Captain America Civil War Review: The Safest Hands Are Still Our Own

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We have reached the film that I believe was a huge turning point for the MCU. By this point, the MCU was hugely popular and every one of their films was well-regarded and successful. However, in 2016 a film would be released that would make the MCU must watch, and from that point up until Avengers Endgame nearly everyone went out to see the newest Marvel movie.

Captain America Civil War was that film and I attribute this to a couple of key factors. For one it was essentially Avengers 2.5 with most of the Avengers cast returning for the film and the story being very Avengers-centric.  The other main reason was a brilliant marketing campaign that asked audiences to pick a side between Captain America and Iron Man and this divided nature was heavily pushed in the ads for the film.

Now as to what I think of the film. It is an amazing film that I love besides the fact that watching Steve and Tony fight sucks because it feels like watching two friends you care about fight.

Now my confession for this film is that the first couple of times I watched the film I was team Iron Man.  There were two reasons for this. Firstly, Tony Stark had been my favourite MCU character from the beginning and was just one of my favourite characters in general. While I love Steve in my mind Tony was cooler and therefore, I sided with him. Secondly, team Iron Man has my favourite superhero on his team but we will get to him later. 

After those initial viewings, however, I was quickly swayed to team Cap mainly due to the fact that he is right.  In the context of the MCU, it is extremely dangerous for the Avengers to be a UN hit squad they need to be able to do what they think is right without interference.

One of my favourite scenes in the film is actually the discussion about the Sokovia Accords at the Avengers compound. The characters have an honest conversation and I really like the way that each of them contributes in a way that makes sense for their character. 

I think there are three main characters in this film; Steve, Tony, and Bucky and I will go into why this film is important for each of their arcs.  For Steve, ever since he got unfrozen, he has slowly been distancing himself from the government and the trust he used to put in them. Especially after what happened in Captain America The Winter Soldier, where Steve learns that an institution that he supported was actually corrupt and due to this he had to stop them.

So naturally, he is a little more cautious with government agendas, and while he might still be Captain America, he now more than ever represents the ideals of America and less its reality. Quick side note, this is still firmly a Captain America movie as it leans more to his perspective and follows his actions more than Tony. It also has the same aesthetic and tone as the Winter Soldier more so than the Avengers films.

As for Tony, he has been motivated by guilt since Iron Man and his entire superhero career has been trying to atone for his mistakes. So when he is blamed by a woman for the death of her son in Sokovia I understand why he feels like maybe some regulation is in order. He is trying to reduce the mess that comes with the Avengers missions, even though if they weren’t involved worse things would happen.

The other thing is the accords allow Tony to lift some of the responsibility off his shoulders so he can make more time for Pepper and ease his conscience.  Bucky’s story is one of tragedy. He is a good man who has been forced to commit evil for decades against anyone and everyone. You can feel the pain in his eyes when he thinks back to the acts he has committed. He is a man struggling to find who he is after his identity has been taken and is trying to just live in peace.

Our two new superhero characters are both popular characters whose introduction to the MCU was long awaited. T’Challa or the Black Panther is a great addition to this film. Chadwick Boseman is a terrific actor and I love his scenes in this film. I do like him better in Black Panther because you get to see a softer side to him but he is still great in this one. 

He’s regal, serious, and consumed by revenge. He has some cool scenes and some killer action scenes. However, the second reason that I was on team Iron Man was apparent when the second Queens popped up on the screen. Spider-Man is my favourite superhero and I will spend more time talking about that when I review Spider-Man Homecoming.

For now, I will say that I love his introduction and his sit-down scene with Tony. He is able to explain why he does this without using the “with great power comes great responsibility” line.  Tom Holland really nails the part in this film and I love his fight scenes with the Avengers.

Zemo as a villain was a step up to most of the Phase 2 villains and as this was the start of Phase 3 this starts us off on a good foot.  His motivations are simple but I like the strategy of breaking the Avengers from the inside.  The action in this movie is phenomenal and has some of my favourite set pieces in the MCU.

The airport battle is fun because we get to see characters who normally stand side by side using their powers against each other in creative and fascinating matchups.  The end fight with Tony and Steve shows us some brutal hand-to-hand combat as well as being the most emotional action scene in the entire MCU. You really feel it when Steve says “ he’s my friend” and Tony says “ So was I”. It feels gut-wrenching and like the end of the team.

So overall, Captain America Civil War is a fantastic entry in the MCU. It asks many intriguing questions about our heroes, has some of the most emotional scenes in the franchise, has some of the coolest action in the series, and introduces some awesome new characters.  This movie manages to balance feeling like a grounded political thriller similar to the last Captain America while balancing the bigger team-up story elements. So give it a watch and let us know who’s side your own!