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nCaptain America: Civil War (2016)
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nDirectors: Anthony & Joe Russo
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nCast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson,nSebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman,nPaul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, DanielnBruhl
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nI finally got to watch Captain America: Civil War, one ofnthe most anticipated films of the year and it was quite noticeable thatnaudiences were salivating to see this one, how much? Well, my plan was to seenthis one on an early screening, during the morning, on a weekday, you know tonavoid the crowd. I got there early but to my surprise the first show was soldnout! I started to realize that maybe I had underestimated this movie, so I decidednI’d better buy tickets for the next show. The thing is this was a weekday, a schoolnday and yet, there was a huge line to buy tickets and it was mostly kids on thenline. Kids who were supposed to be in school I might add! My take on it wasnthat Captain America: Civil War was way more important on their list than thenmath test they had that day. So yeah, looks like everyone and their mothernwanted to see this one, which says a lot about the kind of money this movie isngoing to make once everything is said and done. On this screening of the film peoplenwere audibly excited, clapping when Black Panther and Spider Man firstnappeared, and yelling stuff like “no that movie didn’t just finish there!” Don’tnknow about you guys but I love watching a movie with a giddy audience. But,nexcitement aside how was this third Captain America movie?
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nWell, this time around, same as in a lot of recent comicnbook movies, the heroes are seen as the villains because they’ve caused so muchndeath and destruction while ‘saving the world’. The government wants to bringnin Captain America and his team of sympathizers in order to keep them underncontrol and used whenever they see fit. But Captain America will have none ofnthat. On the other hand, we have Iron Man, who sympathizes with the governmentnand thinks they are right, heroes are out of control and need to be kept inncheck. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Of course this all leads up to the bignbattle, which is just as cool as you’d expect it to be.
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nThis story line was recently played out in Batman vs.Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), a film in which the world starts seeingnSuperman as more of a threat than a savior. And same as in that one, thengovernment wants to exert some sort of control over the super powerednindividuals. This similarity in plot lines and themes doesn’t surprise menbecause Hollywood has always fed on each other when ever a new idea pops up.nWhen a new idea is hot, the ‘modus operandi’ is each studio will put out theirnown version of it, at the end of the day, what matters is how well they playednout their version of the idea. Superman vs. Batman had flaws but I managed tonenjoy it. You do get the feeling they could’ve gone further with the wholengovernment trying to control superman thing. Instead, that film focused more onnSuperman fighting Doomsday and left the whole government after Superman storynfloating in the air. In retrospect, it does seem like Batman vs. Superman:Dawn of Justice (2016) should have stuck to one story line, maybe it might have had the cohesiveness that this film has, you see Captain America: Civil War stays with its proposed plot line and plays itnout well, without introducing a new sub plot every five minutes.
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nAn example of this cohesiveness is the fact that they didn’tnreally go into the whole Infinity Gems/Thanos plot line that will be played outnin the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War films. They’ve been leaving little hintsnin other movies, and could have easily added something about that film on this one. Instead, there’s not much about the upcoming Infinity Gauntlet story line except for The Visionntalking a bit about the yellow Infinity Gem that’s on his forehead. Other thannthat, this film is solely about Team Captain America, the group of heroes who want to be inncontrol of their actions and Team Iron Man, the heroes who think it’s best tonbe a government lap dog. Who will win? Freedom or subjugation? Will superheroesnbe subdued?
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nThe thing about this Captain America movie is that, it feelsnmore like an Avengers film than a Captain America movie, I mean, look at thencredits! This is one gigantic cast! Everyone gets their time on screen, butnlike I said, there’s so many characters on this movie that we sort of lose focus on the main guy, Captain America. That’s really the onlynflaw I could find on this otherwise perfect comic book film. The actionnsequences are spectacular, loved that chase down the highway, where the heroesnare running faster than the cars themselves, that was a novel approach to anchase sequence. The entire airport fight sequence was like, wow, gigantic innnature and had some unexpected twists and turns. Then of course we get thenBlack Panther and Spiderman intros, both of which got claps from the audiencenof mega geeks I saw the film with. I must say, Black Panther was so wellnintroduced, it definitely feels like he could get his own movie, same withnSpiderman, who’s portrayal was one of the moments that everyone was expectingnthe most here. I gotta say I loved this new Spiderman. He comes off as an inexperiencednkid learning to be a hero. He doesn’t look like an adult trying to play anteenager, he is a teenager, he talks like a teenager and that’s how it shouldnbe. Loved the father son relationship that’s building up between Iron Man andnSpidey, that was extremely cool. Another surprise is just how much Spidey is onnthis movie. I thought he’d do more of a cameo appearance, but he really is anpart of the film. Actually it feels like his first try out at being an Avenger!n I’m really curious to see what Marvel willndo with Spiderman: Homecoming (2017), the upcoming Spiderman film from Marvel.nAll in all, Captain America: Civil War is a film jam-packed with goodness, andnall delivered in a coherent and thoroughly entertaining way. By the way, thisnmovie has two extra endings, so stay all the way to the end of the credits tonsee both. Marvel/Disney has got comic book movies down flat, it seems like theynget better with each passing film.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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