Captain America: Civil War

This summer movie season I pinned pretty much all my hopes on two superhero flicks. I began tracking production memos, instagram posts, and celebrity interviews. I read up on source material. I geeked out hardcore you guys. My first pick for 2016 summer movie score: Captain America: Civil War. My no. 2 - Suicide Squad. One of these effectively opens the season and one ends it. Through a perfect storm of conditions I was blessed to see Civil War here in Peru last night. The best part: It was in English! The Movie Gods had smiled on me. I could officially retire. It was everything I thought it would be, and more.

Guys, this movie nails it in pretty much every form you could want. I say pretty much because I could get nitpicky and find tiny irrelevant things to point out, but let's look at this movie for the miracle that it is: A successful foray into multi-narrative storytelling the byproduct of roughly eight years (and 10 movies) in the making. Where do I start?

One of the 'Splash Panel' shots the Russo's have mentioned.

The Russo brothers have brought in this 'grounded' aesthetic previously with their work on Winter Soldier. It's a different tone from Iron Man or Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor and it's almost refreshing as we see all the fights exist in a natural, physical universe. Every sound effect highlights what a real punch would feel like, what getting slammed into concrete would do to your body. The camera follows a minion after they get kicked. We see these guys not just get beat up, but get hurt too. This aesthetic lends itself greatly to the film's story. (One I don't feel the need to summarize for you. If you don't know the basic plot of Civil War by now go read a book.)

It's this same aesthetic - 'grounded' - that anchors the film. Instead of these sensational one-liners or flat 'Just to save the world' character motivations we might have suffered before these characters are all coming from very real, very emotional places.

Take Peter Parker/Scott Lang for instance. These two characters are technically unknown in this Avengers uber-battle, yet they've been enlisted. They don't hesitate (much) and despite the fact that they're in what is arguably the most super-powered battle so far they're geeking out. We're getting Scott apologizing to Black Widow before he hits her. Spider-Man won't stop saying 'that's awesome!' at pretty much everything. These characters are all reacting with emotions. They're not just punching an enemy. They're shooting arrows at their best friend or their idol or their benefactor or whatever. Even Steve and Spidey get a moment to connect over their mutual New York-ness. This 'realistic' reaction brings the film it's comedy and propels the story forward. Remember, it's 2 hours and 40 minutes long. 

Speaking of Peter Parker. Our two newcomers T'Challa/Black Panther and Peter Parker/Spider-Man bring all kinds of wonder to the movie. Tom Holland's Peter Parker is the hidden gem of this movie. Literally every scene both brightens with levity and honest-to-goodness teenage innocence. It's a delight and I'm glad we're skipping his origin story. We don't need it, and his story is already way more interesting.

The Black Panther might be considered the third party to this 'Civil War'. I mean, sure he's allied with Team Iron Man in all the promo material, but his arc ties directly into the emotional extremes both Tony and Cap occupy. His stately presence graces the shots he's in without pretension. Chadwick Boseman's character work is on point. To date the Black Panther is truly incredible. There's a lack of sounds surrounding his fighting style, illuminating exactly how different he is from the rest of the fighters. While Cap's more of a boxer, Tony's a judo man, Black Widow's a (notorious) bizarre gymnast Krav Maga or something Black Panther is entirely different. This banal difference in fighting styles illustrates how well thought out this character is. Seriously, I want so much more from these new players.

If this were a TV show this would be the mid-season finale (setting up the 'where do we go from here?' aesthetic). As a movie it's comedic, pensive, and darkly emotional. By the end of the movie you might argue the villain has actually won for once. You're gonna see both Cap and Tony go to some very dark places you didn't think they could. You're gonna see all these characters bouncing off of each other. That airport fight scene? I want so much more of it. Thankfully this movie doesn't spend unnecessary time dropping hints for future movies (looking at you Age of Ultron for your studio-mandated 'Well of Dreams' Thor insert.)

I watched all the relevant movies leading up to this one. It probably wasn't really worth it. If you need a refresher watch Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3 (yes, it's important), and Avengers 2. That should prepare you. Maybe Ant-Man. Just to remind yourself who Scott Lang is.

This whole film is horrible well-balanced, as Vision would say, to a point where taking a side as an audience member hurts. The final match causes genuine ache in your chest. In this movie, everybody's right and everybody's wrong. There can technically be no winner at the end of this. We all know it going in, we just want to see what it'll be like to watch them slug it out.





MY ONLY PROBLEM! And I swear it's not a problem: What exactly is Martin Freeman going for? I couldn't tell if he was supposed to be American or English. I'm 99% sure it's cause I can't imagine Martin Freeman without a british accent so hearing anything other than that was discombobulating. His accent was absolutely confusing. Still, every time I saw him in a scene I got stuck wondering: "What is he?"

10/10 Gang. Movies are so damn cheap here I might just see this one three times in theaters. Just because I can.