Captain America Civil War Spoiler-Free and Spoiler Review
Also, going in I was on Team Cap.
Non-Spoiler Review
Two thumbs up! 5 stars! Really...awesome...movie! I can't say enough good things about this film. It is really that good. The action sequences are the best action sequences in comic book film history. All the characters play their part in the story. The are some solid messages in it. This film is worth your time and money to see. People say that Marvel has a villain problem, but the villain in this film is better than all the previous films. The actors that were my favorite in this movie were Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, and Robert Downey Jr. If I were to compare this sequel to another fantastic sequel, it would be The Empire Strikes Back. Why? We'll in the spoiler portion, I'll give my reasons why. What I can say about it without spoilers that at the end the MCU went dark. By dark I mean, there were serious consequences and the repercussions of this film will effect how this series moves forward. I am still wondering how these friendships will be fixed. Should you take kids, it's up to you. I went with teenagers or youth from my ward. It was teenagers night. Anyways I found it fine it's not adult dark and it's not your cheesy kids superhero film either.
SPOILER PORTION
Turn back now. Appreciate your enthusiasm, but this for people who either have seen the film or are on the fence about seeing it. So "YOU'VE BEEN WARNED." Continue at risk.
So we are going to go character by character, and how I felt about them. When we talk about teams, I will rank the members of the teams from favorite to least-favorite.
Team Cap
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
We'll start with Cap, because it's his movie despite the many characters in it. He was great. He was truly amazing. He embodied the spirit of a leader. He was flawed though. No one is perfect and Cap mirrored that. My only problem with him was that he was so willing to let his teammates be captured yet not willing to let Bucky be arrested. He didn't display the same devotion that he had for his teammates the same way he had for Bucky. Another weird thing is that Cap leaves his shield behind. Oh well, I guess Cap can make another shield, because he is being harbored in the place that is where vibranium originates.
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
Falcon got a power upgrade and I really liked him a lot. He was great part of Cap's team. He provided a lot of good comedic jokes and showed off a lot of cool moves. He was one of my favorite parts in the film overall. He was very decent in the film. He was very gracious to sacrifice his freedom in order to see if Rhodes was okay. Something none of Cap's team did. Cap himself didn't ask to see if he was okay. He and Ant-Man worked together great in a way. That's why I put him at number two on Cap's team.
3. Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man or Giant-Man
When I saw the first Ant-Man film, it made me wonder what would happen if he interacted with The Avengers. He do it so well. He was the best part of the airport battle. He entertained us, and surprised us. I had no idea that would be this good in the film. He had a lot of humorous lines. One of my favorite lines from him is when he gets into Iron Man's suit and when he asked who was speaking Ant-Man replied saying "It's your conscience, we don't talk much." To me that was so hilarious. Now you'll noticed that I said he surprised us. Well I had no idea that he would turn into Giant-Man, which is Ant-Man but instead of shrinking he grows gigantic. Even then he was fun to see. Paul Rudd was born to play this comedic role.
4. Elizabeth Olson as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
Wanda was probably one of the members I wasn't really crazy excited about. She seemed selfless at some points, because when she blew up that building she got over it quickly. I was like you killed people and you seem to have gotten over that pretty quick. I don't understand that they would hold her in the Avengers facility. They shouldn't have even put her in the field until she could control her powers right. Cap also should've said "Ok, another solution would be that we won't put her in the field until she's safely controlling her powers." I also feel like the romance between Vision and her was only, because it was in the comics, which I looked up. We'll get to Vision when we talk about Team Iron Man.
5. Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
I liked Bucky in this film. He too seemed to have gotten a power upgrade. I liked him when he was escaping from his apartment and when he was in the tunnel. The way he used his surroundings to make a quick escape I found particularly interesting. I found it a bit cliche that he could go back to his Winter Soldier side when someone utters these Russian trigger words. However, being the Winter Soldier made him even more awesome, especially when he went on a rampage in the office building. Also, while I'm talking about Bucky, this will be a perfect time to talk about The Winter Soldiers. Yes you read me correctly. There was never just one. There were six, including Bucky. They too were injected with the super soldier serum, but unlike Bucky they didn't have metal arms. Probably because they didn't loose their arms during the WW2 like Bucky did. I liked that the group were diverse, male and female so that was good. But they wasted them when Zemo killed them all while they were in the freezing pods. So that was frustrating, because I would've liked to see them in action. I know they flash backed to their training, but I wanted to see them in the present in the middle of it.
6. Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
The last member of Team Cap is Hawkeye. I feel it was very irresponsible for Hawkeye to join this conflict. Why would you risk your life breaking the law when you have a family to take care of? I get it Cap needed the help, but Hawkeye either didn't consider his family or he did and he just ignored it. Nonetheless he was funny. I liked his line of "I retire for five minutes and it all goes downhill." To me, that was hilarious. He didn't have much new things that he displayed for us the audience. He did have a bow staff, which Black Panther made short of. He did have a nice exchange between Black Widow saying "We're still friends right," with Clint replying "Depends how hard you hit me." That's another thing. Everyone seemed to be quick to hurt each other. Even all they have been through together, that they would hurt each other instantly, which leads me to think that none of the Avengers liked each other.
Let's take a break with the teams and talk about the villain Zemo.
Daniel Bruhl as Zemo
This villain has to be the best villain Marvel has put out since Loki. I'd even say that with Zemo, Marvel has fixed their forgettable and non-threatening villian problem. In fact, he's unforgettable. Who is going to forget the person who broke up the Avengers and made half of the criminals. He did just that, Cap and Tony will never feel the same way about each other again. That is not an easy task. Zemo was brilliant. His motivation was cliche. But I would be sad too if my family was killed that way. However, unlike Zemo, I wouldn't go and take revenge on the people responsible. In fact, we'll talk more about that when we reach Black Panther. I loved it when he said, "I cannot beat them. But if I could make them beat themselves than I will have my revenge." Zemo was a truly formidable villian. Also, who found it a bit amusing that the guy Zemo killed and was in the bathtub was Joe Russo, brother of Anthony Russo, and one of the directors of this movie. Zemo didn't look like his comic book counterpart and part of me is glad he did, because the pink mask is a little cartoonish if you ask me. The other half would've liked to have seen that a tad bit. Now, I said that this film reminds me of Empire Strikes Back. Why? In ESB, the bad guys and the good guys have a draw. Same thing happens here. The good guys are torn apart, while the bad guys sits in prison captured. You know how ESB turn for the good guys. That is why I make a comparison with ESB. I also compare it to ESB, because of the more consequential tone. I know it doesn't make sense at first, but once you see it you'll agree.
Now let's discuss Team Iron Man
Team Iron Man
1. Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther
The best player on Team Iron Man is by far in a way Black Panther. I liked diversity being represented here. Wakanda looked amazing too. It looked like a real African jungle. But why did I put him as the best member of Team Iron Man? Because of what he learned throughout the film. In the beginning he is the son of a famous king, who later is assassinated. Seeking revenge, Bucky is framed for the crime so he seeks to kill him. But at the end, he has a wonderful line that he says to Zemo and that is," Revenge has consumed them, I will no longer let it consume me." Wow those are fantastic words. He is also the coolest member of the team. I also found his line to Zemo "The living are not done with you yet," after he stopes him from committing suicide particularly interesting. His suit is entirely made of vibranium, including his claws. It was disappointing to find that Black Widow's electric tasers could slow him down though. The actor portraying him did a fantastic job in the action sequences. I also liked that he pulled a Ranagast from The Hobbit trilogy in the end. When Cap asks "Won't they find us here," and he replies saying "Let them try." That was so funny to me. He did do some amazing moves, the way he ran so fast and even acted like a cat. It was so great to see him there.
2. Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
I was excited, heck I was even thrilled when I heard that Spider-Man would be joining the MCU. Tom Holland was the right age, he had the right amount of humor to portray the web-head. What made him not make the top spot of the team? It's because it seemed clear at some points that he was made of CGI. But this one was hilarious to watch. We got a taste of what Peter at home with Aunt May was like, which we will get more of in 2017s Spider-Man Homecoming. He had a great conversation with Stark and we got a peek of his vigilante suit, which Tony calls a onesie. When he showed up in his real suit at the airport, I was in awe. I was always watching with a smile on my face. He checked of all the requirements I had. I loved his Queens and Brooklyn exchange with Captain America. The Empire Strikes Back joke took me out of the zone for a little bit though. I loved the lines he had with Iron Man too. We also have a younger Aunt May too, which I have mixed feelings about. On the negative side was the fact that she still hasn't put two and two together and figured out Peter is Spider-Man. It's a negative, because it was because she was senile in the comics that made her not know Peter was Spidey and it would be very silly that a younger Aunt May couldn't have also figured it out. Either she does know or she is very gullible and doesn't have a clue. It's also very sad, because that means that this version of Uncle Ben was killed in the prime of his life, but I am not sure another serving of Spidey origin story is necessary. Also, for a brilliant high school student, Peter was easily manipulated by Stark. Anyways this Spider-Man is the best one yet, but still needs a bit more tweaking to get it just right.
3. Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine
War Machine didn't have much to do honestly. He did take his traumatic fall, which everyone in the audience gasped, including me, when he hit the ground. On that note though, why wouldn't Tony have installed parachutes in both Rhodes and his armor? I mean didn't it ever occur to him that one or both of the suits could've lost power during a flight run and then they would plummet to their death? I mean that is a serious design flaw. So really that fall is Tony's fault and Rhodes partially, not Vision's. He then didn't die. He just got paralyzed, which I'm surprised was able to be fix. However I did like when Stan Lee's character showed up with a box addressed to "Tony Stank," and Rhodes teased him about it. That was funny. At the airport, he showed up with an electric baseball bat, which was easily destroyed. That was weird. Overall he may not had much to do but he did good with what was given to him.
4. Paul Bettany as Vision
Vision I had mixed feel feelings about. On the one hand, he was humorous, but on the other there something that didn't work about his character. He had some good jokes, like trying to go through walls and not using doors or the scene where he is trying to cook to cheer up Wanda. Those scenes were great. I couldn't figure out what he was doing in the corner of the wall in the dark. Was he sleeping? I liked when he went through Ant-Man to which he said "Something just flew in me!" That was hilarious. I knew from the trailers that Vision was responsible for Rhodes fall. But that again was on Stark and Rhodes. Stark, because he didn't take some safety precautions, and Rhodes asking for Visions help. I know soon Vision will die or be stripped of the Mind Stone. The Minds Stone is the gem in Vision's forehead. I know this, because Infinity War is coming, and Thanos wants to gather all the stones to put in his gauntlet. So he's making a stop to earth soon.
5. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
I know a lot of you love Iron Man. I know a lot of you are on Team Iron Man. But, he didn't work for me as a character. I liked him in his own films and in The Avengers films, but not here. Iron Man was originally not supposed to be in this film. He was only supposed to have a cameo. He didn't bring anything new to the table. He just did his regular old tricks. I did feel pity for him though, when he found out that The Winter Soldier killed his parents. I was not on his side though. After I saw it, I heard that people called Cap a jerk and he only cared about Bucky and not anyone else. I respect your opinion, but it's hard not to agree with the Captain on this. I didn't like that guilt motivated him to sign the accords, because he should know that by being on The Avengers, they would make mistakes. The only thing that kept me from being at the bottom is because he did pretty well at the action sequences, but ditched the jokey side of him a tad bit.
6. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
Black Widow I didn't like as a character. She seemed like the weakest member on Team Iron Man. I like the character, don't get me wrong, but she makes a lot of mistakes though. She wasn't very informative. She was working for the KGB at some point, why didn't she know about The Winter Soldiers? Why didn't she know about Zemo. Granted, she probably wasn't that deep, but she at least had have heard something about this which raised another question. What if she did know and is keeping that information from everyone? She did do well at the airport battle. She anticipated that Cap's endgame was to get to the Quinjet to escape and she gets props for that. Like Iron Man, she didn't have any new moves to show off. She did get a lot of action opportunities. She didn't have that many good lines, but she was good enough to be in the film.
End of Teams
Secondary Characters
William Hurt as General Ross and Martian Freeman as Everett Ross
General Ross makes his return after his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk. I wasn't crazy about him though. He did make some very good points. I liked his line regarding the whereabouts of Thor and Banner, both of which are set to be in Thor Ragnarok. He didn't have much to do though. He was just there to have someone on the government whom knew The Avengers a bit. As for his son I think, Everett Ross didn't have much to do either. His line he shared with Zemo at the end,"How does it feel to know that you failed." To which Zemo responds "Did I?" That got me. That line was powerful. Martian Freeman didn't sound like I'm used to him sounding like.
Emily Vancamp as Sharon Carter/ Agent 13
Sharon, to be frank, didn't have anything to do in this film. All she did was say a speech at a funeral, have a mini confrontation with Winter Soldier, and then bring Cap his gear, after which Cap and her kiss. That's all she did. The kiss was awkward, because Cap knows that she is the niece of your last love right. To me, that didn't work.
Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones
Fun fact. Crossbones, in the comics, is the one who at the end of Civil War assassinates Captain America. Luckily, that didn't happen. To be honest, Crossbones was there to have an opening action sequence to start out with. Only to commit suicide for nothing. That was it. He didn't do anything else. You may feel that he was wasted, I say he was more of a plot device.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, the film is fantastic, spectacular, awesome. I can't think of anything more to describe this film. Definitely see it. It is worth every penny. That's it. Hope you enjoyed my non-spoiler and spoiler review. Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments.
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