[projekktor id=’24009′]
When Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) disagree at an idealistic level, the pair duke it out the only way they know how – in a supercharged fist fight with all their friends in tow. Directing brothers Anthony and Joe Russo reteam for another action-packed, slick, politico thriller in Captain America: Civil War.
The film picks up with Steve Rogers aka Captain America, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) apprehending the supercharged weapons dealer Crossbones in Africa. While their mission is a success their actions cause a lot of collateral damage, spurring world leaders to demand The Avengers are held accountable. Meanwhile in America, Tony Stark aka Iron Man is dealing with his own demons after the events of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Feeling guilty for the loss of civilian life during the battle of Sokovia, Stark makes a deal with the American government and the United Nations to bring some oversight to the Avengers organization. This move puts him at odds with Rogers who, after the events of 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Solider, has developed a healthy distrust of big government.
While the quarrel between Rogers and Stark is the underlying conflict in Civil War, the film is also the story of how Captain America reunites with Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier. After being accused of terrorism Bucky (Sebastian Stan) goes on the run and Captain America rushes to his old friend’s aid. This decision makes Rogers, and the Avengers who align themselves with him, instant criminals. As the plot thickens it becomes clear that Bucky has been set up by a former Sokovian black ops agent, Zemo (Daniel Brühl). While Zemo’s motivations are unclear he seems to be masterminding a grandiose plan to bring the world to its knees.
Captain America: Civil War, like the Avengers films before it, comes with the difficult problem of balancing a host of characters while still providing an engaging central narrative. In addition to Rogers and Stark, we’re also learning more about Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlett Witch. Former S.H.I.E.L.D agent turned CIA operative, Agent 13’s (Emily VanCamp) true identity is revealed. And, two new superheroes are introduced: Brooklyn based teenage web-slinger Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), the crown prince of the technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda. These characters are established in advance of their own stand-alone features of course, and the film does a great job of setting them up without boring us with origin stories.
The film’s success in balancing this ever-growing roster of heroes is thanks in large part to the Russos, who show their skill at identifying the strengths of each character and using them appropriately. Like their Winter Soldier, Civil War feels, at times, more like a political thriller than a superhero blockbuster; the tone is fairly serious throughout and the occasional comic relief we do get is left to Marvel’s goofier characters like Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Spider-Man. The main characters have too much invested to have time for jokes, and this balance between the serious and goofy is at its best during the film’s major action set piece – a twelve Avenger showdown on an airport tarmac. Even as Giant Man is cracking wise while stomping airplanes, or Spider-Man is fan-boying over Captain America, the war of ideologies at the heart of the film is never lost.
The best part of Captain America: Civil War is that audiences can take from it what they like. Want to see a mindless action film with awesome effects and incredible fight scenes? Check out Captain America. Want to ponder the transparency of governments and political motives? Check out Captain America. Captain America: Civil War is a great watch. One that actually makes up for the disasterpiece that was Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.
