Cast:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain AmericaRobert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon
Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes / War Machine
Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther
Paul Bettany as Vision
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter
Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones
William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross
Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo
Additionally, John Slattery and Kerry Condon reprise their roles as Howard Stark and F.R.I.D.A.Y. from previous MCU films.Martin Freeman is introduced as Everett K. Ross, a member of the Joint Counter Terrorism Center and a character associated with Black Panther in the comics. Alfre Woodard, who portrays Mariah Dillard in the MCU TV series Luke Cage, appears in the film as Miriam Sharpe, the mother of an American citizen killed in the battle of Sokovia. Marisa Tomei appears as May Parker, John Kani appears as T'Chaka, Hope Davis appears as Maria Stark, and Gene Farber appears as Vasily Karpov. Jim Rash appears as a faculty member at MIT, while Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a FedEx delivery person, and co-director Joe Russo cameos as Theo Broussard, the real doctor meant to diagnose Bucky. Damion Poitier, who appeared as Thanos in The Avengers before the casting of Josh Brolin, appears as one of Crossbones' mercenaries.
The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
Approximately one year after Ultron's defeat in Sokovia at the hands of the Avengers, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff stop Brock Rumlow from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. Rumlow blows himself up to avoid capture. Maximoff tries to displace the blast into the sky with telekinesis, but it destroys a nearby building, killing a number of Wakandan humanitarian workers.
At the team's headquarters, U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross informs the team that the United Nations (UN) are preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will establish a UN panel to oversee and control the Avengers. The team is divided: Tony Stark supports oversight because he feels responsible for Ultron's creation and Sokovia's destruction, while Rogers has more faith in his own judgment than that of the government.
At the conference in Vienna where the Accords are to be ratified, a bomb kills King T'Chaka of Wakanda. Security footage indicates the bomber is Barnes, who T'Chaka's son, T'Challa, vows to kill. After being informed by Sharon Carter of Barnes' whereabouts and the government's orders to kill him on sight, Rogers decides to apprehend his old friend himself. Rogers and Wilson track Barnes to his hideout in Bucharest just before it is raided. As Barnes and Rogers escape, they are chased by T'Challa but are all eventually cornered and arrested.
Helmut Zemo tracks down and kills Barnes' old Hydra handler and steals a book containing the trigger words that activate Barnes' brainwashing. Infiltrating the facility where Barnes is held, Zemo recites the words to make Barnes obey him. He questions Barnes, then sends him on a rampage to cover his own escape. Rogers stops Barnes and sneaks him away. When Barnes regains his senses, he explains that Zemo is the real Vienna bomber and that he is heading for the Siberian Hydra base, where other brainwashed super-soldiers are kept in cryogenic stasis.
Unable to wait for authorization to apprehend Zemo, Rogers and Wilson go rogue, and recruit Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Scott Lang to their cause. With Ross' permission, Stark assembles a team composed of Romanoff, T'Challa, James Rhodes, and Vision, as well as Peter Parker, to capture the renegades. Stark's team intercepts Rogers' team at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where they fight. Romanoff allows Rogers and Barnes to escape. The rest of Rogers' team is captured and detained at the Raft prison, while Rhodes is partially paralyzed after being inadvertently shot down by Vision, and Romanoff is forced to disappear.
Stark discovers evidence that Barnes was framed by Zemo and shows this evidence to Wilson, who gives him Rogers' destination. Without informing Ross, Stark goes to the Siberian Hydra facility and strikes a truce with Rogers and Barnes, unaware he was secretly followed by T'Challa. They discover that the other super-soldiers have been killed by Zemo, whose real goal was to turn the Avengers against each other in revenge for his family's death in Sokovia. He shows them footage he found in Hydra's archives which reveals that it was Stark's parents whom Barnes killed in 1991. Enraged to learn that Rogers was aware of this, Stark turns on Barnes. In the fight, Stark blasts off Barnes' robotic arm and Rogers disables Stark's armor. Rogers departs with Barnes and leaves his shield behind. Satisfied that he has irreparably fractured the Avengers, Zemo attempts suicide, but T'Challa apprehends him. In the aftermath, Stark provides Rhodes with exoskeletal leg braces to let him walk again, while Rogers breaks his comrades out of the Raft.
In a mid-credits scene, Barnes and Rogers flee to Wakanda, where T'Challa grants them asylum. Barnes chooses to return to cryogenic sleep until a cure for his brainwashing is found. In a post-credits scene, Parker tests a new gadget he received from Stark.
The Verdict:
Casting and Costumes
I'm fine with Spider-Man's costume after seeing it in action (despite some the extra funky minor details to it like the black holsters on his hips and the web-shooters visible on his wrists), but goddamn I have to get used to Tom Holland as Peter Parker. I'm guessing they want him to grow up into the role as Spider-Man but geez this kid is young. It bothers me even more that Aunt May is so young in this iteration, yet somehow James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) is sporting gray hair in this film. You guys can dye Robert Downey Jr.'s hair but not the black guy's? C'mon now, Marvel. I would've at least tried to touch that up in the editing/cutting room.
I have no problem with Black Panther's costume after seeing it up close, even though I miss the cape with it, but I'm sure that they will add that in his solo film. Chadwick Boseman did a stellar job in his MCU debut and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him going forward. I'm sure Florence Kasumba (the woman who stood between T'Challa and Black Widow with the "Move... or you WILL be moved" line) will be back in his solo film as well as someone has to be Okoye and the rest of T'Challa's personal Wakandan bodyguards, the dora milaje. For the record, I'm sure she would've whooped Black Widow's ass.
C'mon, T'Challa wasn't boasting when he said, "Let them come..." in the post-credits teaser. Wakanda's got better technology than Stark's cooked up and I'm sure that their best warriors would give just about any country's military force a run for their money. Just sayin'...
I have no problem with Black Panther's costume after seeing it up close, even though I miss the cape with it, but I'm sure that they will add that in his solo film. Chadwick Boseman did a stellar job in his MCU debut and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him going forward. I'm sure Florence Kasumba (the woman who stood between T'Challa and Black Widow with the "Move... or you WILL be moved" line) will be back in his solo film as well as someone has to be Okoye and the rest of T'Challa's personal Wakandan bodyguards, the dora milaje. For the record, I'm sure she would've whooped Black Widow's ass.
C'mon, T'Challa wasn't boasting when he said, "Let them come..." in the post-credits teaser. Wakanda's got better technology than Stark's cooked up and I'm sure that their best warriors would give just about any country's military force a run for their money. Just sayin'...
Narrative
The #1 thing that I was worried about going into this film was that it was going to be a confusing mess with so many Marvel heroes involved, especially after they announced that BOTH Spider-Man and Black Panther would be making their MCU debuts in this film. On top of that, information got out that both Brock Rumlow/Crossbones and Helmutt Zemo were confirmed in the casting news.I thought that Marvel Studios would be too preoccupied with appeasing Sony with their acquisition of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that the importance of Black Panther's impact in his cinematic debut would be completely diluted here. Instead, I was pleased to see that both heroes managed to carry their own weight here. Well, T'Challa carried more weight than Spider-Man, who just happened to be thrown into the mix out of pure coincidence.
I'm going to surprise some people in this review and say that Civil War is essentially Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. They are literally the same movie. The themes and premise are almost identical with heroes having to answer for the destruction that they cause and having to go toe-to-toe with their own after a disagreement. The only difference is that Civil War a MUCH more concise and coherent narrative. It's ironic too as there's a point about halfway into the film where the film almost goes into similar territory where the heroes are portrayed as idiots or uncharacteristic to how we have come to know them (i.e. Tony Stark acting uncharacteristically moronic to NOT look at the bigger picture of Bucky being framed just to keep the Avengers united and/or to atone for his sins from Age of Ultron), but pulls a complete 180 (Tony does his own detective work to deduce that what Cap and Widow were saying about Bucky being set up being actually true; something Batman should have done before he even jumped to the conclusion that killing Superman was the only “logical” answer to resolve anything) almost to mock DC's attempt to jump the gun on playing catch-up with them.
That’s not the only occasion where Marvel seems to make DC’s previously released film look like a bumbling buffoon. T’Challa/Black Panther was written into the film, to play the part as a peace keeper on both sides but was drawn into battle after the murder of his father, T’Chaka. Essentially, Diana/Wonder Woman’s part was relatively the same there, but got construed as a quest only to obtain a mere photograph – yet somehow she’s shoehorned into the film’s climax and major battle during the finale. Black Panther didn’t hog the spotlight here, instead he shared it and the writers here knew enough to pull back on the reins enough for just one character to look good when it was all said and done.
This isn't essential to the narrative, but I loved how this film went out of it's way to establish Falcon as a bad ass. His tech upgrades and the introduction of Redwing as his robotic pet instead of an actual bird of prey was much appreciated. In the comics, Falcon was essentially just as lame as Superfriends-era Aquaman. It wasn't until his modern iteration where Falcon was established as a stand-out hero and even earned enough respect from Steve Rogers to pass on the mantle of Captain America. Let's go over what he can do now in this version. Falcon can fly, but his wings double as bulletproof shielding and riot shields. He's packing semi-automatic pistols as well as rocket launchers in that flight pack. With Redwing, he has scouting and recon abilities, along with remote assistance capabilities. It may not seem much, but this puts him on equal footing as War Machine in aerial warfare. Plus, he has more mobility than Rhodes from what was proven in the airport battle. I thought it was strange that Redwing managed to catch Spider-Man off-guard without even triggering his Spider Sense, but I guess that's a discussion for another day...
Speaking of the airport battle, how freakin' awesome was that? Majority of the battle was almost entirety computer generated, but the same thing can be said about the finale of Batman vs. Superman. At least this didn't look straight up fake from start to finish. There's so much about that sequence that they did so well. From Spider-Man's antics to Scarlet Witch "schooling" Hawkeye about holding back to Ant-Man making his debut as Giant-Man, there was so much to enjoy in this battle.
Unlike most fans, I didn't walk away from the film wanting more as I felt the narrative served it's purpose. The Avengers have been operating on a false and shaky foundation since the first time they banded together and Captain America and Ironman have had differences of opinion since that point as well. This is situation that ends up being the straw that breaks the camel's back and puts them head to head. I'm sure more cynical comic book fans than myself will nit-pick about things in this film whereas it's not entirely true to the source material, but much like Age of Ultron, Civil War is based on that story mostly in name only. By this point, we're thirteen movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond to point to whine and complain that this isn't true enough to the comics whereas Marvel Studios have their feet firmly planted in the direction they want to go with this interpretation of the Marvel Universe.
To be honest, I felt that the Russo brothers gave us more than enough to digest. After watching the film about three times now over the past week, I'm still running across things that I didn't catch during the first screening. I'm going to try to touch base on as many themes that I have personally made notes about over the last few days.
Two major relationships were established or teased in this film. First of all, we have Vision and Scarlet Witch. As gross and bizarre as it sounds to casual fans, it's not a stretch at all as Wanda has even gone as far as having children with Vision in the comics. Yeah, let that one sink in for a moment... I don't know how old they are portraying Wanda to be in this film with how Cap and Hawkeye referring to her as a "kid", but that doesn't seem to be too much of an issue for a synthetic humanoid android in the infancy of his own creation to get his mack on. I thought it was a nice touch to explore the discovery of his own humanity be the thing that causes him to make his first mistake during the climax of the airport battle where he shot down War Machine on accident. Marvel was wish to establish this relationship now as these are two characters that will be major players in the MCU for the Infinity War and just about anything going forward after that.
Marvel even managed to plant the seeds of fear and lack of trust of
The second relationship that was explored in this film was between Sharon Carter (Agent 13) and Steve Rogers. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, they glossed over this situation to make the espionage plot the priority, but I have to say that no way that you slice it, it's pretty fucked up that they hook up mainly after the fact that Sharon reveals that she was Peggy Carter's niece. In the comics, she was originally Peggy's younger sister in the canon until she was retconned to be her niece. I'm still scratching my head on how that makes sense as Peggy mentions in season two of Agent Carter that her brother was killed before she decided to enlist in the military. The Agents of SHIELD tie-in reveals that Peggy was 95 when she died, so good grief that age difference between her and Cap has to be insane, even more so for Sharon and Cap. At first, I thought the film could have done without Sharon's involvement but I eventually warmed up to her character helping Cap out from within the CIA, whereas the rest of the Avengers allied with Ironman were working with the government.
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| That look when yo' boys know you just got your mack on... |
There's a sort of a third relationship between Ironman and his new AI companion, Friday, but I'm leaning towards the reasoning behind that as a sick joke as Stark made her rebellious to simulate a troubled relationship, akin to what is going on between him and Pepper Potts. The lack of Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in this film and Age of Ultron makes me wonder if Marvel Studios are considering of recasting her character like how they recast Don Cheadle as War Machine/James Rhodes. If not, I'm guessing Tony's distancing himself from Pepper to keep her safe from whatever trouble comes in the way of the Avengers on a regular basis.
I have to admit that this film had one major missed opportunity and it was the introduction of the Raft, that served as the maximum security prison specialized to house super-criminals and enhanced personnel. In this film, it was used to house the members of Captain America's team of Avengers that were captured after violating the Sokovian Accords. Instead of showing just the Avengers captured in this facility, I wished Marvel took the opportunity to show that not all of the super-villains introduced to this point of the MCU weren't completely disposable. HYDRA agents, Justin Hammer, the "fake" Mandarin, Klaw, and even more villains could have been shown in the cells if they actually took the opportunity to spend a few extra moments in this setting.
I had to forgive the Russo brothers for that oversight when T'Challa acted as the voice of the fans and prevented Zemo from killing himself during the films' climax, saving him from the fate of almost every noteworthy villain in this continuity to date. Zemo played the part of puppetmaster flawlessly here, while staying true to his namesake as a master strategist and tactican. The only "mistake" he made was leaving the clues and corpse in his hotel room but that was more than enough breadcumbs to lure Ironman to follow his trail while getting Cap and Bucky in the same place as well.
During my first screening of the film, I honestly didn't get why Ironman was so upset that the Winter Soldier was the one that killed his parents during his brainwashed phase (especially when Stark was the one to jokingly refer to him as the Manchurian Candidate mere minutes prior to that revelation), but during repeat screenings, it dawned upon me on why. Tony clearly didn't have much respect for his father until after his demise (Ironman 2 goes out of its way to hit this home for those who may have forgotten), but his heart was with his mother. I'm no psychiatrist, but that would explain his womanizing to make up for the void of his mother in his life. Then given the situation, anyone would be hysterical after that revelation. It really was rather confusing on how Cap knew about that fact without telling Tony, but it worked to served as a catalyst to drive Ironman over the edge as the final boss of sorts for this film.
That made a lot more sense than making Ironman, Captain America, and the Winter Soldier join forces like nothing really happened between them prior as a group of Superfriends against some cheap looking Lord of the Rings knock-off... Oh wait, wrong movie. Here, it could have been Zemo possibly leading a team of Winter Soldiers and that was another missed opportunity too. Imagine if there was more Winter Soldiers at Zemo or even HYDRA's disposal. To introduce them here and have nothing come from it was quite the bummer. I honestly can't help but think that there's more in store from this situation. Much like with Bucky frozen away in Wakanda, I can't help but think that Marvel Studios are going to return to this subject at a later date. For now, it was just a huge bummer to see nothing come out of that subplot other than the revelation of how Stark's parents were murdered. At least that was a vast improvement from the "random plane crash" from the comics...
References to Civil War Graphic Novel
The first one that comes to mind is the climatic finale to
the fight between Ironman and Captain America where Tony instructed Friday to
analyze Cap’s fighting style. This was a direct parallel to the comics where
Ironman informed Cap during their battle as Cap was fighting an losing effort
against him that his armor has been recording every punch that he ever made. To
the same effect, Tony was able to gain the upper hand here.
The Sokovian Accords was clever re-branding of the Superhero
Registration Act, but it served the same purpose, forcing powered individuals
to answer to the world’s governments. The MCU iteration just lacked the part
about exposing their identities even though the whole secret identity thing
doesn’t seem that much of an issue in this version of the Marvel Universe
outside of Spider-Man and Daredevil.
The Agents of SHIELD tie-in episode dwells upon the secret identity aspect more than this film has, but it seems to be focused more on Inhumans than all powered individuals as established in this film.
The Agents of SHIELD tie-in episode dwells upon the secret identity aspect more than this film has, but it seems to be focused more on Inhumans than all powered individuals as established in this film.
Spider-Man doesn’t change sides here nor we don’t have a
rampaging berserk clone of Thor killing fellow Avengers either. Regardless, Jim
Rhodes’ near-fatal fall from the skies was enough to somber the mood enough to
allow Cap and Bucky to get away after the airport battle. If anything, Black
Widow plays the part that Spider-Man did in the comics where he initially sides
with Tony 100% but has a change of heart after the events began to play out. Speaking of which, isn't it pretty damn awkward that we don't see anyone arrest her after clearly supporting Cap and Bucky's criminal acts?
Well, the next film in the timeline is Dr. Strange and I have to say after seeing this film, I honestly feel like we really don't need Dr. Strange at this point. I understand that Marvel are trying to stack the deck with heavy hitters for Infinity War Part 1 and 2, but think they could hold off introducing the good doctor until after this ordeal with Thanos is already dealt with. I welcome Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel getting solo films prior to that point, along with more Guardians of the Galaxy, but I personally don't see the point of doing Dr. Strange right now. Maybe he could be mentor to help train Scarlet Witch properly control her powers and tap into more of her potential.
The sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy is going to have to focus on the Cosmic Realm in that corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it's still rather unknown territory. A part of me wishes that Marvel Studios had the rights to the Silver Surfer for we could see things from his perspective as he journeyed throughout the endless ends of the universe. No offense to the Guardians, but this is one situation where it's hurting Marvel Studios not having their full deck to reference in setting up the Avengers' first encounter with the Mad Titan. Before anyone mentions it in the comments, I know the Surfer didn't meet Thanos until Thanos' second coming, but who cares? Marvel already changed up a lot of things already.
Since they obviously can't go that route, I have my fingers crossed that the Black Order are introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and we get to see Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Supergiant, and Ebony Maw make their live-action debuts. The Guardians don't have to beat them. Nah, save that for the Avengers meeting their match in Infinity War Part I and II.
I'm curious on how the Avengers are going to come together for the Infinity War as the next few movies have them on a path to splinter them off individually before dropping the bomb known as Thanos on them. I suppose it would make the writers' jobs easier to divide the Avengers up into small teams/groups/factions for that large scale narrative with so many characters to get some better interactivity going on between everyone. I rather Part I of the Infinity War focus on the B team of Avengers and Part II focus on the A team (no pun intended) of heavy hitters to get the job done when the B team gets in over their heads, then end with a strong note of everyone coming together to beat the big bad Thanos.
On a side note, I'm REALLY surprised no one hasn't made a "Make Mine Marvel" reference in these films by now...
Definitely watch it. After the colossal flop that was Batman v. Superman, comic book fans deserve a superhero grudge match with things laid out on the table in a coherent manner. Marvel Studios manage to deliver here on levels where Age of Ultron ultimately fell short, but at the end of the day, the Avengers are left in the same state that they found themselves at the end of that movie.
I can't really hold that against Marvel Studios as a negative as we all knew going in that the Avengers weren't going to hug it out and go back to normal like nothing happened. If you don't see anything else, you should at least watch the 14+ minute airport battle in it's entirety. That entire sequence is nothing short of marvelous - no pun intended. I haven't geeked out so much as a comic book fan since the Avengers team-up sequence in the original Avengers film,.
Whether you're a Marvel or DC fan, you can't deny that it's a great time to be a fan of superheroes, PERIOD.
Afterthoughts - Where Does Marvel Studios Go From Here?
Well, the next film in the timeline is Dr. Strange and I have to say after seeing this film, I honestly feel like we really don't need Dr. Strange at this point. I understand that Marvel are trying to stack the deck with heavy hitters for Infinity War Part 1 and 2, but think they could hold off introducing the good doctor until after this ordeal with Thanos is already dealt with. I welcome Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel getting solo films prior to that point, along with more Guardians of the Galaxy, but I personally don't see the point of doing Dr. Strange right now. Maybe he could be mentor to help train Scarlet Witch properly control her powers and tap into more of her potential.
The sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy is going to have to focus on the Cosmic Realm in that corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it's still rather unknown territory. A part of me wishes that Marvel Studios had the rights to the Silver Surfer for we could see things from his perspective as he journeyed throughout the endless ends of the universe. No offense to the Guardians, but this is one situation where it's hurting Marvel Studios not having their full deck to reference in setting up the Avengers' first encounter with the Mad Titan. Before anyone mentions it in the comments, I know the Surfer didn't meet Thanos until Thanos' second coming, but who cares? Marvel already changed up a lot of things already.
Since they obviously can't go that route, I have my fingers crossed that the Black Order are introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and we get to see Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Supergiant, and Ebony Maw make their live-action debuts. The Guardians don't have to beat them. Nah, save that for the Avengers meeting their match in Infinity War Part I and II.
I'm curious on how the Avengers are going to come together for the Infinity War as the next few movies have them on a path to splinter them off individually before dropping the bomb known as Thanos on them. I suppose it would make the writers' jobs easier to divide the Avengers up into small teams/groups/factions for that large scale narrative with so many characters to get some better interactivity going on between everyone. I rather Part I of the Infinity War focus on the B team of Avengers and Part II focus on the A team (no pun intended) of heavy hitters to get the job done when the B team gets in over their heads, then end with a strong note of everyone coming together to beat the big bad Thanos.
On a side note, I'm REALLY surprised no one hasn't made a "Make Mine Marvel" reference in these films by now...
Watch it or Don't Bother?
Definitely watch it. After the colossal flop that was Batman v. Superman, comic book fans deserve a superhero grudge match with things laid out on the table in a coherent manner. Marvel Studios manage to deliver here on levels where Age of Ultron ultimately fell short, but at the end of the day, the Avengers are left in the same state that they found themselves at the end of that movie.
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| Well put by Max Landis himself... |
Whether you're a Marvel or DC fan, you can't deny that it's a great time to be a fan of superheroes, PERIOD.
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