky in TWS is just so brutal and visceral. It has the advantage of 2 similar characters going at it for an extended period.

It'll be cool to see this Batman fight someone like Deathstroke, then we can judge more fairly.

 

[MadVillainy]

This Batman is the best Batman yet, in terms of the visual and physicality. By far.

But we've only seen him fight standard goons who pose no threat really. Fantastic choreography for sure.

But Cap vs Bucky in TWS is just so brutal and visceral. It has the advantage of 2 similar characters going at it for an extended period.

It'll be cool to see this Batman fight someone like Deathstroke, then we can judge more fairly.

Very good post and I agree.

 

[Mjölnir]

Cap is the clear winner for me. He has had great scenes with taking down goons, fighting equals, fighting more powerful beings, and teamed up with several different heroes. The choreography has been better and it's been more inventive.

The shaky cam in Lagos was a bit too much, but he's had more long and clean shots of him fighting than Batfleck as well.

As The Endless says, the comparison is hard since we've only seen Batfleck really good when taking down some goons but never in a great one on one scene like Cap vs Bucky. Batman vs Superman didn't stand out that much and he was pretty useless against Doomsday. It will probably be a more interesting comparison when the Batfleck solo movie has come out.

 

[Erzengel]

I have to say that the Batman warehouse scene is the best Batman kickass scene, I've seen on Cinema.

However, the Cap vs. Bucky scene is just so wonderfully done in terms of choreography.

Also, even if was just CW. Just his scenes fighting Tony and crew were straight out of a comic book.

I have to vote for Cap.

 

[Flint Marko]

This isn't even a competition.

 

[dude stannis]

It certainly isn't a competition. I can't stand the Paul Greengrass shaky cam style Civil War employed for Cap's hand to hand fights.

If the poll was about the superpowered stuff, then I'd go Civil War, but in terms of hero against goons, it's Batfleck.

 

[Adhesive Boy]

Apart from the first scene in Civil War there's no less clarity in Cap'n fights. They are of clearly higher quality choreography though.

And these are all superpowered fights. No human could ever throw around people like Cap and Batfleck do.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

WS > BvS > CW

 

[The Joker]

Cap by far. It's not even close.

 

[Dopinder]

I liked most of the action in Civil War, but some of it was ruined by shaky cam and quick cuts.

The batman warehouse scene was great and it was easy to follow, but it's only one good scene.

 

[Tony Stark]

I'm not a huge fan of shaky cam but overall the fight scenes were way better in CW. BvS loses credit for Batman murdering people, but in a way I'm glad because it made for a hilarious parody on HISHE!

 

[hitmanyr2k]

Cap's fight scene against Crossbones in Lagos was actually decent even with the shaky cam. Black Widow's fight scenes in Lagos were freakin horrendous and if all fight scenes were like hers I would have given it to Batfleck by a country mile. However, the camerawork and editing got a lot better starting with the BP vs Bucky fight and progressed from there with Cap vs Bucky and so on so I give the edge to CW.

 

[Elevator Man]

Guess I'm the only one who wasn't bothered by the shaky cam in CA:CW.

And as good as the choreography was for that warehouse scene in BvS. It felt too little too late showing off Batman's fighting skills near the climax.

 

[Flint Marko]

The shaky cam wasn't a problem for me at all in CA:CW.

 

[ernesth100]

Why do people keep making these unfair comparisons. DCEU Bats has.only appeared once.


Granted its fun to.look at the Poll

 

[Smilodon]

The shaky cam in WS/CW was hardly as excessive as Paul Greengrass' work (and even then there's a certain clarity to his work that some try to emulate and fail). Sure it's not the super clean, steady stuff of something like Skyfall, which deliberately tried to move away from that, but it's watchable while being frenetic.

I've never seen a superhero fighter as well realized as Captain America in TWS/CW. Blade, despite being played by a martial artist, definitely had a lot of the 90s aesthetic of too much posing. But with Cap, you really believe he is the greatest hand to hand combatant in the world. Nat earns her namesake as the Black Widow under the Russos and their crew. Cap fights with like a mix of various martial arts and combined with his superhuman physical prowess, it's just unbelievable.

CW was a step down just in term of Cap fights I think because he was fighting a CGI Iron Man, but when he was fighting against an actual person, boy was the work great.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

The shaky cam wasn't a problem for me at all in CA:CW.

My third viewing got a lot better. The first two times I saw Civil War was in Cinemark XD. The 2nd time I was watching the movie I noticed when Falcon swooped down and kicked those two guys they were hardly even in the picture. That's when I realized they were showing the film almost in 16:9 format and cutting the sides off rather than the 2:35 scope aspect ratio that the movie was filmed in. I was going to complain after the movie but completely forgot lol. The third time I saw the film in a regular digital theater and sure enough the movie was in its correct aspect ratio and I could take in a lot more of the action even with the shaky cam. From now on I'm sticking with regular 2D digital theaters. Cinemark XD and IMAX just don't do it for me.

 

[Skrilla31]

The Black Widow stuff alone in this movie is better than anything we've seen Batman do on film.

 

[flickchick85]

CW had the John Wick team on board for this one and it showed, imo. Batfleck was good but Cap easily takes this for me.

 

[Marvel Knight]

Easy win for Cap.

The fights in Winter Soldier are incredible.

The boat fight and the highway battle are my favorites.

 

[Erzengel]

In the OP's defense, it does say CW in the thread title.

 

[Drz]

Batman's fights we're better than what Captain America did in CW.

 

[JtheDreamer]

Batman's fights we're better than what Captain America did in CW.

CA:TWS has the better fights scenes (not Civil War).

As for BvS, didn't like the movie as a whole. However, the Batman/Superman fight and then the Batman warehouse fight were better than what I saw in CA:CW if we're talking about ACTUAL fighting. The airport sequence was more fun on a spectacle level - but it was one massively staged play-fight.

 

[Visualiza]

The choreography of the warehouse scene looked like a wrestling match in some spots. I rolled my eyes when he hopped over a crate before slamming a goon's head into it, which was itself preceded by a very bizarre body slam. It was frenetic, but a little felt too choreographed.

The handheld work bugged me a bit with Cap's brawls, but the choreography was superior. The way he incorporates his shield into the fights (offensively and defensively) also makes for a real treat, and his style feels more visceral to me.