Written by: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Mark Millar (comic book), Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (characters)
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Politicians wanting to control super heroes and the Avengers pit Captain America and Iron Man against each other.
Verdict
The Avengers 3, I mean Iron Man 4, I mean Captain America 3 is thoroughly entertaining. The draw is the infighting and it delivers. The writing is strong for a super hero movie, with plenty of quips, good characterization, and a story line exploring responsibility for the collateral damage super heroes cause. It has some of the best fights seen in a Marvel movie, both in scope and emotional impact.
Watch it.
Review
Captain America and his team of Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon are tracking Crossbones (Frank Grillo). They stop him but not before causing extensive collateral damage.
Cap sees it as tripping a small mine in an effort to stop a nuclear bomb. Tony Stark is remorseful about any death and damage, convicted by a confrontation with a mother who lost a son.
This leads to the Slovokia Accord. The United Nations voted on rules and regulations for the Avengers. Tony sees the safeguard as a necessary protection. Cap sees it as men with changing agendas wielding a lot of power.
When the Winter Solider Bucky Barnes resurfaces to commit an alleged act of terrorism, Cap vows to save his friend, becoming a criminal by violating the Accord in an effort to protect Bucky.
Captain America's transgression pits his team of Falcon, Bucky Barnes, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant Man against Iron Man's team of War Machine, Vision, Black Widow, Black Panther, and Spider Man.
I don't know how Stark found Spider Man. Aunt May was surprisingly young, played by Marisa Tomei. Even Tony Stark comments on this multiple times. Tom Holland does a great job with Spider Man. He perfectly captures the nervous, chatty teen. Multiple characters comment how battle doesn't usually include so much chatter. Spider Man even exclaims that Captain America's shield doesn't obey the laws of physics.
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| Captain America: Civil War - It's big budget spectacle, and it's awesome! |
Black Panther is the other new addition played by Chadwick Boseman. He's regal and charismatic.
Spider Man and Black Panther both have stand alone movies coming out over the next two years, and this movie made a point to highlight them both, doing a great job of it.
The writers have a great handle on Marvel films in general, referencing events from previous movie. The dialog deftly switches between humorous and serious. There were a number of sequences that are impressive. There is a neat sequence with Bucky commandeering a motorcycle, a couple of instances during the airport fight, and the penultimate Iron Man and Captain America battle.
The fight at the airport with all of them is the spectacle that caused fans to buy tickets and it doesn't disappoint. It's an amazing fight sequence with teamwork and devastating hits.
Though some of the Avengers are mortals and take a drubbing that would kill a normal person, it's deliberately hand waved. I was surprised when one of Iron Man's allies was seriously injured.
The fight towards the end with Iron Man, Cap and Bucky is brutal, expertly filmed and culminating in a no holds barred confrontation between Iron Man and Cap that had me legitimately wondering if one of them was going to end the other.
The underlying theme with collateral damage is vengeance. Daniel Brühl as Zemo wants to end the Avengers. What they think he's planning and what he is actually planned is great misdirection. His impetus for revenge ties back to the collateral damage from the beginning of the film. Vengeance later spurs Iron Man to attack Bucky in the fight towards the end. Super hero movies often hand wave collateral damage for cool fights. I'm glad this addresses the issue, but at the same time the airport fight undermines the central issue with the airport getting absolutely destoryed.
I wondered how it would resolve the conflict as the end neared, and we're left with a cliff hanger. Will this issue be resolved in the next Iron Man or Avengers movie?
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