Disney Plus on May the 28th.
Spoilers Captain America: Brave New World grade and discussion thread
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
- Start date
My 4k disc arrives today.
I had hoped to see this in the cinema but a combination of work and the fact that a friend I often go and see such films with instead went with his wife meant that I didn’t get round to it.
Had the house to myself last night so I watched it on Disney plus. It’s the least good of the 4 CA films but better than one might have expected after the production stories. Mackie and Ford give it their all (elderly Ford is way more watchable than middle aged Ford IMHO; for a decade or so from about the mid-90s he often seemed to phone it in but has been way more engaged for the last 15 years or so). Tim Blake Nelson is always good VFM (am I the only one who kept thinking of Toad from X-Men when he was in the hoodie?) as is Giancarlo Esposito. If anything, a problem with Ford’s casting was that he made Ross a bit too likeable. I know that Sam kept talking about him having changed, but we didn’t actually see much evidence of that. But Harrison is intrinsically likeable.
Most of the criticism I’ve seen here is fair. It definitely wanted to be TWS; I was particularly reminded of this in the scene where Sidewinder attacked Sam’s car (reminded me of the attack on Fury in the earlier film) and the visit to the black site reminded me of them going to find the site where Toby Jones’ disembodied persona was.
I really think they should’ve kept the red hulk secret, or at least withheld his identity. Sure, comic book readers would’ve known that Ross becomes this character and I can see that Harrison Ford hulking out is a good bit of promo for the film. But I think it probably would’ve benefitted the film if one didn’t know for sure what was going on with Ross.
I think also that credibility is stretched a bit by a non-super-powered hero like Sam doing a lot of those stunts. I know that Batman or Iron Man are equally reliant on technology but Batman doesn’t take down jets via his suit, and Iron Man’s armour would presumably protect him more than Sam’s. Yes vibranium, I know, but he at times seemed really out powered by by even some of his human opponents and I was nodding along when he said “I should’ve taken the serum.” And I don’t think we’d expect Batman or even Steve to go toe to toe with the Hulk.
Didn’t expect the Bucky cameo and I also thought that it was just a soundalike voicing Betty. Seeing Liv is always a plus, even if it emphasised the odd omission of Banner (or Tim Roth).
Not as good as Thunderbolts, which I saw on the cinema last week, but at least as good as the underrated The Marvels and better than Eternals or Quantumania. I do hope it’s not the last CA film with Anthony/Sam in the lead.
Had the house to myself last night so I watched it on Disney plus. It’s the least good of the 4 CA films but better than one might have expected after the production stories. Mackie and Ford give it their all (elderly Ford is way more watchable than middle aged Ford IMHO; for a decade or so from about the mid-90s he often seemed to phone it in but has been way more engaged for the last 15 years or so). Tim Blake Nelson is always good VFM (am I the only one who kept thinking of Toad from X-Men when he was in the hoodie?) as is Giancarlo Esposito. If anything, a problem with Ford’s casting was that he made Ross a bit too likeable. I know that Sam kept talking about him having changed, but we didn’t actually see much evidence of that. But Harrison is intrinsically likeable.
Most of the criticism I’ve seen here is fair. It definitely wanted to be TWS; I was particularly reminded of this in the scene where Sidewinder attacked Sam’s car (reminded me of the attack on Fury in the earlier film) and the visit to the black site reminded me of them going to find the site where Toby Jones’ disembodied persona was.
I really think they should’ve kept the red hulk secret, or at least withheld his identity. Sure, comic book readers would’ve known that Ross becomes this character and I can see that Harrison Ford hulking out is a good bit of promo for the film. But I think it probably would’ve benefitted the film if one didn’t know for sure what was going on with Ross.
I think also that credibility is stretched a bit by a non-super-powered hero like Sam doing a lot of those stunts. I know that Batman or Iron Man are equally reliant on technology but Batman doesn’t take down jets via his suit, and Iron Man’s armour would presumably protect him more than Sam’s. Yes vibranium, I know, but he at times seemed really out powered by by even some of his human opponents and I was nodding along when he said “I should’ve taken the serum.” And I don’t think we’d expect Batman or even Steve to go toe to toe with the Hulk.
Didn’t expect the Bucky cameo and I also thought that it was just a soundalike voicing Betty. Seeing Liv is always a plus, even if it emphasised the odd omission of Banner (or Tim Roth).
Not as good as Thunderbolts, which I saw on the cinema last week, but at least as good as the underrated The Marvels and better than Eternals or Quantumania. I do hope it’s not the last CA film with Anthony/Sam in the lead.
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Doh! Typo! Will edit.
Are there?
IDK - Captain America Civil War is more an Avengers film.
I just watched it again on Disney+...and my opinion of the film hasn't improved much. I still maintain that there are a lot of great ideas floating around in the film (the fragility of unpowered superheroes, the adamantium resource race spurred by Celestial Island, The Leader's complex web of revenge involving sleeper agents) but they're all a loose bag of ideas that aren't well executed or even fit well together.
The biggest problem with this film is that there are two different films trying to wrestle for control:
Like I said before, I wanted to love this film because it tried so hard to be another Winter Soldier and I honestly wish it was another political thriller. Unfortunately, it's not.
One big positive I got from my rewatch: I've always been a big fan of Carl Lumbly but I didn't fully appreciate his performance as Isaiah Bradley in this film until this time around. He leaned really hard into a man who clearly spent a very long time in prison and, as a result, is socially awkward, both in conversation and body language. We didn't see much of that in Falcon and the Winter Soldier because all of his scenes happened at his house, but this time around, we see him out in public and he's clearly a fish out of water. That came off very well due to Lumbly's performance. Just a shame that performance wasted on this otherwise flawed film.
Lastly...where the hell is the Marvel Studios: Assembled episode? Deadpool & Wolverine's was released the same day but this time...nothing.
The biggest problem with this film is that there are two different films trying to wrestle for control:
- A long overdue follow-up to The Incredible Hulk with an attempted (but unearned) redemptive arc for Ross running parallel with The Leader's sympathetic revenge plot...that inexplicitly doesn't involve Bruce Banner.
- Sam Wilson's first Captain America film where he faces the fragility of his role as an unpowered superhero, where he is asked to reassemble the Avengers for a man he doesn't respect (but considers it because he respects the position), while also trying to prove Isaiah Bradley's innocence after being brainwashed to assassinate the president.
Like I said before, I wanted to love this film because it tried so hard to be another Winter Soldier and I honestly wish it was another political thriller. Unfortunately, it's not.
One big positive I got from my rewatch: I've always been a big fan of Carl Lumbly but I didn't fully appreciate his performance as Isaiah Bradley in this film until this time around. He leaned really hard into a man who clearly spent a very long time in prison and, as a result, is socially awkward, both in conversation and body language. We didn't see much of that in Falcon and the Winter Soldier because all of his scenes happened at his house, but this time around, we see him out in public and he's clearly a fish out of water. That came off very well due to Lumbly's performance. Just a shame that performance wasted on this otherwise flawed film.
Lastly...where the hell is the Marvel Studios: Assembled episode? Deadpool & Wolverine's was released the same day but this time...nothing.
Everything they filmed was for the original version.
Then I want to watch it even more!Everything they filmed was for the original version.
Excellent argument. The very need for Ross to have a redemptive arc, when the last time he made more than a brief cameo (to introduce and advocate for the Sokovia Accords in Civil War), is weird, considering half our heroes agreed with him at the time! Sure, keeping Sterns illegally locked away for years qualifies a fault that could allow for such an arc, but Sam doesn't learn about that until the story is already well underway.