When the studio first announced they hired former television producers and directors Joe and Anthony Russo to helm CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, many fans were unsure of the hiring of such unknown commodities in the movie biz. Then their Cap movie came out and the Russos proved they were not only a perfect fit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but they were tapped for its sequel, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR.
With Civil War, the brothers have again proved why Marvel was right about choosing them and everyone who ever had doubts at this hiring are most definitely wrong. Civil War is so good it should put any worries anyone may have about the Russos helming both AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR films away because they are more-than-qualified to oversee such gigantic ensemble movies and the MCU's long form of storytelling.
***Plot SPOILERS start now although not everything will be revealed.***
We are then brought into the present day and Steve Rogers is leading his 'New Avengers' on a mission to stop Rumlow, who is now the comic book villain Crossbones, from stealing a bio-weapon. The 'New Avengers' are a highly functioning team already and they have team-up combo moves like Scarlet Witch using her powers to float Cap from the ground up to the third floor of a building through a window.
During this fight, the team is split and Crossbones goes one-on-one against Cap. With Crossbones' tech suit upgrade he is still no match for Cap but it was all a set-up as another part of Crossbones' plan to was blow himself up with Cap. Scarlet Witch uses her powers to contain the explosion and lift an exploding Crossbones into the air to prevent civilian casualties. Unfortunately, she lifts him right into a building and a good portion of the building blows up.
The divide between the two factions of opposing Avengers becomes stronger once Helmut Zemo gets involved. While you won't see him in any comic book-inspired purple villain suit, he is a big part of the reason Rogers and Stark are at each others' throats. Zemo goes on his own journey to locate the manual on how to control the Winter Soldier. He ends up finding it in Cleveland — the Russos' shout-out to their origin city — and he begins learning the word sequence so he can program the assassin for his own dastardly needs. Zemo also sets-up Bucky to be the person behind an attack on the U.N. where T'Chaka, the King of Wakada, is killed.
T'Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, is obviously not happy when he sees his father killed during U.N. proceedings and vows to find the Winter Soldier and avenge his father's death. Rogers locates Bucky first and tries to help him before Bucky is pursued by a special ops forces, as well as the Black Panther. The chase is on as Bucky runs but both Cap and Bucky are captured along with Sam Wilson, who was helping Cap pursue Bucky before the U.N. special ops force and the Black Panther found him.
With Bucky detained, a doctor is brought in to evaluate his mental state. It turns out to be Zemo who has planned this moment out and uses an E.M.P. to take out the power to the facility. With the power out, Zemo begins the word sequence to program the Winter Soldier and it's a success. Zemo, then, asks him what happened during his assassination mission from 1991; flashback at the start of the movie. With the Winter Soldier programmed into attack mode, he begins his escape from the facility and the Winter Soldier is shown to be every bit of the unstoppable assassin badass fans will love to see on the big screen. He takes down multiple Avengers and holds his own against Black Panther before Rogers grabs the helicopter the Winter Soldier uses to escape, crashes it and captures Bucky then takes him into hiding.
This doesn't sit well with Stark and creates a further divide between the Avengers. Meanwhile, in hiding, Bucky's arm is held in an industrial vice — as seen in the credits scene from ANT-MAN — the Winter Soldier programming has wore off and Bucky is back in his right mind. Rogers is able to learn from Bucky that Zemo is actually after five more Winter Soldier assassins who are all still frozen in time at a secret Hydra base.
Now, Rogers needs to assemble his own team and at the same time Stark realizes he needs a bigger gun on his team, too, which leads to the introduction of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Stark visits Parker at his home in Queens and it is one of the best scenes of the entire movie. Seeing Stark and Parker interact is brilliant writing and their chemistry is spot-on immediately. (This will make you that much more excited for Stark appearing in next year's SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING.)
With their respective teams assembled the airport showdown takes place. Sorry, but you'll also have to just see this battle for yourself because it is a comic book battle taken straight from the panels and put onto the big screen. It is easily a contender as the best comic book movie battle to-date.
However, Zemo has one more play up his sleeve as he never wanted the other Winter Soldiers for his evil deeds and he just wanted to pit all the heroes against each other because he lost his family in Sokovia during the events in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. Revenge led Zemo to finally learning what happened during the Winter Soldier's assassination in 1991 and it was revealed as the moment when Tony Stark's parents were killed. Stark sees this truth in video footage from the assassination and it causes him to lose his mind so he fights both Cap and Bucky with so much rage and anger that Darth Vader would be proud. Bucky is injured when Stark blasts his bionic arm off, and Cap reveals to Stark that he knew about who killed his parents but was keeping it a secret from Stark. This enraged Tony but Cap had the final blow to by disabling the Arc Reactor in his Iron Man suit with his shield. Cap grabs Bucky and begins to walk away while Stark yells at Rogers saying that his father made Cap's shield and Rogers does not own it. Rogers drops the shield, leaves with Bucky, leaving Stark behind defeated on the ground.
Zemo is outside of the Hydra base while Stark fights the two and the Black Panther is sneaking up on him because he trailed the heroes to the secret base. Black Panther arrives just in time to learn about Zemo's family loss just before preventing Zemo from taking his own life. Zemo is brought into custody and there's a hint that there's more to come from the villain. (Maybe. Hopefully. Fingers crossed because they didn't kill off a major villain, for once. Yay!)
Stark is seen back at Avengers headquarters and he receives a package. In this package is a cell phone and a note from Rogers which was like a compromise, or an olive branch, saying that if he ever needed help he is still just a call away. This implication here is that Rogers is still in hiding and his team of heroes are now pretty much the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of the 'Secret Avengers' from the comics.
Regarding the post-credits scenes, yes there are two, those will be saved for a post this weekend.
***End of plot SPOILERS. It is safe to read below this disclaimer.***
Where to even begin with this movie because it is a prime example of how to not only tell a great story but be able to spread a story around to many characters where none of them feel left out. This is a testament to the Russo's experience working on television shows like Arrested Development and Community. Each of those shows had big casts and multiple stories following many of its characters, often intertwining with each other as well. This really prepped the Russo's to be able to involve all these heroes in a single movie and none of them felt ignored as you might think a few would having a big main cast. A definitive reassurance the AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR movies are in good hands with the Russos.
The pacing of this movie really stood out. Not once during the movie was there a thought about a scene lasting too long or the movie feeling like it was running longer than it should. It was fast throughout and the non-action scenes flowed without any drag. Kudos to screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for not getting too caught up in too much action or too much dialogue. It's a great blend of both that feeds off each other really well.
Especially when you consider the writing for Ant-Man and Spider-Man. Sure, Stark gets in his standard wit and humor, but it's Spidey and Ant-Man who have some of the best lines and laughs. Each brings a much-needed freshness to when all the Avengers are on-screen together, and these two additions to the MCU will bring many fun moments in years to come.
And if you've been waiting for the perfect version of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, you definitely get it. Parker is finally portrayed as a young high school kid and during battle Spidey talks to the point of almost being annoying. Just as it should be!
Black Panther, as well as Spidey, are both very fitting ways to introduce new characters within one movie. While there's still some mystery around the Black Panther — which will surely be explored and explained in the BLACK PANTHER solo movie — the performance is everything you thought you would want from his big screen debut. The fighting style of the Black Panther will make you eager to see more in his solo movie.
But it's Stark and Rogers who really have the stand-out performances and this is Robert Downey Jr.'s best performance since IRON MAN. Stark is emotional, angry, annoyed, sad and full of rage. It's not the Tony Stark that you've seen in any of his previous appearances. And this is nothing against how Steve Rogers is portrayed because he goes to the dark side just a bit, something not yet seen in any his previous appearances as well.
As for any negatives, they are few after just one viewing, but one thing stood out during the early 3D screening and it's that you should avoid seeing it in 3D. The Russo's signature "shaky-cam" close-ups during fighting sequences is not a good fit for 3D, at least not in my opinion. Things get too blurry and it can be quite jarring to watch. And no, I'm not losing my eyes because I'm only in my 30s. And yes, the 3D glasses where cleaned after receiving them since they usually need a better scrubbing anyway.
Another nitpicky complaint is to mention Stark's weirdo facial hair trim this time around. It is a bit too "bro-tastic" for Tony. Perhaps another viewing will reveal some more flaws but this movie is pretty tight although its lack of true surprises and twists in its plot were a little bit of a letdown compared to all the twists and turns seen in The Winter Soldier.
In conclusion, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is a movie with so many memorable moments you should really see it twice in theaters. Especially when there is so much to digest but not too much to lose track of the greater purpose which is to change the layout of the MCU moving forward. It definitely does this and then some more.
Box office prediction: $205+ million domestic opening weekend. And there's a very, very good chance this movie will be Marvel Studios' fourth $1 billion worldwide blockbuster movie alongside THE AVENGERS, AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and IRON MAN 3.
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