There Will Be Consequences

Captain America: Civil War

Good afternoon dear readers, it is officially summer. Well as far has movie schedules go. The summer movie season kicked off on Thursday with one of the most anticipated films of the year. What seems like a continuing trend, the summer is launching with yet another entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With last year’s most disappointing Avengers: Age of Ultron, I was quite worried that Marvel has lost their touch or that the Marvel or comic book movie phase was slowly coming to an end.  What added to my fear was a single film taking on a very popular story arch that spanned across the Marvel books. Of course with the more trailers that were released, the more I became very excited for Captain America: Civil War.

As with Batman v Superman, I’m going to break this into two parts because there are some things that I really have to nitpick with this film. Plus I am starting to like that format of writing so I am going to give it another go with this film. Here we go

The Good: This is everything that Age of Ultron should have been. This movie is big and full of everything you would ever want in a summer blockbuster. There are laughs, action, and definitely some drama. The two center pieces of this film add some more layers to their respective characters. Chris Evans still defies my expectations of him as Captain America. Throughout his tenure as Cap, Evans as really proved to me that Marvel made the right choice because he stands tallest among all of the heroes in this movie. Evans has grown exponentially into this role of him being a leader that I don’t think I can see anyone else in this role anymore. Then of course there is the amazing Robert Downy, Jr. Civil War really exposes the heart that Tony Stark supposedly has. He is compelled by his conscience to sign the Sokovia Accords. We also get to see some of Tony’s regret and true feelings for his parents sprinkled into the plotline.

I was also very impressed with the soft introductions of the two newest characters to the MCU. Chadwick Boseman (42) enters the MCU as T'Challa the newly appointed king of Wakanda. Though never mentioned by name he does don the Black Panther costume (which is badass by the way) and has the best action sequences in the entire movie. His altercations with both Cap, Bucky (Sebastian Stan Captain America: Winter Soldier), and then later with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner Avengers: Age of Ultron) were spectacular. This is just an exciting tease of what is to come to yet another anticipated Marvel film. The other introduction that I was more skeptical about was that of Tom Holland (In the Heart of the Sea) as Spider-Man. What has been hailed as the best homecoming in ages, Spider-Man FINALLY finds his way back to Marvel and it couldn’t have gone any better (remember I haven’t gotten to the bad parts of this movie yet). I loved Holland as Spidey and I will have to agree with my peers when saying that this is the best interpretation of Spidey on screen yet! Yes the writers expose Spidey’s wit and his unwillingness to give up, but for me there was just a feeling that I got when I first seen him on screen. Maybe it was that I knew he was in a Marvel film and it just felt right or maybe it was the way Holland portrays the character. Whatever it was it was a happy day seeing Spidey where he rightfully belongs.

As far as the technical side of this film, I am glad that The Russos really stepped up their game from Winter Soldier. Where Winter Soldier was more of a spy/espionage film, Civil War is a slight mixture of that and a full out summer blockbuster film. Like Winter Soldier, there are a lot of moving parts that encompass Civil War but at the same time there is a lot of action and drama that make it a perfect mixture of all the things that make the Marvel films so popular.

The Bad: We all knew this was coming. As much as I loved this movie there were a few things that just didn’t sit right with me. Now mind you, these are nitpicks and one major problem I had with the movie. First off, I had a problem with Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen). I love her character and it is awesome to watch her powers on screen, but can we tell Elizabeth that she either needs to keep up the accent or have the writers somehow write it out so she doesn’t have to do it anymore. The damn thing kept coming in and out. Sorry Ms. Olsen, I think you are amazing, but we need to do something about this accent. Second nitpick would have to be the character of Helmut Zemo played by Daniel Brühl (Rush). I had no problem with Brühl’s performance or anything like that, what I did have a problem with is if this guy is being praised as the greatest MCU villain to date, shouldn’t we have seen more of him? This guy literally tears the Avengers apart with just a few words and yet we barely see him. Maybe that was the appeal of him, but I just thought that we would get a little more screen time or even motivation that the simple plot additive they gave us.

Now this leads into my biggest problem with the film. The whole plot itself. Now what I mean by that is that this “Civil War” is supposed to be started by the Sokovia Accords and the rift they cause between each member of the Avengers. These accords are supposed to inflict some sort of rules upon the Avengers to avoid massive death and destruction. Cap is against it because he feels that the Avengers were formed to help wherever and whenever they can and not answer to a political agenda. Tony feels the opposite and is starting to feel the death weighing on his shoulders. Tony also foresees this type of interference coming if the Avengers like it or not. Like any political issue, the Accords bring out the split opinions and lines are drawn amongst friends. This plot would have been sufficient enough to carry a film, HOWEVER, the film becomes more about Bucky and Cap’s loyalties to Bucky. For now two movies we have seen Cap’s “kryptonite” and it is Bucky. Cap feels that he can save his friend and other Avengers feel differently. If this was the Russo’s and the writers plan all along, then why the hell do we even mention the Accords? They become an afterthought to the film literally 30 minutes into the movie. The point of the film is skewed a little almost from the very beginning and I this was my fear from the get go. I knew that this film would become about Bucky and have nothing really to do with the plot of the books.

Finally: Like I said, plot skewment or not, Captain America: Civil War is everything that Age of Ultron should have been. The Russo’s proved once again that Captain America is a vital part of the MCU and the ripples caused by these events are going to change the MCU forever. Big action, big laughs, and some big surprises…everything that you want/need in the kick starter of the summer blockbuster season.

The Verdict: See in Theatres.