A MARVEL, INDEED
Captain America: Civil War
Review by Paul Preston
How good is Marvel? I sat amazed. No movie franchise could possibly be this good, this consistent, this adept at getting everything right, time and time again. And yet, with Captain America: Civil War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe delivers up another outstanding mix of drama, action, intrigue and superheroics all grounded by the strength of strong characters they’ve taken their time to build over the course of eight years.
Of course, it shouldn’t be too hard to establish characters in the Marvel films when you have such strong source material in comic books. Marvel continues to go to that source, not flinching and second-guessing themselves, making huge changes to attempt to appeal to a film audience, but instead sticking to long-standing character truths and broadening them into something wholly cinematic (it’s no mistake that word is in the description of the franchise).
Despite the presence of a helicarrier’s worth of Avengers, this is ultimately Captain America’s movie. His motives and decisions kick the plot into gear. Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. If you remember, The Winter Soldier, introduced in Cap’s last film, is the reincarnation of his old friend Bucky Barnes, now re-programmed to be a super-soldier…for evil! Cap is still fighting for Bucky’s soul and tries to defend and save him, despite the fact that he continues to commit horrible deeds. Meanwhile in the Hall of Presidents, Secretary of State Ross is spearheading a worldwide movement to put superheroes in check due to the rising collateral damage as a result of their efforts. Cap won’t sign this agreement, he’s seen what governments are capable of when they’re Hydra-riddled.
On the other side of the aisle is Tony Stark (a welcome addition to any movie), still going through PTSD, post-his New York battle with The Chitauri. Having his guilt compounded by an early encounter with the mother of an innocent victim, he welcomes government oversight of The Avengers. No strangers to heightening, Marvel serves up a series of other events causing the two lead Avengers to come to blows, events I won’t spoil here.
So what does this sound like? Soap opera for boys? A Jason Bourne-style espionage film? A superhero extravaganza? It’s all three. The best part is how the directors fly between the three styles without a speed bump.
I thought Joss Whedon’s handling of so much plot was unmatchable. He seemed to make juggling twenty-five characters look effortless, and yet it apparently taxed him personally quite a bit. Maybe he needed two people to do the juggling. Captain America: Civil War brings back the two directors from The Winter Soldier, Joe and Anthony Russo and despite this technically not being an Avengers movie, there are still about twenty-five characters to juggle to where you’ll find yourself saying, “Oh yeah! I forgot he was in this!” so often, you could turn it into a drinking game. No characters are underused, all character’s biggest strengths are utilized and maximum fun is achieved. The Russos also weave in iconic shots as Whedon did, especially when Cap and Iron Man square off mano a mano.
How good is Marvel? They’ve now weaved Spider-Man into their Avengers storyline and it’s the best Spidey on screen yet. He’s even YOUNG and I liked him. I’ve rallied against always having to tell the story of high school Peter Parker, I mean he’s Spider-MAN, let’s let him be a man. Well, this Spidey IS in high school and I STILL bought it 100%. So entertaining, stealing the show in all his fight scenes. The best part is that now that Spider-Man has already been introduced to the MCU, there’s no need, in his first solo adventure, to go back and tell his origin story and watch Uncle Ben die for a fifth time. Next up – Fantastic Four, let’s cut the BS and get them folded into Marvel if we ever want them to be any good.
And how big are Marvel’s balls? They even bring back the aforementioned Secretary of State Ross, who was then General Ross in The Incredible Hulk, probably the least-celebrated film in the MCU. That’s like Furious 7 continually referencing Tokyo Drift. No apologies (and I encourage you to watch The Incredible Hulk again, it gets a little out of hand at the end, but is otherwise better than you remember).
And everything Paul Rudd does is gold. He shows up again as Ant-Man (“Oh yeah! I forgot he was in this!”). His Scott Lang acts just as befuddled to be part of a superhero adventure as we are befuddled that Paul Rudd is in a superhero movie, and it all works. In fact, it’s a small role, but Ant-Man has one of the biggest surprise moments in the film.
Casting continues to be a strong-suit of Marvel’s (do you doubt how much of a bullseye the Dr. Strange/Benedict Cumberbatch call is?). They even picked the right Olsen! Anytime you add Daniel Brühl or Tom Holland to your movie, the movie’s instantly better (if you don’t believe me, watch Inglourious Basterds and The Impossible). Introducing Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther is another stroke of pedigree and here’s another character where we don’t need to go on in his solo movie about his origin. His reasons for being Black Panther in THIS movie are made evident in more spoilers I won’t reveal.
And at the heart of it all is Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans. Downey continues to defy casting directors from 2005 with his usual charm, but plays the broken down hero well, peeling away the guilt and pain underneath his iron exterior. There’s also no way Chris Evans should be pulling off this performance of a lifetime he’s been giving us as Steve Rogers. The guy who was Human Torch…as Captain America…and it’s working. He makes goodness and integrity interesting.
Marvel continues to shoot higher than anyone and they NAIL it everytime. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice couldn’t win the inevitable comparison regardless of when it came out. The dexterity, nimbleness, fun and complexity of the MCU just embarrasses the newly-launched DC world, bending it over its knee, pulling down its pants and giving it a brutal spanking. How good is Marvel? Captain America: Civil War’s story even involves the superheroes moms and they GET THAT RIGHT, TOO!!!!
Directed by: Joe Russo & Anthony Russo
Release Date: April 6, 2016
Run Time: 146 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: PG-13
Distributor: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures
