This post contains spoilers for 'Captain America: Civil War' and the author does go full fanboy at times.
Over the last few years, ever since Robert Downey Jr decided to put on a suit of armour (metaphorically) and play Tony Stark, the cinematic landscape of superhero movies has changed. Of course, we had the X-Men movies before this, as we had Batman movies but they lacked continuity that has defined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether it’s Matt Murdock beating up criminals in New York’s Hell Kitchen or Peter Quill saving Xandor, this is all happening in one reality conceived from the moment Tony Stark said: “I am Iron Man.”
Now there have been good Marvel movies and shows like Iron Man, The Avengers, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, but Captain America: Civil War is on a different level. In terms of cinematic experience, if one were to draw a comparison, and one that has been drawn by many viewers, Civil War is the Marvel equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back or Godfather 2.
This is essentially the sequel that finally lifts the MCU to a different level and all we can do is applaud the Russo brothers for delivering a tale that will excite anyone who has followed the Marvel movies over the years.
Let’s be clear, this was no easy task. Hollywood has a come a long way from the days where audiences would be happy seeing a guy wear a cape and beat up some bad guys. It’s not enough to just have awesome action sequences because nerd culture has made superheroes mainstream and everyone wants a piece of it. And it can backfire, the way it did spectacularly for DC and Warner Bros in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which might have done well at the box-office but was a real downer for fans of the genre.
Not only have the Russo brothers managed to juggle those unrealistic nerd expectations, they’ve also expertly inserted two new characters, Spider-Man and Black Panther, given us the first good Marvel villain since Loki and Wilson Fisk, and added heart to Steve Rodgers’ Captain America.
There are moral dilemmas, existential questions and insane action sequences that thrill us. IMHO this is the first time we’ve had an action movie this layered since The Matrix.
Here are some reasons why Captain America: Civil War is in a class of its own amongst superhero movies:
State Security v/s Personal Freedom: The moral dilemma
The source material for the movie comes from the epic comic arc of the same name which engulfed the entire Marvel universe including the X-Men. After a superhero fight goes wrong resulting in the death of civilians, the US demands that all superhero identities be registered. This splits the entire superhero world with pro-registration heroes led by Stark welcoming the move while the anti-registration team led by Captain America feel registering would be akin to slavery (a comparison made by superhero Luke Cage). In the movie, since superhero identities aren’t a big deal since pretty much everyone knows who they are, the Sokovia Accords looks to bring the Avengers under the control of a committee. The personal freedom v/s state security debate doesn’t have any easy answers and we have seen it play out time and again, including when Apple refused to help the FBI hack the San Bernandino shooter's phone.
The evolution of Tony Stark
One of the coolest roles in modern-day Hollywood, Robert Downey Jr has become Tony Stark to an extent that it's impossible to imagine anyone else playing this role. And he has changed over the course of the movies, an arc that shows the stark ideological difference between the two Avengers. While Stark has evolved, Captain's moral compass is unwavering, right and wrong clear in his head.
While Steve is a soldier through and through, siding at most times with the establishment, Tony Stark has refused to play by the rules of mortal men or even Gods. Let’s not forget, he is essentially a man among super-powered beings and Gods and yet he holds his own more often than not. However, Tony Stark finally seems to realise the danger of being Stark, and how his actions have consequences (as the Honest Trailers guys pointed out Tony should just do a solid and stop working).
You can understand Stark’s dilemma. So far he has backed himself to do the right thing and, more often than not, it has resulted in death and destruction. His attempt at creating AI who would secure global peace resulted instead in creating the murderous Ultron. Simply put, he no longer trusts himself to always do the right thing. The Tony Stark we see in Civil War is a little less cocksure, makes fewer jibes and is in essence losing the arrogance that defined him. This is amazing because Robert Downey Jr gets to show the vulnerable side of Stark and display acting chops that might have been not feasible in the earlier movies.
In the end, when he tells the Captain to leave the shield ‘because Stark Senior made it’ just shows how petty Tony can get and shows a petty side that was non-existent earlier.
Captain America’s unwavering moral compass
Before the Avengers hit the big screen, no one actually liked Captain America too much. He was God’s righteous man, the do-gooder who will follow the rules and stood for the American way of life, for truth and justice, a man Loki claimed was 'out of time'.
However, all that changed with the Winter Soldier as we realised that there’s something rather charming and old-fashioned about having a man who stands up for what he believes in, irrespective of everything the world says.
His belief in Bucky — who is competing for his attentions in an epic bromance with Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon — and his refusal to bow down to powers is something that will appeal to every fan. Captain’s version of America, which stands up for truth and justice, is completely at odds with the America projected across the world with Trump racing ahead in the presidential elections with racist quotes. Captain's unwavering moral compass means that the soldier will even refuse to follow orders if he thinks the orders aren’t right. This is what has made the entire world fall in love with him.
In many ways, Chris Evans' Captain America is more like the original Superman, more so than Henry Cavill will ever be, standing up the for true American way.
Bucky and Wilson share a smile after Steve kisses Sharon Carter .
A damn good Marvel Cinematic Universe Villain
One gripe most fans have had with MCU is the lack of charismatic villains. Other than Loki and Wilson Fisk (in Daredevil), we’ve had replaceable villains we couldn’t care less about. All that changes with Helmut Zemo, played brilliantly by Daniel Bruhl who was exceptional in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, who realises that the only way to beat the men who destroyed Sokovia is to turn them against each other. Even Loki tried the same thing but failed.
Manipulating the heroes, the way Lex Luthor did in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zemo’s character was far more relatable, his hatred of the heroes understandable.
While the rest of the world can only debate how to stop the Avengers and hope that they follow the demands, Zemo has a plan which will tear the heroes apart. MCU also avoided killing him off which means that he will be back, because this universe certainly needs more relatable villains.
New heroes who perfectly blend in
While Captain enlists Ant-Man to help the cause, Tony has the Black Panther and Spider-Man on his side and they seamlessly blend into the landscape. While Ant-Man has already had his own movie, he hasn't really interacted much with the Avengers, except for his audition with the Falcon. Despite all this, he fits in seamlessly.
It'd take something remarkable to beat a team that consists of an android who can wield Thor’s hammer and doesn’t seem to follow the laws of reality, two heavily suited up dudes and Black Panther, and Ant-Man provides that moment when he goes big on us.
No wonder Tony Stark remarks after seeing Ant Man turn gigantic: “Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose? I'm open to suggestions.”
While Rudd is characteristically good in the time he gets, Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is a joy to behold. Boseman’s rich and original African dialect isn’t the only thing awesome about the Black Panther, who has a glorious suit with razor-sharp claws. He is amazingly strong too and the only one who can take on a mind-swiped Bucky, even without his costume. His introduction perfectly sets up the upcoming Black Panther movie.
His switch from seeking vengeance to justice, as he stops Helmut from killing himself points at a glorious new Marvel character.
And then there’s Peter Parker, a character we’ve seen Tobey Macguire and Andre Garfield play with varying degrees of success. Tom Holland gives the webhead a new lease of life. There’s no logical reason why Tony Stark needs to enlist a minor like Peter Parker when he has a beam-shooting God made out of vibramanium on his team, but it's great he does because Peter brings infectious enthusiasm in every scene that he's in. Very much a fresh-faced kid who can’t believe he is mixing it up with the big boys, he manages to both irk with his constant chatter and also take the fight against Team Captain. He later grins and tells his Aunt May about how a boy named Steve from Brooklyn and his huge friend beat him up!
Check out some of his best dialogues:
Spider-Man (on Captain America’s shield): That thing doesn't obey the laws of physics at all!
Spider-Man: [while fighting Falcon] You have the right to remain silent!
Spider-Man: Hey guys, you ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?
War Machine: Jesus, Tony, how old is this guy?
Iron Man: I don't know, I didn't carbon date him. He's on the young side.
Spider-Man: [to Bucky] You have a metal arm? That is AWESOME, dude!
Falcon: [after being trapped by Spider-Man] I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking.
Spider-Man: All right, sorry. My bad.
Every scene he is in, from the moment he walks in to find Tony flirt with his unbelievably hot Aunt May (thank you Marvel for acknowledging that older women can be hot too), to every fight sequence, Spider-Man is an absolute joy. Even Captain acknowledges this after he trades barbs with him and tells him: “You got heart kid.”
The mind-blowing action
No superhero film is complete without epic action sequences and this one definitely has many of them, topped by the airport brawl.
While we’ve had some epic action sequences in the MCU (including some awesome hallway fights in Daredevil), more often than not they’ve been against faceless armies like Ultron’s robots or the faceless Chitauri.
None of us could ever feel for those groups, but here we are invested in both sides.
What a glorious smackdown we have in the airport which, though shot digitally, looks extremely real.
Industrial Light and Magic visual effects supervisor Russell Earl told Verge: “Maybe I am just fooling myself, but I think a lot of the time not everyone knew exactly what they were looking at. I don’t know if everyone knew that the airport was always digital. I think by the end they caught on, but that was our goal: that you wouldn’t really know what you were looking at. In a good way."
While purists might frown upon computer-generated fights, preferring the hand-crafted death and destruction we saw in Mad Max: Fury Road or the kind of hallway fights that made Daredevil epic, the entire sequence is so perfect that you completely forget that this is super computer imagery.
Obviously, it was going to be impossible to top this. For the climax, the Russo brothers instead focus on the emotional angle. Tony learns that Captain's best friend not only pulled the trigger but that Steve kept the secret from him (he knew from the very moment in Winter Soldier when he learns about Hydra killing the Starks).
When Tony and Captain face off after Tony learns it was a brainwashed Bucky who pulled the trigger might be lower in the action component but does have more feels since Tony simply can’t come to terms with the fact that the man who killed his parents is standing before him.
That the Captain didn’t tell him he sees as a betrayal and we get a climax fight worthy of the movie. All said and done, the Russo brothers have managed to create a movie which nails every single aspect needed to make a great comic-book movie while remaining true to the source material. BVS tried and had the amazing Death of Superman arc but failed to convincingly translate it to the big screen. On the other hand, Fox's Deadpool showed that great flicks can be made when a director and studio are willing to back the character and keep him grounded to his true roots. This is without a doubt the best superhero movie made since Christopher Nolan changed the genre with The Dark Knight trilogy. The same way all future sci-fi movies are compared to Star Wars or mob movies to the Godfather, all upcoming superhero ensemble flicks will probably have to live up to Civil War's legacy.
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