Even though it’s a sensitive topic, our author wants to give his opinion on the latest two big superhero movies.

Marvel vs. DC

Oh this is going to get me in trouble, isn’t it!?

But I want to make one thing clear from the start, I don’t want to tell you which one of those comic book giants to love or hate. Instead I want to talk about their latest movie installments that got released this year. Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War are two high-profile comic adaptations from DC and Marvel respectively. Two movies with a shockingly similar premise, as you can see your beloved heroes fight each other in both of them. I might also tell you which one I liked the best, but this is my personal opinion, feel free to tell me yours in the comments. Just a heads up, I will be talking more about Captain America than BvS. Also, beware of spoilers for both movies, obviously!!!

Batman v Superman is actually somewhat of a revenge story, as Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is channeling his anger regarding the final moments of Man of Steel (DC’s last movie centered around Superman) towards said superhero (portrayed by Henry Cavil). Unfortunately, his motivation lacks actual personal and believable investment. Yes, he saved a little girl whose family died during Superman’s fight against General Zod at the end of Man of Steel, but the movie doesn’t carry this plot point through to the actual conflict. A conflict that is, in itself, resolved in the dumbest way I’ve e2016-05-06_MarvelDC-DCPicver seen, something that is so cringeworthy that I encourage everyone to watch it. And while I have so far only talked about what I didn’t like, let me make one thing very clear: Ben Affleck is a great casting choice for Batman! His, Henry Cavil’s and Jesse Eisenberg’s performance was stellar throughout the whole film. What a shame that they had to work with an incredibly broken script like this. The story is all over the place with too many overlong action-sequences and character moments (like the mentioned reconciliation between the two heroes) so badly written that I was almost ready to cut my own ears off!

The story of Captain America takes the „family“ approach. The Avengers are divided after a number of missions didn’t go so well and the world’s governments are reluctant to grant them further freedom of action. The team is supposed to become accountable to the U.N., something that part of the Avengers don’t like to hear. The Captain (Chris Evans) is concerned that even under the advisement of the whole world, there are those who wish to control them and use them for th2016-05-06_MarvelDC-MarvelPiceir own purposes. Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are guilt-ridden after the events in Age of Ultron and the other Avengers start to choose sides.

What ignites the conflict is The Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes, Cpt. Rogers childhood friend, who has been used as a Hydra killing-machine for the past 70 years and is now to be captured or killed by the authorities. Obviously, Captain America wants to protect his old friend at all cost, while discovering a larger conspiracy along the way and can’t get over his gigantic ego to trust the opposing side of the Avengers with it.

And here comes the part where I get in trouble. Captain America: The Winter Soldier quickly became one of my favorite movies of all time! And Civil War left me more disappointed in a Marvel movie than I have ever been before. The last one had some of the most shocking and unforeseen twists and turns I’ve ever seen in any movie before. And I watch a lot of those! The Winter Soldier is a spy-drama, full of shady characters and conspiracies. Civil War tries to replicate that. And it fails! After the heroes fought big-time, the story returns to a more straightforward narrative where one specific bad-guy (disappointingly portrayed by Daniel Brühl) wants to do something nasty and the team comes back together to stop him. Sounds like a kickass ending so far, doesn’t it. But the script is so focussed on recreating the last movies revelations.  And by establishing a twist that has already been shown in the previous movie, it just becomes an annoying shadow of itself during the final 15 minutes.

But here is the thing:
Disappointing doesn’t mean bad. It just means that your personal expectations couldn’t be met. I went into Batman v Superman with little to zero specific expectations, even though I liked the previous DC movies, and it disappointed me anyway. A chaotic script, overlong action-sequences and absolutely over the top visual-effects made it hard for me to stay awake. And while Captain America: Civil War couldn’t live up to the high bar of its predecessor, it kept me engaged throughout the whole thing. Because actively hating certain characters or their decisions is engaging. Batman v Superman left me bored because there was no one to relate to or to actually care about.

Yes, I have my fair share of problems with both movies, but I’m already looking forward to the BluRay release of Captain America because I still enjoyed it very much.
Batman v Superman… Not so much.
But this is my take on it. Feel free to let us know which movie you liked or didn’t like, in the comments below.

For more, follow me on Twitter @TheAncient_EU

Beitragsbild: Kevin Wendlandt
Fotos: Marvel Studios LLC, Warner Bros. Entertainment