Official Synopsis
Political interference in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man. (via IMDB.com)
After the Russo Brothers knocked it out of the park with Captain America: Winter Soldier, their follow-up film that features a family of superheroes split due to political indifference had a lot of high hopes riding on it, and for the most part it met those.
The Russo’s have been known in the Marvel cinematic universe to take a cookie-cutter comic book movie structure and turn it into something deeper and more meaningful. Their outing with Captain America: The Winter Soldier turned a simple Captain America story into a political thriller.
More of the same would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Characters appeared to be, as they were in the last film, the most important aspect of Civil War’s story. Focusing on their backstories, emotions and what is at stake in the long run for them appeared to be important in the story that the Russo’s told. They made that a focus in the last film and it worked out well.
The two main characters, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) have two completely different viewpoints of the world. Stark thinks the superheroes need a government to control their actions, so they can avoid being completely held accountable for them, while Rogers thinks the actions of the heroes should fall squarely on their laps with no controlling government pulling the strings. The Russo’s do a fantastic job of establishing solid reasons for the two heroes differing viewpoints. Rogers thinks that if they become puppets for the governments to toy with, then they’ll fall into the governments agendas, while Stark just wants to stop feeling responsible for the end result of the heroes’ actions. The catalyst where both viewpoints collide is with Cap’s friend Bucky, who is also a hunted killer. Anyway, as both compete against each other for who is right, the pair end up with a split team of heroes supporting their views, and who eventually go up against each other.
What more do you want from a movie? Let’s get right into it.
The first act sets the tone for both lead characters. Tony Stark wants to make amends to the world for the tremendous guilt resulting from his Ultron creation, starting with funding MIT projects, but can’t hide it when he is confronted by a mother who lost her son in the Sokovia incident. Opposite of Stark, Rogers finds himself hunting down Crossbones with a group of Avengers, whom he ends up surpressing, but things ultimately turn bad when the Scarlett Witch accidentally loses control of her power and kills 11 people. Both sides come back to the Avengers complex feeling awful for their actions are met by Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) demanding their actions cease and the Avengers as a whole agree to fall under control of the United Nations security council. Of course, the first act ends with the division of the Avengers, who cannot all agree on the same viewpoint.
The first act does a great job of splitting the groups up and giving each proper motivation for the end of act one. You understand through Stark’s experience why he is agreeing to sign the Sokovia agreement. You also have to respect why Rogers points the direction he does. Both decisions are valid and balanced with fact to back them up, which means that you can’t dislike either hero for staying the course they want to stay. Credit the Russo’s and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for completely pulling this off. It’s tough to convince the audience that there isn’t a right or wrong answer for this controversy. The viewpoints are even and balanced. Good writing and direction are the only things that pull that off. The first act does introduce a very quiet antagonist in the background pulling the strings, so it’s not like there isn’t a true villain, but certainly the first act wanted to establish that the villain isn’t the only reason the two leaders will go head-to-head in this film.
The second act begins with Rogers and Stark going their separate ways, but shortly coming back together when the United Nations Sokovia meeting, where the Sokovia act is going to be ratified, is bombed, which results in more lives, including King T’Chaka (John Kani) of Wakanda, lost. Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), aka The Winter Soldier, gets pinned for the bombing, then the act becomes a race to save/detain/potentially kill Barnes, which results in Cap and Iron Man really butting heads. In addition to chasing down Barnes, King T’Chaka’s son, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), reveals himself as the Black Panther and is dead set on making the Winter Soldier pay for his father’s death. After the long chase, Bucky is captured, brought back to Berlin for detainment/questioning, but is soon activated to go on a killing spree thanks to the efforts of secret antagonist, Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl). This perpetuates the notion that Bucky cannot be captured and controlled, therefore he must be put down. Of course, Rogers does his best to believe that his friend didn’t kill anyone on his own accord, so he throws himself into the status of criminal, according to that darn Sokovia act, to fight off Stark and the government in hopes of finding proof of Barnes’ innocence, thus saving Barnes. The second act gets brutal at this point, ending in a huge airport fight between all the heroes, but spirals into the third act trying to bring it all back together.
The second act is relentless. The direction of the film goes from slow jog to all out sprint. The Russo’s do what they do best for the majority of act two, which is pure non-stop action. From Bucky and Cap fighting their way out of an apartment, to the duo fighting their way through Black Panther and Iron Man, and ending on a tarmac fighting everyone and their mom (well, not their mom) — there is a heavy amount of action that is constantly being pushed. Guess what? They make it work within the context of the story, which is tough to do these days (see Batman vs. Superman for details). They also do something to make you fear act three, which is making you feel like there is some impending doom about to befall one of the superheroes. If you know the comic book version of this, then you have an idea why.
Having said all this, act two didn’t do enough with Baron Zemo to make him compelling, especially for the big reveal in the last act. I wish they had given him some more screen time, a better back story, or at the very least more explanation on how he pulls off what he pulls off in the film. His character seems a bit too easy with his plans and execution. Sadly, he isn’t the star here, so it’s sorta okay, but with a lot of big beef over underachieving villains in the MCU, it’s warranted with him. The short amount of time he is on screen, though, Daniel Brühl nails the sinisterness of Zemo. Again, I just wish he had more time.
Anyway, the third act, while I won’t give away any details, does end on an intense note that sends a clear split between the heroes. There is resolution, though the resolution isn’t the resolution you want (lots of resolution in this sentence), but it will have you hankering for Infinity Wars. Big time.
Overall, Captain America: Civil War had a lot going against it in terms of heroes and how they all fit into a tiny story. What comes out of it is a well-written script that is directed by two talented folks, who pull off one spectacular fight wrapped with an endearing storyline. The main villain isn’t very compelling in comparison to a Loki, but there is enough here to put this film in the top three of MCU releases.
On the special features side of the tracks, here’s what you’re getting:
– United We Stand, Divided We Fall – The Making of Captain America: Civil War – Part 1/2
– Captain America: The Road to Civil War
– Iron Man: The Road to Civil War
– Open Your Mind: Marvel’s Doctor Strange Exclusive Sneak Peek
– Audio Commentary
– Gag Reel
– Deleted/Extended Scenes
A solid amount of material for an entertaining as hell movie.
