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Captain America: Civil War: Mini-review

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Chris Evans

Chris Evans is all smiles after looking at Captain America’s box office totals

BLess that two months ago, Warner Brothers pitted the two greatest heroes in the DC Comics universe against each other in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Not to be outdone, Disney and the Marvel superheroes have fired back, and the result is a knockout. Not only does Captain America: Civil War have many more superheroes than does its DC counterpart, it has something much more important: a sense of humor.

Civil War has a detailed and, at times, cumbersome plot that basically serves as a device to eventually pit most of the superheroes in the Marvel universe against each other. After several civilians are killed when Captain America (Chris Evans) stops terrorists in Africa from stealing a biological weapon, the United Nations wants to put the Avengers under its direct control. The Captain refuses, and when it later appears that his friend, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), is responsible for a mass bombing, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) heads up a team of Avengers to bring the Soldier in, even if it means taking on Captain America to do so. 

Captain America: Civil War is divided in two roughly equal halves: brooding and fighting. The movie acknowledges the enormous amounts of collateral damage resulting from the finale showdowns in previous Marvel films, and several of the heroes, most notably Iron Man, are wracked with guilt about their involvement. But, much as in Batman v Superman, it’s hard for audiences to take this as anything other than a means to a spectacular end. And the end is truly spectacular, a terrific battle royal pitting a dozen heroes against each other in and above a commercial airport runway setting that conveniently allows them to toss jets at each other with no innocent bystanders in the middle. The two most noteworthy participants in the battle are a new, actually high-school-aged Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and an easygoing Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), who reconfigures his suit to turn himself into a giant. There’s a light touch to the showdown, and, indeed all the set pieces, as directors Anthony and Joe Russo keep the quips flying along with the fists in all the action scenes. Just as important, they made a wise choice in centering Captain America around the more optimistic and youthful appearing Evans rather than the more world-weary Downey. The movie still feels a bit bloated and slow moving at times, but Captain America: Civil War is easily the most effective and entertaining of the Marvel superhero ensemble movies. 
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Mini-review

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Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck without his mask

C Batman has always been a somber, brooding character, especially in recent comics and movies, but director Zack Snyder‘s version of the Dark Knight (played by Ben Affleck) makes most of the others incarnations seem like Adam West in comparison. Throw in an equally depressing version of Superman (Henry Cavill), and their eagerly awaited encounter, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is perhaps the most gloomy, slow-moving, and downright unenjoyable superhero movies ever made. 

The centerpiece of Batman v Superman is the showdown between the two heroes, orchestrated by an insane Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg), who manipulates Batman and Superman into hating each other. When they both survive their epic showdown, Luthor unleashes an even more powerful threat on the world, Doomsday, a giant superpowered monster he created from Kryptonian DNA.

Admittedly, saving the world from diabolical business tycoons and mutant behemoths is serious work, but never before had I seen a superhero movie in which nobody, with the exception of the manically hysterical Luthor, had a single bit of fun. Snyder apparently set out to make sure that the audience wouldn’t have any fun either. Most of the set pieces in Batman v Superman take place at night, often in pouring rain in rundown decrepit buildings. The film moves at a near glacial pace, taking nearly two hours of draggy exposition to lay the groundwork for the heroes’ battle royal and to invent a mechanism whereby the all-too-human Batman can credibly take on the seemingly invulnerable Superman. But the filmmakers aren’t content with their already overstuffed central storyline. Instead, they introduce Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who helps fight Doomsday, and drop hints about other members of the Justice League (DC Comics’ version of Marvel’s Avengers), all for the purpose of laying the groundwork for future sequels and spinoffs. What gets lost in all the gloom and doom are solid performances by Affleck and Cavill and some genuinely exciting set pieces, especially those featuring Batman in action. These sequences reveal the movie that Batman v Superman could easily have been with a bit more of an upbeat tone and faster pace. Instead of epic excitement, however, Snyder and the producers seemingly went for epic tragedy, and the result for audiences will be an epic disappointment.   
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