Synopsis

When the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage, the government is forced to place restrictions on superheroes. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference, but his friend Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports the government’s oversight.

The other Avengers are (Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olson, Paul Bethany, Anthony Mackie, and Scarlett Johansson) are forced to side with one of the leading heroes in this epic civil war.

Where Captain America: Civil War Succeeds

Captain America: Civil War documents a super-powered argument between two halves of the Avengers. Both parties arguing a point contrary to what might be expected of them as a character. Iron Man, the maverick, believes that superheroes should be regulated by the government. While the embodiment of government achievement, Captain America, argues that superhero’s should be allowed to govern themselves. 

This is a refreshing taste of drama in the midst of Marvel’s more comedic offerings. It’s also refreshing in that Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America both have very convincing counterpoints in the dispute, despite the focus obviously leaning on Captain America’s plight. This movie is basically a full-blown Avengers movie, but instead of it focusing on quips and wit, it focuses on grit. Specifically, focusing on the gritty reality of the damage superheroes can cause if they aren’t more careful. Hopefully, this will set the tone for superhero movies in the near future.

The introduction of Marvel Studio’s version of Spider-Man (a character previously unavailable in the MCU due to Sony’s ownership of the movie rights) and Black Panther were fun inclusions that will further influence the MCU from here on out.

Where Captain America Civil War Fails

The only real downfall of this film is that the villain of this film, like many other Marvel films, is weak and forgettable. That is sort of by design, since the whole primary struggle is for the heroes to fight each other, and while this villain lacks a lot as an individual character, he does help to intensify that issue.

Final Verdict

Synopsis

When a rainstorm washes poor Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) downriver, he ends up bruised, battered and miles away from home. Good fortune shines on the dinosaur when a brave Neanderthal boy (Jack Bright) offers his help and friendship. Together, they must get back home.

Review

Pixar's latest film, The Good Dinosaur, is visually quite beautiful. Something that is standard with Pixar's productions. They tend to effectively craft visually impressing and interesting worlds.

However, despite it's impressive design, The Good Dinosaur is too familiar. While the world is fairly new and novel, the primary elements of the plot are stolen straight out of The Lion King, or The Jungle Book.

This makes for a surprisingly simple, straightforward, and unmemorable Pixar film. The characters are flat as well, to the point that Sam Elliott as a dino version of himself is one of the only stand-out characters.

Speaking of Butch (Sam Elliott's character), the cowboy style that his character brought to the film was a welcome addition. For a moment it reminded me of what a great Pixar film usually is. Unfortunately, it does really save the film.

The characters are flat, and the story is uninspired. It appears that a lot of these issues arose when much of the film was reworked in the middle of production.

The Good Dinosaur tries really hard to push boundaries, but the plot steals so much from other films that it doesn't innovate on anything. With a seemingly unfinished script, The Good Dinosaur feels like Pixar is trying to play it safe. And that's one thing that the studio behind The Incredibles should never do.

Final Verdict