Avengers 2.5

I thought I should actually do a review of Captain America: Civil War before the summer was over.I haven't read any other reviews of Avengers 2.5, Civil War, so these are just my own reactions to the film.First, HAWKEYE!Can I just... yep, fangirl for a minute? Because: HAWKEYE!!!!!!!!!!Yes, Hawkeye is my favorite Avenger, why do you ask? I loves him to pieces. Why doesn't he have his own movie yet? C'mon Marvel!And that's as fan-girly as I get. You're welcome.Okay, now that that's out of the way.I'm going to apologize in advance to Deborah... because I am going to be a bit nit-picky about this one.This was a hard movie to watch. It was fast-paced and fun, and of course filled with the wonderful heroes we've come to know and love over the past eight years. And I loved getting to see so many of those heroes in a single movie without having to wait for the next actual "Avengers" movie to come out.But... heroes fighting each other... just isn't something I find extremely compelling. I also found it a bit hard to believe that they would so easily go from, "Yikes, we're really powerful and should be held accountable" to "Let's fight each other out behind an airport where we might possibly do a bunch more of that damage we're so worried about inflicting on the world without doing any fact-checking first."Batman fighting Superman because they'd never met and Bruce Wayne thought Superman might actually be a bad guy because of the destruction he caused in Metropolis? I can accept that.The Avengers who have been saving the world solo and together for 8 years and done two huge world-saving missions together suddenly having an all-out bar-fight? Hard to suspend my disbelief.Also, I'm getting a bit tired of the whole "Regular people don't trust the superheroes" mantra that keeps popping up since The Incredibles. I'm sick of the Mutants vs. Humans theme in the X-Men franchise, and I'd love to just keep getting to watch movies where the superheroes are allowed to be superheroes and do their day-saving stuff.Going with The Incredibles theme... all I have to say about the villain from Civil War is this, "Lame, lame, lame, lame, LAME!" How in the world does a random soldier from Sokovia have access to the inner workings of the UN? And where did he get a Bucky-face-prosthetic? Or that bomb? How did he know which psychologist would be called to interview Bucky once he was captured? I've seen some sites call him "The best Marvel villain since Loki" because of the results of his actions... but there are so many holes in the believability of his character that I just can't give those sites any credence. I understand why they made him a more modern character and gave him a more present grudge... but why couldn't he have continued to be Baron Zemo with power and influence and a more believable amount of access/ability to manipulate events. They should have taken a closer look at what DC was doing with the new Lex Luthor.My final grievance with this movie is... how long are we going to have to watch Tony Stark waffle around feeling sorry for himself?I want the guy who stood up in front of the press and said, "I am Iron Man" back. Ever since Iron Man 3, he's been off his game, and I'm sick of it. I love Iron Man, and I want the old Tony back. I want the devil-may-care, arrogant, quippy guy who truly believes he's invincible. I don't like this new version of him, and after 3 movies of it I'm more than over it. I don't mind his character growing up a bit... but this is too much of the pendulum swinging the wrong direction. And what's up with Pepper suddenly being all unsupportive? Or could they just not get the actress back for another movie? I don't like being made to not like one of my favorite characters.Sheesh.Okay. Now that I've told you the things I DIDN'T like about the movie... there were quite a few things I LOVED about the movie:Spiderman. If Spiderman has to be in high school (I have a whole 'nother diatribe about that because MY Spiderman is the 90s cartoon version who was in college/grad school and no movie has come close to depicting MY Spiderman correctly). However, having watched "Ultimate Spiderman" with my kids, and knowing that this version is supposed to be more like that (and I can see THAT Peter Parker growing up into MY Peter Parker...) I'm quite excited about this new take on Spiderman. I loved the scene between him and Tony at his house. And everything else with Spiderman. They got his quippy-ness, his character, his "Whoa, I'm just so excited to be here" ness... and captured it all rather perfectly.Captain America. I mean, really, what's not to love about Cap? In any movie he appears in. He's everything a superhero really ought to be. Selfless, courageous, and willing to stand up for what's right, even if he's standing alone.

THIS QUOTE!!!!!!!"Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, 'No, you move'."

Hawkeye. (You knew I'd get back to him eventually, right?) He'd better not retire. I love that he has a family, and I love that they seem quite supportive of him being a superhero. I love that he took Captain America's side, and his little quips at Tony later in the movie. Seriously, I love everything about Hawkeye - ever since his cameo in Thor, he's been my favorite. He might even give Batman a run for his money in that coveted #1 favorite superhero spot....Ant-Man. I actually really enjoyed the Ant-Man movie, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but I really liked seeing him again and everything he adds to the team.Black Widow. I haven't always loved her, but she has grown on me since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and I like the friendship that has developed between her and Cap. I love her conversation with Hawkeye mid-battle, as well.Black Panther. I really like him in the cartoons, and I am so glad that they got him "right." Despite his rocky beginnings, I love that his inherent nobility shines through in the end.If there's one running theme I love throughout all of these Marvel's Avengers series movies, it's the humor. They really got that part of what I remember from Saturday morning cartoons right, and I really appreciate that. Humor is something I need in pretty much all the movies/tv shows I enjoy... so I like that there is a hefty helping of it in all of these movies.And really, despite all the nit-picky little details and whatnot... seeing the superheroes of my childhood on the big screen being acted out brilliantly no matter what the script has them doing... that's worth the price of the ticket.Have you seen Avengers 2.5? What did you think of it? I'd love to hear your thoughts! **All images found and used through Google Image Search. I had nothing to do with their creation and do not intend in any way to indicate that they belong to me by their inclusion in this post.**