Captain America: Civil War is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and is the 13th instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film of this franchise’s third phase. Acting as both a continuation of the narratives of both Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which the Russo brothers also helmed) and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Civil War is essentially the moment the MCU has been building up to ever since the first Iron Man movie came out 8 years ago.
This is the movie, like The Winter Soldier before it, that places it’s superheroes under the microscope, highlighting all of their flaws and making them feel human despite their larger than life abilities. This time, Civil War goes that one step further and finally shifts the attention on to the consequences of superhero’s actions, because when an alien horde invades New York and a megalomaniacal AI hell-bent on global destruction drops a city out of the sky, people get hurt and people die. Civil War tells the story of a world where governments have had enough of the Avengers acting as their own private organisation, and mounting political pressure has forced the Avengers to sign the “Sokovia accords”, which essentially strips the Avengers of their autonomy meaning they can only act when consented by the world’s governments. This ideological divide which arises with these accords comes at the exact wrong time for our heroes, particularly Captain America, fracturing the team. Feeling an insurmountable amount of guilt for his role in the destruction caused in Age of Ultron, Tony Stark immediately enlists, as do a few others. However, Captain America, fearful of the control of governing bodies due to events in the past, does not sign on to the accords, thus commencing a conflict and a civil war between two opposing factions of the Avengers.
From the synopsis I’ve just given, you’d probably be
justified in thinking that this movie is one massive “event” type film where they
build up to a fight, the fight happens and then there’s some sort of
resolution. In reality, the way this movie was structured surprised me a
considerable amount. The actual “civil war” that occurs in Civil War is a
bi-product of the real story that’s going on in this movie, to which the
villain “Zemo” is very central to. Civil War is a self-contained narrative
which continues on the more mature, realistic themes of The Winter Soldier
whilst simultaneously adding in more themes of friendship, betrayal and perhaps
most poignantly, vengeance. Having mulled over this film for a few days to
rationally collect my thoughts on it, I have come to the conclusion that this
is my favourite movie that Marvel has ever produced and one of the best comic
book movies of all time. I’m not what you would call a traditional “fan boy”
who’s blind to inherent storytelling and screenwriting flaws (read my Batman v
Superman review if you wish), but I am a fan of well-made and rewarding
entertainment which sucks you into the world, invests you in the action and the
characters and gives you those moments which make you cheer, cry and clench
your fists. Captain America: Civil War is one of the best comic book movies of
all time and for me is a monumental achievement on the part of both the
directors and writers, because I honest to god have no idea how they managed to
pull this one off and put all of the puzzle pieces together.
This movie has a lot of moving parts, but everything feels
as if it is part of one, self-contained narrative that flows seamlessly from
scene to scene without ever feeling choppy, messy or incoherent, which is
credit to the people who were tasked with cutting together the final edit of
the film. But the main reason for me why this movie was so great was because it
got its characters so right, giving them all interesting arcs, character
development and clearly spelled out motivations that are understandable. There
are an incredibly large amount of major players in this movie and everyone gets
their moment to shine, but the movie also understands it is its own cohesive
story with 4 central players; these being Captain America, Tony Stark, Bucky
Barnes and Zemo. With the majority of the screen time devoted to these
characters, the movie is really an emotional and personal story involving these
4 with the “Civil War” conflict being of secondary importance. This movie
somehow manages to devote enough screen time to all of these characters and
give them all their moments to shine, but it is still distinctly a Captain
America movie where his personal struggles and ties are central to the plot.
But on top of that, you have an onslaught of other fantastic characters, and
when I say fantastic I really do mean that because Civil War spoils you with
them.
I think it goes without saying that Chris Evans was
absolutely superb once again as Captain America and excels in an assured and
confident portrayal of the character. It has gotten to the point now where he
really has made the role his own, and assumes the role of Steve Rogers the way
Hugh Jackman does for Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds does for Deadpool or,
coincidently, Robert Downey Jr. does for Iron Man. Downey is equally brilliant
as Tony Stark and in my opinion gives the best performance of the entire film.
There are moments in the movies final act where Downey takes his character and
this story so seriously that he almost moved me tears. And even though I went
into this movie as Team Cap and stayed on his side for the entire runtime, I
completely understood where Stark was coming from. You could feel the guilt
crushing down on Tony’s shoulders and towards the end of this movie when the
final fight is going down and the movie is really dragging Tony through the
dirt; I was on the edge of my seat and really feeling bad for him. Plus, the
film gives Tony even greater character depth by using Pepper Pott’s absence to
full effect, which was good screenwriting on behalf of the filmmakers. I
wouldn’t say Captain America: Civil War is a movie where you’re constantly
flipping back and forth as to which side you’re on, but it is one where both
sides of the conflict are evenly fleshed out to the point where both Stark and
Roger’s motivations make complete sense.
Much like the trailer promised, Bucky Barnes and his
friendship with Captain America is integral to the plot and Cap’s motivations
for his actions. Sebastian Stan, I feel, deserves serious credit for his turn
in this movie and goes to places with his character that The Winter Soldier
movie promised us he could. I love how they portray the friendship between
Bucky and Cap, but for me the most intriguing aspect of Bucky’s character is
that for long periods you’re never quite sure where he stands; you never know
if he’s being loyal to Steve or whether or not HYDRA is still impacting him. I
mean, you don’t just act as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin for 70 years and then
not have it have a toll on you personally! Plus, I was a big fan of how they
tied in events of Bucky’s past and made them central to the emotional climax of
this movie, although I feel some die-hard fans will be smart enough to see this
reveal coming if they’ve been paying close attention to past instalments in the
MCU. Nevertheless, this reveal is done really well, bringing me onto the
villain of the movie; Zemo. I know a lot of people have complained and argued
that Zemo doesn’t actually need to be in the movie at all, and I can’t disagree
more with them. The main focus of this movie is the personal relationship
between Cap, Bucky and Tony, and Zemo is the thing that connects all of this
together. In fact, the actual “civil war” fight is of secondary importance to the
actual point of the movie. So to say the movie would have been better without
Zemo would change the movie’s narrative entirely. I was a big fan of the
character of Zemo, with Daniel Bruhl delivering us a different type of villain
that the MCU has never seen before. He has a simple backstory and
understandable motivations for his actions which I was a really huge fan of,
plus has quite an emotionally powerful end to his character arc in this film
(no spoilers). While I do like him, I
feel his character could have been improved upon by making his evil plan a
little less complicated because at times it does reach a bit too far in terms
of conveniences and actually making sense, but that’s it. And one final word of
warning, this is definitely not the Zemo from the comics. Zemo in this film is
a pure product of the MCU and events which have happened previously, and I
shall leave it at that!
On top of giving us a self-contained story of friendship and
vengeance and a conflict between two sides of the Avengers team, Civil War is
also tasked with planting even bigger seeds for the future by introducing two
characters which have already been hinted at in the past. The first of which
was Black Panther, who I absolutely adore. T’Challa himself has a really good
arc in this film, with the filmmakers giving him a valid reason for being there
in the first place and good motivation for his actions (which is apparent for
everyone in this film). His costume is
one of the most badass looking things I’ve ever seen in a movie, plus the way
they physically portrayed the Black Panther character was as close to perfect
as it could have been. And while the trailer may give away that he is siding
with Team Stark, it’s not as clear cut as they ; he has his own agendas. The
second character they introduced was Spider-Man, and I freaking love Tom
Holland in this role. Everything about Spider-Man he completely nailed; the
humour, the teenage awkwardness, his morality, all handled excellently. I loved
Peter Parker’s introduction to the movie even if it did feel as if it was a
slight departure from everything else, and Spider-Man himself in terms of the
way he fights and the way he acts as our viewpoint as audience members was
absolutely stellar. He’s one of the most relatable characters on screen and I
am so pumped for his solo film, just like I am for Black Panther.
As I’ve said before, this movie spoils you with fantastic
characters, all of which get the right amount of time to show us what they’re
all about and nailing all of their motivations for being there. Even Vision and
Scarlet Witch’s relationship, which looks like it is going in the direction it
does in the comics, was something else they managed to put into the movie
without it feeling out of place with the rest of the narrative. Both characters
have really interesting arcs in the movie, even if they’re expectedly
overshadowed by Cap, Bucky and Tony. But it doesn’t stop there, Falcon is as
sharp as ever, Hawkeye has his moments of sarcastic humour, War Machine’s role
is more important than ever, Black Widow has an interesting moral dilemma as to
where she stands within the conflict, and Ant Man was comedic perfection where
every single joke landed.
I know all throughout this review I’ve said that the actual
civil war which plays out during a fight scene at a German airport is of
secondary importance to what is really going on, and I’ll stand by it. But,
that doesn’t take anything away from a 20 minute fight sequence which may well
be my favourite extended sequence that I’ve seen from any comic book movie, and
one of the best action sequences of all time. The action is well helmed with no
shaky cam, everyone is involved and has their moments, everything is completely
coherent and while the stakes are really high, they all still manage to pack in
classic Marvel moments of humour which bring out their personalities as they’re
fighting. Seriously though, that fight scene is something special and has more
than one moment where you will be sat there in awe, screaming internally. It’s
the most rewarding thing you could wish to see in a comic book movie, being equally
funny and enthralling. Two words; Ant. Man. That is all.
The rest of the action, with the exception of maybe a few
instances of shaky cam and hyperactive editing, is all handled just as well.
The Russo’s clearly have a great understanding of how to film hand-to-hand
combat sequences whilst making them as impactful as possible, you really feel
every single punch and kick that is thrown. And I was so hooked emotionally
during the final confrontation of this film where everything built up to this
one moment, and Tony, Steve and Bucky go after each other in a fight which even
felt bloodthirsty at times. Like for the first time in a Marvel movie, I
thought that a hero was going to kill another one. Whether that happens or not
I can’t disclose for fear of spoiling what actually does happen, just know the
final fight is as emotional and as brutal as they could possibly have made it.
If The Winter Soldier and Civil War tell us anything, it’s that the Russo’s are
the absolute right people to take on Infinity War. They both understand how to
introduce and develop characters in the right way plus helm action sequences
like no other directors in the MCU.
Captain America: Civil War is a movie that I will continue
to praise for many years to come, and is incredibly successful at maintaining
its status as a self-contained story whilst giving you incredibly rewarding
moments as a fan when these two factions of heroes collide. It gets its
characters spot on and somehow manages to place together all of the puzzle
pieces into a coherent whole which never relents in terms of its action, humour
or emotional moments. Civil War feels like the moment the MCU has been building
up to ever since its inception, and knowing that there are even bigger and
(potentially) better things on the way (Infinity War) just makes me so happy to
be alive in this golden age of comic book movies. And please don’t leave during
the credits (surely you know the drill by now) as there are two scenes which
set up future movies to come in Phase 3. Civil War has changed the MCU
landscape forever, and has changed what it is possible to achieve with a comic
book movie. It’s not a perfect film and I do have some minor flaws with it, but
that doesn’t change the fact that it’s undoubtedly one of the best comic book
movies I’ve ever seen, and could be my favourite MCU movie to date:
Matt
