Movie review: “Captain America: Civil War” won’t turn fans against Marvel
May 9, 2016
“Captain America: Civil War” is filled with action that leaves audiences on the edge of their seats.
“Captain America: Civil War” hit screens on May 6 and opened a new chapter into Marvel’s “Avengers.”
The plot of the movie is a complex, intricate web of cause and effect. The main conflict is between Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America/Steve Jones (Chris Evans). Iron Man agrees to sign a contract with the regulation of mutants and superhumans, which will mean that the Avengers would be under the control of the United Nations. Captain America doesn’t agree with signing over the power to choose and the story unfolds into a more complicated plotline. As much as Tony Stark tries to get his patriotic friend to avoid the inevitable, the man in the iron suit couldn’t stop fate.
The movie itself was largely action packed with new moves, weapons and tech, thanks to Tony Stark. Not only does the movie expand more on the stories of the characters we know and love such as Iron Man and Captain America but the film also tells the story behind characters that were introduced in previous Avenger movies.
Characters such as the Black Panther or T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), is an interesting addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watching his tragic but suspenseful road of revenge toward the Winter Soldier, otherwise known as Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), gives us a little more insight on who this brand new character is. Boseman portrayed this complex character brilliantly and I’m excited to see more of him as the Black Panther.
We also got to know more about Wanda Maximoff, otherwise known as the Crimson Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). Though the sorceress earned her debut in “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” Maximoff is shown in a different light from being a vulnerable young adult to a strong-willed superhero. Vision (Paul Bettany), who made a pretty cool introduction in the last Avenger movie, also got more screen time which gave more insight into who exactly Vision is.
When the announcement of the new Spider-Man was going to debut in “Captain America: Civil War,” many were skeptical of the young actor that would replace the previous Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield. Garfield was replaced with a younger actor from the United Kingdom, Tom Holland.
Holland portrays a young Peter Parker from Queens, New York who’s still in high school still acts like some nervous teen, this Spider-Man is definitely premature.
In my opinion, I think the way Spider-Man was portrayed in this movie made him weak and unimportant compared to the rest of the cast, which is a serious shame seeing that Spider-Man can be such a complex character if given the time of day. Hopefully, Marvel will step it up in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” which will come out in 2017.
Most importantly, the whole reason why the schism of the Avengers ever happened: Barnes. Barnes, who first appeared in “Captain America: The First Avenger,” who had also been on the run ever since “Captain America: Winter Soldier” was finally forced out of hiding. Barnes went into hiding after he realized he had been under control of HYDRA who used him to do their dirty work which included assassinations of important people.
Without spoiling anything, a squad of what could be something of a SWAT team comes in with guns blazing and the Winter Soldier fights his way out of it using all the assassin tactics he’d learned over the years. All the while, Captain America struggles to keep up with his best friend and that becomes even harder when Black Panther joins the party. It’s a mess but absolutely awesome to see.
But there’s still one question that hangs in the air: What on earth is going to happen to the Avengers? At this point, everything that was the basis of the Avengers, trust, friendship and loyalty, is all down the drain. Everyone is separated, Tony having Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision, War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Panther and Spider-Man. While Captain America has his wingman, Sam Wilson or the Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Wanda, Clint Barton or Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and of course, Bucky.
The team has never been more divided and it’s tough to imagine how the team will ever get together as one functioning unit in time for “Avengers: Infinity War,” coming out in 2018. It’s an interesting question hanging over viewers’ heads who feel they’ve lost something. However, I personally think Marvel will have little trouble repiecing the Avengers in the amount of time they have with the movie line they’ve planned for the next few years.
All in all, “Captain America: Civil War” is a definite must see for all Marvel fans. It holds all the components of a great action movie and it lived up to the past movies. The movie really stands out from the rest because it held a darker plot and initial turning point for the Avengers that leaves me and many others excited to see what happens next.
Steven • Jan 28, 2017 at 10:30 pm
Em, I just wanted to say that it is Steve Rogers, not Steve Jones and it’s Scarlet Witch, not Crimson Witch:^ And I loooooved Tom as the new Spider-Man
Rachel Bullock • May 20, 2016 at 12:04 am
You know, I don’t follow a ton of comics. I cut it down to Marvel and DC first, then to Marvel, and from there to a select few heroes, universes, stuff I would be able to follow. The MCU in general has done alright with adapting these stories in my opinion and the Captain America series so far is no exception. In fact, these movies have proved to be some of the best regarding adaptations and extending the universe as well as being faithful to the sources.
The MCU thus far has proven to have evolved well in those regards.
Although Tom Holland seemed weak, keep in mind that his role as Spiderman was at least a step up from being a cameo. With a fairly decent half hour of screen time, he stole the show at some points with his smooth moves and funny quips.
What I found most interesting was how well Civil War was paced, drama and action was well done and the comedy aspect remained even in tension and was appropriately applied, seamlessly at that. Spiderman played a big role in that. In the battle at the airport, forgive me if you disagree, the way that Spidey was able to detain these seasoned heroes and still find time to fanboy (like Antman…but applied in battle almost) over the tech that was Bucky’s arm was on point to smaller aspects of Spidey’s persona in battle that you wouldn’t think would show evidently until his solo movie. I mean, he has humble origins as Peter, he has his wit and intellect as Spiderman, what else could we ask for? Holland did well for an initial introduction to the new Spiderman of the MCU in my opinion. He contributed well to the events in Civil War while making his presence known as an upcoming stand alone hero that is well due to debuting on the big screen. Besides, this movie was not about building his character. He is, after all, not the focus and is therefore going to be side stepped a bit in the MCU until Homecoming. Now, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t display his strength (mentally or physically) until then anyways, but it is important to keep in mind they simply didn’t focus on him because…this is Captain America 3 not Avengers. Yes, they could have done more for Spidey’s character but they did what they had to for a better movie overall.
This article was very good, very thorough. I liked it a lot and when there are more installments to the MCU and when the aforementioned Infinity Wars Part One comes out, I’ll be looking for another one of your reviews because it was very well done. Thank you, Pearl Post for yet another amazing article from another talented writer.