"Captain America: Civil War" (2016)
The unofficial third "Avengers" movie, "Captain America: Civil War" not only closes out the "Captain America" trilogy of films in a spectacular fashion, it also resets the table for the remainder of Phase 3. It's an ambitious film that pays homage to one of the more recent comics masterpieces, but also introduces some fan favorite Marvel characters that will become key parts of the MCU in the years and films to come.
The comic storyline for "Civil War" saw Captain America and Iron Man at odds not over Sokovia but over a tragedy closer to home. When reality stars the New Warriors take part in a battle with the villain Nitro that results in the destruction of a lot of Stamford, Connecticut, the US government decides that superheroes anonymity is no longer a right. There were a ton of huge things that happened in this mini from Spider-Man unmasking to Iron Man cloning Thor to Iron Man using super villains to go after Cap. It was huge. So, it was great to see a version of it pulled into the MCU.
"Captain America: Civil War" brings back Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlet Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier, Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and introduces Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panter and Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. It was released in theaters May 6, 2016.
"Captain America: Civil War" pretty much solidifies the Captain America films as the best solo character trilogy in the MCU. Where "The First Avenger" was a war movie and "The Winter Soldier" was a '70's style political thriller, the Russo Brothers likened "Civil War" to a psychological thriller ala "Fargo" and "Seven."
"Civil War" is a great movie. It has the distinction of being my third favorite MCU movie. It reaches some great heights, but it doesn't quite reach the consistent excellency of its predecessor. The main plot of "Civil War" is when an Avengers mission to bring in Crossbones before he can steal a bio weapon goes awry and results in the deaths of seven Wakandans, the UN decides that the Avengers can't operate independently anymore. They are given the Sokovia Accords and told they have to sign or hang up their tights. Surprisingly, Tony is ready to sign after being confronted by a grieving mother who's son died in Sokovia. After the Winter Soldier seemingly attacks the signing of the Accords killing King T'Chaka of Wakanda. The group splinters as Cap goes after his old friend and his former teammates try to bring him in.
The best thing about "Civil War" is the relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. It's pretty rare that the focus of a film is on a male friendship, especially in an action film or a comic book film. Putting this relationship at the forefront is great. Steve is willing to put everything on the line for his friend. It's great to see this sort of devotion without any sort of romantic attachment. That we know of. I see you, Cap/Bucky 'shippers. (And the less said about Cap's actual romance with Sharon Carter, the niece of his newly dead first love, the better. The MCU has basically forgotten about this and I think that's for the best.) This focus on the friendship between Cap and Bucky puts a serious strain on the friendship between Tony and Steve.
There's always been tension between the two main Avengers. Cap doesn't trust Tony's future forward attitude and Tony thinks Steve is a relic caught in the past. There's always been a respect between the two, but that seems to be gone forever when Tony finds out that Steve knew that Bucky murdered his parents. That final battle between them is brutal. It's heart wrenching. It leaves them in a place they may never come back from. The movie tests a number of the series key relationships. Cap and Black Widow find themselves on the opposite side but maintain their brother/sister bond. One of my favorite scenes is their brief conversation at Peggy Carter's funeral. Widow never seems fully invested in signing the Accords so it's not a huge shock when she allows Steve and Bucky to escape. Then there is Wanda and Vision. It's interesting to watch this relationship grow in ways different than it did in the comics. Despite the contentiousness, they get some sweet moments like Vision trying and failing to respect Wanda's privacy and cooking her favorite Sokovian dish even though he has no tastebuds.
"Civil War" introduces two major heroes into the MCU. The first is Prince then King T'Challa of Wakanda. You may know him as the Black Panther. For being a supporting player, T'Challa gets a pretty satisfying emotional arc as we see him initially looking for revenge for his father's death to working to bring him in to realizing that vengeance brings nothing but further grief. Chadwick Boseman is another killer addition to the MCU's stable of actors. His T'Challa is pitch perfect.
The big addition though is Peter Parker making his MCU debut. It works really well. First off, Tom Holland. Let's give it up for him. We've had three Spider-Men on the big screen so far, but Holland is the first one that really embodies who Peter Parker is. He's young. The constant wisecracks. Oh the puns. That is the thing that's really been missing from the other incarnations of Spider-Man. Sure, Pete routinely finds himself in super serious, life or death situations, but he never stops making jokes. It's one of the things that sets him apart. It throws his foes off balance and that's exactly what it does in the climactic airport fight scene. Introducing him this way is perfect because it avoids another re-telling of his origin. At this point, we know Spider-Man's origin as well as we know Batman's, there's no reason to re-hash it. Just throw him right into the action.
Just like with "The Winter Soldier," "Civil War" features some of the best, well choreographed action scenes the MCU has seen. The opening in Laos, the fight in Bucharest that leads into the car chase, the airport fight, and the final battle between Cap, Iron Man and the Winter Soldier. All amazing and each one just ups the ante set by the one before. I really enjoy the cinematic flourishes that the Russo's put in. The big block lettering announcing different locations/times is super cool. The de-aging tech used for the flashback between Tony and his parents is jaw dropping. You wouldn't even know that wasn't RDJ from 30 years ago.
"Civil War" isn't perfect. I've always felt Tony's reasoning behind signing up with the Accords was a little off. The tension between he and Pepper feels like manufactured drama especially since we never see any signs of the strife between them. Would this one person really impact Tony so much that he'd sign these Accords and blindly follow Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Kudos to Alfre Woodard though. She slays even in a small role. It's all a little odd and a little trite.
Daniel Bruhl's Helmut Zemo is another lackluster villain. Zemo is such a larger than life villain, this incarnation of him is just kind of lame. I understand trying to make him more human, but he just seems superfluous. If any villain/person could have filled this role and not really changed the movie, he's clearly not impactful enough.
I'm a little hazy on why the Accords were enacted in the first place. Only because Wakandans were killed in this attack? If that's the case, it shows how much power Wakanda really wields and it's also kind of shitty to the Nigerians, Sokovians, New Yorkers, that have been killed in previous Avengers battles.
The end scenes set up a new stars quo for the Avengers. Cap and his allies are on the run after he breaks them out of the Raft. Bucky is chilling, literally, in Wakanda until he can make sure his programming is really broken. It's a nice tease for the "Black Panther" solo film that's to come. The final post credits scene of Peter blasting his spider-signal on his ceiling is a lot of fun.
"Captain America: Civil War" is, overall, a great film that I never get tired of watching. It's one of the most important films in the MCU and maybe the best Avengers movie, even if it's not technically an Avengers film.
Next up, we meet the Sorcerer Supreme and the mystical side of the MCU in "Doctor Strange."
Do you guys love "Civl War?" What's your favorite part? Is Tom Holland the best Spider-Man ever? Is the Cap trilogy the best of the big three Avengers trilogies? Let me know in the comments.
The comic storyline for "Civil War" saw Captain America and Iron Man at odds not over Sokovia but over a tragedy closer to home. When reality stars the New Warriors take part in a battle with the villain Nitro that results in the destruction of a lot of Stamford, Connecticut, the US government decides that superheroes anonymity is no longer a right. There were a ton of huge things that happened in this mini from Spider-Man unmasking to Iron Man cloning Thor to Iron Man using super villains to go after Cap. It was huge. So, it was great to see a version of it pulled into the MCU.
"Captain America: Civil War" brings back Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlet Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany as Vision, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier, Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and introduces Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panter and Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. It was released in theaters May 6, 2016.
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| Staring contest. |
"Civil War" is a great movie. It has the distinction of being my third favorite MCU movie. It reaches some great heights, but it doesn't quite reach the consistent excellency of its predecessor. The main plot of "Civil War" is when an Avengers mission to bring in Crossbones before he can steal a bio weapon goes awry and results in the deaths of seven Wakandans, the UN decides that the Avengers can't operate independently anymore. They are given the Sokovia Accords and told they have to sign or hang up their tights. Surprisingly, Tony is ready to sign after being confronted by a grieving mother who's son died in Sokovia. After the Winter Soldier seemingly attacks the signing of the Accords killing King T'Chaka of Wakanda. The group splinters as Cap goes after his old friend and his former teammates try to bring him in.
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| Wakanda Forever. Bitches. |
There's always been tension between the two main Avengers. Cap doesn't trust Tony's future forward attitude and Tony thinks Steve is a relic caught in the past. There's always been a respect between the two, but that seems to be gone forever when Tony finds out that Steve knew that Bucky murdered his parents. That final battle between them is brutal. It's heart wrenching. It leaves them in a place they may never come back from. The movie tests a number of the series key relationships. Cap and Black Widow find themselves on the opposite side but maintain their brother/sister bond. One of my favorite scenes is their brief conversation at Peggy Carter's funeral. Widow never seems fully invested in signing the Accords so it's not a huge shock when she allows Steve and Bucky to escape. Then there is Wanda and Vision. It's interesting to watch this relationship grow in ways different than it did in the comics. Despite the contentiousness, they get some sweet moments like Vision trying and failing to respect Wanda's privacy and cooking her favorite Sokovian dish even though he has no tastebuds.
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| Drop something? |
The big addition though is Peter Parker making his MCU debut. It works really well. First off, Tom Holland. Let's give it up for him. We've had three Spider-Men on the big screen so far, but Holland is the first one that really embodies who Peter Parker is. He's young. The constant wisecracks. Oh the puns. That is the thing that's really been missing from the other incarnations of Spider-Man. Sure, Pete routinely finds himself in super serious, life or death situations, but he never stops making jokes. It's one of the things that sets him apart. It throws his foes off balance and that's exactly what it does in the climactic airport fight scene. Introducing him this way is perfect because it avoids another re-telling of his origin. At this point, we know Spider-Man's origin as well as we know Batman's, there's no reason to re-hash it. Just throw him right into the action.
Just like with "The Winter Soldier," "Civil War" features some of the best, well choreographed action scenes the MCU has seen. The opening in Laos, the fight in Bucharest that leads into the car chase, the airport fight, and the final battle between Cap, Iron Man and the Winter Soldier. All amazing and each one just ups the ante set by the one before. I really enjoy the cinematic flourishes that the Russo's put in. The big block lettering announcing different locations/times is super cool. The de-aging tech used for the flashback between Tony and his parents is jaw dropping. You wouldn't even know that wasn't RDJ from 30 years ago.
"Civil War" isn't perfect. I've always felt Tony's reasoning behind signing up with the Accords was a little off. The tension between he and Pepper feels like manufactured drama especially since we never see any signs of the strife between them. Would this one person really impact Tony so much that he'd sign these Accords and blindly follow Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Kudos to Alfre Woodard though. She slays even in a small role. It's all a little odd and a little trite.
Daniel Bruhl's Helmut Zemo is another lackluster villain. Zemo is such a larger than life villain, this incarnation of him is just kind of lame. I understand trying to make him more human, but he just seems superfluous. If any villain/person could have filled this role and not really changed the movie, he's clearly not impactful enough.
I'm a little hazy on why the Accords were enacted in the first place. Only because Wakandans were killed in this attack? If that's the case, it shows how much power Wakanda really wields and it's also kind of shitty to the Nigerians, Sokovians, New Yorkers, that have been killed in previous Avengers battles.
The end scenes set up a new stars quo for the Avengers. Cap and his allies are on the run after he breaks them out of the Raft. Bucky is chilling, literally, in Wakanda until he can make sure his programming is really broken. It's a nice tease for the "Black Panther" solo film that's to come. The final post credits scene of Peter blasting his spider-signal on his ceiling is a lot of fun.
"Captain America: Civil War" is, overall, a great film that I never get tired of watching. It's one of the most important films in the MCU and maybe the best Avengers movie, even if it's not technically an Avengers film.
Next up, we meet the Sorcerer Supreme and the mystical side of the MCU in "Doctor Strange."
Do you guys love "Civl War?" What's your favorite part? Is Tom Holland the best Spider-Man ever? Is the Cap trilogy the best of the big three Avengers trilogies? Let me know in the comments.
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