Caffeinated Clint
To say you ‘get exactly what you think you’ll get’ from ”Marvel’s Captain America : Civil War” is actually a compliment of the highest order.
Though each film off their conveyor belt share a similar structure and tone, Marvel – unlike competitor DC, whose film rep is more than a little spotty – have consistently given audiences a genuinely good time at the movies ever since believing Robert Downey Jr was the and only choice to play an alcoholic, playboy billionaire.
Where Marvel excel is in their long-lead grand plan. From the get-go, they made sure to not only chase the best actors and filmmakers for their ambitious slate of films (which would include the likes of The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America) but that each movie, and character within it, would earn their place in the multiplex. Instead of simply bringing together a horde of well-known superheroes that hadn’t been seen before together on the big screen, they instead introduced each of those characters singularly, in their own vehicles, before even considering cross populating their movie universe.
As such, by the time the “Avengers” movies were made, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, standing in for Edward Norton who originated the role in Marvel’s ”Incredible Hulk”), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Nick Fury (Samuel L.Jackson) and the other costumed heroes of the earlier films were like old friends. We’d spent enough time with them alone at the party… now it was time to introduce them to some of our other friends. After all, we knew they had a lot in common.
”Captain America : Civil War” continues the long proposed, much welcome mission of uniting the faces of the Marvel cinematic universe. And while the film does boasts the title ‘Captain America’, it’s no less Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye or (drumroll!) Spider-Man’s movie. If anything, Joe & Anthony Russo were simply forced to award title honours to Captain America because his turn – being that the other characters had had recent sequels – had come around again.
Having said that, the film’s first quarter is directly tied to the events of ”Captain America : The Winter Soldier” – – it’s only thirty-minutes in that it becomes the third Avengers movie.
If you’ve seen the many TV spots, or terrific character posters that are being shared aplenty on the social nets, you’ll know the film pits Evan’s Captain America against Downey’s Iron Man. Having played their part in causing a lot of destruction around the world, not to mention notching up some pretty significant civilian casualties as a result of their missions, the government wants to start controlling the Avengers. No longer can they act on their own. If they’re to be going on heroic missions, the missions have to be sanctioned and overseen by the Government (in this case, William Hurt’s Senator ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross). Tony Stark, struggling personally and professionally, thinks the government has a point. Steve Rogers, also dealing with some personal issues, won’t have a bar of it – if someone needs him, he’s there. Stiff biccies.
As tensions mount, the ‘super friends’ of the duo start choosing sides. As far as Stark goes, he finds himself with support from Natasha/Black Widow, the Vision (Paul Bettany), Rhodey/War Machine (Don Cheadle), T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and ultimately, some kid (Tom Holland) up East who gets about in red ‘underoos’. While Rogers finds himself going to battle alongside Clint/Hawkeye, Wanda/Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Sam/The Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scott/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and rehabilitated villain Bucky/The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).
While old friends collide, Daniel Bruhl’s take on classic comic-book villain Baron Zemo makes his motive known.
Where Marvel again get it right is in their terrific mesh of action, comedy and tension – serving up a story that’s equal parts suspenseful, action-packed and, at the best times, oh-so-funny. Much of the comedy in this instalment is provided by the newbies, Paul Rudd’s Ant Man and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but even the general banter between the core Avengers borders on premeditated wocka-wocka. The screenplay, by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, is up there with the best of the Marvel movie bunch – particularly in its effortless ability to fill the film’s heroes and villains out top-to-bottom with complexities and real-world struggles, and with its predictable but gripping race-against-whatever-it-may be pacey plot.
In terms of the ”Captain America” movies, it comes very close to tipping the astonishingly brilliant ”Winter Soldier” (2014) off of its throne, but ”Civil War”’s three-act structure isn’t as surprising, unique and sweat-inducing as that beast… so the crown still belongs to that first sequel. But as the latest in a long line of Marvel movies, all of which have been pretty decent, the production’s going home with more than a few sashes.
