Captain America: Civil War

Directed by: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Produced by: Kevin Feige
Screenplay by: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman
Running Time: 147 minutes
Synopsis: When a confrontation with an old foe results in a catastrophic accident the United Nataions, fronted by Thaddeus Ross, look to implement restrictions on The Avengers causing conflict within the group while an unknown enemy looks to utilise Hydra's brainwashing actions on The Winter Soldier to drive a further wedge between the heroes and potentially destroy The Avengers completely.
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It was never going to be easy for Marvel to adapt their iconic storyline of heroes vs heroes into a feature-length film. Even without the film rights being the way they are for certain characters the scope of the Civil War comic storyline is a headache to turn into a cohesive motion picture. It can also be argued that Marvel's track record with ensemble films leaves a lot to be desired, with their two Avengers films being fun and action-packed but characters reduced to quippy lines and a standout moment for each where they lay waste to a dispensable group of identical enemies or a throwdown with a soon-to-be brother in arms. With all that considered it's understandable to have reservations going into Captain America: Civil War, the thirteenth film in the Marvel Studios franchise, third film under the Captain America banner and first film in their "Phase Three" crop of films.

But it's not all doom and gloom. Steve Rodgers/Captain America has proven to be one of the more endearing characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a story arc starting in 2011's The First Avenger as a young man wanting to do his part for his country, building in 2014's The Winter Soldier as he starts to question his and his country's involvement in world affairs and culminating in this: 2016's Civil War where he must make a choice on where he stands and what his beliefs are. Fitting then that on the other side of that line is Tony Stark/Iron Man: the character that carried the MCU on his shoulders back in 2008 and who's story arc has continuously been someone wanting to do the right thing but ending up causing more harm than good each time.

Every time we see Tony in Marvel's non-Avengers films things seem to be a little bit worse for him and this time it's no different: he's alone and coming to terms with his actions from last year's Age of Ultron that resulted in multiple innocent lives lost. While Rodgers is still struggling to understand where he fits in the world, Stark has made his mind up already: he and all the other Avengers don't fit in this world and the only way they can carry on living in some form of peace is through being restricted by where they can go and what they can do. Harking back to Rodgers' conversation with Stanley Tucci's Abraham Erskine in 2011: he hates a bully and now the people he works with and tries to keep safe are bullying him on what he is and isn't allowed to do.

It's here where the film triumphs. While Marvel again struggle at adequately introducing characters and their relationships in this ensemble film other than just going "here's Hawkeye now, here's Ant-Man now, Scarlet Witch and Vision are a couple now", they take the time to delve into most of the characters' feelings regarding the MacGuffin of this feature, the Sokovia Accords, and how their initial beliefs are tested as the story progresses, making their change of heart by the end of the film or even their sticking to their original beliefs earned after seeing them struggle both physically and mentally over the duration of the feature. No character is better summed up by this than Chadwick Boseman's Prince T'Challa/Black Panther. From his initial introduction before he suits up we are invested in his side of the story and watch him go on a journey of self-discovery as the heroes he tries to hold accountable are left warring with each other.

When he does suit up it's a treat to watch, Anthony and Joe Russo once again directing the action with fluidity and sense of scale. From a claustrophobic car chase through Bucharest to the chaotic gang war in Leipzig and the emotionally-charged final confrontation in Siberia, each action set-piece is given restraint by the camera to allow us to watch the events unfold with cohesion. When something blows up we know where it's happening, who's involved and what the damage is. You'll be hard-pressed to find better action this year as Marvel continue to fine-tune their filmmaking style and give the audience what they want after paying attention to the criticisms of other studio's films and their filming of action.

It's not just in the action that the film excels either. It seems to almost be like a broken record at this point but once again, despite the heavy consequences and stakes at play here, Marvel may have also crafted their funniest film to date with the same kind of juvenile humour that was so effective in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy and 2015's Ant-Man. If you were a fan of that style of comedy you're treated to more of the same and there are several moments that easily have produced the largest and loudest response from audiences. The lines are quippy but are sewn into the fabric of the characters rather than characters speaking the Joss Whedon way even though they didn't in their own films and there are also the odd moments of college fratboy humour that, while certainly the easy option, work tremendously well.

That's not to say the film isn't without fault. Marvel, again playing the game of "just wait until the next film", seem to be more concerned with plugging the next film for certain characters rather than providing a full story for them here. There's a quick mention of Thor and Bruce Banner/Hulk in the same sentence that is clearly hinting towards the Thor: Ragnarok film coming out next year, and a certain wall crawler is introduced simply as a way to tease at what his own Marvel Studios worked-on film next year will be like. While his input into the big money shot fight of the film is welcomed and well executed, once the battle is over Stark turns to him to effectively say "you're done", never to be seen again in the film despite the other characters seen to suffer the consequences of their actions. Clearly working to the whim of Sony that there needs to be an individual film next year there isn't the room to give the character the proper treatment as he was given in the comic's story, and the immensely positive reaction from the crowd when the words come up that he will return proves that, while not the most pleasant of ways to do business, the Marvel formula is working.

It's also a shame that probably the most underdeveloped character in the whole film, apart from the almost pointless inclusion of Martin Freeman as Everett Ross is Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo as Zemo is probably the most compelling antagonist to date in the MCU since Tom Hiddleston's Loki, no force to go toe-to-toe with the Avengers and so doesn't, instead working in the shadows to defeat them. While his motivations are easy to understand as it's been a running theme throughout the film with how the world regard the Avengers, it's never really explained what his actual beef is, hinting at a special ops background but then not furthering this and his plot not making a whole lot of sense as there is twist upon twist upon twist until finally coming to the end where he reveals his plan all along and makes you wonder why there was this whole elaborate game of mousetrap to get to this point.

It's a final bone of contention that many audience members starting to get a little disillusioned with Marvel will pick up on that despite all of the action and real world stakes taking place there are no more devastating consequences that happen over the course of the film. A character is introduced early on as a means to be killed off later to spark the whole plot of the film and proves to be only one of a couple moments where things get real for our heroes. While we don't expect to be given scenes closer resembling Saving Private Ryan, it would be nice to think that our heroes are vulnerable instead of the seemingly bulletproof gods they have become. It's also not out of the realms of possibility that at least one of the characters that do in fact snuff it in this film will actually come back again in some form or another as we're left to think maybe Marvel will never stick to the permanent end of a character besides those that feature in their heroes' origin stories.

It seems that Marvel will continue to tease their Infinity War and maybe that will be the point where they start to take real chances with their characters, but at this point even that seems to be a big "maybe". What we're left with is a film that's more of the same but does seem to sew the seeds that Marvel Studios are learning and progressing. This is the first film that can truly be classed as a successful ensemble film and while the action and storylines are bettered so too is the humour. After three-to-four appearances in non-Avengers films we have seen the progression of character for several of the "Phase One" heroes and it bodes well for the futures of their heroes introduced in "Phase Two" and here. If Marvel can continue to put out films of this high quality it shouldn't be something to look on with disdain and in terms of starting the next crop of Marvel films up to and including 2019 it's a pretty damn good way to start.
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Verdict: 4/5
While feeling its length an undoubtedly will be called out for Marvel again not taking risks the sheer number of balls being juggled here are effectively handled with each hero not just having a chance to shine but, despite not all having explained entrances, each have a peg in the story that's followed through and a climax that follows the iconic brawl midway through for an emotionally charged final confrontation.