movie

This review is an emotional outpouring, so there will DEFINITELY be spoilers. If you want to go into Civil War with an empty mind, kindly wait to read this until after you go to the theater. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

#TeamCap

This movie was advertised as #TeamCap vs. #TeamIronMan, and from the beginning I knew which side I would be on. Even though Captain America was the world’s most boring superhero to me for much of Marvel’s first movies, he is now nearest and dearest to my heart. This is 100% because of CA: Winter Soldier, and in particular, the scene in which his rousing speech encourages Nameless Tech Guy to do The Right Thing despite having a gun to his head. His loyalty and optimism are MY JAM, and I will follow him to the end of the line.

The weird thing is, I don’t think the movie wants us to root for Iron Man. Tony Stark becomes increasingly paranoid and emotionally compromised throughout the film, and whatever good motives he had in the beginning quickly reveal themselves to be based in fear and anger. Plus it’s never a good sign when the people you’re aligning yourself with frequently refer to people as weapons (as the Secretary of State What’s His Name does about Scarlet Witch, the Hulk, AND Thor). Gross.

Steve Rogers never forgets that people are people. I am in love with his ideology that commits to trusting in the best of people – even if he is let down by a person here or there (even to catastrophic results), he refuses to give up on believing that people are capable of change and of good. OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN.

The friend I went with is #TeamIronMan, and she joked that I was only on Cap’s side because he is hot. This is a ridiculous accusation, because absolutely everyone in this movie is hot, which brings me to…

Hot People! Continue reading →

Mad Max: Fury Road was not on my radar until I learned that Men’s Rights Activists were protesting it (sight unseen, mostly) because it was “feminist propaganda.” There aren’t many other phrases that will draw my attention quite so quickly. I knew it was an extremely violent movie, so I did a ton of pre-movie research. I quizzed a friend who had seen it, read dozens of articles about it, and googled “how gross is mad max fury road.” It wasn’t until a friend texted and said she was interested in seeing it (also because of its ties to feminism) that I decided to bite the bullet and go to the theater.

I needn’t have worried so much. It is definitely a violent movie, but I was relieved to see that the violence is mostly insinuated rather than shown. It also helped that, thanks to my research, I knew pretty much everything that was going to happen. Once I realized that the film wasn’t going to try to gross me out, I got lost in its story.

(So many spoilers ahead. You’re forewarned.) Continue reading →