Sign up and serve the higher power of the United Nations... or don’t and risk never being allowed to legally operate as a hero again. When Steve Rogers' old friend Bucky Barnes pops on Interpol’s radar, he has to decide whether or not to sit this one out or make his play to save his friend; even if it brings it into conflict with his teammates.
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A genuine concern I had going into the film — seeing as Civil War has more players than either of the two Avengers films — was would it feel overstuffed? After having seen it twice my answer has to be resoundingly NO. Not only does every character get their chance to shine with regards to action but the motivation and emotion behind those actions give a real weight to the events of the film, resulting in every character having an arc that leaves them fundamentally changed by the end of its two-and-a-half hours.
Now admittedly some characters have less time on screen than others, this is after all still a Captain America film, but I think just about everyone comes across well with some even being brilliant. There’s zero dead weight here. The side of the argument people take makes sense; some being driven by broader concerns and other by personal connections. It genuinely feels organic.
But here’s where I feel letdown. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER had the perfect ending wrapping up what we had just seen, establishing the new status before cutting to black with a dramatic statement that Cap and Falcon were going to finish this story once and for all.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is the perfect ending to Cap’s story, yes, but you’ll be left with questions. I for one went in 100-percent behind one character. I left questioning both myself and them and with a burning desire to know what happens next.
Make no mistake, in my opinion CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is the best Marvel Studios film to date. But that ending, is going to have people talking from now and until we get answers... likely coming in the AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR movies.
Chris Evans, ironically once the quick-witted Human Torch, has completely sold me on his status as the Sentinel of Liberty that is Captain America. His stance on the Accords, something akin to Libertarianism, feels just about balanced enough to allow Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark to present the counter argument — that they need to be put in check for their own good and the good of the people they are trying to protect. Iron Man was reduced to a moustache twirling villain in the Civil War comic book, but here we see something IRON MAN, pulling at my heart every chance he could.
Now CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is a movie you can see without having seen the other Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, I truly believe that, but to get the absolute most out of this you need to have seen them all. This is the culmination of eight years and 13 films. A masterpiece in the art of long form storytelling.
As an audience we’ve seen these character grow. Hell, if you were a kid when IRON MAN came out, you may have grown up with these characters, seen them come together and now about to be pulled apart.
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely deserve so much praise for writing a script that balances all these elements so well, showing both sides of the titular conflict — I genuinely switched sides during the film — as well as introducing new characters. And oh those new characters.
Black Panther's debut is a masterpiece in how to introduce a new character with minimal screen time. Chadwick Boseman is wonderful as T’Challa but as the Black Panther he is phenomenal. After his first appearance, with the wider world both on- and off-screen getting to see what he can do for the first time, I think everyone will be more than ready for the BLACK PANTHER movie. My friend even leaned to me and simply said “my new favourite” of the character, and she’s a die-hard Tony Stark girl.
Spider-man, oh Spider-man. Folks, they did it. Marvel actually did it. They nailed it. I’m reluctant to say Tom Holland is the best Peter Parker / Spider-Man we’ve had on screen to date as he isn’t in the movie all that much, but it’s more than you’d probably think and he is so so good. I don’t want to say much about his role but both as Peter Parker and Spider-Man the character is amazing, spectacular and all the superlative adjectives you could possible come up with to describe him. If his appearance here is any indication of what we can expect from SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, then next July cannot get here quick enough!
Much has been said about the airport sequence hinted at in the trailers. So let me state what I feel. This sequence is the greatest comic book action scene of all-time. It’s also a contender for best action scene in the history of cinema. There’s no shaky cam like we’re treated to earlier in the film. The action is clear. The motivations stated and the fight... brutal. But here’s the thing, for people who said “Marvel have given everything away in the trailers,” they haven’t... they really haven’t. The clips you've seen from trailers that you think you already know, often have extra shots in them. Thus changing the meaning of what’s occurring in the scene. You have no idea what Marvel has in store for you.
Act III brings the conflict down in scale to a much more personal level and it’s been said it turns into a sort of emotional thrill ride. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have gone on-record as saying the ending is “complicated” and boy were they speaking the truth. Things won’t be the same in the MCU. Probably ever again.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is the perfect ending to Cap’s story, yes, but you’ll be left with questions. I for one went in 100-percent behind one character. I left questioning both myself and them and with a burning desire to know what happens next.
Written by Nick Whitney, MCU Correspondent -- Click here to read Nick's posts
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