Jasonic's Favorites: Captain America: Civil War
Hello, and good evening, Internet!
One of the most well-recieved Marvel movies despite the size of its cast, I still hold this movie in high regard because, by this point in the MCU timeline, I fully cared about all the characters.
Released in 2016 (10 years ago, can you believe it?!), Captain America: Civil War serves as the third and final film of the Chris Evans Captain America movies and is a condensed adaptation of one of the most significant Marvel arcs of the 21st century. By this point, the MCU had grown so well that it was critically and financially well-received, perhaps one of the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever had at the time and since. Hardcores may have been disappointed that Disney didn't have all the rights to to include all the superheroes back then, but the casuals? Plenty of them were already invested in the franchise for this conflict to land and I already knew and met many fans who were picking sides with Team Captain America vs. Team Iron Man. This was a great sign for the MCU at the time as it showed that it drew quite a crowd for most films such as this to be considered an event the world over. And me? I was among many of the hardcore fans who did my research on the original stories from the comics to brush up on what I needed to know in time for the events and story arcs I didn't know going in; and, boy, was it worth the effort! I wasn't like the hardcore nerds who expected the comics to leap onto the screen, rather I was content with what we had given the more limited, but positively streamlined cast the MCU movies had at the time compared the the comics. That said, Captain America: Civil War still stands as one of the greatest of the MCU to this very day as it set up a lot of the stakes for the then-upcoming arcs of Avengers: Infinity War and the then-untitled Avengers: Endgame as we eagerly anticipated the climax of where this universe was going at the time. With years of effort and investment already put in by the creators and the fans of the franchise, it was no wonder that the MCU continued to do well throughout Phase 3 starting with this movie; critics and fans generally loved it and, for my reviews, this has been one of my most anticipated rewatches given that it reminds me of when I was most certainly a diehard MCU fan along with many others. (Not that I dislike Marvel now, but I haven't invested nearly enough time into it as I once did.) Even so, I will ask what I always do: does the film deserve any criticism, if at all? Let's equip our Captain America shields, choose our superhero team, and battle our way into the blockbuster that is Captain America: Civil War!
*SPOILERS FOR A 10 YEAR OLD MOVIE* (but feel free to read on if you don't care)
The story starts off about 2 years after Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 1 year after Avengers: Age of Ultron; in it, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) has assembled a small team of Avengers to track and take down Brock Rumlow/Crossbones (Frank Grillo) as he and his task force try to steal a biological weapon. Though Cap gets Rumlow on the ropes, he hesitates when Rumlow mentions "Bucky", allowing him to take himself out with an explosive vest. Amongst Cap's team, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) telekinetically contains the explosion and tries to divert it, but ends up blowing up part of a hospital building. The attack is reported to have killed 11 Wakandan humanitarian workers, prompting a visit from the U.S. Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt). After explaining that the actions of superheroes in the past have inadvertantly caused more deaths than they realize, Ross presents them the UN's solution of the Sokovia Accords, which will put the Avengers under their supervision and control. Several side with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who believes this is the right move while Steve, trusting his own judgment, declines to sign, with others joining him. Meanwhile, Colonel Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) is searching for the activation words for the brainwashing of James "Bucky" Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Cap's childhood friend and former comrade who went missing after the last movie. Using the situation to his advantage, Zemo frames Bucky for a UN bombing in Vienna where the Accords would be ratified, an act which kills King T'Chaka (John Kani) of Wakanda, the father of T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). With T'Challa set on a vengeance quest against Bucky and the world out to get him, Steve intervenes to protect Bucky and help him remember who he is; Steve and Bucky are arrested when Zemo infiltrates their compound disguised as a psychiatrist, using it as an opportunity to reactivate the Winter Soldier brainwashing and cause more havoc to his advantage. With Tony and Steve at a disagreement and Steve learning of the existence of other Winter Soldiers in Siberia, the two assemble a team of superheroes against the Accords in order to get to Siberia with Tony's team of superheroes for the Accords intervening. The resulting battle has the Avengers clashing with collateral damage on both sides. What Zemo has prepared for Steve, Tony, and Bucky in Siberia, however, may fracture the team permanently.
Right there, the plot is much more concise than one might expect; people have nicknamed this movie "Avengers 2.5" with the fact that this focuses more on the Avengers than just Captain America alone. The benefit to that? It brings in all the characters we've been familiar with so far (sans Thor and Hulk) and introduces a few new ones, doing it in a shockingly and beneficially concise way. After Age of Ultron introduced so many new plot threads and Batman v Superman did such a rushed job of establishing a superhero battle in a single DC movie, some may have been scared that this movie would be bogged with so many characters and subplots that no one would be able to keep track of. Many a YouTube user would joke that in an alternate reality, this would have been the second MCU movie ever and caused that shared universe to fail spectacularly while DC thrived. Lucky for us Marvel fans, we live in a world where the MCU's masterful character and worldbuilding paid off in a great way here by carefully crafting the universe over time and this ended up being a great checkpoint and start to Phase 3 because we as fans cared. We have, first off, the continuation of Captain America and Bucky from The Winter Soldier, the advancement of Iron Man's arc post-Age of Ultron, characters like Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany) getting attention and developing after said movie, the introduction of Black Panther, the introduction of MCU Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and the villain, Zemo's, plot to manipulate the situation. The rest such as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Rhodey/War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) only exist as side characters and assistants to the opposing sides, allowing the main arcs a streamlined focus and clear goal toward the climax. And the best part? It continued the Captain America trilogy's effective use of twists to enhance the climax tenfold! HYDRA being reborn through S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Winter Soldier may have been the biggest earth-shattering twist of the MCU at the time, but I'd argue that Bucky being brainwashed into killing Tony's parents back in 1991 was more effective and personal for the characters. For one, it incited Tony's rage against both Cap and Bucky that Cap knew what happened and that Bucky was the one who was forced into carrying out the deed. This led to, in my opinion, the most personal and emotional final battle the MCU had up to that point because the heroes were not fighting a powerful villain; they were fighting each other for different personal and ideological reasons. That's the kind of cinematic universe building that pays off when you realize that Tony wasn't even that fond of Steve back in The Avengers.
The actors have also done a great job as they usually do; Chris Evans is, once again, playing Captain America as an idealized soldier out of time who goes against the system with the realization that they're trying to control him. He doesn't have nearly as many quotable lines as previous movies, but my favorite callback would have to be the final battle when Tony says, "Stand down, final warning," to which Cap's response is his catchphrase, "I could do this all day." Opposite Chris Evans is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and his acting excels in this movie; he is still his snarky, egotistical self, but here he has genuine moments of emotional explosion due to the situation, especially when Zemo triggers him for the final battle with the revelation of Tony's parents. Having him continue off of his arc from Age of Ultron was the right move, especially considering the side he takes when the woman at the beginning calls him out for the fact that her son is dead because of his and the Avengers' actions. Sebastian Stan is still a great Bucky Barnes and the fact that the plot focuses more on the Winter Soldier and he doesn't have a mask at all here allows his acting and facial expressions to really shine here. When being controlled by the trigger words that scramble his brain, the way he's scrunching his face gives me the feeling that he is someone who hates what he's been transformed into, hence his resolve to hide out in Wakanda in the end. Speaking of Wakanda, Chadwick Boseman (RIP) was an excellent addition to the cast as T'Challa/Black Panther; it is well known now that he undertook his role while battling colon cancer his last few years and the acting he displayed here for the first time shows that he was born for the role. His dutiful attitude shows in his only interaction with his father because he's there not out of a sense of diplomacy, but out of obligation to appear good in public. Though he lacks facial acting behind the Black Panther mask for most of the action scenes, the way he vengefully goes after the Winter Soldier throughout gives me the sense that his character was acting in self-interest before realizing his mistake after hearing Zemo's story. Boseman continued to be a great actor in this role up until his death and this movie landmarked why he was born to play it.
And who could forget Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo? Before he became a meme in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he was, in my opinion, the most unique MCU villain at the time in the sense that he was just a guy trying to manipulate the situation to his own self-interest of tearing the Avengers apart. While many would be compelled to hate him for his methods, by the end, you'd likely empathize or sympathize with him for losing his family and the somber facial expressions that Brühl has when listening to his wife's voicemails really show that he is less of an egotistical maniac and more of a man acting in self-interest. The fact that he was the first major villain besides Loki to survive his first appearance made his role refreshing and it gave us the return of a great actor and a great meme when the MCU went to streaming shows, which is part of why this movie is so unique. The returning major and minor characters such as Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye are what MCU fans would expect of the characters and the little roles they're given allow their acting to shine amidst the ensemble. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda and Paul Bettany as Vision are especially standouts because their chemistry has evolved since the last movie, displaying the love they've had for each other since the comics and, outside of Vision, Wanda has such a great arc as the inadvertent cause of the civil war and learning to overcome her fears of what people may think of her. Elizabeth Olsen's shocked expression after Wanda accidentally blows up Crossbones near a building in the beginning makes you feel for Wanda and the near-uncontrollable nature of her powers. And, for me, the introduction of Tom Holland as MCU Spider-Man was the most welcome addition to the saga; Tom continues to play the role to this day and him being so young, talkative, and enthusiastic about his role in the civil war and his need to impress Mr. Stark really shows here even behind the Spider-Man mask. I was initially off-put by Tom sounding way more higher pitched and like a kid than previous live action and animated Spider-Men, but after the many movies he's had and been present in for the MCU saga, I've come to recognize that it fits this version of the character more than even Spider-Man fans would have accepted initially. It is this introduction and the delivery that Tom has consistently performed across the MCU since his debut that make him unironically my favorite live action Spider-Man as he plays both the Peter Parker side and the Spider-Man side with great accuracy for a modern take on the character.
As with other Captain America and MCU movies, the action is just as much of a highlight as the plotting and acting; the opening battle with Cap, Falcon, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch intercepting Crossbones has all the components of a well-executed action scene. There's practical action with Cap and Black Widow fighting bad guys and Crossbones himself, Falcon using his tech to fly around and blow up bad guys, and Wanda making use of her fantastical magic to contain hazards such as the gas and Crossbones' explosion. An underrated action scene, in my opinion, is the chase scene in Bucharest with Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Cap all chasing each other; it begins with more practical action of Cap and Bucky detaining bad guys in the apartment with Cap trying to discourage Bucky from actually killing anybody, the two even working together to contain threats such as the flashbangs and grenades that are thrown into the apartment at first. Only when Black Panther shows up upon them escaping the apartment does the adrenaline really kick in; one of my favorite shots of this scene is Bucky, Panther, and Cap running at superhuman speeds after each other through the tunnel as a shaky cam attempts to focus on each of them. This has been a highlight of Captain America's action scenes and really capture the realism and seriousness of the situation as Black Panther pursues his father's alleged killer while Cap pursues to protect his friend. And the motorcycle and vehicle action is the cherry on top that makes this still a grounded piece of MCU action scene art -- still no Winter Soldier highway fight, but it works really well. The Winter Soldier compound battle also is a great scene with the majority of heroes there ganging up on him; between Iron Man only using a small piece of repulsor ray tech to go toe-to-toe with Bucky and Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) and Black Widow ganging up on him as a pseudo women combat duo, I feel like this scene goes largely underappreciated for little touches like that. And I can only imagine that when Cap caught up to Bucky escaping in the helicopter before bringing it down with his muscles alone that a majority of women were swooning and Chris Evans' muscle flexing. And then, of course, there's the title fight at the Leipzig/Halle Airport; this was home to the trailer shots of the movie as the hero teams were assembling and charging at each other, clashing in the middle with their various powers and tech. Outside of that, it combines various animated superpowers with Iron Man and War Machine flying around in their iconic suits and using their tech to defend themselves, Wanda using her telekinetic powers to throw objects and people around, Spider-Man in action for the first time in the MCU as he chases down Falcon and Winter Soldier, and later Vision using his superpowers to join in on the action. It was such a dynamic action scene all around, giving fans the biggest superhero vs. superhero fights in the saga as well as me as an excited Spider-Man fan getting to see Spidey interact with MCU heroes using his signature webs and acrobatics. Ant-Man growing into Giant-Man for the first time is also a highlight as he realistically lumbers around and thrashes slowly at people flying around him like he's King Kong -- Spidey webbing him up to trip him down as he make the Star Wars analogy to the AT-AT Walkers on Hoth was also a great cultural reference (soon after Disney came out with their first Star Wars movie for that matter). The final battle with Cap and Bucky vs. Iron Man was also a highlight as their fists and tech clashed and was very high stakes as I was nervous one of them may lose control and kill the other. Unlike the original Civil War comic book arc, Cap didn't die, but, in this movie's defense, he didn't need to. It wasn't trying to be Batman v Superman and it excelled where the theatrical version of that movie fumbled.
Another thing I will talk about is the impact this movie had on the MCU as a whole; I mentioned how Tony not liking Cap that much was convincingly set up as early as The Avengers. This was a good setup when it could have been that he likes him at first and then grows jealous over time, but they dodged that cliché with Tony's upbringing. We also have the underrated moment of Peggy Carter's funeral, which, for Cap, symbolizes the supposed death of his old life at this point in the timeline. Us superfans know full well that turned around in Avengers: Endgame, but at the time, we really felt for Cap and his life of regret after thawing from the ice and fearing he would never get to dance with Peggy ever. Seeing as Sharon Carter was Peggy's niece and Cap became Peggy's husband in that alternate timeline, however, in hindsight it's weird that Cap and Agent 13 had that small romantic subplot and kiss in the middle. I found it to be inconsequential at worst when the movie was first out, but now I'm with the majority of MCU fans in saying it wasn't needed in the long run. The main highlight, however, is the Civil War itself and its ripple effect it had through the remainder of the Infinity Saga and beyond. For starters, the Avengers fracturing into different sides is severely felt by Infinity War; they were not assembled well enough to counter Thanos and thus what happened in that movie happened -- no spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it. There are a number of factors that led to what happened, but I figure the Avengers' civil war is the main reason. That said, this is where Wanda and Vision's love was tested before they ended up back together by Infinity War; after what became of Vision then in Infinity War, this was ultimately the seeds of what ended up becoming of Wanda herself in the ever-hyped WandaVision series and later Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In regards to the streaming shows, with where Zemo stood by the end of this movie and where Sam and Bucky stood by the end of Endgame led to what was, in my opinion, one of the better MCU streaming shows with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I mentioned the Zemo meme, but there were also significant arcs that those three got to show where their characters went beyond the retirement of Chris Evans' role as Cap. Even if you refuse to watch the later MCU stuff, everything for the characters we got to know in the first three phases is worthwhile and this movie is among many reasons why.
So there you have it; apart from a minor thing or two, Captain America: Civil War is a fantastic movie that both culminated parts of the MCU and started a few other plot points. It had shockingly concise plotting and character, great actors from the MCU regulars and newcomers, great and stellar action scenes, and it made the MCU that much more exciting going forward. The Cap movies were always some of the best parts of the MCU -- including the first one arguably -- and therefore I never doubted that this movie could succeed in bringing to life one of the most significant Marvel arcs of the 21st century. It doesn't have Spidey revealing his secret identity to the world or Cap dying like in the comic version, but, honestly, the MCU didn't need to be the comics and it still doesn't. Part of what makes the MCU so unique and the landmark template for shared universes was the humanity it brought to the characters from their heroic origins all the way to their conclusions. This movie was an example of how to build the chemistry and dynamics over time so that it reaches a significant climax in the form of the heroes turning against each other and the landmark team fracturing in essence to make way for higher stakes later. The fact that Sony and Disney made a deal to introduce Spider-Man into this universe starting with this film also made me more than excited and I'm glad we live in the reality where it happened. If that deal never happened, I honestly don't know how much more emotional things could have gotten for characters like Tony Stark going forward and I'm excited to talk about it later. With that, I give Captain America: Civil War a solid A and recommend it to the Marvel diehards, fans of the MCU up to this point, and people dying for a good example of how shared movie universes can work.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
One of the most well-recieved Marvel movies despite the size of its cast, I still hold this movie in high regard because, by this point in the MCU timeline, I fully cared about all the characters.
Released in 2016 (10 years ago, can you believe it?!), Captain America: Civil War serves as the third and final film of the Chris Evans Captain America movies and is a condensed adaptation of one of the most significant Marvel arcs of the 21st century. By this point, the MCU had grown so well that it was critically and financially well-received, perhaps one of the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever had at the time and since. Hardcores may have been disappointed that Disney didn't have all the rights to to include all the superheroes back then, but the casuals? Plenty of them were already invested in the franchise for this conflict to land and I already knew and met many fans who were picking sides with Team Captain America vs. Team Iron Man. This was a great sign for the MCU at the time as it showed that it drew quite a crowd for most films such as this to be considered an event the world over. And me? I was among many of the hardcore fans who did my research on the original stories from the comics to brush up on what I needed to know in time for the events and story arcs I didn't know going in; and, boy, was it worth the effort! I wasn't like the hardcore nerds who expected the comics to leap onto the screen, rather I was content with what we had given the more limited, but positively streamlined cast the MCU movies had at the time compared the the comics. That said, Captain America: Civil War still stands as one of the greatest of the MCU to this very day as it set up a lot of the stakes for the then-upcoming arcs of Avengers: Infinity War and the then-untitled Avengers: Endgame as we eagerly anticipated the climax of where this universe was going at the time. With years of effort and investment already put in by the creators and the fans of the franchise, it was no wonder that the MCU continued to do well throughout Phase 3 starting with this movie; critics and fans generally loved it and, for my reviews, this has been one of my most anticipated rewatches given that it reminds me of when I was most certainly a diehard MCU fan along with many others. (Not that I dislike Marvel now, but I haven't invested nearly enough time into it as I once did.) Even so, I will ask what I always do: does the film deserve any criticism, if at all? Let's equip our Captain America shields, choose our superhero team, and battle our way into the blockbuster that is Captain America: Civil War!
*SPOILERS FOR A 10 YEAR OLD MOVIE* (but feel free to read on if you don't care)
The story starts off about 2 years after Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 1 year after Avengers: Age of Ultron; in it, Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) has assembled a small team of Avengers to track and take down Brock Rumlow/Crossbones (Frank Grillo) as he and his task force try to steal a biological weapon. Though Cap gets Rumlow on the ropes, he hesitates when Rumlow mentions "Bucky", allowing him to take himself out with an explosive vest. Amongst Cap's team, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) telekinetically contains the explosion and tries to divert it, but ends up blowing up part of a hospital building. The attack is reported to have killed 11 Wakandan humanitarian workers, prompting a visit from the U.S. Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt). After explaining that the actions of superheroes in the past have inadvertantly caused more deaths than they realize, Ross presents them the UN's solution of the Sokovia Accords, which will put the Avengers under their supervision and control. Several side with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who believes this is the right move while Steve, trusting his own judgment, declines to sign, with others joining him. Meanwhile, Colonel Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) is searching for the activation words for the brainwashing of James "Bucky" Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Cap's childhood friend and former comrade who went missing after the last movie. Using the situation to his advantage, Zemo frames Bucky for a UN bombing in Vienna where the Accords would be ratified, an act which kills King T'Chaka (John Kani) of Wakanda, the father of T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). With T'Challa set on a vengeance quest against Bucky and the world out to get him, Steve intervenes to protect Bucky and help him remember who he is; Steve and Bucky are arrested when Zemo infiltrates their compound disguised as a psychiatrist, using it as an opportunity to reactivate the Winter Soldier brainwashing and cause more havoc to his advantage. With Tony and Steve at a disagreement and Steve learning of the existence of other Winter Soldiers in Siberia, the two assemble a team of superheroes against the Accords in order to get to Siberia with Tony's team of superheroes for the Accords intervening. The resulting battle has the Avengers clashing with collateral damage on both sides. What Zemo has prepared for Steve, Tony, and Bucky in Siberia, however, may fracture the team permanently.
Right there, the plot is much more concise than one might expect; people have nicknamed this movie "Avengers 2.5" with the fact that this focuses more on the Avengers than just Captain America alone. The benefit to that? It brings in all the characters we've been familiar with so far (sans Thor and Hulk) and introduces a few new ones, doing it in a shockingly and beneficially concise way. After Age of Ultron introduced so many new plot threads and Batman v Superman did such a rushed job of establishing a superhero battle in a single DC movie, some may have been scared that this movie would be bogged with so many characters and subplots that no one would be able to keep track of. Many a YouTube user would joke that in an alternate reality, this would have been the second MCU movie ever and caused that shared universe to fail spectacularly while DC thrived. Lucky for us Marvel fans, we live in a world where the MCU's masterful character and worldbuilding paid off in a great way here by carefully crafting the universe over time and this ended up being a great checkpoint and start to Phase 3 because we as fans cared. We have, first off, the continuation of Captain America and Bucky from The Winter Soldier, the advancement of Iron Man's arc post-Age of Ultron, characters like Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany) getting attention and developing after said movie, the introduction of Black Panther, the introduction of MCU Spider-Man (Tom Holland), and the villain, Zemo's, plot to manipulate the situation. The rest such as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Rhodey/War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) only exist as side characters and assistants to the opposing sides, allowing the main arcs a streamlined focus and clear goal toward the climax. And the best part? It continued the Captain America trilogy's effective use of twists to enhance the climax tenfold! HYDRA being reborn through S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Winter Soldier may have been the biggest earth-shattering twist of the MCU at the time, but I'd argue that Bucky being brainwashed into killing Tony's parents back in 1991 was more effective and personal for the characters. For one, it incited Tony's rage against both Cap and Bucky that Cap knew what happened and that Bucky was the one who was forced into carrying out the deed. This led to, in my opinion, the most personal and emotional final battle the MCU had up to that point because the heroes were not fighting a powerful villain; they were fighting each other for different personal and ideological reasons. That's the kind of cinematic universe building that pays off when you realize that Tony wasn't even that fond of Steve back in The Avengers.
The actors have also done a great job as they usually do; Chris Evans is, once again, playing Captain America as an idealized soldier out of time who goes against the system with the realization that they're trying to control him. He doesn't have nearly as many quotable lines as previous movies, but my favorite callback would have to be the final battle when Tony says, "Stand down, final warning," to which Cap's response is his catchphrase, "I could do this all day." Opposite Chris Evans is Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and his acting excels in this movie; he is still his snarky, egotistical self, but here he has genuine moments of emotional explosion due to the situation, especially when Zemo triggers him for the final battle with the revelation of Tony's parents. Having him continue off of his arc from Age of Ultron was the right move, especially considering the side he takes when the woman at the beginning calls him out for the fact that her son is dead because of his and the Avengers' actions. Sebastian Stan is still a great Bucky Barnes and the fact that the plot focuses more on the Winter Soldier and he doesn't have a mask at all here allows his acting and facial expressions to really shine here. When being controlled by the trigger words that scramble his brain, the way he's scrunching his face gives me the feeling that he is someone who hates what he's been transformed into, hence his resolve to hide out in Wakanda in the end. Speaking of Wakanda, Chadwick Boseman (RIP) was an excellent addition to the cast as T'Challa/Black Panther; it is well known now that he undertook his role while battling colon cancer his last few years and the acting he displayed here for the first time shows that he was born for the role. His dutiful attitude shows in his only interaction with his father because he's there not out of a sense of diplomacy, but out of obligation to appear good in public. Though he lacks facial acting behind the Black Panther mask for most of the action scenes, the way he vengefully goes after the Winter Soldier throughout gives me the sense that his character was acting in self-interest before realizing his mistake after hearing Zemo's story. Boseman continued to be a great actor in this role up until his death and this movie landmarked why he was born to play it.
And who could forget Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo? Before he became a meme in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, he was, in my opinion, the most unique MCU villain at the time in the sense that he was just a guy trying to manipulate the situation to his own self-interest of tearing the Avengers apart. While many would be compelled to hate him for his methods, by the end, you'd likely empathize or sympathize with him for losing his family and the somber facial expressions that Brühl has when listening to his wife's voicemails really show that he is less of an egotistical maniac and more of a man acting in self-interest. The fact that he was the first major villain besides Loki to survive his first appearance made his role refreshing and it gave us the return of a great actor and a great meme when the MCU went to streaming shows, which is part of why this movie is so unique. The returning major and minor characters such as Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye are what MCU fans would expect of the characters and the little roles they're given allow their acting to shine amidst the ensemble. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda and Paul Bettany as Vision are especially standouts because their chemistry has evolved since the last movie, displaying the love they've had for each other since the comics and, outside of Vision, Wanda has such a great arc as the inadvertent cause of the civil war and learning to overcome her fears of what people may think of her. Elizabeth Olsen's shocked expression after Wanda accidentally blows up Crossbones near a building in the beginning makes you feel for Wanda and the near-uncontrollable nature of her powers. And, for me, the introduction of Tom Holland as MCU Spider-Man was the most welcome addition to the saga; Tom continues to play the role to this day and him being so young, talkative, and enthusiastic about his role in the civil war and his need to impress Mr. Stark really shows here even behind the Spider-Man mask. I was initially off-put by Tom sounding way more higher pitched and like a kid than previous live action and animated Spider-Men, but after the many movies he's had and been present in for the MCU saga, I've come to recognize that it fits this version of the character more than even Spider-Man fans would have accepted initially. It is this introduction and the delivery that Tom has consistently performed across the MCU since his debut that make him unironically my favorite live action Spider-Man as he plays both the Peter Parker side and the Spider-Man side with great accuracy for a modern take on the character.
As with other Captain America and MCU movies, the action is just as much of a highlight as the plotting and acting; the opening battle with Cap, Falcon, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch intercepting Crossbones has all the components of a well-executed action scene. There's practical action with Cap and Black Widow fighting bad guys and Crossbones himself, Falcon using his tech to fly around and blow up bad guys, and Wanda making use of her fantastical magic to contain hazards such as the gas and Crossbones' explosion. An underrated action scene, in my opinion, is the chase scene in Bucharest with Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Cap all chasing each other; it begins with more practical action of Cap and Bucky detaining bad guys in the apartment with Cap trying to discourage Bucky from actually killing anybody, the two even working together to contain threats such as the flashbangs and grenades that are thrown into the apartment at first. Only when Black Panther shows up upon them escaping the apartment does the adrenaline really kick in; one of my favorite shots of this scene is Bucky, Panther, and Cap running at superhuman speeds after each other through the tunnel as a shaky cam attempts to focus on each of them. This has been a highlight of Captain America's action scenes and really capture the realism and seriousness of the situation as Black Panther pursues his father's alleged killer while Cap pursues to protect his friend. And the motorcycle and vehicle action is the cherry on top that makes this still a grounded piece of MCU action scene art -- still no Winter Soldier highway fight, but it works really well. The Winter Soldier compound battle also is a great scene with the majority of heroes there ganging up on him; between Iron Man only using a small piece of repulsor ray tech to go toe-to-toe with Bucky and Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) and Black Widow ganging up on him as a pseudo women combat duo, I feel like this scene goes largely underappreciated for little touches like that. And I can only imagine that when Cap caught up to Bucky escaping in the helicopter before bringing it down with his muscles alone that a majority of women were swooning and Chris Evans' muscle flexing. And then, of course, there's the title fight at the Leipzig/Halle Airport; this was home to the trailer shots of the movie as the hero teams were assembling and charging at each other, clashing in the middle with their various powers and tech. Outside of that, it combines various animated superpowers with Iron Man and War Machine flying around in their iconic suits and using their tech to defend themselves, Wanda using her telekinetic powers to throw objects and people around, Spider-Man in action for the first time in the MCU as he chases down Falcon and Winter Soldier, and later Vision using his superpowers to join in on the action. It was such a dynamic action scene all around, giving fans the biggest superhero vs. superhero fights in the saga as well as me as an excited Spider-Man fan getting to see Spidey interact with MCU heroes using his signature webs and acrobatics. Ant-Man growing into Giant-Man for the first time is also a highlight as he realistically lumbers around and thrashes slowly at people flying around him like he's King Kong -- Spidey webbing him up to trip him down as he make the Star Wars analogy to the AT-AT Walkers on Hoth was also a great cultural reference (soon after Disney came out with their first Star Wars movie for that matter). The final battle with Cap and Bucky vs. Iron Man was also a highlight as their fists and tech clashed and was very high stakes as I was nervous one of them may lose control and kill the other. Unlike the original Civil War comic book arc, Cap didn't die, but, in this movie's defense, he didn't need to. It wasn't trying to be Batman v Superman and it excelled where the theatrical version of that movie fumbled.
Another thing I will talk about is the impact this movie had on the MCU as a whole; I mentioned how Tony not liking Cap that much was convincingly set up as early as The Avengers. This was a good setup when it could have been that he likes him at first and then grows jealous over time, but they dodged that cliché with Tony's upbringing. We also have the underrated moment of Peggy Carter's funeral, which, for Cap, symbolizes the supposed death of his old life at this point in the timeline. Us superfans know full well that turned around in Avengers: Endgame, but at the time, we really felt for Cap and his life of regret after thawing from the ice and fearing he would never get to dance with Peggy ever. Seeing as Sharon Carter was Peggy's niece and Cap became Peggy's husband in that alternate timeline, however, in hindsight it's weird that Cap and Agent 13 had that small romantic subplot and kiss in the middle. I found it to be inconsequential at worst when the movie was first out, but now I'm with the majority of MCU fans in saying it wasn't needed in the long run. The main highlight, however, is the Civil War itself and its ripple effect it had through the remainder of the Infinity Saga and beyond. For starters, the Avengers fracturing into different sides is severely felt by Infinity War; they were not assembled well enough to counter Thanos and thus what happened in that movie happened -- no spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it. There are a number of factors that led to what happened, but I figure the Avengers' civil war is the main reason. That said, this is where Wanda and Vision's love was tested before they ended up back together by Infinity War; after what became of Vision then in Infinity War, this was ultimately the seeds of what ended up becoming of Wanda herself in the ever-hyped WandaVision series and later Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In regards to the streaming shows, with where Zemo stood by the end of this movie and where Sam and Bucky stood by the end of Endgame led to what was, in my opinion, one of the better MCU streaming shows with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I mentioned the Zemo meme, but there were also significant arcs that those three got to show where their characters went beyond the retirement of Chris Evans' role as Cap. Even if you refuse to watch the later MCU stuff, everything for the characters we got to know in the first three phases is worthwhile and this movie is among many reasons why.
So there you have it; apart from a minor thing or two, Captain America: Civil War is a fantastic movie that both culminated parts of the MCU and started a few other plot points. It had shockingly concise plotting and character, great actors from the MCU regulars and newcomers, great and stellar action scenes, and it made the MCU that much more exciting going forward. The Cap movies were always some of the best parts of the MCU -- including the first one arguably -- and therefore I never doubted that this movie could succeed in bringing to life one of the most significant Marvel arcs of the 21st century. It doesn't have Spidey revealing his secret identity to the world or Cap dying like in the comic version, but, honestly, the MCU didn't need to be the comics and it still doesn't. Part of what makes the MCU so unique and the landmark template for shared universes was the humanity it brought to the characters from their heroic origins all the way to their conclusions. This movie was an example of how to build the chemistry and dynamics over time so that it reaches a significant climax in the form of the heroes turning against each other and the landmark team fracturing in essence to make way for higher stakes later. The fact that Sony and Disney made a deal to introduce Spider-Man into this universe starting with this film also made me more than excited and I'm glad we live in the reality where it happened. If that deal never happened, I honestly don't know how much more emotional things could have gotten for characters like Tony Stark going forward and I'm excited to talk about it later. With that, I give Captain America: Civil War a solid A and recommend it to the Marvel diehards, fans of the MCU up to this point, and people dying for a good example of how shared movie universes can work.
Thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next review!
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