By Sydney Booth
Captain America: Civil War is the newest must-see from Marvel, even though the split in the Avengers might seem unbearable from the outside looking in. As it should be, action is present throughout, and epic battles between Avengers is certainly not in short supply. Although this latest Marvel release is labeled as a Captain America movie, it really involves all of the Avengers.
Another incident involving collateral damage and loss of life caused by the Avengers has been brought to light by politicians throughout the word. To keep the Avengers in line, a law called the Anti-Hero Registration Act has been proposed by the United Nations and other countries to keep the Avengers in line and increase accountability. Shockingly, Iron Man/ Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) stands with the Act, consumed by guilt over the lives he feels responsible for ending during the many battles the Avengers have taken part in. Captain America (Chris Evans) is opposed to the act, believing that the government should not have a say in how they protect the world–it’s dangerous enough without interfering politicians. Thus, two teams form from the disagreement: team Iron Man and team Captain America. Stark’s team is complete with the Black Widow, War Machine (Stark’s right-hand-man), the Vision (formerly Jarvis), the Black Panther, and Spider Man. Cap’s team consists of Falcon, Bucky Barnes, the Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man. Adding to the plot, Captain America’s long-time friend, Bucky, is wanted for the bombing that occurred during the signing of the Act. The explosion killed the king of Nigeria, and angered his son: the Black Panther. As time goes on, Captain America becomes a criminal as he assists Bucky and uncovers truths that Stark might not be able to believe.
In many ways, this film was a bombardment of new information. Three brand new characters are introduced, with a few (Spider Man and Black Panther) making their first appearance in any Avengers movie, ever. The addition of Spider Man was simply confusing. His recruitment into the Avengers by Stark does not seem to fit within the original Spider Man plot, and there is really no time scale on which to judge it. All we know is that he has had his powers for six months before being recruited and he makes his webs–they do not come out of his wrists like viewers are used to seeing. Black Panther’s appearance does make more sense than Spider Man’s since he is out for vengeance after his dad was allegedly killed by Bucky. Any Man was the most successful addition. Even though he grew into a giant by some miracle of physics halfway through a battle scene, he was entertaining to watch and provided some comedy relief.
Although Thor’s good looks and his thunder-god powers (which would have been especially helpful to whatever side he would have picked) were missed, he probably would not have seen it fit to interfere in the quarrels of mortals, anyway. However, the absence of the giant green Hulk who inexplicably disappeared at the end of The Avengers: Age of Ultron was notable, especially in the presence of so many new characters. His lack of involvement here leaves viewers wondering when he will reappear.
All things aside, the most major battle scene between the two teams had a friendly tone to it. Characters were often talking in between battles, exchanging friendly banter, and not severely injuring anyone until the very end when a misfire from the Vision left War Machine injured and paralyzed for the time being. The battle between Captain America and Bucky against Iron Man, however, got nasty after new truths were revealed that left Stark wanting revenge. No one was killed, but it was not a good note to end a movie on. Luckily, viewers get to see a kind letter written to Stark by Captain America which ended the movie on a slightly optimistic tone that the Avengers are still a team. All things considered, their reuniting is likely inevitable since the newest Avengers movie, The Avengers: Infinity War, is approaching, facing them all with the task of securing the four mind-stones (one of which is possessed by the Vision). Plus, this addition will most definitely feature Thor.
This latest must-see from Marvel, which opened on May 5, has grossed 942.9 million U.S. dollars so far. Coming in at 179.41 million on opening weekend was a bit of a lowball compared to the 181.8 million it was projected to make, but it is still safe to say that the Marvel world is doing just fine. The Avengers: Age of Ultron was a touch below its expected opening day revenue, but still turned out to be a hit, especially for a sequel. Even tough critics had good things to say about the newest film. It earned 8.5/10 stars from IBMd, 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and 75 percent on Metacritic.
Like they say, every relationship has its rough patches, and Captain America: Civil War appears to be one of them. It is not disappointing, overall, although there are still quite a few points of critique. Viewers should not abandon the series because of one little fracture in the unity of the Avengers. Even if the split has some enraged, the action packed nature of the film should make up for some of the hatred people may feel toward the filmmakers.
