Thoughts on Captain America: Civil War

Entry posted by Toa Smoke Monster May 10, 2016

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The following contains my thoughts on Marvel's latest film, Captain America: Civil War. It does contain spoilers about the film, which is why it is in spoiler tags. So read at your own risk if you haven't seen it yet.

1. The central conflict in this movie, that the Avengers should submit to a higher authority AKA the United Nations, was handled really well here. Both sides of the argument are given time to express their views, and both have good and bad points. Steve/Captain America believes that the Avengers shouldn't be told what to do, as they might be prevented from handling a situation that needs them. Tony/Iron Man, on the other hand, thinks that they should submit themselves to that they don't become like the villains they face. Neither one is completely right or wrong in this situation, which makes for some interesting conversations throughout the movie.

2. The aftermath from the events at the end of Age of Ultron play a big part in this movie, which I like a lot. There should be consequences from Sokovia being destroyed, and we do see them play out here. There is also a LOT of references to the previous Marvel movies. Along with Age of Ultron, there are mentions of events from the first Iron Man, Iron Man 3, the first Avengers movie, both Captain America movies, and Ant-Man. It won't hurt to know your Marvel history before seeing this movie.

3. The movie does a good job of explaining why Tony would support the Sokovia Accords and does some of the things he does in the movie. You may not agree with some of his actions, but at least you understand why he is doing them.

4. With everything going on in this movie, one could forget that this is a Captain America movie. But the movie does stay focused on him and his friendship with Bucky/The Winter Soldier. It is really cool to see together throughout the film.

5. I've seen a lot of people say that Spider Man is the best thing about this movie. While I wouldn't say that I agree with him, I do think he is great in this movie. Tom Holland does a great job playing the popular hero in this movie. He has some great one liners and has some cool action scenes as well. I look forward to seeing him again in the next Spider Man movie coming out next year.

6. Black Panther is also great in this movie. Chadwick Boseman does a great job with his performance of the character. He has a pretty decent arc in the story, and his action scenes against his foes are really cool too. He also stands out because he doesn't say any jokes or one liners. He is a serious character, which is cool for him IMO. I can't wait to see more of him in the Black Panther movie coming out in 2018.

7. I also felt that James Rhodes/War Machine had some really good action scenes in the movie too. This is the most we've seen War Machine in action since Iron Man 2 IMO, and its really cool to see him get some more time to shine in a Marvel movie.

8. With so many characters in this movie, some were bound to get smaller roles than others. In particular, I felt that Hawkeye, Ant-Man, and even to a lesser extend Spider Man, were given slightly more than cameo roles. While it would've been cool to see more of them here, I do understand why there roles would've been smaller than the others. And besides, Ant-Man and Spider Man have their own movies, and Hawkeye got some decent development in Age of Ultron. So I'm not too upset about it.

9. The big battle at the airport is the highlight of the movie. With two teams of heroes, each with six members, fighting each other, there was bound to some great fights here, and the movie delivers on this greatly. Everyone involved gets some time to shine. Especially Ant-Man, who steals the show midway through the battle. Its an amazing action sequence that is definitely go down as one of Marvel's best cinematic moments.

10. As with every villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that isn't named Loki or Thanos, the villain of this movie, Zemo, isn't really fleshed out a lot. The actor does a good job with what he is given to do, but you really don't feel anything for him by the time the movie ends. That could arguably be said for a lot of Marvel's villains, and it is one complaint I do have with these films in general. That being said, I think in this particular case it works out. This movie, at its core, is about the conflict within the Avengers team. Zemo simply helps to push them to the point where they would come to blows. And besides, he is still alive at the end of the movie, so he could return one day and get more development then.

11. The final battle in the film is an emotional one. It's not as grand as the airport battle, but it doesn't need to be, as we see Captain America and Iron Man fight each other in a cool yet tragic battle. Zemo's plan to get them to that point is a little far fetched IMO, and it would one of my only complaints about Civil War. But the end result is worth it, as we see these two fight over the fate of the Winter Soldier. And I like that this conflict wasn't resolved at the end of the movie. It's ends with Steve presumably in hiding, but still letting Tony know that he will come to his aid if he needs him.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I liked the more serious tone it had, as well as the questions it asked about who the Avengers answer to when they made a mistake. It avoids the mistakes of previous comic book movies of having too many characters in it by properly balancing time between each of them. It's a great movie that I'm definitely going to see multiple times in the theater.

Thanks for reading! Did you guys like the movie?