Captain America: Civil War

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

By now, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU, for short) is either for you or not - there's little middle ground. If you're a fan, you're going to be pleased a couple times each year. If you're one of the many who bemoan a new addition to this ever expanding series, you've got something fresh to complain about on a regular basis. 

For me, the MCU contains films I love (Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy), films I like (The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk), films I have no interest in ever seeing again (Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor, Avengers: Age of Ultron), and even a couple I haven't seen yet (Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man). I'm by no means a fanboy, but even the worst of these films (Iron Man 2) isn't terrible by any stretch of the imagination. For a series stretching 13 films (and counting), it's shown a fair amount of consistency.

The newest addition to the MCU is Captain America: Civil War, the third installment of the Captain America series. Before watching it, I was a bit worried it would be more in line with The Avengers films rather than the Captain America films, which is why it took me nearly a month to get around to seeing it. 

I needn't have worried. 

Civil War is a tad more bloated than The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier, primarily due to the influx of The Avengers (minus Thor and Hulk, who were apparently off gallivanting across the universe and couldn't be bothered to make an appearance) and several other new characters, but it still felt like a Captain America movie to me, which is definitely a good thing.

The film starts with a very well done action scene. It's not only exciting and intense, but sets up the plot perfectly. After an incident occurs in a foreign country where innocent people are hurt and killed, the United Nations wants The Avengers subjected to a strict and binding set of guidelines and government oversight. Captain America (AKA Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans) doesn't like the sound of that, knowing first hand how government agencies and people in general can develop their own agendas. He clashes with Iron Man (AKA Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey, Jr.), who feels guilty about the destruction, even though he knows it was done for the greater good. 

- Even superheroes have to attend meetings -

In addition to this strife, the two also clash over how to handle The Winter Soldier (AKA Bucky Barnes, Rogers childhood friend, played by Sebastian Stan), who was brainwashed by the evil Hydra organization and has resurfaced again, leaving a slew of bodies in his wake. Captain America wants to get to his friend and save him while Iron Man wants to find and arrest him. Since you've seen the previews and commercials, you know that eventually the two come to a head and end up splintering The Avengers. Some side with Cap, some with Iron Man. 

Evans and Downey, Jr. are both very good in their roles, which isn't surprising given the amount of times they've played these characters. Evans isn't a particularly great actor, but he's perfectly suited to the role of Captain America. RDJ, on the other hand, is a fantastic actor and turns in another wonderful performance as Iron Man/Tony Stark. Stark started off as a cocky, boisterous playboy, but has grown (over the course of six films) to be a more mature and compassionate person. RDJ now plays the character with a weariness and slight exhaustion balancing out his sarcasm and wit. He's not as much fun as he used to be, but Stark feels like a much more real character now.

- Team Cap -

The film handles the divide in a really well done way. Neither side is inherently right or wrong. As an audience member, you can see the argument each character makes and they both make sense. Captain America knows Bucky is a guy with a messed up head who doesn't have any choice over his behavior at times and just wants to save him and help him. As always, Cap behaves in an honorable and dignified way. He has a code of honor and can't stray from it, even if it means alienating some of his new friends.

- Team Iron Man -

Iron Man tends to look at things more practically and understands that world politics have to be handled gently, otherwise things could turn very ugly for The Avengers. Part of Stark's character changes can be directly linked to his former career as a weapons designer.  Those weapons killed too many people and he just wants to handle things diplomatically, when possible from now on. The Stark from the original Iron Man probably would have scoffed at signing off on any of these guidelines.

Each "team" leader is joined by a cadre superheroes, but most of them are friends and respect each other immensely. It makes the eventual skirmishes and outright brawls difficult for the characters. These aren't villains they're fighting, after all. Just friends who have come down on opposite sides of a very important issue.

One of the best things about Civil War are the newly added characters, who range from heroes to villains to politicians - who, like in real life, can be both heroic and villainous. On the hero side, Spider-Man, one of the most popular comic book characters of all-time, makes his MCU debut. Tom Holland plays Peter Parker and his web slinging alter ego with boyish charm, gushing at the chance to meet and fight alongside (and against) his heroes. Holland impressed me mightily in the 2012 drama, The Impossible, and while his role here isn't anywhere near as layered or emotional, you can just tell that the young man has a bright future in Hollywood. He exudes charisma, even when his face is completely covered by red spandex.

- One of several new characters -

Joining Spider-Man is The Black Panther, and while I don't want to disclose his alter ego or the actor portraying him, I can say that he is one of the highlights of the film. The character is completely new to me - I haven't read any of the comics - so I didn't know what to expect and was very impressed. His costume, fighting style, and story-line are all very well done. It's a character I look forward to see a lot more of in future films. 

Ant-Man, star of his own film that I've yet to see, has about as much screen-time as Spider-Man and manages to upstage nearly everyone in one pivotal, awesome, and explosive action scene set at an airport. Paul Rudd (who has consistently entertained me for over two decades)  embodies the occasionally miniature hero with oversized charm and sarcasm. After seeing the character here, I'm very excited to finally see Ant-Man, which I've put off for far too long.

Leading the charge against The Avengers from the political spectrum is Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman). While neither character is given all that much time onscreen, both actors deliver fine performances, which shouldn't be surprising given their talent and track record. Hurt has long since been one of my favorite actors and Freeman is quickly rising through the ranks. Both get a moment or two to shine in Civil War and they seize those moments with gusto.

And from the outright villain side of things is the immensely talented Daniel Bruhl, who was magnificent in Rush and Inglourious Basterds. He plays Zemo, a man with a very personal grudge against The Avengers, who will do just about anything to see them come to blows with each other. Zemo, as a character, is pretty well developed and Bruhl hits all the right notes with his performance. My problem is that his evil plan, like most evil plans in these types of movies, just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. At the end, I was left thinking "There are a lot of better ways to go about that". The villains in the MCU films are always a bit lackluster, either due to the writing, performances, or both. Zemo is one of the better ones, but he still could use some work. It seems to me this part of the screenplay might have been rushed.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, but the Marvel films would be much better off if they could borrow some villains from the DC comics. It seems like Marvel has the better heroes (Batman is the only DC hero I really like), but DC has much better villains. Wouldn't it be awesome to see The Avengers battle The Joker? Or Lex Luthor? Or Scarecrow? All of my favorite MCU movies suffer from having less than stellar villains. Note to Disney/Marvel: work on this and you might be able to make even more money!

- Just for my wife, who is in love with Chris Evans in these movies -

The bread and butter of all the MCU films has always been the action set pieces, and Civil War doesn't disappoint. Besides the aforementioned opening and airport scenes, which would be enough for most films, there are a number of other extended and exciting scenes. I do have a couple complaints with the action in Civil War, though. First, they are so heavily edited, almost to the point of being confusing. There seems to be a cut every second or two, so my eyes and brain had trouble keeping up. Second, there didn't seem to be much at stake during the numerous fight scenes. At no point did I seriously worry for any of the major characters. This didn't "ruin" the action for me, but with no real consequences at stake, it's hard to get emotionally invested in the scenes.

If the movie was just one action scene after another for 145 minutes, it would get very tiring very quickly, so it's good that Civil War excels at the quieter moments, too. The 'talky' moments don't feel like filler just wasting time in between battles, they are just as important to the overall film as any punch thrown or rocket launched or building toppled. The main conflict, essentially an ideological debate on how to govern superheroes, never felt forced or staged to me. I enjoyed the talks, sometimes heated and always heartfelt, between Captain America and Iron Man and Black Widow (the beautiful Scarlett Johansson) and War Machine (the always welcome Don Cheadle) and Hawkeye (a surprisingly effective Jeremy Renner). The comic moments, usually a staple of the MCU films, are a little lacking in Civil War. I suppose that's a consequence of the more serious nature of the plot and of Iron Man (generally the funniest character) being more morose than he was in earlier installments, but I would have liked more jokes. Most of the laughs come from Spider-Man and Ant-Man, and they're only in the one scene, for the most part.

A nice aspect of the film is the intense friendship between Captain America and Bucky. Cap won't let anything bad happen to his oldest friend, even when it means alienating his Avenger buddies. Evans and Stan have a lot of chemistry with each other and it translates well on screen. There aren't many films, especially big blockbusters like this, that highlight male friendships and it's always something I respond very favorably to.

Civil War's directors, Anthony and Joe Russo also helmed The Winter Soldier and are already in pre-production on Avengers: Infinity War. They have their particular style - which, thanks to Disney's heavy involvement, is in line with all the other films in the series - and it works well for these movies. I think they have a chance to improve on the previous Avengers movies, as they seem better suited to this style compared to Joss Whedon. The action scenes, despite the editing issue, are well staged and exciting and they have a good feel of the characters. To make things even better, the Russo brothers directed 15 episodes of the greatest television series ever - the criminally under seen Arrested Development - and included an "easter egg" in Civil War for us AD fans: during the airport sequence, a staircar exactly like the one the Bluth Company owned (sans logo, due to copyright purposes, I'm sure) is parked near the action. I knew about this going into the movie and was able to spot it quite easily!

- Watch out for hop ons -

Writers don't get a lot of credit in general, and that's especially true for films like Civil War, so I'd like to acknowledge the fine work of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Like the Russo brothers, Markus and Feely have a lot of experience with the MCU - they wrote the screenplays for all three Captain America films and Thor: The Dark World, plus they're writing Avengers: Infinity Wars - and it shows in Civil War. There's nothing flashy about their writing, but it's solid. Besides my one sticking point with Zemo's character, I can't really think of anything related to the script that was lacking. It's just a well constructed, entertaining, and thoughtful piece of writing.

Civil War is the official start to Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and nine more films - most of them intrigue me, besides Doctor Strange and Thor 3 - are planned for the next four years. It's a highly ambitious plan, but a seemingly safe one considering their track record so far.

With a start as wonderful as Civil War, I welcome the continuing adventures.