Rating : 5 /10
Release Date : 30th April, 2016
Time : 147 minutes
Directors : Anthony Russo, Joe Russo; Writers : Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely based on the comic book by Mark Millar and characters by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; Music : Henry Jackman
Starring : Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Daniel Bruhl, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, William Hurt, Martin Freeman
What happens when you hit a dead end as a script-writer ?
Super-hero angst, existential crisis, back stories have already been done to death.
There are no super-cool, megalomaniacal villains left – no new worlds left to conquer, and threatening aliens are so passe.
What then do you do ?
Turn your super-heroes one against the other ? Make them battle against each other on the flimsiest of pretexts ? And why stop at one, lets make them fight in groups ? Iron Man vs Captain America, Black Panther vs The Winter Soldier, Hawkeye vs Black Widow, Ant Man vs Spider Man – all together !
But it just doesn’t make any sense. Logical flaws abound. Soundbytes and classic filmy poses take the place of a sensible story. And it all gets too grim, the fabulous repartee, humour (of say, Avengers, Guardians of The Galaxy and Deadpool) taking an undeserved back seat.
The world has decided they only want to let the Avengers function under a UN supervised panel – who would call upon them, only if it deems fit. The collateral damage caused by the superheroes running amok, across territorial borders, has got to a point where it can’t be tolerated anymore. Some of the superheroes are for such a move – while an equal number are against it. A couple of more incidents – orchestrated by Sebastian Stan and Daniel Bruhl – and the For and Against sides begin an ‘epic’ battle against each other. Sparks, suits and blows fly – but it’s essentially dueling with handbags.
Shouldn’t the side with the most powerful superhero, logically, have triumphed ? Shouldn’t the battle have been really short and sweet ? Perhaps there shouldn’t even have been a battle in the first place ? Chris Evans inspires trust but is just too uni-dimensional. Robert Downey Jr is uncharacteristically confused in thought. Daniel Bruhl is intense but nothing he does is possible / logical.
Wish they had chosen a different method to settle their differences – maybe a toss of coin or a drinking competition ? Or even Russian Roulette or a round of blackjack ?
