I am a huge Avengers fan, have been since I was 8-years old, and the Archie’s were replaced with Marvel, much to the horror of my mother. She wanted a Veronica, while I was clearly a Jughead.
I was not thrilled about seeing my favorite superheroes fighting among themselves in this newest addition, “Captain America: Civil War.”
Thankfully, it was handled correctly where neither side is right or wrong. Like a good marriage, they disagree on how things should be done, but ultimately respect each other.
The introduction of new superheroes minimized the “breakup” drama and when they battled each other it was an eye candy experience more than a battle. The script is tight, theatrical and funny, leaving the strong personalities to drive the drama.
The plot: With many people fearing the actions of superheroes, the government decides to push for the “Anti-Hero Registration Act,” a law that limits a hero’s actions.
This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world.
This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man and Captain America. Iron Man’s (Robert Downey, Jr.) team includes Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Spiderman (Tom Hollad).
Team Captain America (Chris Evans) includes Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Sharon Carter (Emily Van Camp), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Ant Man (Paul Rudd). No matter what side you pick, you win if you go see Captain America: Civil War.
Civil War has the same appeal of the X-men sagas, with so many superheroes in the film; us comic geeks could NOT go see it. But thankfully, it was a film both veracious and spectacular.
It’s hard to say which was cooler, watching the spark happening between the Scarlet Which and the Vision, Captain America driving a VW Bug, seeing the origin of the Black Panther, or watching Tony Stark having a heart to heart with Peter Parker.
For me it was definitely the latter, because I though that Spider-Man’s appearance in the film would be overkill. You could not help but to clap when he comes on the screen and the dialog between Aunt May and Stark was perfection.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo have made a masterpiece, they said that the most powerful shot of the film was Steve Rogers stopping a helicopter from taking off, with his bare hands. On set, they had Evans straining against a crane, holding the helicopter to get this fantastic shot of his muscles bulging, and you can feel the energy and determination as he tries to stop it.
Evans was injured while filming the iconic shot of Captain America holding back a helicopter with his hands, but it was the money shot and I audibly swooned during it. I swooned a bunch in this the longest of Marvel movies, but loved every second.
“Captain America: Civil War” is a fantastic movie with a well developed storyline and a stellar cast. Sorry Deadpool, but you’ve been replaced as my favorite superhero movie of the year!
Teri Bayus can be reached at: [email protected] or follow her writing and ramblings at: www.teribayus.com. Bayus also hosts Taste Buds, a moving picture rendition of her reviews shown on Charter Ch. 10. Dinner and a Movie is a regular feature of Tolosa Press.
