Warning – The following article contains spoilers for Captain America: Civil War
On the 29th of April, we attended the midnight showing of Captain America: Civil War, and it’s safe to say it lived up to its hype.
“Captain America: Civil War” directed by Joe and Anthony Russo follows many of Marvel’s much loved superheroes after political pressure reaches its height, resulting in the installment of a system of accountability amongst enhanced individuals – in this case, the Avengers. After the events that were seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, involving Sokovia as well as The Battle of New York in Avengers Assemble and Washington D.C in The Winter Soldier, the US Government has decided that the Avengers can no longer work at their own accord due to their actions leading to collateral damage. This accord causes Earth’s heroes to split in opinion. Captain America (played by Chris Evans) believes that they should be allowed to work freely without the government interfering, whereas Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr) disagrees and supports the accord. This prompts the rest of the Avengers to pick a side and fight it out.
The movie picks up in Lagos where we first see Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and the Avenger-in-training Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). They are engaging Rumlow/Cross Bones (Frank Grillo), who is trying to steal a harmful biological weapon. All-in-all they get the weapon back from Rumlow but, unfortunately, a blast goes off. As Wanda tries to contain the blast, she accidentally lets it take out a section of a building, resulting in multiple casualties. This is the starting spark of the film.
They saved the day by acquiring the weapon, but at what cost?
Amongst the causalities, there are Wakandan people. This kick starts a UN international conference on the regulation of the Avengers – where we first see T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), son of the King of Wakanda. After the events of Sokovia, the Avengers were already in a bad light… leaving people to view them as dangerous. This begs the question – was it their business to be there in the first place? Is it their business to be anywhere for that matter, unless asked? Should the Avengers be allowed to free roam or should they be under constant government supervision?
Assumably so, this creates separation.
The opinion on this accord creates a barrier between our most loved heroes. Team Cap, consisting of Captain America, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Falcon, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and Team Iron Man, consisting of Iron Man, War Machine (Don Cheadle), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow and the all new Spider-Man (Tom Holland). As we see them battle it out, under the unknown influence of the big bad Helmut Zemo, (Daniel Brühl), it creates a divide in the fans, aswell as in the universe itself. It leaves it to interpretation on who is right and who is wrong, which is positive, instead of thrusting a right answer into the audiences faces.
There’s also a few new faces in Civil War. Tom Holland, who is playing Spider-Man, Chadwick Boseman, who is playing Black Panther, and Daniel Brühl, who plays the villain Zemo. There was a lot of question on how 19 year old Tom Holland would do in this already established character and universe, but we find that he did a great job with the part! It was fresh and fun, which leaves room for excitement as the upcoming Spider-Man stand alone, Homecoming is not too far away.
As well as seeing a lot of the new faces, we also saw a lot more of Bucky Barnes, also known as The Winter Soldier, a highly trained assassin, brainwashed by HYDRA. After the last Captain America film, Bucky’s story line felt like it needed to continue to and flourish alot more, and this film achieved just that. We see Bucky as who he is, a victim, rather than a villain, as it shows that he was manipulated by HYDRA, and now Zemo, and that his actions were out of his control. At one point of the film, Zemo manipulated Bucky using old HYDRA trigger words, which makes Bucky escape a government compound and go on a rampage. At the end of the credits, we see Bucky going back into cryo, seemingly somewhere in Wakanda, so, will we see him in the Black Panther movie?
The big bad, Helmut Zemo, was incredible. As the Avengers fight it out, Zemo is pulling the strings of the whole situation. Using Bucky’s vulnerability to his advantage, he uses him and frames him for the UN explosion, which causes further splits amongst the group. Daniel Brühl truly showcased his talent of playing a sinister villain.
Overall, Civil War lived up to the hype. It leaves the audience on the edge of their seats as they try to guess the next moves of either sides. It also leaves them screaming at the screen as the teams are being played all along. The movie doesn’t force an opinion down the audiences throats, leaving it up to them to decide who is in the wrong or who is being truthful. The directors did a incredible job, as the movie is full with stunning shots. The story is well played out, it ties loose ends but also leaves some open to build excitement for upcoming films. The soundtrack fully expresses what’s going on screen and builds tension. It’s clear the actors put their all into their performances, each scene is full with emotion and meaning, which helps the audience immerse themselves on what’s going on. Zemo is quite possibly one of the best villains yet, and something tells us we’ll be seeing him again soon. As for the new comers, they made a great first impression which makes us build anticipation for their solo movies. Although, Spider-Man and Ant-Man deserved more screen time instead of feeling rather quick and shoved, but still it was enjoyable. Bring on the rest of Phase three!
Captain America: Civil War opens in the US on May 6th.
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