Captain America: Civil War (2016 review)

5 outta 5

While the superheroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been causing destruction in the name of freedom for years in Captain America: Civil War consequences are dealt with.   It keeps the Captain America series fresh by swapping styles yet again; the First Avenger was a two-fisted World War II epic, Winter Soldier was a conspiracy thriller, and Civil War is a multi-character psychological drama.   But since this is a superhero epic, it involves spectacular superpowers to compliment the philosophical debate.  Despite new and recurring characters dropped into a blender, the focus remains on the core trio.  It has spectacle, pathos, menace and heart.  And lots of superheroes punching each other in the face!

When the Avengers cause collateral damage taking down bad guys, the U.N. decides they need official government oversight.   Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans) thinks it will impede their jobs while Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) believes the team needs to be controlled.  Meanwhile, Steve’s old friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) turned secret assassin is seen at a deadly bombing attack and Steve tries to bring him in.  Following them is the manipulative, mysterious lone-wolf Zemo (Daniel Bruhl). This all leads to a multi-superhero fracas of a divided Avengers team with heroes clobbering heroes as their future hangs in the balance. 

Captain America’s determination to help his friend puts him against his fellow Avenger, Iron Man and what’s great about Evans performance is his belief in a larger good his greatest superpower.  Evans and Downey have scenes where they square off verbally and physically and at one moment Steve rationalizes himself into signing as Tony plays along.  Downey’s Stark is haunted by his actions; before he felt guilt over being a weapons manufacturer and now he feels guilt over bodies left while trying to save the world.  As he’s tearing his own team apart he’s convinced he can fix it.   Stan’s Bucky is sympathetic as he’s unsure if his assassin switch could be turned back on.  Brutal flashbacks to Bucky’s assassin days lay out the stakes of what can happen if he is turned.   As the villain, Bruhl’s Zemo is doing evil without any goons or superpowers making him unique from all Marvel baddies seen thus far.   When his master plan and motivations are finally revealed, it’s surprisingly emotional.  

There is some expert juggling of Marvel characters.  Both Vision (Paul Bettany) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) get in some interesting parts as Vision acts as Wanda’s friend and prison guard.  Returning military comrades Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) both have cool bits.  Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man has incredible FX sequences and hilarious lines as Rudd’s hero is excited to be playing in the big leagues.   There’s also Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) literally chasing after Bucky for revenge.   The biggest new addition, thanks to Sony Pictures wanting some Marvel Cinematic Universe cash, is Spider-Man (Tom Holland). Due to film rights, previous Spider-Man movies didn’t integrate with the Marvel Cinematic Universe but now he’s home.   Holland’s Spider-Man is a fantastic surprise, throwing out quips and webs as it’s a joy to see Spidey finally interact with other Marvel heroes.  His Peter Parker is a hilariously meek dweeb who stammers his way through a meeting with Stark as they dance around Parker’s secret identity.  These aren’t overstuffed random sub-plots; they all integrate neatly into the main story. 

There is thematic similarity to the recently released bloated and contradictory Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.  While Justice used chaos caused by superheroes as a setup, it never quite did anything with it.  Civil War debates what the superheroes are doing.  While there is some truly impressive spectacle in Civil War, it is confident enough in the characters to scale back for an extremely intense smaller confrontation in the finale.  That self-assuredness wasn’t in Justice which piled on bombast in desperation to keep in the “wow” factor up. Civil War knows it’s not “wow” but dramatic payoffs that keep the audience invested.

That being said, holly hell, there is “wow factor” in Civil War.  Opening with a visceral throw down of the Avengers versus Crossbones (Frank Grillo) the damage sets the stakes for the rest of the film.  Great action sequences include Hawkeye vs. The Vision or a gripping chase between Cap, Bucky, The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Black Panther.   The centrepiece is the battle between the superheroes as each one gets a gigantically awesome moment.  Seeing Spider-Man unleash at top speed against Bucky and The Falcon is exhilarating.   And the biggest hero is Ant-Man who has surprising ways to take people out as Iron Man gets progressively angrier his side is losing.   It’s a jaw-dropping set piece, possibly the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, that keeps providing great bits.   Smartly, the final battle is much smaller but just as gripping as the lead heroes have to deal with revelations and soul crushing confrontations.

There is power in Captain America: Civil War of both emotional and super.   Instead of apocalyptic stakes, it’s about what is right. Friendships are destroyed as these characters battle themselves as it’s amazing to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe push the superhero genre forward.  Again.