Yes No Maybe So? Captain America: Civil War
Friday, March 11, 2016 at 9:16PM Let's just get right to this one okay? I have a Pavlovian YES response to all Captain America sightings but let's do our duty and breakdown the trailer for levels of anticipatory glee and nerves, shall we?
This job. We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But you don't give up.
Yup, I'm in. Pairing Captain America's savior complex with this image of his beloved, Bucky, still looking first appearance dangerous is a smart move. Instant emotional hook.
No. But then we're watching clips of three different past movies. "Previously on..." retreads aren't fun. At least pretend you're a movie instead of the most expensive and and shortest-seasoned TV show of all time.
New York (The Avengers). Washington (Winter Soldier). Sokovia (Age of Ultron)
Maybe So. Still, the good Captain speaking up when he sees Scarlet Witch's reaction to memories of Sokavia is so warming. Shut those disaster porn clips down. Hero.
No. As it turns out, Iron Man and the government want to keep the superheroes in check because of all the collateral damage... all those cities falling while they tried to save the world. Which is kind of how the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer plays out too with Man of Steel city-levelling guilt informing the plot. Here's a tip for screenwriters of superhero movies: don't strive for realism. People are already flying and using magic and not dying when the Hulk punches them and such. Suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy ourselves. If you ground it too much by telling us city-wide body counts and such it won't be any fun.
No. Tony Stark says he wants to punch Steve Rogers in his perfect teeth. The correct want is to kiss him on his perfect mouth. They argue.
YES. Worm's eye view shot of The Black Panther leaping on to and off of a car in hot pursuit of The Winter Soldier. Too quick for screencapping but well staged and new since we haven't yet seen this character in action.
YES
This quick attack and block and Tony Stark recoiling with disbelief that the Beloved Soldier nearly shot him in the head is so KAPOW baloon impactful. It practically comes with Smell-O-Vision its so gunpowder combustible.
Yes. Winter Soldier shoots War Machine out of the sky. Nice pietà there as Stark cradles the Body of Rhodes. But like the Christ he will surely rise again, right? Superheroes never stay dead for long.
I was wrong about you. The whole world was wrong about you.
Maybe So Unless Off the Rails You Go. We don't know who is saying this or about whom... so there's no telling if it's good dramaturgy. I am not wrong about Captain America, My Superhero Husband. So if the film tries to tell me otherwise, I shall revolt and dislike the movie.
They're coming for you.
YES. You don't come for The Black Widow. She comes for you. Watch your back.
Maybe So. After two films of film-elevating thankless workby Joss Whedon and Scarlett Johansson (who still doesn't have her own movie), together or separately in The Avengers and Winter Soldier, the Age of Ultron had difficulty going deeper. Will Scarlett win the fans back this time? How will the screenwriters justify Natasha turning against both her best friend Hawkeye and her pseudo partner in crime-fighting Captain America?
Maybe but I'm confused. Why is The Black Widow threatening Tony when she's clearly switching allegiances based on later images in the trailer? Hmmm.
Yes. Captain America tries to talk Iron Man out of a fight but this weapon building billionaire playboy (he's really like Bruce Wayne right, without the daddy issues and the gothic angst) well he aint having it. He wants war.
sure. War right out of his shoulder pads!
YES The Black Panther looks dangerous and masculine and fast -- costumes that don't let you see actor faces are always problematic (I mean is that even Chadwick Boseman? -- but the dark sleekness makes a beautiful silhouette. Though maybe there's a little overkill on the slicing sound mix whenever his claws are out? He's not Wolverine. Maybe vibranium's just noisy.
No no no Black Widow. Cool guys girls don't look at explosions.
YAAAAAAS BI--WITCH! The shot of The Scarlet Witch doing some sort of crazy potent hex with The Vision on his knees is insane. What the hell is going on? Is he melting? What if he was about to propose you crazy bitch? This is no way to treat your future babydaddy.
Sure, it was inevitable. Lots of individual shots of heroes attacking other heroes. We all knew it would come to this. Since the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had relatively lame villains, hero vs hero is probably the only logical way to go. And that's always a popular trope in comic books.
Yesssss. Tony vs. Steve
- Stay down. Final Warning.
- I can do this all day.
I know this is supposed to be dramatic rather than arousing but... ahem.
MAYBE SO
They're really going to have to have proper characterizations and motivations and agendas (i.e. strong scriptwriting and acting) to make these two teams of friends at war a believable scenario.
TEAM IRON MAN: War Machine, The Vision, Black Panther, Black Widow, Spider-Man (apparently)
TEAM CAPTAIN AMERICA: Winter Soldier, The Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Ant-Man
NO the sets look awfully bare and undramatic, right? Is there more to this movie than like 3 or 4 skirmishes between former allies in nondescript locations?
YES. Our senses are tingling. The trailer ends with a spoiler -- Tom Holland's Spider-Man (Or at least Tom Holland's voice emanate from a CG character.) ! Spidey or "Underoos" as Tony calls him, cleverly robs Captain America of his two best weapons (shield and fists).
The question is this just fan service circle jerk like we're all essentially playing with our action figures and pitting them against each other is there an actual story? Is this the end of the fight or a tiny breather? Is this the middle setpiece with something they're not showing us at all or the climax itself?
I'm a full YES with Maybe So nerves because Winter Soldier is going to be really hard to top and Civil War looks far more like an Avengers movie than a third Captain America film.
How about you?
And what's with Spidey's mechanized squint?
Reader Comments (22)
My two biggest concerns with the movie is that it will be too much of a group movie (which we just had) and that Black Widow will have to have an extremely convincing and explainable reason for fighting a war against her two closest friends (Hawkeye and Cap).
Other than that, I am a big yes based on how great The Winter Soldier was, easily the best superhero movie since Spider-Man 2.
But are these overloaded casts the new norm for Marvel movies? Looking at the rumored cast list for Infinity War is exhausting.
" If you ground it too much by telling us city-wide body counts and such it won't be any fun. "
This is a thing that fans keep bringing up, especially in regards to MAN OF STEEL. It's not the movies' faults, really.
As for the movie, I'll be there, but I have reservations that it's a de facto IRON MAN sequel, and that Spider-Man looks so awfully CGI. There is no human inside that costume at all. And what's with the squinting eyes? Can Spidey's costume do that and I just never noticed before?
I thought one of the biggest complaints about Man of Steel was Superman's total destruction of a city while fighting a bad guy when Superman would normally try to help out those caught in the way of super-villain fights? I mean, I get your point about suspending belief with these types of popcorn "fun" and I'm probably skipping Batman vs Superman altogether based on Batman's vengeance storyline.
Still, I'm a solid yes for this one, even though I've seen the meme of what looks like a total of 10 "superheroes" converging on a Tesco gas station set.
I'm really curious to see how they make sense of that showdown at the airport. It's looks so S.E. Hinton. They all agree on a time and place to rumble? Okay. So, why don't they just rumble when they meet up to make plans on when and where to rumble?
In seriousness, I have great faith in the writers. And YES - that look in Stark's eyes, the look of disbelief... I don't know why, but that single moment makes me all the more excited about this movie.
I'm a yes. But you know I'm a Sebastian Stan slut ho so what can you do?
Yes: Oh, Captain, I've missed you. How have you been? Is there anything I can do for you?
No: Iron Man is in this? Again? Nobody wants to see him.
Maybe: If Iron Man hurts Cap, or wins over him, I don't want to see this stupid movie. Why can't Iron Man be frozen in the ice for a couple of decades?
Oh, it doesn't matter. They've done 2 good movies, it would be hard to keep me away, and even if I was a no, Professor would make me go. I'm all in. YES.
Is this a video game? Wow. I am so over RDJ
I'm a resounding YES. The first trailer felt more undeniably focused on Captain America but this trailer still gives me the sense that it'll be his movie. Plus, this trailer was just cool as hell. As for the avoiding realism thing; like Glenn and James said, one of the chief complaints about MOS - and really most comic book films - was its destruction, so you either complete disregard it or acknowledge it in a smart way. Lastly, there's a whole other element to this film that hasn't shown up in either trailer, so I don't imagine that the airport thing is the climax.
Adri, that's actually a valid point, though, about it being stupid if Cap loses. Marvel is marketing the movie in a very "choose a side" way, but nobody would ever choose Tony Stark over Steve Rogers. NOBODY! There's gonna have to be a lot of suspension of disbelief to sell this battle as valid from both sides.
I don't really feel much from the trailer since it feels more Avengers sequel than Captain America, but Winter Soldier was the best Marvel movie ever. I'm there opening weekend.
Eew
YES YES YES. I can't wait for this film. This trailer was perfect.
Like you Nathaniel, I'll take some convincing that Black Widow would turn quite so readily against both Cap and Hawkeye. If the film delves into the meat of that, then I'm there, but if it's tired backpedaling of relationships carefully established in the previous films, then I'll be pissed.
Like everyone else, I could happily never see Tony Hawk again.
Nat: I'm hoping for a villainless narrative at some point. Specifically, for Ant-Man and the Wasp to be Ant-Man's Big Christmas, a story even non-Ant-Man fans LOVE. But, due to necessary character actions, it's also a story that requires either Ant-Man 1 (Hank Pym) or Ant-Man 3 (Eric O'Grady) in the suit. Hoping the success of Deadpool encourages Marvel toward it, because a solo Ant-Man franchise without this story getting adapted would be completely disappointing.
@ Ryan T:
You mean you're a Stan stan?
Of course I'm in for this. Did you see Black Panther leap on that car with speed lines like a comic book? I've been waiting 20 years to see dude on-screen.
These movies are starting to make me feel like I'm no fun at all. I want to like them, but they're starting to bring out the curmudgeon in me.
I'm with you, Chris.
I mean, I'll see this one at least, because my bf likes the comic book/superhero movies and the Captain America ones have been on the whole the best of them, but I'm not going to be happy about it. ESPECIALLY if it doesn't tell a COMPLETELY self-contained story. I'm just getting sick of the ongoing narrative connecting all these dozens and dozens of movies. I would be more apt to be excited and liken them to the serials of yore if only they were more fun and, well, better movies all around. But lately the sense of self-importance running through the Marvel films as a whole (thank God for Deadpool and Ant-Man) has been just annoying.
@Paul Outlaw: Touché. Also bravo.
denny: Um...Guardians?
God damn what a perfect of article it is. It makes me feel like I am watching the movie one more time. I like the way you capture the suspense, drama, emotion and action in the post. Just like the way whatculture.com does in their post. Good job mate!!