thatdemoguy

Excuse me for a second....

I'm having a hard time processing that all of this is real. 

I feel so spoiled, maybe entitled even, to be here as a "critic" for something like this gift that 10 short years ago, would have been an impossibility to imagine. I mean who would have thought that one day we would have a film where all of our favorite costumed heroes were brought to life on the big screen in a story that wasn't bound to typical fantastical, cartoonish, unrealistic tropes. But here I sit, in the year 2016, and that's exactly what's happened. To make it even more incredulous, it's happened more than once....within one series of films. 

I have been very vocal in my belief that Captain America: The Winter Soldier was not only the best movie in the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but also quite possibly the best "comic book" movie to date, only ever being contested by DC's The Dark Knight. Both of these movies were triumphs because they took subject matter that's normally relegated to kids fare and hit it with a huge dose of reality. No, this doesn't mean that the answer was to go edgy and dark, but rather to take these characters and the settings that we know and love, and place real world implications onto them. To take situations that are currently happening in our society, and mirror them within the framework of the movie. Call it social commentary, if you will. This makes the characters instantly more relatable to us as an audience and creates more memorable talking points other than the obvious spectacle of super heroes on film.

In The Winter Soldier, the drama centered around Captain America facing the reality that maybe the truths that he held dear and the superiors he had sworn allegiances to, weren't all that he believed. Maybe he wasn't working for the good guys and the very pointed black and white existence he was accustomed to was more gray. The very real questions were asked of what exactly is freedom, and who really protects that very freedom? The drama was further accentuated by the titular character finding out that his childhood best friend, Bucky Barnes who he thought was lost on a mission in the first film, was not only alive, but operating for the opposing side. This central conflict between Cap wanting to do what was right for the greater good while also doing what was right to save his friend, was a driving force that pushed that narrative far past those that came before it. 

This is exactly where Civil War picks up. Let me take a moment to make it clear that while this movie has a huge cast of characters, all who command screen time and contribute to this story, the focal point here is still squarely focused on the relationship between Steve, Captain America and Bucky, The Winter Soldier and how this friendship and bond runs into direct conflict not with a big bad villain, but another friend, in Tony Stark, Iron Man. In the time since Bucky's re-emergence, lots have gone down in the world. More worldly threats have come and gone, leaving casualties in their wake. After the Sokovia incident in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and then the events of the opening of this film, the government agencies of the world have called for oversight on the heroes who, while in the process of doing the "right" thing, don't see the ugly reality of what's left behind once the fight is over. 

But what exactly is this oversight? If the government all of a sudden gets to decide who the heroes are, do they also get to say who the villains are as well?

This is the polarizing issue that makes up the tension of this film. And there is plenty of tension to be had. Do not go into this film expecting it to be nothing but super people flying around, shooting super powers at each other for two and a half hours. From the first frame of this film, and throughout the first hour or so, that tension is slowly built and wound up tightly. Characters are torn right down the middle; friendships and budding relationships are put into question. And all the while, there's someone or something moving the pieces across the board like pawns. The problem being, the pieces are these characters who we have come to know, who's story and lives we have become invested into. And now there are two HUGE new pieces on the board, Black Panther and Spider-Man, who are very pivotal to not just this story, but who's presence lays the foundation for their very own stories to be told in the future. The former, Black Panther, plays a larger part than the latter, considering that his part puts him in direct conflict with Bucky, and in turn Cap, but make no mistake that Spider-Man, in particular THIS iteration of the character, is the most complete and true to life the character has ever been presented. 

Filled out on each side with conflicts between Ant-Man, War Machine, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, and Scarlet Witch, the roiling sound builds to an amazing crescendo mid film when everyone clashes at an abandoned airport in Berlin. In all of the marketing and advertising, this huge battle is teased and we all know it’s coming, but believe me when I say that this battle absolutely exceeds all expectations. This truly has to be seen to be believed. And there's still nearly an hour of movie AFTER this happens. And during the entire course of this film, each side is given a very compelling argument, where it’s hard to simply say you're #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan 

Considering that I want to keep this spoiler free, I will suffice it to say that I didn't think that The Winter Soldier could be outdone, but The Russo Brothers have made that happen and then some. 

Captain America: Civil War is a visual and visceral tour de force that any fan of these characters, or just plain good cinema, owes it to themselves to see. It is the best movie in the MCU, and the events of this movie, just like the previous two Captain America movies, are the driving point for the direction things will go heading into Infinity War. 

Go see this movie!!