Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War could be seen either as a sequel to 2014's Captain America: Winter Soldier, or last year's The Avengers: Age of Ultron.  I really don't think there's a right answer.  This is a movie that not only follows up the story of Captain America (Chris Evans) trying to repair his fractured relationship with his former teammate, turned brainwashed assassin, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), but it also tries to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe even further by adding two new characters (one of which is hitting the screen for the first time), and building on the ideas of the earlier Avenger movies. 

For a film packed with this many characters, plot lines, subplots and character motivations, it manages to stay fairly grounded and never feels too busy.  In fact, directors Anthony and Joe Russo try to add a bit of real world politics and concern into the superheroics.  Due to the actions of the Avengers and the destruction and casualties their battles have caused in the past, the world's nations have become suspicious of a group of superpowered protectors who answer to no government or figurehead.  The Avengers are asked to sign up for a program that will have their actions be overseen by an international commission that will decide their actions, and when they will be called out into battle.  Avengers members Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Bettany) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) agree to the terms, some more reluctantly than others.  Others, such as Captain America, Falcon (Anthony Mackey), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and newcomer Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) disagree, and think they are better off without government supervision.  Two new characters to the series, Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland), are also dragged into the battle and forced to take sides, both siding with Iron Man.

The idea of superheroes having to answer to their own actions and the damage they cause during their struggle to protect innocent people is not a new idea.  In fact, it was explored much less successfully back in March in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  You can actually draw a lot of comparisons in themes between both films, as both the earlier movie and Civil War deal with superheroes forced to stand on opposite sides as to what they think the best way to dispense justice is.  The big thing that does set the films apart is that while Batman v. Superman was dark, gloomy and fairly dull, this movie is full of energy.  While both films sadly do not go as deep into the intriguing issue of heroes having to answer to their own actions as much as they should, this movie does end up doing it much better, and in a way that is more entertaining and less melodramatic.  Marvel has figured out how to keep the tension and drama of the situation, without sacrificing the fun or turning its heroes into insufferable mopes.  It also helps that many of the movie's big action scenes are shot in brightly lit daylight, unlike the rain-soaked night streets of DC's superhero match up film.

There are two major action sequences in Civil War in which the collected heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are forced to square off against each other.  The first which occurs around the 90 minute mark is one of true exhilaration and spectacle.  And while it does come across as being a bit off in tone from the rest of the film (a majority of the movie is fairly serious, while the big fight scene has a lot of humor and one liners within it), it still manages to be highly entertaining, and well worth the price of admission, since this is what we have come to see.  The other major fight, which occurs at the climax, is much smaller in scale, but actually manages to be a lot more dramatic, since it's a more personal battle, and is drawn from character motivation, rather than spectacle.  You could actually say that the big brawl between the Avengers is all about fun for the audience, while the last battle could effectively change certain courses that the Marvel Universe will take in future films.  At the very least, the film's final moments have me curious as to what will happen next.

There are a couple missteps along the way.  Spider-Man is introduced in kind of a hurried manner, but this doesn't seem to matter so much when you see the guy in action, as well as Holland's performance.  He immediately wins over the audience with his one liners and physical performance, and it's probably the most accurate screen depiction of the web crawler that we've ever gotten.  Yeah, it's obviously all a big set up for his upcoming movie, but at least it works and doesn't feel quite as shoehorned in as Wonder Woman's participation in Batman v. Superman (also used to set up her own movie).  I also would have liked to have seen more of Black Panther, since he's the character in this film that we have never seen before.  We get enough information as to who he is and what he stands for, but it still would have been nice if the movie gave him more personal moments.  And as I mentioned earlier, the big square off between the Avengers in the middle of the film does feel just a tiny bit jarring with how comical it is, considering how serious the rest of the film takes itself, save for the usual sarcastic quips from Downey's Iron Man.  As a stand-alone sequence, it's highly entertaining and worthy of being brought up among the finest moments of the Marvel film series.  It simply feels a tiny bit out of place with the film, given its somewhat jokey tone.

None of this really subtracts from the film, surprisingly.  For a movie of this size, it's amazing how tight and well constructed it actually is.  I personally prefer Winter Soldier, as I felt it was a more personal story for Captain America.  But, as a superhero match up film, this does rank above Age of Ultron, and is so much better than the gloomy Batman v. Superman that it's not even a contest.  Like the best Marvel films, it offers top entertainment, while actually being about something.  And it manages to do this without taking itself so seriously that it stops being fun.

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