Captain America: Civil War

Hello dear reader. Well they’ve gone and done and it again. Those annoying types over at ‘Team Marvel’, with Kevin Fiege at the helm have released another one of those pesky superhero movie things. And much to my bloody annoyance, (Hashtag Team DC), it has, to quote George Formby, turned out nice again. The film in question is of course Captain America: Civil War and it without wishing to cry over my keyboard too much, it shows perfectly well how to make a movie that lasts the better part of two and a half hours, filled with more characters than you’d usually find on the average page of a Where’s Wally book, which is then also coherent and fun to watch. 

Must not mention Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Must not mention Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Must not mention Batman v Superman: Dawn of…

Capatian America as a character works. He’s one of only a handful of superheroes from the Marvel stable that have made it to three standalone films. The others, of course, being Iron Man and Thor (Ragnarok 2017). He’s not quite truth, justice and the American way, mostly because the current American way seems to be the polar opposite of his own moral compass but If you have a problem, if no one else can help and The A-Team aren’t available (and of course you happened to live in the MCU), chances are he’d offer to help. Assuming of course he wasn’t previously engaged in say, jumping out of a plane without a parachute, fighting 13 squillion people in a glass elevator or doing the world’s greatest impression of an ice lolly, just north of Castle Black. 

One of the main reasons that ‘old cappy’ works is down mostly down to three people. The first is Joss Whedon, who took the less than stellar origin story and built the character into a believable and credible human being in the first Avengers film. The second and third people responsible for making Cap an ‘A lister’ are the brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. Rumour has it that Mr Fiege was so impressed with their directorial MCU debut, Winter Soldier (Captain America 2, to the uninitiated) that he green light them to direct Civil War and also both parts of the upcoming Avengers: Infinity Wars. (Coming to a cinema screen near you in the summer of 2018 and then 2019). These two films will be the culmination of everything that has come before. Phases one, two and now three, will all be hanging their respective hopes on the ever so crowed shelf, that and also keeping their fingers crossed that the shelf in question doesn’t give way under the weight of expectation. To give you some idea of the task at hand, pretty much every MCU bod and their official hangeroners (excluding those of course that have popped their clogs and snuffed it, ex-parrot like) will be making an appearance over the course of these two movies. Thanos, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Loki, Hulk and Mr Bun the Baker are all scheduled to appear. Which is long way of saying that, by comparison Civil War is basically like watching a hermit convention.

So without wishing to channel my inner Baldrick too much, I give you the following.

‘The thing is: The way I see it, these days there's a film on? and, ages ago, there wasn't a film on, right? So, there must have been a moment when there not being a film on went away, right? and there being a film on came along. So, what I want to know is: How did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs?’ 

Or to put it another way, how did Civil War make it to the big screen?

Well as I mentioned earlier, the Russo brothers were handed the reins for 2014’s Winter Soldier. Marvel have a habit of picking from the outer rim of expectation when it comes to choosing directors. James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy, John Favreau for the first two Iron Man films and of course Kenneth Branagh for Thor. The biggest hit the Russo’s had had prior to Winter Soldier was with the schmaltz fest ‘You , me and Dupree’ and just over a dozen episodes of Community. However they pretty much knocked it out of the park and ticked all the boxes they were asked to. No mean feat considering that one of those boxes was to turn Robert Redford into a credible villain (sorry, there should have been a spoiler alert in there somewhere). They teamed up again with the same screenwriters as before, Christopher Marcus and Stephen Mcfeely and, as I alluded to earlier, have delivered the longest MCU film to date and at the same time a film, that in my not at all biased DC opinion, can quiet easily sit up and hold its own in the best three Marvel films ever made. 

Must not mention Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice etc…

Now, as for that all important plot, it’s not that complicated and is basically as follows. The world’s governments and assorted leaders are starting to get just ever so slightly annoyed with the collateral damage and clean-up operation that is normally bestowed upon them after a visit from a passing superhero, or in most cases, superheroes. The cost, not only financial but physical too, is starting to take its toll and it’s decided that there needs to be some accountability for this. So before you can say ‘sign on the dotted line’ a document the size of a telephone directory is thrust in front of any and all ‘do-gooders’ that have a costume clause in there ‘we will only help humanity if…’ contract.  

Now as you can imagine this does not go down well with some and is what effectively causes the so called Civil War. Just a quick note here. When I first heard that this was the basic premise for the plot I had kind assumed, wrongly as it turns out, that It would be Captain America that was all for this and that free thinking, doesn’t like to play by the rules, Tony Stark (or is that Stank?) that would be dead set against it. However that’s not how the film plays out at all. I haven’t read the Comic Book series in which this film is based upon but I’d be very interested to find out how much it has been altered, to bring it to the big screen. 

So there you have it. Team Tony, including Vision, Black Widow and Spider-Man (more on him later) are happy to sign but Team Cappy, who include Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and assorted others are shall we say, not overly keen to put their John Hancock’s on this document. Primarily because it would relinquish their ability to choose who to help and when and they’d be under the control of an organisation. And as Cap says, Organisations have agendas and agendas can change.  

As well as the more familiar faces returning here there are also a couple of new ones. Firstly we have Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa or as he’s more communally known, Black Panther. Now he has an interesting back story which borders on, or at least parks very close to, spoiler territory. His Character is set for his own film, which is currently set to hit the silver screen at some point in July of 2018 and I myself am looking forward to what direction it ends up taking. Again I can’t get into the meat and bones of the character too much without giving away Civil War plot details but I will say he spends most of the film hell bent on revenge. Annoyingly though he never starts any of his conversations with the sentence ‘I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand? 

However, the real star of the show is Spider-Man. Now, this is only possible because at some point back towards the tail end of 2014, either Andrew Garfield threw his rattle out of the pram and walked away from the rebooted ‘Amazing Spiderman’ franchise or the bean counters over at Sony Films decided that there weren’t enough bums on seats and merchandise being sold to continue it as a viable proposition. The exact reason for mothballing ‘Spidey’ will probably never come to light but Kevin Feige, being a clever old soul, set up a meeting with Sony to see if they’d be willing to let him use the webcrawler in his MCU. After the dust settled and the obligatory sacrifices to the gods had been made Sony & Marvel agreed that it would be in everyone’s best interests to put Peter Parker back on the big screen and do it quickly. Long story short it was announced that Spider-Mans first MCU appearance would be in Civil War and the only small issue to overcome, was to actually cast someone for the roll. Again, depending on which parts of deepest darkest corners of the internet you’re prepared to believe, the shortlist for auditions had three names on it and all three actors had to complete a screen test with Robert Downey Jr & Chris Evans. 

Tom Holland ending up landing the roll and I have to say, it seems like the right choice. Tom is currently nineteen and given that the screenwriters have forgone the origin story that seems to be obligatory in any and all superhero films, he’s at the perfect age to play Peter Parker whilst he’s still in high school. He’s funny and intelligent and by the time Tony Stark tracks him down he’s already been out and about, swinging through the Manhattan skyline for the better part of six months. I’m not sure if it’s just Peter Parker being catastrophically naïve or not having the life experience to know any better but when Tony Stark asks him to join him to fight the good fight and help show ‘Team Cap’ the error of their ways, he jumps at the chance. Of course Stark telling him he’ll fund him for basically the best part of forever, does help sweeten the deal too. Tom Holland doesn’t so much steal this movie, he commits grand larceny. He is the stand out performance in a film that isn’t exactly shy when it comes to actors that ‘know their shit’. He will be back in the Spidey suit next year for what Marvel have cheekily called ‘Spider-Man: homecoming’ and I for one can’t wait.

Another quick little tangent here, if you’ll permit me. Most of you British types of a certain age, or should that be a certain generation (far more PC) will probably be interested to know that Tom’s father, is in fact Dominic Holland. Now, that name might not mean much to you but I’m pretty sure in you Googled the name and saw his picture, you would all say ‘Oh, Him!’ 

Captain America: Civil War is an absolute blast. From its beginnings to its closing credits, it does exactly what a blockbuster film is supposed to do. It entertains and reminds you that when movies are done well, the cinema can be a great place to while away and afternoon or evening. It has some of the best action sequences that Marvel have ever offered us, including a visually stunning fight sequence in an airport, that’s worth the price of admission on its own. It certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously and the script is full of humor and intelligence, which given some of the subject matter that comes up, definitely puts this film very much in the win column. The next MCU Film that’s lurching just over the horizon is Doctor Strange. That’s due to it land at the end of October this year and apart from Benedict Cumberbatch’s ridiculous false beard, the trailer looks very impressive. So in closing I will say this. Go and see Civil War, you’ll be glad you did. As always, make sure you stay and watch the credits. There’s a mid-credit sting and one at the very end and remember these films aren’t the be all and end of movie making. There never going to be considered high-brow or worthy of winning the best film Oscar. I’ve said before that I believe there is a real danger that at some point soon, especially as DC & Warner’s are now squarely affixed to the bandwagon, we will hit the Superhero event horizon and people will just get tired from an oversaturated market and stop going to see them. However, until that day comes, get your bottom down to your nearest multiplex pronto quick and watch Civil War. You’ll be really glad you did…

Twitter Review: Marvel at Marvel doing that voodoo that they do so well. 

#WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility 

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498820/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrVegVI0Us

http://www.empireonline.com/movies/captain-america-civil-war/review/

Fast and Furious 7

Well hello dear reader, it's been a few months since I last gave my opinion on a film and for that I can only say sorry. The reason for this is a simple one. There hasn't really been anything released in the last two months that I wanted to see. Having pretty much gone into cinema overload at the start of the year with the major Hollywood studios letting loose their Oscar 'A Game' with such titles like Birdman, Whiplash and Foxcatcher, to name but three, it's been all quiet on the western front for getting on for nearly ten weeks. 

Nothing floated my boat. In fact the closest anything came to even getting my hull wet was Jupiter Ascending and Kingsmen but timing and a desire to play my 'I'll watch them when they get to Sky Movies' Top Trump card prevented me from seeing them. So having a free Easter afternoon at my disposal I took myself off the bench, got back in the game and went to see a charming little film about cars. And just to clarify that last sentence it wasn't a Pixar release and as much as I'd pay to see it, it wasn't a modern day version of 'Driving Miss Daisy' complete with turbo chargers, semi-automatic assault rifles and an anti-hero that sits in the back of cars whilst being chauffeured around from one hit to the next. The film in question is of course Fast and Furious 7.

Fast and Furious 7 as you may have guessed is a sequel. The sixth sequel in fact that Universal have sent out way since the original graced our screens back in 2001. Now it takes a brave studio executive to green light and flog a cash cow seven times and to be honest there aren't that many film franchises that can even boast a seventh film. Sure Bond is up in the mid-twenties now, Freddy and Jason seem to be locked in an eternal battle to see who can make the worst horror film and I'm sure we can all agree that world would be forever grateful for the cultural boundaries and stereotypes that Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow helped breakdown and destroy. But seven, does the world really need a seven? Hell, even Peter Jackson couldn't make Middle earth stretch that far and he included Elves that didn't exist, Wereworms and Billy Connolly riding a pig whilst drunk, (Billy Connolly drunk, not the pig). The short answer to the previous question is yes and given the money it made on its opening weekend worldwide, north of four hundred million, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's an eighth, ninth and tenth part in the not too distant future. 

For those not in the know I'll start at the beginning. Once upon a time there was a Los Angles cop called Brain O'Coner, played by the recently deceased Paul Walker. Back in the first instalment Brian is sent undercover to investigate an illegal and underground street racing crew led by Dominic Toretto, Played by Vin 'I am Groot' Diesel. All sorts of shenanigans take place, cars go fasty fasty broom broom, Brian falls for Dominic's sister (obligatory film love interest) and wouldn't you know it by the end of said film or 106 minutes later if you want it in metric, Brian and Dominic become friends. 2 Fast 2 Furious followed less than two years later with John Singleton at the helm but minus Mr Diesel. The plot, such as it is, centred around drug runners in that there Florida and if you've never seen it (and judging from it box office receipts you haven't) you're really not missing much. The third outing for the franchise churned out 'Tokyo Drift', which followed in 2006. Both Walker and Diesel were absent and some would argue that so was the plot. Which by the way, made the second film look like Oscar Material. It revolved around young’uns having to enter races in a Japanese city (I forget which one) in order to avoid going to jail in America. And that should have been that. After diminishing returns and a lack of star power willing to return the whole franchise looked done and dusted. No more fast, no more furious and no more turbo charged alpha male 'living my life a quarter mile at a time'. 

So what happened I hear you ask? I'll tell you. Justin Lin happened. Mr Lin who, whilst directing, was obviously the only person on the third film that even seemed to remotely enjoy themselves wanted to make a forth and he had an idea. I'm not sure it will go down in the annals of time as one of the greatest 'lightbulb moments' ever but the last three films alone have made Universal obscene amounts of money. Just under 1.8 billion dollars at the last count, so I'm guessing it works. The idea in question was a simple one. Instead of just races why not have huge stunts and set pieces using cars. Using this premise Mr Lin did two things. Firstly without anyone really noticing he rebooted the franchise after eight years. Which even by today's Hollywood standards is impressive. Secondly he convinced Mr Diesel and Mr Walker to come back. 

Part four was given the green light and for reasons not really passing understanding it was called simply 'Fast and Furious', (No room here for the definite article thank you so very much). It not only raised the bar considerably given what had come before it and also stopped taking itself seriously. It's safe to say that since this film the Fast and Furious tongue has been pushed so far into its own cheek that you'd probably be able to hang a coat on it. The story for four involved drug running and a big baddy called Braga. But leaving the plot aside it’s the action that helps sell this film and is a forerunner of what was to come. They dipped their toes in the water to see if it would sell and sell it did. In fact it sold to the tune of 360 million, making it by far and away the most successful of the series to date. After this came number five or 'Fast 5' as it was called. This had an ace in the hole. It employed the services of none other than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson playing a government badass called Hobs. This coupled with another of those completely believable scripts that required the good guys to steal a bank vault in down town Rio and then drag said vault, with its contents still inside, through the streets of Rio in broad daylight. Throw in a fight between Vin and The Rock and you have a film that ticks a lot of boxes on the 'must watch' menu. The sixth film (guess what that's called?) was sure to follow and in 2013 we got another dose of high octane thrills and spills. Now I have already reviewed number 6 in s previous blog so I won't repeat myself here. All I will say is that it's worth watching alone for the sequence with the tank and also for its final set piece on a plane and what could well be the longest runway in Europe if not the world.

So that dear reader brings us upto date and back to part the seventh. Again the plot wouldn't look out of place in a Ripley’s 'believe it or not' exhibition and basically boils down to the fact that the big brother, played by the one and only 'Stath', of the big bad nasty villain from Furious 6, played by Luke Evans, is after the whole gang for putting said brother in hospital. Now the Stath has revenge and retribution on his mind and as his back story unfurls we the audience are told that he's some sort Special Forces assassin ‘gone bad’.  He seems more than capable of doing what needs to be done. In fact he even manages to kill one of Toretto's crew (no spoilers here), puts The Rock in hospital and comes very close to bumping off others as well. As I've mentioned before what sells these films are their action and number seven doesn't disappoint on that score. There's a set piece about two thirds in where a very rare and expensive sports car is driven through three skyscrapers to escape the Stath. No biggy I hear you say but I should point out that the car is not on the ground floor when this takes place. There are fights, more fights, cars parachuting behind enemy lines, helicopter gunships deploying guns, missiles and even a heavily armed drone in the middle of downtown LA and if that wasn't enough to wet your whistle let me try and hook you on a slightly different tangent. One of the main characters in these films is called 'Han Seoul-Lo' and yes you did read that right. 

Now if you haven't managed to grasp the point I've been trying to make about this franchise I'll make it easy for you. These types of film do for complicated storylines what The X-Factor does for producing Grammy award winning talent. These films are never going to win Oscars for acting, directing or best original screenplay. However that should in no way stop you from going to see them and enjoying them for what they are. They are the ultimate in 'leave your brain at the door' and just switch off for a couple of hours. If you are inclined to play catch up before watching episode seven or for that matter new to the whole Fast and Furious extravaganza may I recommend the following course of action. Watch the first film, skip two and three and then start again at four. I’ll finish by saying this. These films are loud, at times ridiculous, are so far past reality at times it’s laughable but if you like the idea of watching what is effectively a live action version of a Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon with the testosterone turned all the way up to 11 than you’re in for a treat. Go, watch, enjoy.

Twitter Review:

The Rock, The Stath, The Diesel, Surprise Snake Plisskin & an insurance claim that could bankrupt Direct Line twice.

#FastyFastyBroomBroom

Useful Links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgZlDFnEozw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGHzXAYFe3c

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=138860