Captain America: Civil War is awesome, and the only part of the Marvel franchise that gets better with every subsequent sequel. (I’m looking at you, Thor 2: The Dark World and Avengers: Age of Ultron.) Captain America: Civil War rewards long-term Marvel viewers who have watched EVERY Marvel movie. Neophytes may love Captain America: Civil War, but they are probably missing a huge swath of plot and character development. You definitely do NOT need to watch any Spider-Man movie or Ang Lee’s Hulk, but you do need to see every Marvel movie, including Ant-Man. Even though you do not need to see every Marvel TV production to enjoy the film, I think that Agent Carter, at least just Season 1, should be required viewing to fully understand how important she is to the foundation of the Marvel universe. (I’m really angry at ABC right now for canceling a show that has ALWAYS been better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Captain America: Civil War will fulfill all your subconscious comic book desires on the big screen and will restore your faith in the Marvel franchise.
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I was theoretically excited to have Black Panther, but I was not one of the Marvel faithful angrily clamoring and excited for his appearance. I was actually worried that Marvel was going to mess everything up. My fears were unfounded! Every time he appeared, I squealed with delight and clapped happily. Chadwick Boseman, all is forgiven for paying the bills with such dreadful flicks as Get on Up and 42. Even before he donned the disguise, his catlike crawl to his father was captivating. During his first battle, when the authorities are roughing up all the other Avengers, he took off his mask, and no one touched him. In his conversation with his father, he seemed to be suspicious of the accords. Throughout Captain America: Civil War, he did not really take sides though he initially sided with Tony to get to Bucky. He was the only one who could be reasoned with and clearly was above the fray. I am officially looking forward to his standalone movie.
Captain America is always right even when he is wrong. I found it slightly jarring to see him running around in his little outfit in a different country at the beginning of the movie. Um, shouldn’t you have another outfit for international travel or for covert operations? Captain America: Civil War basically shows that his suspicion of adding another level of possibly self-interested bureaucracy to an already flawed process could be dangerous. Cap basically asks for more reasoned thought than just shoot first and constantly pleads for people to talk. He is not anti-reform, but pro-thought before action. He is fairly consistent since he reacted similarly in Captain America: Winter Soldier. Be suspicious of grand agenda and authority. Also I think that he is gross for dating Peggy’s niece. Seriously, date outside of the gene pool. Also did Peggy have more than one brother because her brother died in WWII? Or did her brother have a child before he died? See, these questions could be answered if Agent Carter was still on air, ABC!
Dear Tony Stark, please get some therapy and just accept Alfre Woodward’s condemnation. If you are sad about a mortal mistake, be sad. Don’t act. You’re wrong even when you’re right. Yes, you need to do better so innocent people don’t get killed, but who sides with your science buddy’s enemy, Ross, against your friends?!? Ross has been hella problematic since The Incredible Hulk, and you did not hesitate before jumping on his bandwagon just to feel better about the manslaughter! Bruce Banner is going to get angry then you are going to have to deal with the Hulk. For two movies now, you have been the real villain: Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War. If people don’t jump on board with your reform agenda, then they are the enemy, and must be stopped. You do not stop to listen to Cap when he offers a chance to talk. You fight. Then when you introduce force, you get mad when one of your people get hurt, and you discover that you are not as great at this fighting thing than you thought. What did you think was going to happen? You are a scientist first, not a fighter! And you recruited a child soldier, Spider-Man!?! You are now evil. Then you decide that you get to break the rules and should not be punished. Then you get hurt again and attempt murder. Yes, Bucky killed your parents. I am not inclined to reason in matters of personal offense, but literally the ONLY reason that I would not be screaming bloody murder is Bucky’s scenario if I knew that he was brainwashed. Congratulations, you went from well-intentioned reformer who doesn’t trust the government to Dr. Frankenstein to anti-Avengers to child soldier recruiter to friend fighter who will point blank shoot a friend who stops fighting to help you (Falcon) to an attempted murderer in an Iron Man suit. Even after you KNOW that you were wrong, you do NOTHING to help them get out of underwater jail and are not bothered in the least by lack of a trial or due process. You are a hypocrite. You need to put down the bottle and deal with your feelings. Instead of making grand changes in the world, make grand changes inside yourself. These are the reasons that Pepper dumped you.
Black Widow was fun. She is a double agent even when she is off the clock, and only she and Hawkeye get how stupid all of this conflict truly is. When Tony started to give her lip, I wanted her to hit him in the face just once. She is officially the only character who succeeded at slowing down Black Panther. When does she get her movie? They are thinking about it. Yup. Check is in the mail.
Ant-Man’s appearance is perfect. I did not know that I needed a King Kong sized Ant-Man, but I did, and I am a better person as a result. So he is never going to see his daughter again?
Vision did nothing for me. He has a crush on Wanda, but is giving me a Boxing Helena vibe. Wanda was right to put you into the ground. Scarlet Witch is awesome. The arrogance of Tony and Vision trying to ground her!?! I clutched my pearls. Vision shoots War Machine by accident. Is he grounded? Alfre Woodward condemns Tony. Does he get grounded? Miss me with that patriarchal mess. Scarlet Witch put up with it because she knows that she is wrong, but those guys judging her, I don’t think so.
Please no more Spider-Man reboots. It looks like we escaped seeing Uncle Ben getting shot yet again. It was a fun appearance, but the idea of a kid being recruited instead of volunteering creeped the hell out of me. I need Tony to stay out of school zones though the buddy camaraderie was terrific. If Marisa Tomei is Aunt May, I wonder which actor will play her husband in flashbacks? I bet Uncle Ben was hot! I still miss Andrew Garfield, no disrespect to Tom Holland.
I have never seen Sebastian Stan give a bad performance ever! I loved him in Kings, Political Animals and Once Upon a Time. If you need an actor to play a tortured soul, call up Stan.
Zemo makes a great villain. He basically won, but considering how fractured this group has always been, maybe he did not have to go to all that trouble.
Captain America: Civil War may be tackling the pros and cons of US intervention in foreign affairs, but it visually grounds the debate in the cultural context of Black Lives Matter by setting the opening scenes in Lagos and giving the role of mourning mother of the innocent, voiceless and blameless victim to Alfre Woodward. Captain America: Civil War presents all sides of the problem of using force and not only failing to protect the innocent, but harming the innocent. The Avengers are primarily in the role of the cops, but later as victims of the extrajudicial system of punishment as well. That Mark Fuhrman line is not an accident. Ross as reformer should sound scary to the audience. Unlike the real world, no one denies the existence of the problem. Like the real world, there are not many solutions, and the good cops end up silenced while the bad ones remain unpunished and firmly bury themselves in the cloak of problematic authority.