Awesome Civil War Sticks the Landing

Finally! It took me a couple of weeks longer than I’d have liked, but I finally clocked in Captain America: Civil War – and yes, it’s utterly awesome, easily one of the best Marvel films since, well, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

 

Civil War is refreshingly Old School and restrained. The focus is much tighter than Age of Ultron,maintaining a deft balance between character and flat-out action. You’ve probably heard – as world-saving as their escapades have been, The Avengers tend to leave a lot of collatoral damage in their wake. In a crackerjack action sequence fighting newly minted nemesis Crossbones (Frank Grillo, from The Winter Soldier), a knee-jerk move to save a comrade results in a large-scale loss of life. The government (personified by William Hurt) decrees that The Avengers are more vigilantes than heroes. They need oversight – they need containment. Facing that mandate splits the group into two factions – Iron Man, who thinks you need to go along to get along, and Captain America – who distrusts everything about this submission to authority.

 

I won’t spoil the scene where Tony Stark is forced to look at the grief he’s caused, but the actor who confronts him makes the moment heartbreakingly superb. When it appears Cap’s old friend Bucky Barnes – The Winter Soldier – has had his assassin programming reawakened, Steve Rogers finds himself resisting the will of the world on multiple fronts.

 

Civil War features an enormous number of characters, but writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do a spectacular job of juggling the various perspectives and giving everyone numerous moments to shine. To top it all off, they introduce two new characters into the mix – Black Panther and Spider-man! Both get incredibly economical and convincing introductions and Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa (Panther) is a fierce and compelling presence plugged right into the plot. But Spider-man! Newcomer Tom Holland as Peter Parker is the awkward, mouthy teen we’ve always appreciated in the comics. Boom, these two are plugged seamlessly into The Avengers universe, and they’re a breath of fresh air. If anybody pales a bit in comparison, for me it was Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), who just seem a touch goofy, somehow. I found Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier way more compelling. Stan’s a great presence, and he’s dynamite here as a desperate loose canon. For me, his scenes are the best in the movie. 

 

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo a phenomenal job here. They’ve really taken the Marvel reins and the fact that they’re tackling the twin Infinity Warbehemoths is phenomenal news. They keep the focus and the conflict between our heroes. There’s no ridiculous over-sized villain from beyond, no titanic vehicles crashing to Earth. The third act is dynamite, but we don’t need the intervention of some monstrosity to get our fractured team to come together – the focus is on the conflict inherent among them. But those Russos! In what’s bound to be one of the action sequences of the year (and I’m spoiling nothing), get ready for the sequence of extreme antics at the Berlin airport. It’s a crowd-pleaser on every imaginable level.

 

Civil War never insults your intelligence, and it plays like a thriller. Downey, Evans, Stan and the rest do some terrific acting, and you’ll actually give a damn about the outcome and what’s at stake. Summer movie season is here, and Civil War ushers it in in high style.