Captain America: Civil War - When El Cap was humbled and Spidey stole the show
Captain America: Civil War is not so much a film about Captain America as it is about the part mortal, a lot immortal ensemble cast that is the Avengers. The title may suggest otherwise, but once you’re through with this 146-minute-long, but by no means overbearing, "united we stand, divided we fall" saga, chances are you will end up scratching your head.
It won’t hurt much if you haven’t read the entire Marvel Civil War. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has always been kind to such folk, after all, and Captain America: Civil War is no exception. It would hurt a bit if you’ve skipped other movies of the series though, particularly Avengers: Age of Ultron. Even then, it is hard to tell from an Avengers movie, simply because it is about the Avengers, and not just about one of them.
That it follows right where Age of Ultron left is just one needle-in-the-haystack reason why Civil War is not just about El Cap. Age of Ultron was just about bearable, if not downright disappointing. Civil War is what Age of Ultron should have been in the first place. It is, in fact, the true Avengers sequel that Marvel fans (and critics) wanted and, the true Avengers sequel they deserved.
If you’ve seen Batman v Superman, you will be well at home with the basic premise of Civil War. That’s one statement that’s sure to raise a lot of eyebrows, but that’s how it is.
Without giving away any spoilers, let’s just say that the plot here involves a couple of superheroes and a third guy who’s a legend as far as persuasion tactics are concerned. Saving the world doesn’t come easy. There are casualties, you know - collateral damage and stuff. Team that up with some misunderstanding, and what you get is a recipe for disaster - in this case, some superhero versus superhero showdown.
Captain America and Iron Man represent the two extremes of Civil War. They are constantly at loggerheads with each other from the word go. You can tell that the tension is piling up and is ready to explode any moment. And it does, more than once, giving onlookers a fair amount of mayhem to cash in on.
Although Captain America (along with Iron Man and Bucky Barnes) is the centre of attraction of the film, the roles of Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Black Widow, Ant Man, Hawkeye and War Machine can’t be overlooked. This is because MCU gives each and every character ample room to breathe.
You sympathise with these characters, you feel for them. You can tell they don’t want to fight - Black Widow, in the middle of a fight with Hawkeye quipping about their friendship for instance - but they have to. To justify their moral grounds.
If there’s one character that appears a little out of place, it has to be Vision's. Much like Ultron, MCU is still to figure out what to do with him and his abilities. Maybe, Infinity War will do more justice with him.
 |
| Tom Holland as Spider Man adds a much needed comic relief. |
That Civil War is no one man show is proven by the presence of two completely new characters (for the MCU). It introduces Spider Man and Black Panther, both key characters in Marvel’s Civil War comic universe.
Of course, they also get to star in their own stand-alone movies, coming soon, but that doesn’t mean Civil War uses them as mere props. It may be noted here that the Black Panther, aka T’Challa is the king of Wakanda, one of the very few places in the Marvel Universe where you find vibranium that was used to make Captain America’s shield and Ultron’s body. Black Panther gets a considerable amount of screen time in the film, and having lost his father, he’s out for vengeance. This calls for more action. Serious action.
But Marvel is not just about fists and fury. It’s about laughs as well. Normally, you would expect Ant Man to do the needful here, and he does where he can. Sadly, there’s very little that he can do, with Spidey in town.
Nineteen-year-old Tom Holland as Spider Man, the latest addition to Marvel’s ever-expanding cinematic universe, adds a much needed comic relief in a film that is just about as borderline dark as DC fans would like it to be but wouldn’t talk about unless of course behind closed doors.
If you saw the trailer - yes, the one where Spider Man web-slings Cap’s shield and all – and thought this would be just another blink and miss cameo you get when you have too many characters on board, well, you (and I) couldn’t have been more wrong. For Holland’s impish charm weaves magic across the length and breadth of his extended cameo that takes up a good 20 minutes plus of screen time.
Even though our good old friendly neighbourhood spider has no business being there – he is just a school kid and just six months or so into the whole superhero thing who is sort of jettisoned in the middle of it all – he wastes no time and gets to business straight away.
Not before you get a brief glimpse of Aunt May, that is. But then, all the “with great power comes great responsibility” formalities have been left for another day, and another movie perhaps, much to our relief. You can call Civil War a commercial for Spider Man: Homecoming all you want, but it’s a good commercial nevertheless.
Helmut Zemo is as maniacal as they get in super villain universe. In a way Daniel Brühl does more justice to his character as Zemo than Jesse Eisenberg did with his take on Lex Luthor in Dawn of Justice. This is because MCU does more justice to his character than DC did with Lex Luthor.
You know why Zemo is what he is as opposed to Luthor who is bad just because he can afford it. They are both psychopaths who are good with words at the end of the day, but Zemo in Civil War is invariably a little more human. Even when he’s done with the Avengers and wants to just give his life away.
Captain America: Civil War is not perfect by all means. It’s hard to digest how Tony Stark (and the rest of the ensemble) ends up destroying an entire airport outside the sovereign borders of the United States, when at the end of the day he is actually fighting El Cap to stop such a thing from happening in the first place. You see that’s the thing about superhero movies. They need not be perfect. Even close to it will do. Rest assured, Civil War is that kind of movie.