Captain America: Civil War
Grade: A
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner and Daniel Bruhl; with Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang
Also Featuring: William Hurt, Emily VanCamp, Martin Freeman, Frank Grillo and Alfre Woodard,
With John Slattery and Hope Davis as Tony Stark's parents, and Marisa Tomei as Mae Parker
Premise: Just as a government initiative meant to limit the Avengers' jurisdiction creates friction within the group, a sinister enemy arises who threatens to use the team members' darkest secrets against each other.
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense action, language, and disturbing images including a scene of torture and some scary/emotional material
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is growing up. Marvel's movies have always been exciting and have usually had their share of intense moments, intimidating adversaries and big battles, but one thing they've always lacked compared to, say, Christopher Nolan's sublime Dark Knight series, was a feeling of real danger, and actual, legitimate consequences. The superheroes in Marvel's films sometimes took a licking, but there was usually little to show for it besides some bruising and maybe a bloody lip, things that would heal quickly. There was sometimes some drama between members of the team, but usually all it took was an appearance from the bad guys for our good guys to forget their differences and start kicking butt together. Marvel's climactic battles leveled buildings and towns and even literally uprooted and obliterated entire cities, but the movies usually tripped over themselves to paint the illusion for popcorn-munching audiences that all the innocent civilians got out of the way, that no one really got hurt. Even when characters with names died--like Agent Phil Coulson in 2012's Avengers or Quicksilver in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron--they were relatively minor characters who died quick deaths and everyone got over it pretty quickly.
But in Captain America: Civil War--a de facto Avengers movie that features nearly the entire cast of Age of Ultron--things aren't so squeaky clean. Directing brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who also directed 2014's superb Captain America: The Winter Soldier, bring an admirable increased maturity to this newest outing, and they legitimize the often playful-seeming Marvel Universe by building this movie off the Avengers' sins of the past. Early on, the Avengers team members present have to sit and watch a montage of clips of their past city-leveling conflicts (from the two Avengers films and Winter Soldier) and are forced to face the reality that, despite their best intentions, people died. Some of them even are personally confronted and attacked throughout the course of the movie by people who lost loved ones amidst their world-saving/wanton destruction. You can almost picture some viewers saying "wait, I thought they got everyone out of the way and saved all the innocent civilians". Yeah, they made it look that way, but the movies weren't about the innocent civilians who may or may not have gotten hurt while our heroes were playing world-savers; those movies probably wouldn't make billions of dollars and have a Stan Lee cameo.
All right, so, I don't mean to make Captain America: Civil War sound like Macbeth. There are plenty of fun and exciting parts, a well-placed Stan Lee cameo, and plenty of amusing quips and cool character quirks. But it's part of a much more mature, well-rounded, impressive package--one that makes Civil War one of the very best Marvel movies to date.
Plot
**It's difficult to picture anyone walking into Captain America: Civil War having seen none of the previous films and having no idea who the main characters are or what to expect. That said, if that's somehow you, you are advised, at the very least, to watch 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, as the main focus of this movie directly ties to the events in those movies. Remember, this is a movie with at least 7 clear prequels (3 Iron Man films, 2 other Captain America films, 2 Avengers films). Just FYI--if you come in not knowing anything, you'll have an insane amount of catching up to do.**
When a mission to stop super-terrorist/vengeful villain Crossbones (Frank Grillo) goes awry, those members of that super-team, The Avengers, who were present are once again subjected to international media scrutiny for the damage and injuries to innocent civilians their world-saving tends to cause. Some have begun to question if the collateral damage of these "avenging" efforts by so-called "enhanced individuals" is even worth it. In no time, U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) is dropping a new piece of international legislation on the table in front of the Avengers. The Sokovia Accords (named for the small Eastern European city/country that was obliterated during the climax of Age of Ultron), approved by the governments of 117 nations, are intended to put a leash on the Avengers, to give an international council the authority to call the heroes to action in the event of a crisis, or prosecute them when they jump into one without authorization. This idea of accountability is a balm to the guilt-ridden Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), duty-minded military veteran James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), straight-laced artificial being Vision (Paul Bettany), and conflicted former double agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). However, it's seen as an affront to noble, people-saving do-gooder Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), who believes he should always be able to rush to the help of those in danger in times of trouble. It's an extra jab because Rogers has been increasingly crossing international governments' and authorities' lines in his efforts to wrangle in The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), who's actually the unstable, brain-washed incarnation of his childhood best friend, James 'Bucky' Barnes.
When the Winter Soldier initiates another huge international incident that leaves dignitaries from several countries dead, it becomes even more of an issue, as nearly all the world's governments have the Soldier pegged as Public Enemy No. 1. Frantic to save his friend from shoot-first-ask-questions-later government and military types, Captain America, with the help of loyal ally Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) hurries to get to "Buck" first and talk some sense into him and prove to the world he's just a victim of his circumstances. This hyper-focus of Rogers' leads to alienation of his longtime close friend Black Widow, re-aggravates tension with Tony Stark, infuriates Sec. of State Ross, endangers the Avengers' youngest member, Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and puts a new adversary on the Captain's tale, a lethal self-made fighting machine called The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). As lines are crossed and rules are broken, tensions mount, to the point that Captain America and Iron Man are soon each recruiting friends and allies to fight against each other if necessary, Sec. of State Ross puts a target on the head of each of the Avengers, and a dark hearted trained killer (Daniel Bruhl) with an axe to grind seeks to impose his will on the fractious "super team".
What Works?
Wait--didn't we just see a two-and-a-half-hour rollercoaster film about iconic superheroes on opposing sides threatening to have a battle for the ages while looking toward a likely future alliance against a common enemy? Yes, we did. It was March's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a product of Marvel's competitor DC, and this Marvel product instantly trumps that picture. It's true that audiences were more ready to accept Civil War, as this movie had roughly 10 prequels (if you count the two Thor movies and the 2008 Incredible Hulk film that introduced Thaddeus Ross), and has had at least a couple of these characters on the big screen every year since 2010, while Batman v Superman only had one prequel (2013's Man of Steel), but, still, it's Batman versus freaking Superman, and you're DC, considered by some time to be Marvel's more mature, serious-minded big brother! Surely you could've made a legitimately decent, exciting picture...oh, nevermind. Bottom line--Civil War is the sleek, well-rounded, engaginge, exciting, dramatic film Batman v Superman probably wished it could be. It feels familiar and yet, with some new characters, new conflicts, and a new, grittier tone, in some ways feels fresh and exciting. And when was the last time a Marvel movie left audience members going "man, that was awesome" as well as "dude, I need to process that--what a crazy ride!" (which is what a friend of mine said when the credits came up and I asked him "wasn't it good?"). Like I said, there's still plenty of quips, some laugh-out-loud funny humor and irony, and still a crowd-pleasing Stan Lee cameo, but it comes wrapped in a package that's more appealing and challenging. Last year's Age of Ultron was good, but not on the level of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which was an instant classic. This one is.
It goes without saying that the cast is great--most of the key players are taking on these roles for at least the third or fourth time. As the All-American Steve Rogers, Chris Evans once again proves a likable, endearing leading man many audience members will relate to, but the performance that really dominates Civil War is given by Robert Downey Jr. Including the 2008 Iron Man movie that revitalized his career, Downey Jr. has now played this role six times, and, as he appears in Civil War, he's never been better. In the past I've called him one of the most watchable actors alive for the sheer entertainment value of watching him quip and yammer away in Tony Stark style, and he does some of that here, but this movie actually delves into some of the darker places in Tony Stark's heart. He's more troubled than we've ever seen him, and, more than once throughout the course of the film as his rage and anguish comes out, scarier than we've ever seen him. With Downey Jr. and Evans leading the way, the rest of the actors do good-enough work that their characters will be remembered as much as the smashing and bashing they do. And, amidst all these familiar faces, welcome newcomer performances are given by the likes of Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, and Daniel Bruhl, with Bruhl proving very effective as his cold, fierce cunning reminds you he is best known for being a major player in a Tarantino film (Inglorious Basterds).
What Doesn't Work?
There's not much about Civil War that doesn't work. Yes, its 146-minute run-time is considerable, but the movie is so engaging it doesn't really feel long, even as a lot is packed into that running time. An early action sequence features slightly irritating shaky-cam, and in one scene the silly factor got a little too much for me as a certain red-suited superhero hopped around quipping non-stop. Plus, I can't help but note that, while Captain America is an enhanced super soldier, it's hard for me to digest that it still does little more than scratch or bruise him when he gets repeatedly hit with haymakers from a guy in a solid metal suit.
Otherwise, my complaints are very minimal.
Content
Captain America: Civil War, is, like the other Avengers and Captain America movies, rated PG-13, but some material is noticeably heavier this time around. Flashbacks to the Winter Soldier's past reveal a group of enhanced baddies running amock, not to mention the Soldier personally offing a few likable characters. The Soldier himself twitches and screams in agony when bad guys forcibly access the dark, assassin's part of his brain with code words and established torture routines. We also see a man's body jerk and twitch as he's drowned in a sink. A few bodies are shown after they've recently been dealt bullets to the head. And, while a lot of the action is cool and fun, there are a few moments when our heroes really get into it with each other that pass the cool stage and border on really intense and sinister. Little kids might be a little more unnerved this time.
Bottom Line
Captain America: Civil War is undoubtedly one of the finest films to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far, an edgier, more intense, very well-rounded film, full to the brim with exciting action, character-building drama, and realistic consequences for our heroes' derring-do. Boasting nearly all of the Avengers, it's an easy continuation of the saga so far that also expands it, and treats us to some dream fight matchups between the likes of Captain America and Iron Man, Captain America and Spiderman, The Winter Soldier and the Black Panther, Ant-Man and Iron Man, and Vision versus The Scarlet Witch. It's so good that it makes you sad to realize, even though there is still another Thor movie and two Avengers: Infinity War flicks on the way, that we're probably getting close to the end of this part of the Marvel Universe. And dude--those Stan Lee cameos will never get old.
Captain America; Civil War (2016)
Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Based on the comic book by Mark Millar, and characters created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Rated PG-13
Length: 147 minutes
