Captain America 3 Review

What I liked: You might remember that one of my major problems with the last Avengers movie was that it wasn't funny. They tried to be funny and it didn't work. This time the funny is back. I laughed at the heroes, at their interactions. So well done, writing team. I really liked Spiderman. That's a sentence I never thought I would write. Spiderman was to Avengers 3 what Quicksilver was to X-Men 2: unexpectedly fun. One thing that helped Spiderman be successful in this movie was that since he was surrounded by grown-up heroes he was free to be a geeky teenager, something that is hard to do when you are the serious good guy in the film. I liked the characters who were carelessly introduced in the last Avengers film, they were coming into their own and seemed much more normal, you know in a flying, phasing, reality altering way. There were only two that I had to ask the person next to me who they were. They didn't know either (the person was clear on their own identity but unclear on who the characters were and why I was asking them. I guess we were both 1 for 3). They did a pretty good job with the introduction of Blackpanther. I wasn't that excited about him but he did some cool stunts and has cool retractable claws and he delivered some important lines. I liked Falcon's drone, though I doubt it would really be as stealthy as they portrayed it. I'm glad someone finally pointed out that Captain's shield doesn't really bounce correctly. And I liked that we nite know the approximate weight and tensile strength of Captain America. I really liked the giant fight scenes. They were dramatic, well staged and exciting. On a more serious note, they did a pretty good job presenting the idea of oversight in a more thoughtful way than I would have expected for a summer action flick, but there you have it. Also, the body count was much, much lower than I expected. It really shouldn't have been that surprising since all these characters routinely walk off multiple gunshot wounds. Unrelated, Watson was in the movie, he seems to have picked up a position working for the UN. Good on you Watson.

What I didn't: Let's start with the obvious: why is it that bad guys always have terrible plans? I think there must be something in bad guy prep school: "you will have terrible aim and you will never, never have a reasonable plan." I'm not saying the drama wasn't compelling but that much more to do with the Avenger's dynamic than the bad guy. The way the sides were explained I really think it would be much more fitting with Captain America and Ironman's characters if they were on the opposite sides, their positions in the civil war didn't really jive with what we know about them from the previous 7 movies. Also much like the misnomer of Age of Ultron, this was a very abbreviated war, like I far as I can tell it lasted less than 48 hours. It could be renamed "civil skirmish" or maybe "the large argument." Oh Oh "12 Angry Heroes!" (It works! I actually counted) As for the filming, it annoyed me that there were very obvious stop and pose moments (Fig 1. the movie poster I used). We're just having a normal fight scene and someone yells freeze so they can make a cool desktop. I like cool desktops and lunch boxes and what have you, but I shouldn't be thinking, "hey that's the picture I want in my cereal bowl" while watching the movie. Also why were they pretending they were filming a Bourne movie? For some of the fight scenes the camera's were all jumpy like in a Jason Bourne film. I'm excited to see the next Bourne movie but really that bouncy close up approach doesn't fit with anyone besides Blackwidow and the film isn't really grainy enough for it to fit in. Speaking of Blackwidow, what is going on with her arsenal? Every movie it gets smaller and less impressive. Last time it was the glow sticks, now it's electric bracelets. I mean honestly, who goes to a gun fight armed with bracelets, ok besides Wonderwoman? Also if you are electrocuting people with your bracelets how you not getting shocked? Why does Hawkeye still think a bow and arrow is a good weapon of choice?

Who should watch this? Everyone who loves superheroes or action movies.

Would I watch it again? Yes. In the Avengers ranking this comes in just below the first Avengers but far above Avengers 2 and above all the single character movies. In saving the world and making a movie the Avengers work best as a team.