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This review will contain Spoilers...a lot of spoilers, so read on at your own risk.
Before we get started, a large part to consider is that this movie is not a just a sequel to Captain America, nor is it just a sequel to Iron Man 3, nor is it just a sequel to Avengers Age of Ultron, nor is it just a sequel to Ant-Man. This movie is ALL of those things, and as impossible as it sounds, this movie pulls this incredible magic trick off.
Let’s get right to the plot. Following the events of Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron, Cap and some of the Avenger crew are trying to prevent a terrorist attack that goes wrong and innocents end up dying. The reaction from world leaders is to put the Avengers under the control of the UN. The people that died are from the country of Wakanda and the King is ringing in the signing of the Sokovia Accords that spells out the sanctions of The Avengers when a terrorist blows up the place, killing the King and causing yet another international incident. The Prince of Wakanda, T’Challa, dons the Black Panther costume and swears to avenge the killing of his father by killing the only suspect, The Winter Soldier.
Cap and Falcon are at odds with the rest of the Avengers as pretty much everyone, lead by Tony, are onboard with the Sakovia Accords. This leads to team Cap and Team Tony gathering individual members and eventually to a final huge action blowout at the airport. The action is phenomenal with each member getting their own spotlight, though some obviously stand out. Spider-Man and Ant-Man steal the show during the battle with impressive displays of their powers and humorous interactions with the more serious characters.
Cap, Tony, and Bucky all end up at the Siberian stronghold where the mastermind behind the Avengers’ collapse is revealed as Zemo, a soldier who lost his family in Sakovia. He tears the Avengers apart, not by fighting them, nor by attacking them, but by exploiting their differences to create the division that splits the team. He also reveals truth about Tony’s parents’ deaths that drives Iron Man over the edge. Iron Man loses it and goes full out against Cap and Bucky. This is deeper than whe we’ve seen in the previous battle and ends on a low note. The Avengers are no more, the band is split up and the future of team is uncertain.
There are so many characters and intertwining plot lines in this movie it is some sort of miracle that they are all playing nice with each other and don’t end up being just a mess on the screen. Along with expanding and progressing the character arcs of the dozen or so already existing characters, the Russo brothers also manage to introduce two large players in the MCU of Spider-Man and Black Panther.
Spider-Man is amazing. Yes that is a little inside humor, but seriously, this is the Spider-Man that fans have been clamoring for, and as equally important, this is the Peter Parker fans have been waiting for. In the little screen time that Spidey is given, he ends up being a fully fleshed out character that people came out of the movies gushing about. When he is in battle, the banter between him and other characters really stands out, also his displays of raw power really give us an idea of just how strong this teenage Spidey is. He stops the Winter Soldier’s robo-arm mid punch with one hand and doesn’t break a sweat. He gets into a tug of war with Captain America and only loses due to his inexperience. This is a Spiderman still discovering his powers and learning who he is. He also has the 2nd after credits stinger that gives us a little more taste of Spidey’s home life and humor with Aunt May.
BTW just so we can get it out there in the open, Marissa Tomei is very hot as Aunt May.. distractingly hot. Stark hits on her for a while, and if a Stark-May romance blooms I can’t say it would be unwelcomed in this universe. This is how you build excitement for an upcoming movie. The promise of Spider-Man’s potential in the Marvel Universe is almost more exciting that the Civil War...almost.
The movie spent a good amount of time building up Black Panther and it was honestly a surprise. I didn’t really have any anticipation for Black Panther, however, his addition as an outsider with their own agenda lead to interesting confrontations on both sides of the battle. Chadwick Boseman is no nonsense. When other characters with humor like Ant-man or Spidey interact with the Black Panther, he does not give a shit. He’s out to get justice for his fallen father and if you stand in his way or slow him down, he will fuck you up. The costume design is fantastic, and for being just a black suit that has to say something. The back and forth with him and Black Widow shows the depth of character in such a short timespan and his character arch completing by the end of the movie that bring him full circle and realizing vengeance isn’t the end all-be-all is something you don’t expect in a comic book movie. I’m really looking forward to his stand alone film.
The Iron Man storyline could be argued as the most intriguing in the movie. His progression from carefree billionaire in Iron Man 1 to the broken man who’s life has been collapsing since the Avengers film to the “shell” of a man in this one is my favorite part. It takes 5 movies to get where Tony is at the beginning of Civil War. The confrontation with a mother of a Sakovia victim is the final straw that pushes him in favor of the Sakovia Accords that puts the UN in charge of the Avengers. Tony’s a man that is being pulled at all ends of his life by pretty much everyone in it. At the end of the movie he snaps...he’s no longer acting in the interests of the US, or the UN, or even the Avengers, he simply wants vengeance. If it were not for the heavy load of 5 previous films building up to this point, his break would be unexpected, but the audience is well aware of his progression to becoming the broken man we see in Civil War.
Hawkeye was in this...he honestly didn’t have much to do, which is sad because he was the part of Age of Ultron that I liked the most. I was hoping he would take a bigger “mentor” role in the later films but he just shows up and shoots arrows….meh.
Black Widow had a couple great action pieces especially in the opening of the film. Her fights make me really wish they’d make a stand alone film that is more “Jason Bourne” or “Mission Impossible” vibe. There’s not much happening with her other than the inner conflict with SHIELD collapsing and now the Avengers stretched to the breaking point. She ends up with nowhere to go after being pulled from both sides.
Scarlet Witch and Vision are very much grouped together, which makes sense because they are the only ones with practically world destroying powers. Their growing romance is fun and Vision trying to be human is both hopeful and sad at the same time. Though when the end of the battle and Vision ends up distracted, we learn he is much much more than an android. (The visual of him in a shirt and pants is hilarious by the way.) I was not a big fan of Elizabeth Olsen’s portrayal of the Scarlet Witch. Her accent comes and goes, and being placed opposite the great performance of Paul Bettany makes her lackluster acting stand out even more. Can’t win them all.
One of the best parts of the movie is the interaction of the different characters. The dynamic between Falcon and Bucky leads to some really great moments that add needed humor to the movie. War Machine and the rest of the Avengers seem distant showing that there is a divide right from the beginning. Ant-Man is mostly comic relief but his action scenes are some of the best in the film. (Saying that is a big deal because the action in this is maybe the best of any super hero film...maybe even any film altogether.) It’s really about how these vastly different personalities bounce off of each other and seeing them on screen in such an effective manner is exciting for anyone that has loved comics for their whole life.
The action and fights are going to get a lot of lip service from pretty much any review, and they certainly deserve the spotlight, though the political drama and intense character disputes are really what drive the plot. The action pieces are the dessert for an amazing meal that is the rest of the film. The personality clashes that we’ve seen in previous Marvel films are brought to the foreground and build characters and stretch relationships that we’ve already seen form and change.
If there’s any negative I would say it’s the lack of development for the Helmut Zemo character. While he was portrayed excellently by Daniel Bruhl, I felt that Zemo lacked the background that all the other characters in the film seemed to have. It would have been much better had Zemo been in Age of Ultron and we see him lose his family or see some sort of military/strategic background that he uses so excellently in Civil War. I understand that they use Zemo as a mirror for multiple characters in this (the woman who lost her son and T’Challa specifically) but it would have been nice to have a really good in depth Marvel villain. I will say I loved that he took down the Avengers without throwing a single punch
Everyone seems to ask, which is better, Civil War or Batman V Superman? There’s two sides to that question. On one hand they aren’t really comparable. Civil War is the latest in a series of some 12 films that takes advantage of fully fleshed out characters that they can then further progress and stretch. It also takes the time to introduce new characters (Spidey and Black Panther) that almost steal the show from those characters we’ve already loved for a dozen movies! On the other hand, these are both comic book inspired films that pit their most famous characters against each other. That being said, Civil War is a much better formed film with clear motivations, a coherent plot, and better world building. One must keep in mind that Civil War has such a massive head start in character development that it really isn’t fair.
Never in my life would I have thought that my favorite superhero trilogy would be something other than Batman or Spider-Man...yet here we are. Captain America is one of the best trilogies I’ve had the pleasure to watch, and Civil War may be one of the best comic book movies I’ve seen come to life. I've always wanted a movie that has a large number of the super heroes I love battling along with a story as good as the long spanning and intertwined ones we get in the comics, and this movie is the best example of that to happen yet. It’s not perfect...but then again nothing is.
9/10
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Originally Posted by Solo
Well done strt...as usual...cheers!
