I went to CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR for Spider-Man. I left very satisfied.
In the newest installment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers find themselves toe to toe against one another. And if you don’t know more about the plot than that, you’ve clearly been living in the DC Universe and have no desire to see this movie, so I’ll get right into what I liked and didn’t like about it.
If you’re on the way to the theater right now, go. It’s a very fun movie and you will enjoy it. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with its fair share of flaws (all of the MCU movies do), but it succeeds in being a fun night out at the movies. As you may have already read, CIVIL WAR kind of plays out like an excellent episode of a TV show. This is very accurate and makes perfect sense considering the MCU has become an intertwining TV series of its own. Unfortunately, this newest episode fails to wrap up and conclude even a single issue it creates. Gosh darn it! I guess we’ll just have to see the next one.
My other main complaint is the weak main villain. In a film called CIVIL WAR, you wouldn’t think there would need to be a stereotypical bad guy. After all, they should just be fighting each other. But for some reason, the filmmakers felt it was necessary to shoehorn in another bad guy to put everyone against each other. It didn’t feel natural and it was definitely unnecessary. He was easily the weakest part of the movie. Along with that, the movie takes quite some time to get going. At a runtime of just under 2 and a half hours this movie goes into some sections that felt much too long and dragged out. I kept asking myself when people were going to start beating each other up. Politics, conversations, and drama kept getting in the way. That’s not what I want! I want Captain America beating up Iron Man! AND I WANT SPIDER-MAN!
Thankfully I got all of those things, and they were amazing. When Team Iron Man and Team Captain America finally square off, it’s pure bliss. Honestly, it was the most fun action scene I’ve seen in years. There were so many superheroes running around, doing fun things, it was difficult not to forgive the movie for all of its faults. Spider-Man was everything 6 year old me could have asked for. He was so much fun and hysterical. He wasn’t whiny or a total rehash of previous Spider-Man incarnations. He felt new and unique and actually made me excited for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. The same is true for Black Panther. He was revealed in a very uncharacteristic way, but quickly became one of the most intriguing aspects of the film. However (and this is where the whole TV show argument comes in), we learn almost nothing about this character. We know who he is and why he’s upset, but if you want to know more show up to your theater in 2018! And of course, everyone else was as much fun as always. Ant-Man was better here than he was in his own movie, Scarlett Witch is starting to prove she’s the most powerful Avenger, and we even get a surprise return from a “classic” Avenger. But Tony Stark was more unlikable than ever. This harkens back to the fact that they had a weak and unnecessary villain. It felt like they were trying to make up for that and decided to have Stark be the source of some much-needed tension. I won’t go into further detail, but it’s very clear whose side the filmmakers expect you to be on.
So, all in all, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is an incredibly fun film that fails to resolve anything whatsoever. It introduces characters, young and old, that will bring a smile to your face but no peace to your mind. Spider-Man was everything I could have asked for and Black Panther was everything I never knew I wanted. If anything, the Civil War is pretty one-sided in regards to who is right and who is wrong, but really you’re just there to watch all of them beat each other up and boy is that fun.
4 out of 5 Stars
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – Dir. The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson,
Run Time: 2h 27m