REVIEW: Marvel Does It Again with Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War offers a new perspective to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Avengers find themselves at odds as they feud over whether or not the United Nations has the right to choose which battles the Avengers will fight. Team Cap led by Steve Rodgers, once again wonderfully played by Chris Evans, believes these new U.N. sanctioned “Slovakia Accords”, will take away their choices as heroes, whereas Team Iron Man led by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) sees these “Accords” as a way of repairing the damage they caused over the past couple of years.
Friends clash and enemies rise as the movie unfolds and cameo after cameo appear. The movie is jampacked with people but the Russo Brothers, who directed, found a way to incorporate everyone into the story without it feeling overwhelming.
Newbies Chadwick Bosmen and Tom Holland are wonderful additions to the superhero team. Chadwick’s portrayal of Black Panther will leave you wishing that his solo film was coming sooner than 2018. Tom Holland’s appearance as Spider-Man is one of the best parts of the movie and almost steals the show. Holland and Paul Rudd, bring a lot of laughs to most of the scenes they appear in.
The combination of Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie is another bright spot. The past two Captain America films have been Steve and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) or Steve and Sam (Anthony Mackie), but the third film proves the winning pair is Sam and Bucky. These two play off each other so well and give some of the best pieces of dialogue in the movie.
The lone downside to the film, and it’s not even a tremendous negative, is how underused Scarlett Johansson, Emily VanCamp and Elizabeth Olsen are. All three give wonderful performances and show that they are superheros worth cheering for. Their lack of a presence only reminds the audience Marvel is still a primarily male driven franchise, which leads to the female characters being used as plot devices. The scenes they are in prove it is time for the females to have their chance in the spotlight. There is a particular scene with Emily and Scarlett that left us wanting to see them in their own movie together.
Captain America: Civil War is a thrill ride that sets the bar exceptionally high for future Marvel movies. While this film a bit more serious than previous films, it definitely is the one other films will be judged on for years to come. There is a mid-credit scene and an end credit scene, so make sure to stay through until the end. It is definitely worth seeing in theaters and, if you have a choice, see it in IMAX.
Grade: A