Captain America: Civil War - Cape and Cowl Review
Lines in the Sand
By Alex Burns
There are a few certainties in this life; there's frustrating inconvenience of death and boy oh boy are there taxes but thankfully, there's also one more. This new and contrastingly positive certainty dawned on me whilst watching Captain America: Civil War last night, a notion that I think many will have trouble disproving - Marvel Studios make incredible films that live up to the hype. The hype and expectations surrounding the future of these mighty movies are of no humble origin either, after the phenomenal success of The Avengers, the Marvel brand has been elevated to critically acclaimed and insanely profitable heights. All of a sudden everyone else wants a slice of the heroic cake and the imitators are on the scene all around us at the theatres, they loom large in the multiplex foyers with equally big budgets and characters just as iconic to boot but does this trouble Marvel and their most ambitious picture yet? No, absolutely not.
Let's get this out there, Captain America: Civil War is the best film I've seen so far this year, it's the most fun I've had watching a film this year and not only is it the best Marvel movie yet, it stakes a serious case for being the greatest superhero film of all time. This is not hyperbole, simply put Marvel Studios have crafted a character driven and emotionally charged superhero yarn that frankly, shows the competition how it's done.
Worried about too many superheroes spoiling the comic book pot? Forget about it, each hero gets their due, becoming integral to the plot in their own way and each given a crowd pleasing moment that ensures you'll remember their name for that solo movie you'll no doubt love. Marvel have a formula and it's bordering on a miracle cure for stale blockbuster film making.
Civil War broaches a familiar superhero storytelling trope that's creeping up a lot nowadays as collateral damage and accountability are called into question by the nations of the world. Suddenly saving that day never seemed so littered with bureaucracy and political agenda. The suits and stiffs in high office want the Avengers to be a governed group that answers solely to them and only acts when the powers at be deem it necessary. Comparisons between weapons of mass destruction and the Hulk hit hard and when the casualties of previous battles start to catch up with Tony Stark, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea. The signing of these accords divide the Avengers and Steve Rogers views them as a restriction on saving lives and a front for nations to pursue ends no different than what he fought against in World War II. He's a soldier for all innocent people first and foremost, despite the red, white and blue flag on his chest.
All the usual Marvel magic is on display here and that's not to say that everything in Civil War plays by the rules, after all the very nature of this film is hero against hero, friend against friend, Avenger against Avenger. It's an eye-watering spectacle that's only ever been witnessed in the comics. The old "who'd win in a fight" playground argument is put through all of it's paces during the two hour run time and there's no reluctance to mismatch the heroes trading fisticuffs, Ant-Man squares up to Iron Man, Vision takes on Hawkeye, Black Panther mauls the Winter Soldier and that's only scratching the surface, of course you get the classic, iconic bouts as well but I'll let them surprise you.
The action beats play to an unerringly catchy tune, they're frequent, frenetic and surprisingly fast. It all resonates so well as no matter how big the explosion or how fancy the visual FX, the characters remain the driving force behind the spectacle on screen. Marvel know you've been through so much with Steve Rogers an co. and they play on the strengths of this pre-established relationship whilst avoiding the temptation to rely on the audience having seen previous entries in the franchise (though, of course that helps!). There are several stand-out sequences and the mid way point in the film delivers one of the greatest set-pieces in a movie, ever.
There are some issues with pacing in the second act and a couple of the plot twists are a little telegraphed but the overall strength of tone and direction from the Russo brothers brushes these niggles aside. The ambitions for this feature have been more than met and in a movie filled with so many heroes even the villain is a stellar stroke of genius. There's no mindless super-powered wrecking ball to unite the heroes at the end of this movie, no, we get Daniel Bruhl putting in a creeping and intriguing performance as a villain who pulls the strings and manipulate events to devastating effect but in a very human way.
Then we come to the new superhero additions and by the time the credits roll on this picture Marvel will have more than a couple of solo franchises to get excited about. Tom Holland's turn as Spider-Man is pure joy, cutting to the core of this beloved character in his limited screen time with far more success than the entirety of the Amazing Spider-Man movies. Chadwick Boseman's performance as Black Panther is calm, cool and full of composure, here's a hero who commands the screen with aplomb. Paul Rudd drops in again as Ant-Man and he absolutely steals the show with some of the best gags.
The regular cast members also turn out some of their best performances yet as well, with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. pulling at your heart strings and toying with your personal hero allegiances with their captivating interactions. The dialogue between all the heroes is open, honest and purposeful, both sides of the arguments are right and both are wrong, like in real life politics there's no easy out, don't expect to get a clear cut answer to the questions posed by this movie, like voting, it's all personal choice. You have to live with the consequences.
When it all comes down to it though, this is a movie about friendship and we never stray into Avengers style grandeur, this is a Captain America story, potentially the last Captain America story as we know him and it's all the better for remembering who's name is on the poster. Steve Rogers is still a man out of time but in his eyes justice and truth never age. Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier is the perfect representation of Steve's courage and sense of hope and their friendship forms the unshakable foundations of Civil War, likewise the strength of Cap's new relationships, Anthony Mackie's Falcon for example, continue to build upon that foundation
Overall, Civil War is a resounding celebration of not just Marvel's comic book roots but also what can be achieved with the modern day blockbuster and you will leave this movie on a high. Never before has a superhero movie delivered on so many levels.
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