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Posted May 5, 2016 by Scott Davis in Features
 
 

The Preview Reel: What Movie You Should See This Weekend


As we approach the summer movie season when studio blockbusters will flood the cinemas seemingly every week, we at CinemaNerdz are here to help you with your decision on what you should see in theaters. Every week, we will break down each film that is enjoying a wide release, offer our thoughts and concerns, discuss the buzz surrounding the film, what you might expect from it, and exactly what movie you should see this weekend.

This is arguably the perfect week to start this feature as there is only one wide release film opening, and it happens to be one of the year’s most anticipated films. Here’s our preview of Captain America: Civil War:

Captain America: Civil War PosterWhat we are excited about:
Team Iron Man versus Team Captain America. This looks like Avengers 2.5 with how many characters are in the film’s lineup. We cannot wait to see what the battles are like and how the Russo brothers stage each sequence. The teams look great, but the reason they’re fighting is what makes it even more exciting. This battle has strong, ideological, and emotional differences at its core. The Russo brothers did an amazing job with Captain America: The Winter Solider by making the stakes not only feel high for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for Captain America as well. If they do the same thing in this movie with Captain America and Iron Man, it could be epic. Oh, and Spider-Man. Definitely looking forward to Spider-Man.

What we are worried about:
We saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that film has plenty of supporters, and we are not here to fuel the heated Marvel versus DC debate, we think we can all admit that the film had its fair share of problems. Having two iconic heroes go at each other for over two hours is not as easy as it looks, and things could get messy for Marvel if they overstuffed this film with too many characters. Avengers: Age of Ultron suffered from an abundance of characters and relying on setting characters up for future installments instead of telling a self-contained story, which could very well happen here as well.

Critical (if any) reception:
The film currently (prior to release) sits at a “Certified Fresh” rating on RottenTomatoes at 94% and boasts a 78 on MetaCritic. As of right now, it is the best reviewed Marvel film to date.

Captain America: Civil WarBox office expectations:
Civil War opened in select international territories this past weekend and performed remarkably well. While pacing slightly behind Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film is playing like another Avengers movie rather than a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Solider. The film should continue to play well overseas, and might even break records domestically. While estimates are all over the place, the safe bet is that Civil War will hit between $180-$200 million. Age of Ultron debuted to $191 million last year, so if Civil War could beat that, it would be a huge win for Disney/Marvel.

Final thoughts:
This should be a great movie. Then again, that’s what a lot of people thought heading into Avengers: Age of Ultron this time last year. That film had positive buzz, a good marketing campaign, big box office expectations, and many see that film as a disappointment. While Age of Ultron has its fair share of supporters (this writer included), there is reason to believe that Captain America: Civil War is going to be even better. The Russo brothers delivered the goods with Captain America: The Winter Solider, and the buzz is that they outdo themselves in this outing. No matter if the film lives up to the hype or not, this is certainly one of the event films of the year and looks deserving to be seen on the big screen.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.