'Captain America: Civil War' - It's a new dawn for the Marvel Universe
These days, superhero movies are coming out on a weekly basis, even for a comic nerd from way back like me, it's starting to get a little exhausting. But then something happens to shake everything up. Just like in the comic book world, just when Marvel Comics (the print versions) needing some shake-up, the creative geniuses came up with the Civil Wars concept. Pitting some of their most major figures against each other in a moral fight of liberty versus control & consensus, the Marvel Comic Universe was recreated and resurrected. Had not 'Civil Wars' come along and boosted the popularity as well as upped the game of the Marvel Comics, I doubt we would have even seen Marvel Studios come to bear and be so popular.
So far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all has lead up to this next 'fork in the road' for our heroes. Unlike the snooze fest that was 'Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice', which shared a similar theme of government control of superhumans, Marvel (as it does in the print world) is able to deftly weave story, pathos and action into a very integrated tale that is neither boring or too filled with action.
Directors Anthony & Joe Russo (who also directed 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier') along with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do an excellent job of making Civil War a seamless continuation of Winter Soldier and 'The Avengers Age of Ultron'. While you don't necessarily have to see the films in order to be caught up in Civil War, it does help. They also do a great job of weaving the other Marvel Studio films in as well, helping to keep the Marvel Cinematic Universe tied together very neatly. No small feat consider the gaps in release dates these days!
At 2 1/2 hours, there is a lot of story to tell in addition to some very amazing action sequences. I won't reveal too much (I know people are rolling their eyes at this point) but after a particularly devastating mission by Captain America & friends, that leads to some loss of human life, the governments of the world get together and propose a resolution that will only allow The Avengers to act when given permission. This type of oversight does not sit well with Captain America (played perfectly, once again by Chris Evans) and he is resistant. On the other hand, Iron Man/Tony Stark (the equally perfect Robert Downey Jr.) racked with guilt over the loss of life during the Ultron debacle (you may recall, Stark created Ultron) sides with the government. The battle lines are drawn as the Winter Soldier/Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is framed for a terrorist bombing that is the catalyst for the civil war.
Heroes like War Machine/James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and Vision (Paul Bettany) side with Stark, while others Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), firmly align themselves with Captain America. With the always fascinating Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson, who I am hoping gets a solo film soon) caught in the middle, both Stark and Cap recruit new heroes to their side. We are introduced to the new Spiderman (Tom Holland) who steals the show every scene he is in, and the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) who will be in a solo film later this year, for Starks Team. The always entertaining Paul Rudd as Ant-Man joins forces with the Captain.
A powerful line up of heroes portrayed by actors that deliver a powerful story mixed with the Marvel humor, depth and action. The combination is top notch and sets the bar pretty high for the next level of Marvel films and super hero films as a whole. A genre that was quickly becoming stale has been reinvigorated with this A+ effort that is best seen on a 3D IMAX screen. Well worth the extra charge as well as repeated viewings!