Captain America: Civil War | Film Review

War is hell, of that there is no doubt.  In a world that is far from perfect, sometimes terrible things have to be done for the greater good.  When horrible people are committing horrible acts against their fellow man, it is the job of the hero to step up and do what must be done.  Whether that hero is a soldier or citizen, all they can hope for by taking on this burden is that what they do is justified.  The face of that nameless enemy they had no choice but to take down may haunt them forever, but comfort can be taken in the fact that countless others will rest easier in safety because of their personal sacrifice.  Forgiveness can be given for any unavoidable, appalling acts they themselves had to commit.

However, when the lines become blurred, when who is right and who is wrong is not so clear, when conflict pits friend against friend instead of a silhouette in the distance or an enemy on the field of battle, it drags things down to a much deeper level.  When the throat your fingers are crushing belongs to a comrade, all bets are off.  No matter what anyone says, you are going to have to search hard for justification.  And you may never find forgiveness, especially within yourself.

Welcome to “Captain America: Civil War”.

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of chatter regarding the tone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Words such as fun, light-hearted, and jokey are often bandied about – and for the franchise as a whole – they are certainly accurate.  From Robert Downey Jr.’s near constant, rapid-fire quips, to Thor and Hulk’s roughhousing , to the more family friendly antics of heroes such as Ant-Man, Marvel can always be counted on to deliver just as many laughs as they do action beats.  And while there are a good many of those kinds of moments in “Civil War”, you’d better brace yourself folks, because things are about to get a bit meaner.

And a whole lot darker.

Playing directly off the events of both “Winter Soldier” and “Age of Ultron”, “Civil War” finds our heroes facing off against an opponent that may finally end up doing what aliens, a god, and a techno-titan  were unable to: tear The Avengers apart.  And who is this enemy exactly?  Is it Thanos, the often alluded to destroyer-of-worlds?  Not yet.  Have some other devilish entities managed sneak out of Asgard and make their way to Earth yet again?  Nope, not that we know of.  Did Ultron squirrel himself away in the hidden corners of the Internet and construct himself an even bigger and better body this time?  Nah, he’s still pretty much down for the count.  The enemy this time is homegrown and one of the most powerful and feared adversaries one hopes never to have to face.

Government bureaucracy.

After the destructive events in New York, Washington, and Sokovia – as well as a new skirmish in Africa that kicks off this film and ends up going sideways – The Avengers are presented with a take-it-or-leave-it deal by Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt).  Either agree to give control of the team over to The UN, or disband and find some less destructive hobbies to take up their time.  If they don’t agree, any future actions they take will be considered criminal.  Left to mull over this ultimatum, The Avengers soon find that they are far from reaching a consensus.  Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) supports having the Avengers being policed.  In the midst of a crisis of conscience and a crumbling relationship, he seems beaten down and more than ready to hand the reins of responsibility over to someone else.  Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) can’t agree.  He feels they are more than capable of making the tough decisions on their own and refuses to be told what and who not to save.  Though their initial discussion ends amicably enough, it isn’t long before cracks begin to appear and the other team members start picking sides.  When fugitive Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and a pissed off Sokovian with an axe to grind named Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) suddenly get thrown into the mix, the phrase “sideways” doesn’t even begin to describe how subsequent events go down.

This is war, and it is far from civil.  Actually, it is brutal.  Now, please don’t misunderstand.   I recently reviewed another film where I used the word “brutal” to describe it overall, and I was using that word in its most negative sense.  It was painful.  I am using the word here again to describe this movie, but its meaning is completely different.  This film is truly brutal, and it is the better for it.  Much, much for the better.

I’m just going to say it now and get it out of the way.  I love this movie.  Love, love, love it!  Don’t let my musings on the nature of war, promises of dark deeds, and references to political doings put you off.  This is, after all, a Marvel movie.  However, like its predecessor “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, the big-scale spectacle of many of this series’ entries is brought down to Earth here, offering up instead more down in the dirt, fist-to-face clawing and brawling.  There aren’t any aliens, or spaceships, or magical beings anywhere to be seen.  Even the more fantastical members of the team – Hulk and Thor – have been sidelined this time out.  Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) are about as otherworldly as things get here.  And that is a welcome thing.  With these types of movies, the action often takes precedence over story; burying logic, character development, and emotion in wave after wave of over-the-top mayhem.  Not here.  There is action aplenty, but it is in complete service to the narrative.  There is purpose and meaning behind every punch, and the emotions driving those punches forward are as strong as the feelings their impacts draw from the audience.  We aren’t just enjoying super-human combatants giving each other the pounding of their lives.  We are taking those blows right along with them.  We might not feel the actual physical pain, but we sure as hell share in the emotional impact.

Okay, okay, okay.  Enough with the dour.  Let’s talk about the fun, because doom and gloom aside, this is a great, old time at the flicker pictures.  As nasty as things get, let’s face it – watching these guys and girls having multiple goes at each other is great fun.

Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have, as they did so well in “Winter Soldier”, put together a hell of movie which mixes brilliant action with sharp storytelling to deliver a heart-thumping tale of a dysfunctional family – because that is essentially what The Avengers are – which has reached its boiling point, and whose siblings are now lashing out at one another.  The love is still there, but as the old saying goes, “the ones you love the most are the ones you hurt the most”.  And there’s a whole lot of hurt going on here.

Directors, writers, and talent aside, a very special shout-out has to go to the stunt coordinators and fight choreographers who are giving us all of this glorious hurt.  This is some of the best damn onscreen clashing and bashing I’ve ever had the opportunity to lay eyes upon.  As I said before, the fighting in this is very street-level, and relies more on brute strength and technique rather than high-tech weapons and mystical instruments.  It is often times jaw-dropping to watch these actors and stunt people do their thing, it must have taken ages to plan out some of these sequences.  From Captain America bouncing his shield off everything and everyone like a pinball, to Bucky Barnes pretty much putting the laws of physics to their ultimate test, the action here is pure bliss to behold.   When things do go from the street to more superheroey levels, it doesn’t abate.  It just keeps getting bigger and better.  When the two factions finally come to a head in the airport scene we’ve all seen teased in the trailer, your butt will leave the seat on more than one occasion, trust me.  Don’t listen to the haters on that wonderful instrument of civil discourse we call the Internet (tongue-firmly-in-cheek) who are poo-pooing this scene because it’s just a bunch of people running around on the tarmac.  Trust me, it turns into something special.  The audience I saw this with was squealing with delight at the places this scene took them to.  And leave it to Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the tiniest of Earth’s mightiest, to deliver some of the biggest moments here.  Pure joy.

And let’s have a big round of applause as well for Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., the leaders of our two opposing forces.  They’ve donned their respective armor for us many times in the past, but they are still bringing it.  Evans’ Steve Rogers/Captain America continues to represent all of those ideals we strive for to make ourselves better, even when he’s kickin’ butt, and Evans continues to make it harder and harder for us to imagine anyone else taking over the role.  Though Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man might be at his most sullen here, don’t fret.   The smartass we have come to know and love is never too far away.  The poor guy takes more than a physical beating in this, but even when he’s at rock bottom, he’s more than up for the challenge of fighting his way back.  Is it any wonder that, when these two finally come to blows, that we find it almost as draining and crushing as they do?  It is a true clash of titans.  If you can choose a side, that’s great, but know this: There are no winners here.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot (tongue-still-firmly-planted).  There’s a certain web-head who shows up in this as well – as you all probably know by now – and what an entrance.  I have to be honest, I was a little hesitant about them bringing Spider-Man back into the Marvel fold as a teenager, but Tom Holland has won me over.  Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire were great, but the latest young man to squeeze himself into that impossibly tight garment has staked his claim on the character, and I hope he doesn’t have plans to relinquish it anytime soon.  His Peter Parker/Spider-Man is the wisecracking web-slinger we all know and love.  If you didn’t know/love him before, you will now.  Oh my.  Even more pure joy.

And Aunt May this time out?  Damn, does Marisa Tomei plan on aging any time soon?  Tony Stark’s head wasn’t the only one turning in the theater.

And then there’s T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) making his first appearance ever on the big screen.  There isn’t much wisecracking, if any, going on with this one.  Black Panther is dead serious in this, and he certainly has his reasons.  His transition from quiet, dignified heir of an African Kingdom to full-on rage machine with the nastiest set of claws this side of a certain X-Man we all know and love, is both startling and gripping.  Boseman IS the Black Panther, and it is hard to look at anyone else when he is on the screen.  He is royalty, and commands that kind of attention.  That is just as much a credit to the actor as it is to the character himself.  Like the wall-crawler, everyone will be looking forward to this guy getting to flex his muscles in his own movie.  The sooner the better, I say.   He was definitely one of my favorites in this.

I could go and on about the other actors and characters in this, but it would take too long.  I mean, just look at this list:  Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision, Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch, Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Spiderman, Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Zemo.  Damn.  How can anyone not be excited by this lineup and want to sing their praises?  And that doesn’t include the mere mortals who are also in the movie.  This review – already stretching its limits – would become a novella if I were to go into each one.  Just know that everyone brings their A-game and we’ll leave it at that.  Even with the veterans, I never got the impression that anyone was phoning it in.  Great job all around.  A round of drinks for everyone, and put it on Robert Downey Jr.’s tab.  He’s got the bucks.

Any quibbles?  To be honest, for me, not really, and I am loathe to get picky.  If pushed on it, I suppose a few of the characters, especially the non-hero ones, suffer from short screen time, but that is going to happen with any movie where you have to squeeze so many characters into one story.  I thought it was handled very well, even though I could have used a bit more of some of them.  And a few people may be disappointed that the ending doesn’t offer full closure, once again hinting at events to come later on down the road.  That doesn’t bother me, though.  It just gets me more excited for what’s to come.  I am fully invested in the universe Marvel has created, and all these movies later, I’m still enjoying the ride.

Ultimately, this is a movie about consequences.  Not just the obvious ones having to do with powers unchecked, collateral damage, and public distrust.  Secrets and feelings are laid bare that affect these characters on a deeply personal level.  For some, they are as devastating as – like one character says – having a building dropped on you.  A particular skeleton in the closet wounds one character in a way that may never heal, and a misguided shot in the heat of battle shows that at least one of our heroes is not as “super” as he/she may appear.  In the end, when the smoke finally clears, not everyone walks away from this undamaged.  Maybe no-one does.

The Russo Brothers and everyone involved have created something wonderful here.  Treading the fine line between the light and the dark, they have given us a cinematic work which makes us laugh and cringe at the same time.  That is no easy feat, and all are to be commended.

“Captain America: Civil War” is rip-roaring fun that tears your guts out.  Crammed with joy and brutality, it never lets up.

Captain America: Civil War opens nationwide May 6, 2016
Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Sebastian Stan
Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo