Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Rated – M
Duration - CW: 2 hours 27 mins
A: 2 hours 24 mins
Release – May 2016
Director – CW: Anthony & Joe Russo
A: Bryan Singer
Cast – CW: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
A: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac
Mr Knight
So the question is, which do you prefer? The Avengers and their universe, or Professor Xavier and his X-Men? Either way, Marvel wins and DC languish behind in the superhero super race. Mrs Knight and I have seen both in quick succession and we are putting the comparisons out there for our readers to digest.
I’ll start with Captain America: Civil War. I personally was disappointed to find, much like the lemon “Clash of the Titans” with Sam Worthington, this movies trailer was much more exciting than the film.
The story follows after Age of Ultron when again the Avengers completely destroy a densely populated area and the UN decides they need to keep this group of heroes in check, dividing the team with the good old Cap refusing to follow his restrictions and Tony Stark pushing for the new rules.
To me, this screamed a stolen story line from Batman v Superman where these heroes leave collateral damage without a second thought with Batman dirty at Superman. I found in Civil War, using the same main theme wasn’t very creative.
As well as the divide, in comes the mentally broken and ruthless Bucky “Winter Soldier” Barnes. The Cap, wanting to save Bucky, despite the carnage Bucky leaves behind, puts himself truly in the crosshairs and on the wrong side of the law. The story was complex with a huge assortment of characters and talented actors (the budget must have been enormous!), but what would lose me was the recipe of this movie.
It went from fight scene, to tense conversation, to fight scene, to tense conversation continually until the stories end. I found the opening battle a bit forced and try hard and I also found that Cap and Bucky’s relationship not as warm and genuine as Marvel wanted it to appear. It felt very forced with no sincere feeling to it.
The positives. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. He was the stand out with brilliant acting and emotion. The battle at the airport was fun with the appearance of Antman a new and improved and cleverly introduced Spiderman and a pretty impressive Black Panther.
Civil War was long, and had its moments but it wasn’t as captivating as I would have liked.
Now to X-Men Apocalypse. I have always been a fan of this story and last three flicks bringing in James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have breathed new life into the X-Men franchise. This new epic is set in the 80’s ten years after Magneto and Mystique have their stand-off in Washington DC, and all seems quiet.
However, a super mutant named Apocalypse awakens from a 5000 year sleep and brings together his four horseman to “Cleanse” the earth and start again with only the most powerful to dwell on Earth with him.
The movie covers a lot of back story and introduces familiar faces as their younger selves such as Nightcrawler, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Storm, as well as old favourties such as Magneto, Beast, Mystique and a new favourite of mine, Quicksilver (Evan Peters), known for his hilarious slow motion scene when breaking out Magneto in the previous instalment, Days of Futures Past.
McAvoy and Fassbender were the shining lights in this one again with their love and hate for each other captivating without being over the top. This is the chemistry Marvel tried to capture with Captain America and Iron Man without success.
As well as following the end of the Earth story, director Bryan Singer also manager to squeeze in other teasers for movies to come such as a scene at Alkali Lake, where Wolverine first gets his adamantium claws, and you get to treat yourself to a brief moment with some Weapon X intrigue.
Jen Law’s Mystique was disappointing. She was all talk and no action where as in previous films she uses her ninja skills to kick ass. I also found some of the henchmen/bad guys have always been a bit weak in the X-Men movies, such as Angel, one of the four horseman, who says two words for the whole film. A true waste of space.
To compare the two films you have to be a true fan of each franchise. For me the X-Men films have it slightly over the Avengers troupe. Apocalypse was long but if you’re keen on back story, it will keep you enthralled. Civil War was more a build-up film introducing exciting new characters, but in respect to the Cap and Bucky relationship, Marvel need to let that storyline wither and die because it doesn’t feel genuine. Either way, some top quality Superhero action. Enjoy!
Captain America: Civil War
Mrs Knight
There are so many superhero movies these days I feel it’s becoming quite tiresome and they all start to blend into one. In saying that, the X-Men flicks do still get me excited. They have done well to keep the stories fresh by moving back and forth through time and essentially re-writing history. In comparison, I’m becoming a bit bored with The Avengers universe and feel X-Men doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.
I’m sure a lot of you will agree that Captain America is one of the worst characters in this ‘Avengers’ universe. The first movie in particular put me to sleep (literally!) so when Mr Knight and I went to the cinema to see Captain America: Civil War my expectations were low. By low I mean completely unenthusiastic.
Unfortunately the first half hour didn’t bring me any hope, I found it quite boring. I started to find it interesting when Tony Stark recruits a new member and introduces Spider-Man (Tom Holland).
I must like origin stories because I didn’t perk up until this point. I enjoyed seeing Tony Stark go to Peter Parker’s house and recruit him and the banter that came with it. I was also happy that Peter Parker was an unknown actor and an actual young kid, rather than a 30 year old pretending to be a school kid. Tobey Maguire I’m looking at you. They also made Aunt May a bitty (Marisa Tomei) rather than an absolute chalkie. Which I appreciate since most Aunts are your parent’s age not your grandparent’s age. Any who…. I digress.
The second half was definitely better as more and more characters came into it, especially Paul Rudd as Ant-Man. I also once again enjoyed Scar-Jo as Black Widow and may I just ask where her damn movie is?!
My only real negative in terms of characters is how weak Elizabeth Olsen is as Scarlet Witch. Does she have a bloody Sokovian accent or not?! One scene she did, the next she didn’t. Speaking of weak characters, I wasn’t a huge fan of some of X-Men: Apocalypse’s sidekicks either, for example Angel. I found him to be a bit lame and useless.
Apocalypse takes us back to when Jean Grey, Game of Thrones Sophie Turner aka Sansa Stark and Cyclops are studying with Professor Xavier. Again, I love a good origins story so I enjoyed Cyclops orientation and training. It also gave me good insight into Cyclops, Jean Grey and Wolverines relationship from another point of view
I enjoyed the plot line of Apocalypse a lot more, I feel the X-Men movies in general have more interesting characters and story lines. I like seeing them try to control their powers and see them grow into badass ‘superheros’. Mystique has always been one of my favourites, even when Rebecca Romijn was in the role. Unfortunately I found J-Law a little weak in this one. It was as if she was playing Katniss, every word out of her mouth was inspiring, and she never just talked normally. Just talk normally woman! She didn’t really do much either in terms of shape shift or fight.
Professor X and Magneto were great once again, they definitely carry the films. No matter what era and who’s playing the role. Much like Days of Future Past the slow motion scene of Quicksilver running amuck or in this case, saving people was definitely a highlight. His character is a great addition to the squad and Evan Peters does a great job in playing the part.
Overall I definitely enjoyed Apocalypse a lot more. If it wasn’t for the humour, coming from Tony Stark and Ant-Man in Captain America it would have been a bit of a flop in my eyes. They both had some lame characters and moments but I enjoyed the characters and storyline a lot more in X-Men and left excited for the next one. It wasn’t my favourite out of all the movies but it’s still a goodie.
Captain America: Civil War
X-Men: Apocalypse: 3.5 Stars
