Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. One thing I hate about the current state of online film discussion is that most people feel the need to put one movie down in order to hold another movie up. That's not necessary, it's mean-spirited and really, aggressively dickish.
You're allowed to like more than one thing at a time and most of the time these comparisons are so surface level that I just end up scratching my head trying to figure out why the comparison was made in the first place.
So, you'll have to forgive me when I say that Captain America: Civil War is everything Batman V Superman wanted to be and failed at. I guess I'm that guy this time and I really tried to find a way to talk about Civil War without bringing up WB's misfire, but I just couldn't do it.
In my defense the two films are essentially the same story, but one has almost a decade of cinematic character work to color the narrative and the other tried to rush it and it shows.
That time-taking on Marvel's part is so beautiful here. If this was our first time meeting Tony Stark he'd probably seem like a huge dick for pushing the Sokovia Accords so hard, but his backstory isn't hinted at. We've seen him go from weapons dealer to top of the world with power to his humbling in Avengers and the domino effect that PTSD has had on him through two more movies.
The reason the Russos can take a movie with what feels like a bazillion characters and make it work is we've already established a relationship with these guys and gals. Not their comic book counterparts, these actors playing these characters in this universe. We don't need to explain why Hawkeye pulls his punches with Black Widow. We don't need to explain why Wanda feels isolated and alone, so when Vision actively engages with her that bond is palpable and instant. We don't need a speech from Steve Rogers about how Bucky is more than just a friend, but his only remaining connection to his past. All that is understood, so when the chess pieces start moving you know everybody's motivations.
That's not to give all the credit of success to the long-form storytelling, by the way. You can't credit that for the reason why Black Panther and Spider-Man are so damn good here. Spidey might be able to lean on his origin being so well ingrained in pop culture that his entrance to this MCU can be done and done perfectly in two small, simple, character-driven funny scenes, I'll give you that, but Black Panther is a different story.
I was pretty obsessive with Marvel books when I was a kid and I know very little about Black Panther. I just knew him from his occasional crossovers, never read his own book and that's someone who was actively reading for a big chunk of his development. T'Challa is so naturally ingrained in the events of this story and ends up with one of the best emotional character arcs of the story that you accept him as a character and understand immediately how he fits into this world.
While I'm trying hard not to keep dragging BvS into this discussion, but this is a big parallel. Black Panther means something to the story and when he's called to action you understand why, even if he is misguided. Wonder Woman looked awesome in BvS and her fighting style was cool, but why the fuck was she there other than to set her up for her own movie? Her big through line was she wanted to find a .jpg, remember? T'Challa's arc is finding peace somewhere between vengeance and diplomacy and he ends up in a radically different place than he started. We see his moral compass shift. We saw Wonder Woman decide not to take her first class seat.
I loved Captain America: Civil War. I was entertained by it (the big fight at the Berlin Airport is perhaps the best superhero action ever arranged), but more importantly I was emotionally engaged with the battle. Since the Russos don't pick a side neither do you. This is like watching your parents fighting, except unlike all the times my parents fought both sides here have a real point.
Speaking of the fighting, we have to talk a little about the villain in this movie, who has been kept pretty much out of all advertising. There's a reason for that. He's not flashy. He's not super-powered. He's just a motivated every day guy with a plan and that plan is so simple, but it's weirdly more devastating than Loki opening a butthole portal over New York and letting aliens attack the city.
When I reviewed The Avengers I said that Marvel had to be careful because they've gone huge and gathered together a team so powerful that it could make for some boring movies. The secret to undoing that is to fracture that team and that's exactly what Marvel's been doing. They stripped away SHIELD, declawed Nick Fury and have been sowing the seeds that are ready for harvest by the time Civil War comes along.
There's real pain and rage here and the MCU crew very smartly doesn't wipe it all away at the end. There is no “water under the bridge” moment between Cap and Iron Man. A gesture of peace is made and I'm sure that gesture will mean for a reteam by the time Thanos comes calling, but it's never going to be the same between them. The events of this movie left a mark. Things were said and revealed that can not be taken back.
The events of this movie mean something. This fight took something from most of those involved that was worse than getting beaten up by a big bad villain. One character is forever physically changed and Tony's guilt and rage are still inside him, not assuaged by the Sokovia Accords, but intensified even further by the fallout from them. There's also the rising fear of the government powers at work and the threat of real detainment.
It's becoming cliché at this point, but Tom Holland's Peter Parker is so right on the money that it makes you actively angry at Sony for struggling so much with the character over five films. I feel bad for Andrew Garfield because he was perfect as Spidey in the suit, but was kinda saddled with the emo Parker stuff. He got the humor right and, like Brandon Routh, was a better hero than the movie around him.
But this is the first time both Peter Parker and Spider-Man are note perfect on the big screen. No question. And like I said earlier, it's all set up with a simple bit of charming character work and blammo, he's in the movie and works and adds such a lightness to the big airport fight that I can't imagine how that would have played out had the Sony/Marvel deal not gone through.
Spidey's perspective is crucial because he's a fan of everybody there (that he knows) and is excited to be included at all. He's the fan just happy to be there and even the people he's fighting come to like and respect him.
Holland is just dweebish enough to make it work and just cool enough to not make it feel like Parker couldn't do the cool shit in the costume. He's a pure soul right now. The dark shit that happens to him hasn't happened yet and he's young, idealistic, naïve and forever optimistic.
This movie left me foaming at the mouth for Spider-Man: Homecoming. I'm also dying to see what happens with Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman knocked T'Challa out of the park and I'm now 100% invested in this quiet, powerful leader that's not afraid to fuck stuff up when he needs to.
In short, Civil War did what Batman V Superman and even Age of Ultron failed at. It has me hotly anticipating the next steps without making me feel like I just spent 2 and a half hours watching set up.
The MCU seems to be finding its groove again. They never lost it completely, things just got muddled and convoluted for a bit. I think The Russos are the best thing to happen to this Shared Universe since Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. and I'm beyond excited we're getting two Infinity War movies from them.
Those are my thoughts, at least. What about you? What'd you think?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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