Sometimes it’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a
decade since the release of the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Iron Man, back in 2008. At that time, no
one ever figured that this franchise would evolve into what it is today. After
all, there had never been anything like the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to
that point. And yet 8 years later, here we are… two whole phases into the
Marvel Cinematic Universe with 12 films, 4 TV shows, and much more on the way.
Marvel Studios has pretty much established itself as the most prolific force in
the superhero genre, so much so that pretty much every other studio has been
trying to emulate their success. And sure, the studio has faced some criticism
over the years. There are some who argue that their films are ‘all the same’,
even though in reality Marvel has actually covered quite a few different genres
over the years from heist films to 70’s spy thrillers. And of course, there’s
that damn superhero fatigue argument as well as the fact that some people
actually think these films are ‘ruining’ the film industry, namely the fact
that other studios have tried to use the ‘cinematic universe’ formula with
non-superhero franchises. But here’s the thing… it’s not like Marvel was
directly responsible for other studios implementing this formula into other
franchises. All they’ve been doing is just continuing to produce quality
films/TV shows. And now that the infamous Creative Committee that was
responsible for incidents like Edgar Wright’s departure from Ant-Man is no more, clearly it looks
like things are going to continue to run smoothly for what is easily one of the
most critically and commercially successful franchises out there today.
I apologize if that last part went a bit too far into rant
territory. Anyone who knows me knows I can get rather irritated when that
fatigue argument comes into play. Anyway, kicking off Phase III of the MCU is Captain America: Civil War. Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors
Joe and Anthony Russo, who prior to Winter
Soldier had only been known for comedies, return to helm the final
installment of the Captain America trilogy.
And as some of you might have already guessed from the title, this particular
entry takes inspiration from one of the most notable, and in most cases
infamous, Marvel storylines of the past decade, Civil War. Written by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service), this seven-part series saw
the heroes of the Marvel Universe split between those who supported and those
who were opposed to a new government act intent on regulating superhero
activity in the wake of increasingly catastrophic superhero-related incidents.
Specifically, this storyline saw Captain America, an opponent of the act, face
off against Iron Man, who to the surprise of many supported the act, with each
leading their own ‘team’ to combat the other. This new film follows a similar
plotline but bases it within the overall context of the MCU’s lore and, as a
result, doesn’t feature all of the characters that were in the original
storyline. In other words, no X-Men and no Fantastic Four because they’re still
over at Fox. And without having read the original series, it seems as if this
version is a much more toned down affair compared to the comics. But given the
generally polarizing nature of the original story, that might be for the
better. Because yet again the Russos deliver another action-packed and
character-driven superhero epic that pulls a lot of changes in regards to what
will happen next for the MCU and its heroes.
Captain America: Civil
War opens up about a year after the events of Age of Ultron. During this time, it is established that public
opinion towards the Avengers has started to wane in the wake of the countless
international incidents that they have been involved in. And unfortunately the
situation only proceeds to get worse for the team when a mission in Lagos,
Nigeria ends up causing even more collateral damage. This immediately leads the
United Nations into setting up the ‘Sokovia Accords’, a new act that would put
the group under the control of an international governing body. This proves to
be a very polarizing point of debate amongst the group’s members. Specifically,
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) AKA Captain America opposes it on the grounds that
it hinders their ‘freedom’ while Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) AKA Iron Man
supports it due to him taking responsibility for having started the whole
ordeal with Ultron. The situation becomes even more complicated when Cap’s best
friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who following his supposed death in 1945
was revived and brainwashed into being the Hydra assassin known as the ‘Winter
Soldier’, is suspected of bombing a peace conference. As Cap tries to protect
his friend, who claims that he wasn’t responsible for the bombing, the Avengers
soon find themselves on opposite sides of ‘the law’. On Cap’s side there’s
Bucky, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) AKA Falcon, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen)
AKA Scarlet Witch, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) AKA Hawkeye, and ‘new recruit’
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) AKA Ant-Man. On Iron Man’s side there’s Natasha Romanoff
(Scarlett Johansson) AKA Black Widow, Vision (Paul Bettany), James Rhodes (Don
Cheadle) AKA War Machine, Wakanda prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) AKA Black
Panther, and ‘new recruit’ Peter Parker (Tom Holland) AKA Spider-Man.
For the record, this is not a straight-up adaptation of Civil War, which is probably a good
thing considering the storyline’s generally polarizing reception. As someone
who hasn’t read that storyline, it seems as if the film takes on a less extreme
atmosphere than the comics. Obviously the conflict between the Avengers is
still there but in the comics, Iron Man apparently took on an extremely
authoritarian role in order to hunt down anyone opposed to the registration
act. Thankfully that’s not the case here. Despite what it may seem, Iron Man is
not the ‘villain’ of the film and neither are the other members of his ‘team’. And
that’s the cool thing about this story; the Avengers aren’t the ‘bad guys’ in
this situation and yet it’s still interesting to watch them get into one hell
of a moral debate over everything that’s happened since they’ve made themselves
public to the world. Not only that, but both sides actually do have valid
points to stand on instead of it seeming like the writers are favoring one ‘team’
over the other. Obviously that means that there are quite a lot of scenes where
the protagonists talk with one another, perhaps more so than there are action
sequences. However, the film is still a fun ride throughout and sports some
particularly epic action sequences, once again highlighting the Russos’ talent
for directing action with this film giving them the added benefit of having
more characters to work with. Interestingly enough, while this did seem like it
would be the most serious MCU film to date, it still maintains the generally
light-hearted nature of the franchise in general. In other words, the
franchise’s trademark humor is still there in droves, and I’m aware that this
will turn some people off as there have been some who have been critical
towards the MCU films for relying a lot on humor. However, I’ve never seen it as
a problem with these films as there are plenty of great and emotional character
moments in this film that are effectively balanced with legitimately funny bits
of dialogue, mostly coming from the interactions between the characters.
In the months leading up to the film’s release, there was
some discussion over why the film was still being deemed as a Captain America story considering that
almost all of the other main superheroes in the MCU (save for Hulk and Thor
who, spoilers, are not in this film whatsoever) were in it as well. For those
people, it seemed like Avengers 2.5 was
a more fitting title. And yet, somehow, the Russos actually managed to make it
all work. At the end of the day, Captain America IS the main character of the
story. A lot of the plot revolves around him trying to protect his pal Bucky
which of course brings him into a major conflict with Iron Man, something that
has of course been previously teased in the Avengers
films as a result of their numerous ‘squabbles’ with one another. Aside
from Iron Man, pretty much every other ‘Avenger’ in the film is in a supporting
role. But that’s totally fine because, just like what Joss Whedon did with the Avengers films, the Russos manage to
give every major hero/heroine his/her own moment to shine. Also, similar to The Winter Soldier, this film actually
does manage to get by without having a major ‘villain’, as the focus is more on
the protagonists and their conflict with each other. With that said, this film
does have a ‘villain’, Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) and, well… he really doesn’t add much
to the story. So as far as that common argument that the majority of the MCU’s
villains are weak is concerned, nothing here is going to change that for those
who make that argument.
13 films in, there’s really no need to say much more about
the franchise’s returning players; Evans, Downey Jr., Johansson, Stan, Cheadle,
Bettany, Rudd, Renner, Olsen, Mackie, etc. They’re just as great as they’ve
always been in these films, with all of them having played their respective
roles at least more than once by this point. So moving on from that, this film
introduces two new players to the MCU. The first is Black Panther, played by
Chadwick Boseman. To put it simply, Black Panther is a badass and Boseman
absolutely owns the role, both in terms of the action sequences and the
character’s overall gravitas. But of course the most hyped element of this film
was the return of everyone’s favorite web-slinger, Spider-Man. After being
previously unable to join the franchise due to the fact that his character
rights are owned by Sony, the recent deal between Sony and Marvel Studios has
finally allowed the web-slinger to join the MCU. Now to be perfectly frank, as
someone who did like the Amazing
Spider-Man films (yes, even the second one), I was a little disappointed
that they decided to reboot the Spider-Man
franchise, for the second time in five years for the record, instead of
just letting the Amazing series
continue but with the added benefit of having Kevin Feige and co. in charge to
make sure the franchise runs more smoothly in the wake of the second Amazing film’s mixed critical/commercial
response. However, even with that said, I have to admit it… Tom Holland is a
frigging excellent Spider-Man. Obviously Holland is the youngest onscreen
Spider-Man to date as the new series is intent on focusing more on Peter
Parker’s high-school years compared to the previous two series. And Holland
absolutely owns it in the role, both in terms of the character’s natural wit
and the fact that, at least in this story, he is a legitimate ‘outsider’ to the
whole ordeal with the Avengers.
13 for 13 when it comes to ‘well-received’ films; there has
yet to be an MCU film that has dropped below the fresh percentile on Rotten
Tomatoes. Clearly that’s got to be a record when it comes to film franchises.
And rightfully so as Captain America:
Civil War is yet another sterling success for Marvel Studios. While the
film does take inspiration from the Civil
War storyline, it doesn’t strive to be a perfect adaptation, which I think
many people will agree is a good thing considering the original storyline didn’t
go over too well with everyone. By comparison, the film takes on a less extreme
route in terms of its plot but still does a great job in conveying the
moralistic conflict that the Avengers end up getting into. You actually do
understand where both sides are coming from and neither side is meant to be
seen as a ‘villain’ even though they are in opposition with one another. Pair
that with some particularly excellent action sequences and plenty of great
character moments, especially those involving the newcomers Black Panther and,
of course, Spider-Man, and you have one hell of a superhero epic. Whereas Winter Soldier was proof that the Russos
could handle an action film of this scale, Civil
War is proof that they can handle a massive ensemble cast like this one
even though the film is mainly focused on Captain America. And that’s very much
a good thing because these guys are set to take over for Joss Whedon as Avengers directors with the upcoming
two-parter epic that will be The
Avengers: Infinity War. Clearly, that film couldn’t be in better hands.
Rating: 5/5!
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