“Captain America: Civil War” Review
Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) clash in the epic climax of “Captain America: Civil War.”
At this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the first two phases had come and gone with the first uniting The Avengers and the second expanding the universe. However, Phase 2 made two things quite clear: the six Infinity Stones are out there and Thanos is coming for them. But everything should be fine with The Avengers defending Earth. Unless they should fall. This is what “Captain America: Civil War” is all about.
While the film is inherently continuing the arc of Steve Rogers, the film is certainly the largest of all the solo Marvel films with nearly every Avenger in the cast, as well as powerful new faces, and a story which goes across nations and continents. It’s a gripping, powerful and, dare I say, realistic take on superheroes in a confusing and morally gray world. Not only is it the best of Captain America’s films, but it also is one of the best films within the MCU.
After “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the Avengers are continuing to operate as a peacekeeping team of superheroes. However, after a mission results in civilian casualties, many governments of the world feel that so many of the Avengers’ activities result in too much collateral damage for them to be unsupervised. This revelation splits the Avengers right down the middle with a faction led by Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) supporting these new accords and another faction led by Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) wanting to stay free.
However, these faction find themselves pitted against each other when The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) remerges after committing a terrorist attack with Bucky claiming he was framed. With Steve wanting to protect Bucky and Tony wanting to bring him in, the Avengers are forced into a civil war with someone manipulating everyone’s actions.
With so many characters, you’d think that Captain America’s journey would become lost but it’s the main part of the story. In the end, the film is about choices with Captain America having to choose to save his best friend, despite him being a brainwashed assassin for Hydra, or to work with his new family to bring him to justice. Should the Avengers let themselves be governed by an independent entity or be left to his own devices? These choices aren’t easy and both sides are understandable.
Captain America (Chris Evans) defends his friend and former assassin Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) from world governments and even members of The Avengers.
Instead of having a more fantastic villain Dark Elves conquering the universe or a madman with an Infinity Stone, the film’s antagonist really doesn’t have much to do in the foreground. While Baron Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) would become more beloved in the miniseries “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” I think a lot of fans missed the point of his character in this film. He’s not a villain who craves attention like Loki. He’s in the shadows, manipulating the Avengers until they are at each other’s throats and throwing punches.
Through this manipulation, we see the relationships of these heroes tested and you truly care about them. You want Steve and Bucky to reconnect, you want Steve and Tony to stop fighting and talk things through and you want to see what these people are going to do next.
In many ways, the film is a more realistic superhero film. It’s not a comedy like “Ant-Man” or “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s more of a political/spy thriller like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The fights are full of great imagery but they’re held in realistic locations like a stairwell, a freeway or an airport. The action of this film was, at the time, the best I’d seen in the MCU because the conflict isn’t between the Avengers and a faceless army. It’s among themselves.
The airport sequence in the middle of the film is one of the best action sequences in the entire Marvel Universe with every hero fighting differently. Since these heroes have worked together for some time, it’s also more difficult for anyone to get an advantage. While “Captain America: Civil War” is a fairly serious film, there are still plenty of funny quips and amazing moves to astonish any viewer.
While most of the faces in this film are people we’ve seen before, two new heroes are introduced into the MCU who would become two of the most popular characters in the franchise: T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland). When these two appeared in the film, it changed the MCU forever thanks to their eventual solo films. Looking back, it’s incredible to see where these heroes got their start in the MCU.
The late Chadwick Boseman brought a stoic dignity to the character which immediately caught my eye. In this film, his father is killed in a bombing that Bucky is accused of instigating and he becomes one of the strongest supporters of Tony trying to take down The Winter Solider. His quest for vengeance is one of the film’s most engaging subplots.
Chadwick Boseman’s performance as T’Challa/Black Panther quickly caught on with fans loving the character and his solo film grossing over 1.3 billion dollars.
As for Spider-Man, his inclusion in the film is little more than an extended cameo but it definitely showed promise for Tom Holland’s future as the character. Not only was he amazing spinning webs and doing kicks, but he also embodied the spirit of Peter Parker so well. From the moment he popped on screen, I knew that Marvel made the right casting decision. It’s even more impressive because I never thought I would see Spider-Man in the MCU since Sony has the rights and there were two Spider-Man franchises that the studio had made.
Despite new, flashy characters, the focus of the film is where it needs to be: on Captain America. Him trying to balance his friendship with Tony and his quest to save Bucky is compelling as it is tragic. Near the end of the film, Tony and Steve make choices which not only pit them against each other in a brutal fight but also essentially destroy the Avengers as a whole. But both of their reasons are identifiable. This is not a simple good guy/bad guy narrative. What’s so refreshing about this film is how nuanced it is and how you have to think about the choices everyone is making in a story where you don’t know what’s going to happen.
In the end, “Captain America: Civil War” was an incredible way to start Phase 3 of the MCU. Breaking up the Avengers left an incredible hole within this franchise. However, this hole would soon be filled with new heroes ready to take on the mantle.
