Captain America: Civil War – Film Review by Shane Larkin

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay)
Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

You can’t really begrudge anyone a certain measure of skepticism here, weary filmgoers have been given every reason of late to expect this kind of thing to collapse in on itself like another computer-generated city skyline. And as the lumbering, all-pervading corporate behemoth that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe becomes increasingly devoted to dominating the mainstream movie-going landscape for the foreseeable future, a feeling of superhero-fatigue and creative stagnation in a wider sense seems to be rearing its ugly head more and more frequently. What a pleasure it is then, to watch directors Anthony and Joe Russo sidestep the law of diminishing returns so skillfully with Civil War, the third Cap film and thirteenth MCU instalment overall. Opting to look inward and mostly jettisoning unwieldy narrative sprawl in favour of a more intimate approach, this is a movie that achieves more or less everything you want it to achieve and somehow makes a virtue of its cumbersome baggage.

After the latest in a string of chaotic Avenging missions results in more civilian deaths and incalculable collateral damage, the world has become understandably cautious of our super-powered protectors. To impose a structure for accountability, and to retain some semblance of international borders, US Secretary of State (William Hurt, reprising his role from 2008’s The Incredible Hulk) proposes the signing of the Sokovia Accords, which would make the team answerable to the UN, deploying only when it is deemed appropriate to do so. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), battle-weary and guilt-ridden, is all for it. Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), understandably wary of bureaucratic micromanaging at this point, is resisting. A rift within the ranks of the Avengers is formed, everyone falls on one side or the other for their own well-defined reasons (Hulk and Thor are the only heroes sitting this one out). Meanwhile a deeper mystery comes into play regarding The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and the shady, vengeful figure (Daniel Brühl) looking into his past.

As an exploration of character and consequence within the framework of a superhero movie, there is an admirably grown-up intelligence at work here. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for the most part manage to avoid inorganic soapboxing from the characters and instead weave this ideological conflict into conversations that emerge fairly naturally, and lace it with humour and genuine pathos. There’s some clunky table-setting in the first act but considering all of the moving parts they’re contending with here it’s seriously impressive how well they manage to strike a balance overall. Every character gets their moment, everyone feels like an integral part of the team’s dynamic and many of them are allowed space to soar in ways even their solo films didn’t really allow them (Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man all but steals the show).

Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman, regal and deadly) gets his debut appearance here, as does a certain web-slinging teenager named Peter Parker (Tom Holland). As you probably know, this is the third incarnation of Spider-Man in only ten years, but so distinctive is Holland’s portrayal and so well-integrated is his presence that not only is the reboot of the character wholly justified, he basically runs rings around his predecessors, leaving them tied up and dangling from an overhanging street light. After a wonderful introduction in his cramped Queens apartment, he’s then suited-up in all his spectacular glory in the film’s action centrepiece, where our heroes converge and duke it out in an airport hangar. This is the kind of joyous, toys-on-the-kitchen-table exuberance that was last captured so well in Joss Whedon’s first Avengers movie, and it’s a total blast. There’s a clarity and richness to the images that breathes life and texture into every frame.

The action throughout almost always seems to be in service of character and story rather than a superficially imposed hinderance to it. Punches thrown feel personal, particularly as we close in on the final act, and the notion of Tony and Steve as mere embodiments of competing ideologies gives way to the messiness of their flawed humanity. “It always ends in a fight”, Bucky asserts near the beginning, and his words weigh heavily over everything that follows. We almost want him to be wrong. The violence feels like a last resort once words have failed. Downey’s performance here registers on a deeper emotional level than we might have come to expect after so many movies in the tin suit; terminally quippy but increasingly fragile at the same time. It might be Cap’s name on the poster but Downey all but steals the movie right from under him.

Again, skepticism is to be expected, especially coming off of the confounding mess that was Batman V Superman. Even within the MCU, singular creative voices have often been stymied in service of a homogenised connective tissue. Edgar Wright, Joss Whedon and Jon Favreau to some extent come to mind. The Russo’s don’t reinvent the wheel here and for the most part Civil War operates within those boundaries, but it’s hard to imagine a more entertaining or thoughtful attempt, with such potent cumulative power, and enough levity and self-contained energy to satisfy baffled newcomers. If these things really are going to be released triannually until we’re all dead, Civil War suggests that, for now at least, we might just be in for a good time.