Wow. Marvel just can't do any wrong, can they? They just keep pumping out one great superhero epic after another, and their latest, Captain America: Civil War just keeps up that trend.
I mean, we all know now that everyone raves about the airport battle. One of the biggest superhero throwdowns ever put to the big screen. Every hero on display gets to showcase their power. That's what I like about big ensembles like this that are down well...everyone has a role...no one seems extraneous.
So what causes the civil war? In the original comics, it was the Superhero Registration Act. Every hero had to register themselves with the government, disclose their true identity, and because a SHIELD operative. Cap felt it was a violation of civil liberties, Iron Man felt it was a necessary step to legitimize what they do. How they changed it for the movies. Based on all the collateral damage the Avengers have caused in their big screen outings, the UN drafts the Sokovia Accords, named for the fictional country that got the brunt of the damage in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In essence, it would turn the Avengers into a UN task force, only going where a special committee says they need to be. Iron Man goes along with it, feeling the guilt of all that collateral damage he's caused, and that oversight is needed. Cap refuses to, fearing it would turn the Avengers into a tool of shifting political tides.
And things spill over with the re-appearance of Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, Cap's old World War II sidekick who has also been turned into a supersoldier over the years, and brainwashed into becoming an elite HYDRA operative. Cap goes to find and try to reach out to his old friend but, because he never signed on to the Sokovia Accords, he's branded a rogue agent and Iron Man is set to bring him in. Our heroes start choosing sides, and before the long, the stage is set for that awesome airport battle.
And speaking of choosing sides, we get introduced to some new heroes here, and it does a much better job setting things up for the future of the franchise than the weird dream sequences in Avengers: Age of Ultron. We get introduced to the Black Panther (solo film in 2018!). When T'Chaka, the ruler of the African nation of Wakanda, is killed in a Winter Soldier attack, his son, T'Challa, dons the mantle of Black Panther to bring down Winter Soldier, thus joining Team Iron Man in the process. He really does become the heart and soul of the movie, with the central theme being how vengeance can corrupt the soul, and how he finally learns to walk away. Looking forward to his solo outing.
And Spider-Man. As Kevin Smith remarked on his podcast, how they were able to make us excited for a hero we've seen in 5 solo films before this is a miracle on Disney's part. How can his 20 minutes in this movie be the best Spider-Man film ever? Tom Holland, our new Spider-Man, is perfect. He nails that awkward teenage Peter Parker. He gets the wisecracking, talkative nature of Spider-Man in battle that's been missing in the previous films. It's just so perfect. His rebooted solo film is coming next year. [ADDENDUM: July 6, 2016: That's TOMORROW, by the time I post this!]
You'd think that Captain America would get lost in the shuffle, and yeah, he kind of does. This really is more like Avengers 2.5 at this point, but I don't care. We never though we'd see epic superhero team-ups like this at the movies, and here we are. Because they are getting so big, many online are starting to predict their implosion, but until then, let's just enjoy the ride.
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