Why ‘Captain America: Civil War’ Might Be One of Marvel’s Best Films Yet
{warning: here be spoilers}
I am a huge Marvel nerd.
I’m not kidding. I routinely spend at least three weeks before the premiere of any Marvel movie freaking out. I will talk non-stop about all the characters and how excited I am to the point where even my own parents don’t want to speak with me. It’s bad.
So as you’d expect, I have a lot of favourite Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Both Avengers movies, for instance. Guardians of the Galaxy. Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Ant Man. Etcetera. The list goes on and on. But Captain America: Civil War blew all of them out of the water.
Last Friday, I went to see Civil War with a few friends. Waiting outside of that theatre, all of us were either freaking out or very, very close to it. One of my best friends, who may just be the biggest comic book nerd I know (and also a huge fan of Cap), was next to vibrating with excitement. But me… well, I’m going to be honest: I knew I’d like the movie, because it was Marvel and I’ve yet to meet a Marvel movie I don’t like. But there was always this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, like oh God, this movie is going to obliterate me. I mean, it’s about the Avengers (minus Thor and Bruce) splitting apart. No one was sure if Bucky was more Winter Soldier or more Buck. There were rumors floating around that Cap was going to die. That’s more than enough to make your garden-variety nerd anxious. But thankfully, I was proved wrong.
One of Marvel’s biggest strengths from a writing point-of-view — other than their character development, of course — is the depth and nuances of their plots. And for me, that was one of the highlights of the film. Seeing Cap struggle with what he should do and what’s morally right to him — that gave him depth. Though I’ve always liked Cap, this movie gave him an extra dimension that he — the all-American goody two-shoes superhero — has lacked in some of the other movies. Watching him be torn between his newfound friends with the Avengers and the oldest — and closest — friend he has was as heartbreaking as it was beautiful. Similarly, watching Tony try to do what he thinks is right instead of what he wants to do — as he’s done more often than not — in an attempt to atone made him just that much more relatable, too. (There’s also something to be said about the whole libertarianism vs. Big Brother subtext Steve briefly discusses, but I’m not going to get into that now.)
While this movie may not be the best one in the MCU in terms of plot or character development, for me, it was the most poignant. Because sure, I can sit around and watch them fight off aliens or crazy AI just as long as the next person. Hell, I thrive off watching them take down baddies. Fight scenes are totally my thing. But when you give them the kind of human struggles we can all relate to and bring them back down to the basics, that’s what I love. Wanda shoving Vision a few hundred feet down into the Earth; T’Challa trying to avenge his father; Tony attacking Bucky because the Winter Soldier killed his parents; and later, Tony’s so was I after Steve says Bucky’s his friend — now that’s what I’m here for.
And it’s the little moments, too. Bucky giving Steve that proud smirk when Steve kissed Sharon. Sam refusing to move his seat up. Vision trying to learn how to cook. Spider-Man saying he can’t go to Germany because he has homework. Ant-Man being so excited to meet Cap. Iron Man and Rhodey at the end, when “Tony Stank” had to sign for a package. Sure, they’re entertaining to watch, and an argument can certainly be made for them being the backbone of the movie, but like the larger scenes, they serve a greater purpose. In these bits of everyday humanity, Marvel shows us that these heroes aren’t just heroes. They’re high school students, a guy trying to impress a girl, and two friends who know each other like the back of their hands. Because it’s worth remembering every once in a while that even though these characters are superheroes, they’re still human, too. They still have fatal flaws and feelings and things that keep them up at night. Just like all of us.
So thank you, Marvel, for creating a movie that brought the two best friends from Brooklyn back together. Because through that, you gave us a hell of a lot more.
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