A bit of a toy advert

Rating: 6/10 (17 October 2016)

It's big, it's bold, and it's brassy. It has the same sassy, one- liner heavy scripting which have become integral to the cinematic Marvel Universe. It allows Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr to face off and explore the issues of duty, conscience and culpability which underpin their characters. In that regard it is not unlike 'Batman Vs Superman'.
LIKE the recent DC flick, it would be far better - dramatically speaking - if the writers thinned-out-the-herd and dispensed with the franchise-fodder padding. The Black Widow, Bucky, Rhodey, T'Challa and The Falcon serve a dramatic purpose. Ant-Man, Hawkeye and other Avengers, less so - and Spidey's appearance seems like a heavy- handed way of re-booting a franchise the studio has lost faith in.
It's not a bad film, and it has a lot to tickle the fan-boys' funny bones - the Scarlet Witch/Vision romance, for example - but it could have been tighter and more satisfying if the padding and some of the humour had been dropped - much as :Batman Vs Superman' could have been improved if it wasn't so damned earnest.
Most unforgivably, it's an action sequel which demands that the viewer be familiar with the major story-arcs of the Captain America, Iron Man and Avengers franchises. If you don't know Ant-Man from his solo flick, fine - but the heavy-handed Infinity Gem references are tangential to the Cap story...they bog things down, when letting Bob and Chris growl at one another (something they do well) would serve the story better.
The influence of The House of Mouse is clear - there being huge sections of the flick which should have 'TOYS AND ACTION FIGURES AVAILABLE FROM THE Disney STORE' subtitled, throughout. I shall re-watch 'The Winter Soldier', tonight - a far more satisfying drama.
Oh, and the high point of the screening I saw had nothing to do with what was on screen - as a five-year-old in his Cap outfit marched boldly into the auditorium and ordered the audience to be "At ease!" When a dozen or so of us saluted back and said "Aye, Captain!" he burst into a fit of the giggles. Ha!