she should bring an excuse tomorrow. How do you think "Watching Civil War in lieu of your busy work" would go over? LOL



I really liked this movie. Although I liked many things about Age of Ultron, I had problems with the pacing, and it wasn't as tight and cohesive a movie as The Avengers. I think Civil War is much better than Age of Ultron, on par with The Avengers and the other Captain America movies.

I think what I like most about the movie is that the central conflict is one that I can't solve from the arm chair. I see pros and cons for both decisions, and I don't know what I would think is right if I were in that world.

On Steve's side, I completely understand his reluctance to sign these Accords. In the MCU, government is so often corrupt. He is absolutely right that they would be used to further political agendas, that at some point they'd be sent to do something they (or at least some of them) disagreed with or not allowed to do something they felt important. Time is also a factor. If the big bad falls through a portal over New York City, how long will the UN take to green light their participation? I also think Ross (who is not General Ross of Hulk back story fame, right? or is it the same character?) talking about Thor and Banner as if they are misplaced weapons, as if they are dangerous items rather than sentient beings, was a hot button point for him. Because if Thor is just a misplaced nuke, if Banner is just a misplaced nuke, then what is Steve? What is Tony? What are the rest of them? Weapons, not people. Commodities.

And yet, I see Tony's side as well. If I were an average citizen or a government official anywhere in the world, the idea of people with seemingly unlimited resources and power and abilities would be extremely frightening. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Just because we the viewer know that Steve is a good guy and Vision is a good guy and Clint is a good guy does not mean Average Jane and Joe can trust that. Plus, Steve's insistence that the Avengers, and he in particular, are the moral compass is, frankly, bullshit. Steve has the luxury of never being possessed or mind controlled and never making the wrong decision; he's just one uninterrupted and glorious lifetime of loyalty and courage and doing the right thing. Yet he's one intimate adventure with Loki's spear away from betraying everything he believes in. Tony knows that he's just one ego-trip away from destroying the world because that almost happened last movie. The Avengers shouldn't be allowed to operate with impunity.

I felt really badly for Tony in this movie because it's really about the dissolution of his family. He lost his parents when he was young (rock on the bb!RDJ CGI). He's lost Pepper, and now he's lost the family he so painstakingly built. MCU Tony and Steve are apparently more antagonistic than they are in the comics; they've never been BFF onscreen. So I loved it when Tony said that he wants to punch Cap in his perfect teeth sometimes but he also wants him to stay. Tony and Steve don't always get along, but Steve matters to Tony. They're family. A very important member of his family, Rhodey, is also injured in the movie, and Tony feels a great deal of guilt for that even though Rhodey doesn't blame him.

I think the villain in this movie is the most diabolical of all the villains we've seen so far because he doesn't want to rule the world, he doesn't want power or wealth. He wants vengeance. He wants the impossible: he wants to hurt the people who hurt him enough to make up for the loss of his family. And when he turns the Avengers against each other, and it's so heart wrenching to watch. That's why I find the theme of vengeance, both being consumed by it and deliberately turning away from it, so compelling. Black Panther's choice not to be consumed by his need for revenge was one of the best moments of the movie for me.

I have a theory about why Tony brings Spidey (the most painfully young Spidey we've seen onscreen so far, too) to the fight. (And I will refrain from mentioning how sad I am that America did not take to Andrew Garfield as Spidey because he was my platonic ideal of Spider Man.) None of them really want to hurt each other. Clint and Natasha are fighting, but they're not going to kill each other; that's clear. Sam and Rhodey are on opposite sides, but the second Sam realizes Rhodey is hit, he hightails it over there to try and catch him. The stakes are high, and they're doing damage, but nobody wants to kill anybody except Black Panther. I think Tony brings Spidey in as a legitimate player but also as a kind of reality check: Hey, I brought a kid! Please, remember how we don't want to kill each other!

I liked Bucky and Steve's relationship in the movie. I like that Bucky clearly wasn't drooling and needing Steve to feed him applesauce or referring to himself in third person as The Asset. Bucky's doing his thing and living a life and he's a bit fuzzy on the details but he doesn't need a higher level of care than my three year old. I love that the two of them are it for each other; to the end of the line, indeed. And I think Bucky's decision to go on ice was for the best. He knows who he is now; he knows how precarious his control over himself is (because vengeful dudes are assholes), and he doesn't want to hurt anyone else.

In random notes of glee, I loved every second of Ant Man and Spidey's battle prattle. Natasha was exquisitely beautiful the entire movie as was Wanda. Vision's obvious crush on Wanda was awesome. Everything about Black Panther rocked (awesome costume). Natasha letting Steve and Bucky leave was awesome. Sam is kinda becoming my favorite.

I miss Pepper. I miss Bruce. I miss Jane and Darcy and Thor. And Coulson (surely the ball's gotta drop on that soon, yes?). But this was an excellent, excellent movie.

Here's the fic I want to read: (I don't really think this is in character for them, but I want to read it anyway.) When handed the Accords, the Avengers as a unit say, "Okey dokey. We're off to Asgard. Y'all handle this shit." And maybe Tony gives a speech about how there's eight other realms to defend, and they go take care of business elsewhere for a few years and leave Earth to defend herself. And maybe Earth begs them back, maybe not. IDK Just a hankering. Lemme know if you see anything like that.