By TANIA PHILLIPS
Captain America: Civil War (MA15+)
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Daniel Bruhl
SUPERHERO movies are all about saving the world and making things better, right? But what about the consequences? What about the human cost and collateral damage of “saving the world” from the bad guys – how much does and should that come into play?
This has been a question asked in modern superhero movies including Xmen and The Incredibles in recent years and it’s the underlying thread of Civil War (though not the only one).
In this case the events of the Avengers Age of Ultron have left an imprint on the world, the collective governments (120 of them) of the Earth pass an Act designed to regulate all superhuman activity and bring it under the eye of a UN committee. This polarises opinion among the Avengers, creating two factions – one to side with Iron Man and the UN and the other Captain America and self-determination. Of course this all leads to an epic battle between former allies (which takes up a lot of screen time).
Once again directed by the Russo brothers, who managed to turn the Captain America Winter Soldier into a pretty credible political thriller, Civil War seems more of a showcase for the talents of all of the superheroes, a teaser for future adventures then a fully cohesive story. Though it’s much more interesting than Ultron.
Its heart is the story of a group divided, of mate against mate, of secrets and lies and it succeeds in this. It’s well-paced and with enough humour to keep it flowing well and make it fun to watch.
The battle scenes are epic and yet still for the most part a bit of fun (though the main one when all of the avengers go head-to-head may be a tad overdone and leave you wishing you’d bought extra popcorn). The final climactic fight scene seems just a touch forced – though it manages to stop just this side of falling over into the realm of silliness. Having said that, this was still great entertainment with some very impressive performances – particularly by the newcomers to the Marvel Universe – Chadwick Boseman and Tom Hollands. In Hollands, it looks like we finally have an actor who is both a credible and believable Peter Parker and his alter-ego Spiderman after two actors who managed to be one or the other. Chadwick Boseman, who manages to stand out in what is a huge ensemble cast, was impressive as the Black Panther, the leader of a mythical African country (slowly introduced into the film universe over previous Marvel movies) who turns hero. While Spiderman is played a little for laughs, it’s Boseman who adds much of the heart to this movie along with pseudo villain Daniel Bruhl, who continues to add great performances to his IMDb list.
Of course once again, women are under-represented but this has more to do with the original source material. You get the feeling Marvel is at least trying hard to redress the balance with Scarlett Johanssen’s Black Widow having some of the best fight sequences of the movie (though did we really need them sped up?) and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch once again standing out and bringing great emotion to the character and film.
All in all Civil War is a glimpse into the future of Marvel and suffers a little for that and for having so many actors and characters and so much happening. But this is also one of its strengths, the interaction between all of the various heroes makes it fun and slightly unpredictable while still being an interesting and well told story with lots of kick-ass action to keep the kids happy.
And remember this is Marvel, so stay until the end for the two additional scenes!
