Captain America: Civil War (Spoliers)

[Lyger]

I saw Civil War yesterday (odd how a movie with the this title is released so late in America). Short answer, it is's awesome. A better Avengers movie than the Avengers. Too much ha-ha at some points but that's not going away. There's some bits I could nitpick on but I wont -- but I will say that this movie's plot holes and inconsisties were similar to those in Batman v Superman, yet I don't doubt Cap 3's will be overloooked because of the fact these movies tickle more of what the critics like.

[Jayrich]

I thought it was perfect, except for Cap sending Tony that letter at the end.

Also, goes without saying, but BP & Spidey stole the show.

[Nurse Katie]

The bitter rivalry between comic giants DC and Marvel has been around longer than most comic book readers and moviegoers today have been alive. They’ve competed against each other in everything from comic books, radio serials, toys of every sort, cartoons, various food items from wholesome peanut butter to junk-food breakfast cereals, TV commercials advertising everything from credit cards to clothing, video-games, and yes, movies and television. From the late 70’s all the way up until the mid-90’s, DC dominated the big-budget movie scene, waned a bit in the 90’s, and reclaimed their throne with The Dark Knight. Marvel, meanwhile, could barely get a direct-to-video or made-for-TV project off the ground that wasn’t The Incredible Hulk. And while Marvel saved themselves from bankruptcy by selling the movie rights to various studios, their movies were very hit and miss up until Marvel decided “If you want something done right, do it yourself!” and made Iron Man, and the rest is history.

Now since Marvel’s gamble with the build-up to The Avengers paid off and paid off big, the roles have been reversed. Now Marvel is the king of the cinemas, turning D-list nobodies like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man into superstars while DC can’t even get Superman right. And their rivalry continues still, both companies releasing movies based on heroes fighting each other instead of fighting villains. DC had Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice while Marvel had Captain America: Civil War. Batman v Superman was extremely divisive among fans and critics tore it to shreds, whereas Civil War has been met with nigh-universal praise from fans, critics, and casual moviegoers alike. After seeing the movie it isn’t just easy to understand why, it’s painfully obvious. Everything Batman v Superman set out to do and fell at every hurdle, Civil War clears and brings home the gold.

Now don’t worry, I’m not going to spend the whole review doing a direct comparison to both movies. I’ve said my piece about Batman v Superman and you all know where I stand on it and the DCEU as a whole at this point, so I wouldn’t be beating a dead horse so much as I’d be beating a pile of dust and bone fragments that used to be the skeleton that the dead horse eventually decomposed into. Instead I’m just going to talk about Civil War as a whole, and what a hell of a ride it was.

Captain America: Civil War is based on the Marvel big-event comic of the same name, though I wouldn’t say based on so much as loosely inspired by. Probably for the best, since the comic Civil War was a bit of a mess and not very well-liked. In hindsight, that’s not surprising. There was a severe lack of communication from the higher ups to the writers and artists, no clear explanation to what the Superhero Registration Act actually was, and none of the writers were told “Uh, Tony’s actually supposed to be the good guy here…” until the series was almost over. Yeah, needless to say, it isn’t very good.
In the movie Civil War, it’s much more streamlined. Good guys go after bad guys, good guys catch bad guys, good guys screw up, world reins good guys in, good guys disagree on how they should be reined in, more bad guys make the situation 1000x worse, and what starts as a mutual disagreement gradually grows and piles on until one side reaches their breaking point. Both sides have good points about the Avengers being regulated, and you can see where the characters are coming from not just as a group, but as individuals. And as the story progresses, you can feel the pain and emotion of both sides, largely because we have several previous movies that establish who these characters are and what their relationships with one another are. They even set up chemistry between the newcomers, which brings me to the part some of you probably really want me to talk about. Yes, Black Panther and Spider-Man steal the show, but more than that we not only get the Black Panther arc in this movie that everyone was expecting in the actual Black Panther movie, but Tom Holland (not to be confused with the director Tom Holland) knocks the role of Spider-Man right out of the park. Whereas Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield were each only able to capture one half of Spider-Man’s character, Holland manages to strike that balance of the awkward and introverted science nerd that is Peter Parker and the wise-cracking, reference making do-gooder that is Spider-Man.

In fact, there are plenty of moments throughout this movie that say far more than lines of dialogue could. My biggest issue with the The Dark Knight Trilogy is that there is just too much god damn talking, everyone speaking in prepared speeches and metaphors while over-explaining what’s going on instead of just letting the scene speak for itself. Not the case in Civil War. Particularly, we learn from Peter taking home a DVD player without a box that he and his Aunt May are depressingly poor and we learn that Bucky is attempting to rebuild his life by seeing his squalid yet weirdly furnished and decorated hideout. And the action. There’s nothing I can say about the action in this movie that hasn’t been said by other critics and moviegoers alike, and given Marvel’s track record for superhero-shenanigans it’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect.

So I know what you’re thinking. Damn, sounds like the perfect movie! Well, not exactly. Like Batman v Superman, despite selling itself on the fight there isn’t much Civil War going on. Which is fine, because as I said before a 50+ minute slugfest would get old fast, but really this movie is less about Cap and Tony disagreeing on superhero regulation and more about Cap trying to save Bucky. Which isn’t a bad story by any stretch, but it is a bit of a bait and switch. Hawkeye and Ant-Man pretty much only show up for the big airport brawl, and despite the entirety of the superhero regulation riding mostly on the actions of Scarlett Witch, she doesn’t really do much in this movie. She isn’t really treated as a character so much as a plot device, as her actions inadvertently serve as the catalyst for superhuman regulation being spearheaded and then she just kinda hangs out at the Avengers base until she’s needed again. Hell, out of all the characters that end up imprisoned, she’s the only one who doesn’t get to exchange quips with Tony.

So all that being said, yes, Civil War has its flaws, but none are so galling to the point that they distract from the story and action. The final fight alone is so intense that I was still thinking about it long after we got home. I’m honestly kind of curious as to what will happen when Marvel Studios makes a bad movie. No, I don’t mean a movie that isn’t as good as the others or is enjoyable but skippable, I’m talking about when they make a movie that just outright sucks. Given their track record thus far, they could probably just sweep it under the rug and make up for it in the next movie.
So that was Civil War. Damn good movie, go see it. Which judging by the box office, you probably already have.