Choose your side wisely.
It’s been coming to head for a while now. Since their first meeting, there was tension between Iron Man and Captain America, even though they became friends. And that tension explodes into a full force battle between the two heroes, and their teammates that believe each man is right.
The film opens up in Nigeria, with the Avengers tracking down a villain. While trying to capture the villain, a bomb goes off and many innocent people are killed. The government then assembles all the Avengers, including Tony Stark, who’s not an active member, to present a bill where the Avengers would be answerable to the U.N. Tony, who is having his own moral issues, is for the bill, while Cap is against it.
While the bill is being signed, a bomb is detonated killing many U.N. delegates including the king of the African nation of Wakanda. It seems like the Winter Soldier is the one who was the bomber. This cause Cap to take a firmer stance against the bill and save his friend. The U.N. sends Iron Man to stop him, as the other Avengers are forced to take sides.
This movie hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until the end. The Russo brothers really do an incredible job of juggling all the characters. There are times it doesn’t feel like a film about Captain America, but more of a Avengers film. But still, Cap is definitely the main focus here.
The plot is loosely based on the comic by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. While it is an action film, there is a lot of emotion going on here. None of the characters come across as one-dimensional. They all have depth. The most entertaining has to be Vision, who is just starting to gain emotions.
All the returning character really do a great job just slipping back into their roles as the iconic Avengers. But the stands out are the two new additions: Black Panther and Spider-Man.
Chadwick Boseman truly nailed the Black Panther here. He has a sense of entitlement, but not really arrogance. His main motivation is justice for the death of his father. That’s where his focus always is.
Tom Holland plays Spider-Man, and to be honest, I’m still trying to process him. I can’t fully decide if I liked him or not. During the main battle between the two groups, he’s definitely a fish out of water. Totally out of his league, but true to the comic, covers up his fear with his famous quips. I’m hoping he’ll grow on me a little more. But in terms of the story, they way they used Spider-Man just worked.
There was one thing that really bothered me about the film and I think that has to do with the comic geek in me. When the character were referring to each other in uniform, they used their real names and not code names. I honestly don’t want to hear Steve, Sam, Clint, Tony. I’m watching a comic book film and I want to hear Captain America, Falcon, Hawkeye, and Iron Man.
The not calling him Captain America issue really bothers me too. In Winter Soldier, they barely called him Captain America. I’ve heard rumors as to why they don’t call him Captain America in the film a lot. That it has to do with it being able to play better overseas. I’m not a studio exec or a marketing expert, but personally, I call bull on that. But I’m ranting now.
But the same comic geek loved seeing Hawkeye firing an arrow with Ant-Man riding it, and a possible romance blooming between Scarlet Witch and Vision.
Overall, I really loved this film and the ending definitely made me wonder where do they go from here. I’m really curious how it will all come together in Avengers: Infinity War.
Captain America: Civil War opens nationwide Friday, May 6th.