Captain America: Civil War
This is a brilliant movie in so many ways. It has one of my favourite things about storytelling: moral ambiguity. Every character's point of view makes sense to me, and I can sympathize with all of them.
More than that, every character in the film is fully realized, and they all have their own moments to shine, to be human and flawed. One of my favourites is Natasha helping Steve and Bucky make their getaway at the last minute. She knows they aren't going to give up, so it's either let them leave or kill them. And Steve is her friend, and even though she believes he's in the wrong, she's not going to kill him for it.
The story structure is damned near flawless. What begins as a political and philosophical disagreement soon turns personal as T'Challa's father is killed and Bucky is fingered as the suspect, and more personal still in the climactic fight scene between Tony, Bucky and Steve. Steve rightly points out that Bucky is as much a victim as Tony's parents were, and yet Tony's response gutted me: "I don't care. He killed my mom." Right and wrong, innocence and guilt often fall apart in the face of personal pain and rage.
The acting was stellar across the board. Elizabeth Olsen continues to impress me as Scarlet Witch, her guilt over the deaths in Lagos etched across her face. Sebastian Stan's mobility of expression conveys as much in stoic silence as it does in moments of howling agony. Daniel Brul is mesmerizingly creepy and surprisingly sympathetic as the nominal villain of the piece. Tom Holland is note-perfect as Spiderman, the good-hearted, wide-eyed geek who can't quite believe he's in a superhero showdown and can't stop babbling about how awesome it is. Don Cheadle delivers the funniest line in the move with flawless comic timing: "Ok, the little guy's big now. He's big now!" LOLing forever and ever.
But the two performances that really blew me away were Chadwick Boseman and Robert Downey Jr. This is the first time I've seen Boseman in anything, and he was perfect. I knew nothing about Black Panther before the MCU and had pretty much planned to skip that movie - but I'll be watching it now, solely based on Boseman's charisma. His T'Challa goes from dutiful son, to vengeful warrior, to wise king throughout the arc of the film without ever missing a beat, and he makes it look effortless.
And, Downey. I don't know what I can say without coming across as a raving fangirl, so let's rave. I've been a fan of his since Chaplin, and this is perhaps the best performance he's given since that 1992 Oscar-nominated effort.
We've seen his Tony Stark schtick six times now, but in this outing, Tony has a world-weariness that he's hasn't carried since his return from captivity in the original Iron Man. Despite his decision in that film, eight years ago, to stop manufacturing weapons, young people are still dying at Tony's hands - and he can't live with it anymore. He can't live with himself, and so he turns control of himself over to a body of sovereign nations just so that they can rein him in. Downey perfectly plays the level of shame, self-disgust and sheer weariness that comes with being out of control and not knowing what to do about it. (His own, personal experience as an addict probably helps in this performance.) Natasha says to him, "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," and that's the difference between this Tony Stark and his earlier incarnations. He's done talking. Hell, he's done doing. He wants to give himself over to a higher power. He needs peace, and absolution, and it tears him up inside to think that his friends might stand in his way.
Perhaps my favorite moment in this film is the scene between Tony and Peter Parker, where the two of them geek out over science and superheros. You can see the burden of Tony's guilt fall away, and his old playfulness reassert itself, as he comes face-to-face with this younger incarnation of himself - the brilliant young mind that won't stop whirring and the mouth that won't stop running and the youthful optimism that's been dampened by the loss of a beloved parent. It's no accident that we see Tony as a teenager near the beginning of this film; his own path started out so very much like Peter's, and Tony's determination - to be a better mentor to Spiderman than Obadiah Stane was to him - is one of the best seeds sown in this film.
Downey's face has a mobility and elasticity of expression that I never tire of watching. He can go from hurt to rage to compassion in a single moment, giving him an uncanny ability to play multiple, conflicting emotions at the same time. They are all on heartbreaking display here, and with Tony's snark untypically reined in, it makes this his most sympathetic outing to date.
Which brings me to my major criticism of the movie: Steve's arc. Despite being the protagonist, and enormously sympathetic, I didn't feel like this movie told us anything new about his character. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love his bond with Bucky and Sam. I could watch the three of them bonding until Infinity Wars; the moment where Bucky and Sam sit in the car nodding and smiling as Steve kisses Sharon is hilarious. But we already know that Steve is a great friend, who inspires loyalty as easily as picking up his shield. We already know that Steve would put his life on the line for the other guy; we've seen him do it before, more than once. Steve's disagreement with the Sokovia Accords, his willingness to defy governments and power for what he believes in, his determination to do what he feels is right - these are all qualities that Steve Rogers has amply demonstrated in previous films. In Age of Ultron, Steve warns Tony that he hasn't seen his dark side yet. I still don't feel like we've seen it. In fact, I think we saw more of it in The Winter Soldier; when that movie ends, Steve is notably more cynical, jaded and mistrustful than he was at the beginning.
When Civil War ends, Steve is, emotionally, in pretty much the same place as when the movie started. That's not to say that nothing has changed. The Avengers are divided by the end, and there are a lot of bad feelings on both sides; Hawkeye, in particular, has some pretty nasty words for Stark. Yet Steve writes to Tony offering his help should he ever need it. He may have fallen from grace in the public's eye, but Captain America remains as true blue as ever. It's not really the most gripping character arc for a movie with his name in the title.
Yet this is a minor quibble. The story is worth watching for the other characters' journeys, and for the easy, believable way in which every plot point turns and every character's point of view is relatable. Also, the big, second-act fight scene is terrific in that it focuses mainly on hand-to-hand combat between pairs of friends-turned-enemies, instead of big explosions and car chases and buildings falling down. Despite having a cast of thousands, this is one of the most personal stories to come out of the MCU in a while, and I'll definitely be watching it again.
More than that, every character in the film is fully realized, and they all have their own moments to shine, to be human and flawed. One of my favourites is Natasha helping Steve and Bucky make their getaway at the last minute. She knows they aren't going to give up, so it's either let them leave or kill them. And Steve is her friend, and even though she believes he's in the wrong, she's not going to kill him for it.
The story structure is damned near flawless. What begins as a political and philosophical disagreement soon turns personal as T'Challa's father is killed and Bucky is fingered as the suspect, and more personal still in the climactic fight scene between Tony, Bucky and Steve. Steve rightly points out that Bucky is as much a victim as Tony's parents were, and yet Tony's response gutted me: "I don't care. He killed my mom." Right and wrong, innocence and guilt often fall apart in the face of personal pain and rage.
The acting was stellar across the board. Elizabeth Olsen continues to impress me as Scarlet Witch, her guilt over the deaths in Lagos etched across her face. Sebastian Stan's mobility of expression conveys as much in stoic silence as it does in moments of howling agony. Daniel Brul is mesmerizingly creepy and surprisingly sympathetic as the nominal villain of the piece. Tom Holland is note-perfect as Spiderman, the good-hearted, wide-eyed geek who can't quite believe he's in a superhero showdown and can't stop babbling about how awesome it is. Don Cheadle delivers the funniest line in the move with flawless comic timing: "Ok, the little guy's big now. He's big now!" LOLing forever and ever.
But the two performances that really blew me away were Chadwick Boseman and Robert Downey Jr. This is the first time I've seen Boseman in anything, and he was perfect. I knew nothing about Black Panther before the MCU and had pretty much planned to skip that movie - but I'll be watching it now, solely based on Boseman's charisma. His T'Challa goes from dutiful son, to vengeful warrior, to wise king throughout the arc of the film without ever missing a beat, and he makes it look effortless.
And, Downey. I don't know what I can say without coming across as a raving fangirl, so let's rave. I've been a fan of his since Chaplin, and this is perhaps the best performance he's given since that 1992 Oscar-nominated effort.
We've seen his Tony Stark schtick six times now, but in this outing, Tony has a world-weariness that he's hasn't carried since his return from captivity in the original Iron Man. Despite his decision in that film, eight years ago, to stop manufacturing weapons, young people are still dying at Tony's hands - and he can't live with it anymore. He can't live with himself, and so he turns control of himself over to a body of sovereign nations just so that they can rein him in. Downey perfectly plays the level of shame, self-disgust and sheer weariness that comes with being out of control and not knowing what to do about it. (His own, personal experience as an addict probably helps in this performance.) Natasha says to him, "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," and that's the difference between this Tony Stark and his earlier incarnations. He's done talking. Hell, he's done doing. He wants to give himself over to a higher power. He needs peace, and absolution, and it tears him up inside to think that his friends might stand in his way.
Perhaps my favorite moment in this film is the scene between Tony and Peter Parker, where the two of them geek out over science and superheros. You can see the burden of Tony's guilt fall away, and his old playfulness reassert itself, as he comes face-to-face with this younger incarnation of himself - the brilliant young mind that won't stop whirring and the mouth that won't stop running and the youthful optimism that's been dampened by the loss of a beloved parent. It's no accident that we see Tony as a teenager near the beginning of this film; his own path started out so very much like Peter's, and Tony's determination - to be a better mentor to Spiderman than Obadiah Stane was to him - is one of the best seeds sown in this film.
Downey's face has a mobility and elasticity of expression that I never tire of watching. He can go from hurt to rage to compassion in a single moment, giving him an uncanny ability to play multiple, conflicting emotions at the same time. They are all on heartbreaking display here, and with Tony's snark untypically reined in, it makes this his most sympathetic outing to date.
Which brings me to my major criticism of the movie: Steve's arc. Despite being the protagonist, and enormously sympathetic, I didn't feel like this movie told us anything new about his character. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love his bond with Bucky and Sam. I could watch the three of them bonding until Infinity Wars; the moment where Bucky and Sam sit in the car nodding and smiling as Steve kisses Sharon is hilarious. But we already know that Steve is a great friend, who inspires loyalty as easily as picking up his shield. We already know that Steve would put his life on the line for the other guy; we've seen him do it before, more than once. Steve's disagreement with the Sokovia Accords, his willingness to defy governments and power for what he believes in, his determination to do what he feels is right - these are all qualities that Steve Rogers has amply demonstrated in previous films. In Age of Ultron, Steve warns Tony that he hasn't seen his dark side yet. I still don't feel like we've seen it. In fact, I think we saw more of it in The Winter Soldier; when that movie ends, Steve is notably more cynical, jaded and mistrustful than he was at the beginning.
When Civil War ends, Steve is, emotionally, in pretty much the same place as when the movie started. That's not to say that nothing has changed. The Avengers are divided by the end, and there are a lot of bad feelings on both sides; Hawkeye, in particular, has some pretty nasty words for Stark. Yet Steve writes to Tony offering his help should he ever need it. He may have fallen from grace in the public's eye, but Captain America remains as true blue as ever. It's not really the most gripping character arc for a movie with his name in the title.
Yet this is a minor quibble. The story is worth watching for the other characters' journeys, and for the easy, believable way in which every plot point turns and every character's point of view is relatable. Also, the big, second-act fight scene is terrific in that it focuses mainly on hand-to-hand combat between pairs of friends-turned-enemies, instead of big explosions and car chases and buildings falling down. Despite having a cast of thousands, this is one of the most personal stories to come out of the MCU in a while, and I'll definitely be watching it again.