THE FOLLOWING REIVEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Russos set the bar high for superhero movies when making Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and they were able to set it higher in 2016 when opening up Phase Three of the MCU with Captain America: Civil War. PLOT
The film shows The Avengers taking down HYDRA agent Brock Rumlow in Lagos, which led to many casualties. This leads to Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross suggesting that the heroes should sign the ‘Sokovia Accords’, in which they will work for the United Nations. While Tony Stark supports this, Steve Rogers is against it. After attending the funeral of Margaret ‘Peggy’ Carter, Natasha Romanoff informs Rogers that she signed the Accords along with Stark, The Vision, and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). When the Accords are being ratified in Vienna, a bombing occurs, taking the life of Wakanda’s King T’Chaka (John Kani). When the media confirms it to be James Barnes, the Winter Soldier, responsible for the attack, Prince T’Challa vows revenge for his father. Cap attempts to arrest his friend in Bucharest, in order to keep him alive and prove innocence, but Bucky is chased down by T’Challa and the authorities. Due to being involved in the chase, Cap and Sam Wilson are apprehended by Rhodey. Sokovian Helmut Zemo disguises himself as Barnes’s psychiatrist to infiltrate him in Berlin, reciting words that’ll make him the Winter Soldier, in order to provide him information he wants. He only tells an intervening Rogers that he wants to see an empire fall before Barnes attacks. He flees as both Cap and Falcon deal with Buck and flee with him. Buck reveals that Zemo is the real bomber and he wanted to know of other winter soldiers he knew in Siberia. Going rogue, Cap and Falcon recruit Clint Barton to pick up Wanda Maximoff, held against her will at Avengers HQ by Vision, and Scott Lang, the Ant-Man who encountered Falcon. With permission of Secretary Ross, Tony gets Romanoff, T’Challa, Vision, and the new vigilante Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, to capture the renegades. Both opposing sides do battle at the Lezpig/Halle airport. Cap and Buck are able to escape while their teammates take the fall. Vision inadvertently shoots Rhodey when aiming for Falcon, paralyzing him in the process. Nat goes into exile when aiding Cap’s escape, not allowing T’Challa to stop him and Buck. When Tony discovers that Steve was right about Buck’s innocence, he tries to tell Ross but is ignored due to failing to capture him. At the Raft, he explains what he knows to Sam, in which he tells him where Steve’s heading. Stark catches up to Siberia, while the vengeful T’Challa secretly follows. When amends are between both heroes, they look for Zemo together, only to discover that he killed the other winter soldiers, only to lure them here. He then gives the final bombshell with video footage that in 12/16/91, Barnes was sent to kill Tony’s parents, Howard (John Slattery) and Maria (Hope Davis). Enraged that Rogers knew and kept it from him, he fights them both as Zemo flees. T’Challa, now completely aware of what Zemo had done, follows him and considers killing him. The Sokovian revealed to the new king that his family died in Sokovia when the Avengers fought Ultron. Knowing that he succeeded in avenging his family by fracturing the team, he attempts to shoot himself but is stopped by the king and taken to the authorities. During the fight between Rogers and his friends, Tony shoots off Buck’s metal arm. Rogers is able to finish it when disabling Tony’s suit, knowing that he can’t fight without it. When leaving with Barnes, he leaves his shield behind. After applying new braces for Rhodey, he gets a package from Cap that contained: A letter apologizing for keeping the secret of his parents, and a cellphone, to call him anytime.
THOUGHTS
When first seeing this film in 2016, I was blown away on not just the obvious action and a great story that’s given but mainly of how political it got. I feel that way because seeing our heroes not agreeing with the Accords reflects how we as people will not always agree to political subjects. The Russos have us question on if picking whichever side is gonna be worth it in the long run. We understand Tony is supporting it because he doesn’t want to anymore deal with the guilt of being responsible of putting innocent lives at risk. For Steve it’s not just that he accepts the guilt, but he is right that it would be unfair of how the UN would be capable of not allowing them to do certain missions. So the possibility of them standing down when Thanos arrives, because they were told to by the UN, would be an uncomfortable moment to witness. This movie really does affect the MCU because aside from being referenced throughout Phase Three, if our heroes were all together, they likely would have had a better chance against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. If Thor and Hulk were in this movie, than it would’ve officially been another film of the Avengers. So without them, you can sarcastically call it ‘Avengers 2.5’ as this is a big ensemble like the previous films. It is indeed bold adapting the iconic 2006 comic ‘Civil War’ as that story included more heroes than the film provided but that’s worth sacrificing because that would take too long introducing a bakers dozen of new characters. When seeing the frame of Cap deflecting a blast from Iron Man is a genius easter egg to the same frame of the said comic. Also, it is genius not to kill off Captain America, like the said comic, because both co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely knew that the journey was not over for Steve Rogers, nor should it end predictably. While the airport battle is a visual delight, the action beforehand is the best choreographed, making it stand out as much as what was displayed in The Winter Soldier. As the film had great action sequences, it arguably gave its most shocking moment in the franchise prior Thanos’ snap, because seeing the Winter Soldier assassinate Howard and Maria Stark was difficult to witness for many reasons: We finally witness the well known death, and seeing that Howard remembered him made it more stressful to go through. All of this proves how impactful of a chapter this movie was for the MCU's Infinity Saga. While this film is epic on low standards, it definitely has flaws of its own that hold it back from being better. The first would be Martin Freeman’s character, Everett Ross. That character does not drive the plot at all and is only there to hype the film Black Panther , due to being a central character in the lore of that hero’s comics. Also, Steve kissing Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) was completely awkward, considering that she’s niece of his first love, Peggy. The chemistry is there between them but I feel like Steve should’ve not done that after he discovered the connection between them. Another odd takeaway is how there are no main casualties to the plot. I’m not trying to say that Rogers should have died like the comics, but I think it would’ve worked if they killed off War Machine, rather than paralyzing him. Paralyzing him was pointless because he gets new braces that help him walk again. Yes, it cleverly finds a way back to remind us of his condition during Avengers: Endgame, but it still felt pointless because it’s not taking a risk to advance the plot. I know Ross has to make the Avengers feel guilty about the casualties, but it felt weird how Wanda didn't start the defending argument of her brother's sacrifice when they were trying to minimize civilian casualties. Ross probably wouldn't change his mind about the Accords, but he would at least have an extra layer of respect for what they've done. It is an interesting introduction for Zemo to steal information from the HYDRA agent, but the latter should've kept his cover by saying it wasn't his car that got hit. The weirdest thing of Bucky being chased was how the officers did not shoot Bucky anywhere but the metal arm. He is wanted for murder and I know he's innocent, but they are being pretty lazy trying to stop a dangerous figure. It does get suspenseful when Zemo triggers the Winter Soldier, but Bucky is dumb for not trying to cover his ears when breaking from his restraints. I was even pretty irritated of how we didn't see Nat's perspective of backing out of the conflict and watching in terror before she helps Cap escape. And lastly, I am impressed of Zemo succeeding to split the Avengers apart, but he honestly could've succeeded by just sending Tony footage of his parents' murder when Buck first got apprehended. That actually would've made the airport battle more intense because Steve would have to protect Buck throughout the whole fight like he did during the climax. If you can ignore all of these flaws, the chances are high that you’ll enjoy this movie. The main reason we're still onboard because the ensemble of superheroes keep it all the more investing. The chemistry is most interesting between Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen because the well known romance between Vision and Wanda in the comics is not forced in this film, but it’s enough to show they’re interested in each other and we accept it easily by the time of Infinity War. This is another great performance of Chris Evans as Captain America, particularly because he is bold to put the reputation on the line to save the only friend of his generation. Seeing him say once again ‘I can do this all day’ is a reminder of how he’ll never give up, no matter how bad it gets. Going back to Peggy, her offscreen death was predictable due to her elderly age, but we can’t help but mourn for Steve, remembering how tough it is to lose a loved one. Sebastian Stan holds it down again as Bucky. This time, he is great at reflecting acceptance of his crimes as the brainwashed Winter Soldier. Robert Downey Jr. is as good as always with Iron Man, and it was very creative that he was more of a supporting character this time around. Seeing him try to compromise with Ross whenever it came to Rogers, easily proves that he really does care about him. Thankfully, Alfre Woodard’s cameo as ‘Miriam’ was well acted and is able to replicate a mother’s pain of losing a child. This scene alone explains Tony’s support for the Accords. What to appreciate with Scarlett Johansson in this outing as Black Widow is that she has to cope to find a way to support both of her friends who are opposing each other. That makes the chemistry with her, Evans and Downey pay off once again. Seeing her go into exile is a clever build up to her eventual solo film. Seeing Ant-Man join the fight was a delight and Paul Rudd was just as hilarious as his 2015 debut. Anthony Mackie was great as the Falcon because he is a supportive friend that understands Cap's argument. Seeing Scott momentarily become Giant Man is the highlight of the airport battle. Not much can be said with Jeremy Renner returning as Hawkeye but it was good to see him anyway, rather than being absent like in The Winter Soldier. He's on Cap's side because he called first and gave his argument before Tony could, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about Tony. It may have been first come first serve, but he still cares about his friends. Surprisingly, this is the last time we get to see him until Avengers: Endgame .Seeing Frank Grillo return for his returning accurate depiction of Brock Rumlow/Crossbones was definitely worth the price of admission, along with the rest of the movie. Having William Hurt return as Thaddeus Ross, his role from The Incredible Hulk, was a bold move to keep the 2008 film canon and years later, he is still on point making him a decisive figure he's known to be. It was also a matter of time for Marvel Studios to find a way bring Spider-Man to the MCU, due to rights of the character being partially owned by Sony. So when it came to the young Tom Holland to become the new interpretation of the web slinger, he instantly owns the role and is able to embody the iconic socially awkward teenage hero. It was also long overdue for the Black Panther join the franchise as well and thankfully, Chadwick Boseman is able to embrace the pride, strength and intelligence that T’Challa has. (Baron) Helmut Zemo may not look the comic book counterpart in this film, at least until the Disney+ series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but Daniel Brühl is able to make the sympathetic aspect pay off, compared to other villains. What makes him intimidating is his determination to succeed, and it is mind blowing to see a powerless villain like him do so in splitting our heroes apart. The fact that T’Challa saved Zemo from his suicide attempt is such a respecting moment, because it reminds us in a way that there are heroes that give mercy to their foes and not every villain has to die. The after credits of our newly introduced heroes are clever buildups to what we’d get with their respected solo adventures within the following years. Overall, Captain America: Civil War opened Phase Three on a high note and set a bar of its own for the superhero genre. If you’ve enjoyed the MCU thus far, than don’t waste time checking this out.
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