Captain America: Civil War

There are times where you see a film and know that you'll never forget it. 

I'd argue that Marvel has a few of these under their belt already. 

Guardians of the Galaxy...

The Avengers...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier...

Now you can feel free to add one more to that list, quite possibly to the very top. Captain America: Civil War is not only another win for Marvel, it's their best movie to date. 

"What'd you say about my suit?"

To avoid any flame wars here, I'll remind my readers that I enjoyed Batman v Superman more that most, but it's impossible to ignore the issues that it had, specifically with plot and character motivations. At the risk of comparing these two films constantly throughout my review I'll just say this (and it's bound to piss a few off): Civil War does nearly every single thing better. Editing, plot logic, plot mapping, character motivations, action, humor, and world building -- they're all superior here. Keep in mind that Marvel has been at this a long time and DC has just started, but I figure I'd get that out of the way in order to focus on reviewing the actual film for the remaining paragraphs rather than comparing it.

Civil War picks up several months after the events of previous Marvel efforts such as Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Tony Stark is dealing with continued guilt of the aftermath of Avengers "rescues", mainly in Sokovia, while Cap and the new team are performing special ops missions around the world, often without any sanctions. After another mission goes awry, but yet still successful, the United Nations, and nearly every country in the world, wants the Avengers to sign the Sokovia Accords -- a piece of legislation that would make the Avengers a team only usable by the United Nations when and if they deemed it necessary. With the world requiring that each member sign these Accords, a riff in the group begins over the morality of the idea of being a restricted team run by men with agendas. On top of all this, The Winter Soldier has been identified as the culprit of a UN bombing and is being hunted, but Steve believes there's more to the story. 

Nerdgasm commence!!

Despite the fact that they can fly anywhere,
Stark and Rhodes still go the airport first

At this point, Marvel isn't caring too much about catching people up and I can definitely see how newcomers would be fairly lost. Is that a bad thing? I lean toward "no" because if Marvel spent time to catch everyone up in every movie these days it would be a 20 minute "Previously in Marvel" prologue. Civil War still does a great job though at making newcomers feel comfortable and I think the only real area where many could be lost are with regards to Hydra and who the Winter Soldier is. Aside from all that however, the story is fantastic, and definitely one of Marvel's most complex yet. It could have easily fallen apart or been overstuffed, and some may argue it is, but I found it to be incredibly well-managed with a trio of acts that each feel complete and well constructed. Furthermore, the character motivations in the film are so well thought out and understandable that I found myself flip flopping on my own opinions throughout. There were moments where I completely understood Cap's reasoning and supported it, but then Tony would present a strong counter point that was hard to disagree with. The film has a lack of coincidences and each decision is truly made from a logical standpoint. Given all that was going on in the film this impressed me greatly as the writers could have taken the easy way out in many instances but instead I felt like the script was given some deep, critical thinking and lines were only used when they served a greater purpose to explain a character's position. 

Now, all of this comes to a head in the much advertised airport scene. The scene feels as natural as it possibly can but there's still the obvious realization that it was created solely for entertainment purposes. Did they all need to fight? Probably not. You might think this is a complaint, and it very well might have been had this airport fight scene not been one of the best scenes I've ever seen in my entire movie-going career. Some may think that's an overstatement or me being over-dramatic. I don't care because for 15 solid minutes last night I was in movie-nerd nirvana with the biggest grin plastered on my face. It will be a movie magic moment that I remember for the rest of my life and it's an expert blend of insanely cool action, well-inserted humor, character interactions, and unique combinations of powers. I can't think of a single way that part of the film could have been any better other than hopelessly wishing that it never would have ended. If a single scene has ever sold an entire film I'd say that this airport scene is it. Luckily though it's surrounded by a film that's very nearly equally as impressive. 

"Buck...he doesn't want to dance off. Stand down."

My first call-out is the action because, much like The Winter Solider, the choreography of Civil War ranges from great to bats**t insane. Aside from a tad too much shaky-cam (that doesn't go too well with IMAX 3D) the hand-to-hand combat is impressive and absolutely brutal. Most importantly though, it's inventive. Superpowers/abilities aside, there was some serious thought put into how each of these characters fight. Black Widow twirls and flips around her foes, Cap uses some classic boxing moves with martial arts, and the Winter Soldier goes for power with hay-maker after hay-maker. The film serves as a launching point for Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and garners so much excitement for the character that his solo debut film in a couple years can't get here soon enough. His fighting is lightning quick and when up against The Winter Solider their fights are mesmerizing. The several chases throughout the film are fun too and even garnered a "OhhhhHHHHH f**k yeah!!" from this usually-quiet movie-goer when the Winter Soldier steals a moving motorcycle with one arm. Yes. It's exactly as cool as it sounds. 

One main takeaway: Black Panther
is going to be awesome

Aside from the copious amounts of action, all of which are thoughtfully unique and entertaining, this is really a character piece of heroes that we've come to love. As Marvel usually leans, the focus here is on the heroes as opposed to the villain who was once again fairly forgettable. Normally I'd give Marvel some flak for that because it's a constant annoyance of mine, but in this film it was warranted...the villains were supposed to be the Avengers. The film takes a critical and "realistic" look at their products of heroism. Sure many lives are saved, but innocent lives are also lost or ruined forever, buildings crumble in their wake, and, as Vision points out, these challenges have come to Earth because of them. It's a somewhat darker tone for Marvel, albeit a well managed one, and it leads to some interesting discussion between characters. We all love Iron Man. We all love Captain America. So who do you choose when they both have valid points? Both Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. have become the heavy hitters of the MCU and their performances here are poignant. I won't go so far as saying they're Oscar worthy, but let's be real: despite the fact that this is a comic-book film, there is real pain behind these characters fighting. This is real conflict. And they portray it fantastically. Other characters, while not as significant as these two, also do great. Scarlett Johansson is a pivotal character in this universe and she is strong here as a conflicted character just trying to keep the group together. As previously mentioned, Chadwick Boseman is superb as Black Panther and Paul Rudd entertains immensely during his short return as Ant-Man. Tom Holland is our new Spider-Man thanks to some wheeling and dealing between Marvel and Sony and the future has never looked so bright for the character. They essentially reboot his character in 5 minutes, and he quickly becomes a wise-cracking highlight of the film. In the airport scene, he's an absolute treat and it appears that Holland was the perfect choice. All others that I haven't mentioned perform their roles well and I have no complaints other than Elizabeth Olsen's in-and-out accent. 

I had high expectations for Civil War and they were absolutely crushed in the best of ways. Marvel continues to astound me and I'm beginning to think they can do no wrong. Combining strong storytelling, utilizing the history and familiarity of the characters, amazing action, inventive choreography, and just a general sense of awe, Captain America: Civil War cements itself as one of the very best blockbusters I'm ever likely to see. The two and a half hours flew by without even a nary of a glance at my watch and I was entertained from the very beginning through the very end of the credits. That airport scene is aiming to be my main highlight of 2016, but I'd be foolish to not recognize that the remaining minutes of the film are some of the best Marvel has made yet. Given how far along we are into the MCU, it amazes me that they're still producing them at a quality like this and the future remains bright as can be given that Anthony and Joe Russo (directors of this film) will also be in command of the next Avengers installments. 

I'm already excited for those but more so I'm just excited to see Civil War again, as quickly as possible. It's a watershed moment for the MCU. 

CONS:

• Another forgettable villain in Zemo
• A little too much shaky cam during hand-to-hand scenes
• Lacks a super compelling original score
• Elizabeth Olsen's on-again off-again accent
• Newcomers will be lost, especially with relation to The Winter Soldier and Hydra

PROS:

• A complex plot that effectively balances the intertwining stories of the Sokovia Accords and The Winter Solider. This is all managed well and is another great example of a film being strong on its own, but also building the world and overall plot considerably
• Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans give their best performances yet as Iron Man and Captain America, respectively. This is still very much Cap's film, but their struggle with each others opinions is well thought out and explained. There was a lot of thought given to why these two characters are doing what they're doing
• That. Airport. Scene. Doe. 
• Successfully manages a ton of characters all while effortlessly rebooting Spider-Man and introducing Black Panther. I don't know how they do it, but damn, Marvel! Impressive
• Other actors/actresses give strong performances. ScarJo is once again superb as Black Widow (probably her best performance in the MCU to date as well), Chadwick Boseman fits right in and establishes himself as a heavy hitter, and Tom Holland instantly makes about as positive of an impression as possible. If anything, it's obvious that the future is very bright for the MCU
• Action that just reeks of "cool". Hits come fast and hard. The choreography is on point. Foes are disposed of in inventive ways and there are several "Holy s**t!" moments
• Have I mentioned the airport scene yet? Because it's basically perfect
• Logically separated into three main acts that result in a logical conclusion. The main plot reveal is well planned out and implemented...giving credence to a lot of the conflict that follows
• Technically impressive with outstanding visuals, solid cinematography, and expert sound editing/mixing
• Some of the best laugh out loud moments the MCU has produced thus far
• Features really cool uses and combinations of powers between characters
• I found very close to every scene to be entertaining in some way and the blend of all these elements is impressive, creating a smart blockbuster that's as fun to watch as it is to think about

Rath's Review Score: 10/10 -- Instant Classic