Captain America's Civil War Goes Above and Beyond

          One of the things I admire most about Marvel is that though they have their audience in the palm of their hand and could put out just about anything at this point, they still instil a lot effort and attention into their films. There’s a dedication, integrity, and sense of responsibility that you can pick up on even in their lesser movies. And it’s incredibly clear how much of that went into Captain America: Civil War.
          It’s easy to say this second clash of superheroes of 2016 does what Batman v. Superman should have done, but Captain America: Civil War had a huge advantage: a combined seven films building the characters of Captain America and Iron Man. There’s a lot more investment in their ideologies, relationship, and conflict, and for the most part it pays off in spades.
          After a mission in Nigeria goes awry resulting in severe civilian casualties, Secretary of State Ross (William Hurt) imposes new legislation on the Avengers which would dictate their responsibilities and render them answerable to the U.N. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is all for the plan to prevent further loss of life, but Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) believes they can trust their own judgement and that government intervention would be wrong. Matters are made more personal when a series of terror attacks are committed seemingly by Steve’s old friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and he makes the choice to protect him, turning against Tony and a number of other heroes.
          The conflict of this movie divides its two leads based on principle and that’s a very important thing. It’s that clash of viewpoints needed in a film of this magnitude and I like that for the most part it doesn’t play favourites. You may identify more with Captain America, but you can still understand Iron Man’s argument, or vice versa. Civil War illustrates the consequences that are often overlooked in superhero films. We were all so blown away by The Avengers and Winter Soldier that we didn’t consider how many innocents were lost while the world was being saved. Whether it’s a price worth paying is one of the central themes of this film.
          That being said, there’s also a personal story taking place, as Cap tries to prove the innocence of his best friend. Even though we know he’s been controlled Manchurian Candidate-style and most of the film is seen through his and Cap’s eyes, it’s hard to ignore how much of a weapon of villains he’s become. And Sebastian Stan really pulls it off standing out among such a large cast. Chris Evans is still surprisingly enjoyable as Captain America while playing Iron Man well has just become second nature to Robert Downey Jr. Scarlett Johansson and Anthony Mackie are really good too; Daniel Bruhl though his villain character is pointless, he plays the part fairly well. Chadwick Boseman is introduced in this film as Black Panther, an African prince with a personal vendetta against Bucky’s Winter Soldier, and he’s incredibly engaging. And though he isn’t in it much Paul Rudd steals every scene as Ant-Man becoming easily one of my favourites, as does Tom Holland who gets surprisingly more than a small cameo as the new Spider-Man!
          The best sequence by far is when the two teams have their big battle. Yeah it doesn’t make sense that everyone would be quipping while trying to beat each other up, but the action, dialogue, and personalities working off each other is enormously fun! And the film still sustains its seriousness, the gravity behind every character’s choices, and it’s important themes.
          However with a name like Captain America: Civil War, there is a suggestion of something really grand. And while the film captured that thematically and emotionally, I don’t think it did so visually. That’s not to say it didn’t deliver (the action choreography is amazing), it just doesn’t feel quite as big as maybe it should. Then again this is a Captain America movie first. I wish we got a little more of the political reasons behind the two adversaries’ values; like a reference to Cap’s first hand familiarity with the Jewish registration of Nazi Germany, or Iron Man’s close experience with unmaintained power.
          Nonetheless, Captain America: Civil War is pretty terrific! It’s certainly one of Marvel’s best three (better even than both Avengers films). It’s clear directors Joe and Anthony Russo know these characters and this world well. Some would say we’re over-saturated with superhero movies lately, which may be true, but as long as movies like this one exist, I don’t think we’ll tire for a while yet!