Captain America: Civil War is based off the most well known comic storyline ever. It's the sequel to my favorite Marvel movie. It introduces my favorite superhero into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It couldn't possibly live up to the hype, right? Well...
WITH GREAT POWER...
The last time we saw The Avengers they had narrowly defeated Ultron in a destructive battle in Sokovia. This wasn't the first time The Avengers were involved in large-scale destruction. When Loki lead an invasion, multiple blocks of downtown New York City were annihilated. When Captain America exposed Hydra to the world, chaos engulfed Washington DC.
After so many disastrous events, it was only a matter of time until someone demanded that someone is held accountable. In response, Secretary of State Taddeus Ross proposes the Sokovia Initiative which would make The Avengers a government-sponsored organisation, only allowed to act under the approval of a United Nations council. This proposition splits The Avengers by their morals and world view. Captain America leads a team who wish to ignore the Initiative and continue to act independently. Iron Man leads a team who thinks rules are necessary to sustain their organization and supports the Initiative.
This premise and the early act of the movie asked some very deep and interesting questions about the government's role in our lives. It felt timely as both sides of politics debate the rationale of proactive restraint. This movie makes us begin to question who we have been rooting for in this series. When The Hulk smashes in The Avengers or Iron Man blasts a jet out of the sky, we cheer for the characters we love, but we never stop to think about where that jet is landing or who couldn't get out of the way of The Hulk. While it is ultimately an action movie, it was refreshing to see a genre that can often feel flat and empty have some level of depth to it.
In the comic series, my side on the battle was firmly set and did not truly bend through the story. However this movie did a better job with making me begin to question which side I was on. Iron Man and Captain America both posed thoughtful arguments for their side, and the action and progress throughout the story helps change the way we look at both sides. One of the few solid complaints I have about this movie is that at the end of the movie they end up mostly pushing a single side. While they try to keep the question open at the end, it is disappointing that the ending was not more open ended.
YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY SUPERHERO?
As we know this movie is part of a larger marvel universe. It is the third Captain America movie, but it is the thirteenth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall. This cinematic universe idea is growing more and more popular with the growth of the MCU, but it sometimes struggles to work. Some movies like Iron Man 2 struggle to stand alone and lean too hard on the established universe. Other movies like Thor The Dark World stand too far alone and fail to feel significant to the overall story.
Captain America Civil War manages to walk this line well, but steps off of it at times. This is certainly a sequel to Captain America 2, with Bucky being a very significant character and Captain America being the lead by far. His journey continues from where it left off and his relationship with his friends Bucky and Falcon continue to grow. As far as Steve Rodgers and his character's story, this feels like a Captain America movie through and through and tops off the trilogy.
However one flaw for some people could be the Civil War storyline and its reliance on your knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie does set up and remind people of the events of the past, but they will not have much impact if you had not seen Avengers: Age of Ultron before it. Iron Man's character is probably the second biggest character in the movie and while his character has been well known in pop culture for the past almost 10 years, you could struggle to understand his point of view without seeing the first Iron Man movies. Many other Avengers make appearances and if you've been living under a rock and this happened to be your first Marvel movie outside of the Captain America series, you would find yourself saying "whose that?" and missing some of the biggest, most fun moments in the movie.
With such a large cast, it could be easy for the movie to lose focus and stop feeling like a Captain America movie. However this movie balanced the cast well, giving each character their moments to shine without overusing them. Each character's appearance feels like it is important to the story and that they needed to be there. The plot was wide reaching and it made perfect sense that so many of the Avengers would show up when they did.
All of this build up with the various Avengers and the growing tension between the teams leaves you tense knowing that this cannot end peacefully. All this tension culminates in one of the best action scenes I have seen in a comic book movie. While other movies from other studios that shall remain unnamed have incredibly drawn out action scenes that tend to feel way too long, this movie truly packed a punch into every second of the action scenes. The major climatic battle lasts nearly 20 minutes, but it manages to be so fun and diverse that the time flies by and you will with you could watch even more of it.
Civil War does a great job feeling like it is part of a larger story. It rewards viewers for having seen the previous MCU movies. It also sets the stakes high for the next time we see this team together as much of the tension is left unresolved and many questions are still unanswered. While I enjoyed this aspect of it, some people who are disconnected from the Marvel Cinematic Universe may find themselves asking more questions than they want to and feeling slightly unsatisfied if they are looking for a complete tie up.
ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
Marvel movie's villains have always been their biggest flaw. They are mostly forgettable and one-note, with the movie heavily focusing on their heroes and just using the villain as a plot device to let us see the heroes in action. Mostly, this movie suffers from the same flaws. The villain plays a part, but often feels unimportant and there were many points where he showed up and I thought "Oh, right, he's in this movie." Many of his actions relied way too much on conveniences and dumb luck, which made his master manipulator type feel much less smart.
I was impressed, however, with his motivations. While they were simple, they were also unique from other Marvel movies and had a bit of a punch with significance to the overall story and themes.
In the end, Captain America Civil War is all about the heroes being turned against each other, and I think this movie could have existed perfectly fine without the villain and probably could have been better by turning his screen time into more moments with the heroes.
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM
Spider-Man is back with Marvel! Well, sort of. Years ago, when Marvel was losing so much money that it was nearly having to close, it sold off the film rights to its biggest characters to keep them afloat. X-Men went to Fox and Spider-Man went to Sony. Years later when the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, they were forced to pushed many of their b-list characters like Iron Man to the front line.
Spider-Man's movies have been mostly whiplash inducing in quality. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy had two of the best comic book movies before Sony and Raimi's creative disagreements results in Spider-Man 3 being mostly a mess with very low critical and fan reaction.
The movie killed the franchise for years before Sony rebooted a second time with Andrew Garfield playing the hero in Amazing Spider-Man. The first movie in his series got mixed but more positive reviews, teasing a sequel that could push the character back into action. However once again Sony and the director, Marc Webb, came to a clash and Sony overstepped their bounds and gave us Amazing Spider-Man 2, another clutter mess with underdeveloped villains. While it made money at the box office, the critical reception was so low that Sony became desperate. Sony, now finding itself closer and closer to the bankruptcy Marvel faced all those years ago, came to a deal with Marvel to basically split the rights and make him and his characters part of the MCU.
Once the news came out, the internet lost its mind with some people incredibly excited for the future and some people not happy about yet another reboot. Spider-Man is my favorite superhero, so my mixed emotions controlled me through nearly the whole movie as I anticipated his reveal. From his first scene, I was instantly sold and happy with the character. He does not have a ton of screen time, but he plays a very significant part and got the biggest reactions from the crowd.
After Amazing Spider-Man 2 I never thought another Sony Spider-Man Reboot would end up being one of my most anticipated movies of next year, but his character in this movie made me realize just how right he can be done with Marvel's help. With him firmly planted in the MCU, I am beyond excited to see where the character goes.
WHAT I LOVED
- Spider-Man. Everything about Spider-Man was done perfectly. His comedic timing, his personality, and his significance to the plot. His appearances were satisfying and left me starving for more. Tom Holland is a young and newcomer actor and could easily feel out of place, but he is truly an Avenger and his age and awkwardness is played perfectly. After so many years since a great Spider-Man movie, it is a great feeling to be excited and confident for the future of the character again.
- The Action. All the action scenes of the movie are great, but the massive action battle as well as the showdown that finales the film are some of the greatest I've ever seen. I was on the edge of my seat holding my breath as I watched unavoidable conflict shift the MCU and The Avengers forever.
WHAT I LIKED
- The balance of characters. I felt incredibly rewarded for following the MCU devotedly since 2008. This truly felt like a massive payoff for the years dedicated as a fan. It was like a childhood dream playing out. However I think that people who have not seen any of the other Marvel movies or have only watched the Captain America series will feel lost with many of the characters and not feel the impact of a lot of the moments. It's part of something larger, for the good and the bad.
- Ant-Man. I'm not going to spoil anything, but many people doubted Ant-Man before his movie came out and wondered he could fit in. However Paul Rudd shamelessly stabs his stake right into the MCU and stands his ground perfectly standing among The Avengers.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- The ultimate belittling of the core conflict. The movie asks thoughtful questions and examines relevant themes, but this is ultimately sort of ignored at the end of the movie when the writers attempted to give us an answer and solve the problem while still trying to keep the question a little open. They would have benefited from either keeping it more open or fully dedicating to their side.
WHAT I HATED
- The villain. Hate is a strong word, especially for a movie I truly loved. But I think Marvel is often given a pass for its poor villains. The villain here is forgettable and the movie feels like it could exist perfectly without him. He often feels like he is wasting time in such a favorite storyline. He could have been cut had his time replaced with more Steve and Tony scenes or more with Bucky and Falcon. Marvel is praised for everything else it does, but people should not overlook their biggest problem.
This movie shifts the Marvel Cinematic Universe and with the Russo Brothers also directing Avengers Infinity War in 2018, we are sure to see the ramifications of this event played out in the future of the Universe.
What did you think of Captain America Civil War? What are some of the comic book movies you're looking forward to in the next few years and why is it the next Spider-Man? Let me know on here or on Facebook!
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