Captain America: Civil War ruined it for every Superhero film that follows it. Six reasons why
**Of COURSE there are spoilers. And PLEASE click on any links/underlined references**
This was originally going to be a review/comparison of both Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse; but based on the poor reviews of X-Men (by my circle of friends/nerds) I decided to wait until the weekend to finally see it. Honestly based on past “Foxed up” X-movies, I don’t want to see X-Men, but I owe it to the 16-year old version of myself to give it a chance.
By now there have been countless reviews of Civil War since it premiered May 6th; and the praises heaped on the film are well-deserved. This could be just another acclamation-fest of how good the movie is; yada yada yada, etc..and actually, it IS (lolol), BUT from a different angle.
Not long after I first saw the film (I’ve seen it 3 times. YEAH, I did.); a fellow nerd and I were dapping each other up and talking about the highlights when suddenly the brother said, “Man, they just messed it up for EVERY superhero movie that comes next…” I paused for about 10 seconds and realized, “DAMN, he’s RIGHT.” Not sure of whether to sob or “LMAO” I decided to see where Marvel set the bar so high. So….here goes.
#6 Realism
With the exception of a few DC story lines & artists I’ve always preferred Marvel because of their ability to anchor the characters in some form of reality. Wolverine doesn’t get the girl (for very long), Spider-man struggles to pay the rent AND loses the girl (death of Gwen Stacy), and Captain Marvel dies of cancer.
The big kid in me would bug out if some mega-battle jumped off somewhere; but c’mon, the REALITY is that there’s no way super powered beings could battle one another, cause large-scale damage, and there be no loss of life. After The Hulk (Harlem, South Africa), the Avengers (Manhattan, Sokovia, & Nigeria), & Captain America (Washington D.C.), you know the governments of the world would be extremely concerned and afraid of this new world of super beings. As a result, the Sokovia Accords were approved by over 100 governments in an attempt to create a system of checks & balances for the Avengers and prevent the loss of innocent lives while the superheroes were, “Kickin’ ass (Tony Stark)”.
And no, not every hero signs off on the Accords. When Iron Man & Captain America disagree, they both agree that there should be accountability, but WHO determines where and how they respond causes the biggest rift. This difference of opinion among the ranks has painful repercussions for the Avengers. The comics of my youth were a wonderful escape for me and offered some form of realism, but they didn’t address the deaths of hundreds of people from numerous battles nor the inevitable trauma any survivors would experience.
#5 Story
This probably should have been attached to #6. The Accords and the reasons for them obviously provided the framework for the story. Tony Stark’s remorse/guilt was front and center throughout the film. Whether you were for Team Iron Man or Team Cap, there were no right or wrong perspectives. Both sides had valid reasons for their actions. At different points in the movie I found myself pulling for Captain America, and at other times Iron Man’s position made the most sense.
The Russo brothers (with screenwriters Stephen McFeely & Christopher Markus) have perfected how to present a story that addressed each person’s motivation for even being in the film. From Ant-Man to the Black Panther, each character’s behavior made sense. No one was there just to fill the roster and come off the bench. Bucky needed to clear his name. The Black Panther was pursuing the terrorist who murdered his father. Vision believed his role was logical based on the evidence presented in the Accords. Keep in mind, there were TWELVE heroes in the airport scene and you knew exactly why each person was there. I was surprised at how each character’s presence help move the story along to it’s conclusion. If the next hero film has trouble presenting a coherent story with less than four costumed characters, it should go straight to DVD.
#4 Action
You already know the action scenes were off the charts in this movie. That airport battle was a comic nerd’s dream come true. I’m so grateful for CGI! But let’s not forget the chase scene with Black Panther, Winter Soldier and Captain America. OR the stairwell beatdown that happened just before the chase scene. The fight choreography gave each person their own unique fighting style; even Ant-Man/Giant Man (“HEY, tiny dude is BIG now!”). I’m still impressed with Black Widow’s ability to take down 4–5 people at a time without powers. Iron Man underestimated Hawkeye until cars from a parking deck were dropped on him.
Oh, and remember that word realism? These battles are very real. Spider-man gets his eye “swole”, Iron-man & Captain America are nearly beaten to death, Winter Soldier now has one arm, and War Machine is left paralyzed from the waist down. It was extremely sobering watching Rhodes struggle to learn to walk again. “Rhodey” displayed both vulnerability and strength when faced with his injuries. If we’re talking about acting, Don Cheadle is my favorite actor for a reason.
There was a time when 1 or 2 fight scenes/battles were enough to impress an audience, but after Civil War some screenwriters are going to need a lot of prayer and Red Bulls to come up with something to top this film.
#3 Humor
Despite all the authenticity I keep referring to, there’s also a good number of funny scenes throughout the movie that help to further humanize the characters. Again, props to the screenwriters for nailing Spider-Man’s dialogue; especially during the airport battle.
Other heroes provided funny one-liners during the same battle. Falcon and Winter Soldier….
And Black Widow and Ant-Man…
This was a great movie for me because it managed to touch on a broad range of emotions. Anger, guilt, compassion, humor; it was a relief to see these characters as human beings first instead of just heroes.
#2 Spider-Man
Now we were already amped about Civil War before we knew that Spidey was going to make an appearance, but once the rumors were confirmed that Sony was going to partner with Marvel and set him in the MCU…..well…
Spider-Man has ALWAYS been the face of Marvel and always will be. Fans never expected him to make it into ANY film with other Marvel characters due to the Sony-Marvel Studios beef. Credit Tom Holland for bringing the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man yet to the screen. I can’t lie, I was tired of the reboot films and change of actors, but THIS was Spidey. The scene with Tony Stark and Peter Parker in Queens was one of the best of the movie. It’s apparent that Marvel Studios spared no expense in getting the best actors for these roles. Proof that quality acting even has it’s place in the action/superhero/blockbuster genre.
As a kid, EVERY hero in the Marvel Universe had to guest in one of Spidey’s comics at some point. Spider-Man probably saved a good number of characters from being written out of the Marvel Universe. It would be a terrible understatement if I said I was looking forward to future Spider-Man films with Marvel Studios.
And last but not least…..
#1 Black Panther
I don’t even know where to begin. Really, I don’t. From Ta-Nehisi’s Coates current (and brilliant) run on the comic book or his appearance in Civil War, Black Panther is probably a HUGE reason other films may need to hire this same team of film makers & writers (or deal with some extremely unhappy fans).
For many fans of the character, T’Challa is obviously regal, mysterious, and he will beat your ass. But for myself and other people of African descent, The Black Panther is the reflection of what once existed and what could yet be. I HAVE to get into the backstory/history of the Black Panther to fully explain. T’Challa is the King/protector/superhero/scientist all-in-one and comes from the nation of Wakanda; a fictional country that is home to the most technologically advanced society IN THE WORLD. Wakanda is the leader in every field of science: medicine (ex.cure for cancer), mathematics, chemistry, physics, etc. Wakanda is nearly hundreds of years ahead of the rest of the world.
One of the reasons for this is that the nation has NEVER been conquered. By anyone. Imperialism, colonialism, the best minds and leaders of the country were not lost to the horrors of slavery and war. Wakandans had managed to beat back all outside attempts to conquer/subjugate them. To get an idea of what once was, one can refer to KMT (Egypt), the Dogon, Mali, Timbuktu or the Olmec as real-life examples of advanced African societies. In college I sometimes would stay up late into the night reading about these societies and wonder what could have been had they been left to further develop without outside interference. The Dogon had mapped the stars, performed cataract & brain surgery with anesthetics 500 years before Europe. The Olmec had been traveling to, and trading with the Americas for hundreds of years, and people from all over the ancient world once studied at the Universities of Timbuktu and KMT (the Mysteries). The Moor brought paved streets, plumbing, and education to Spain in 711 AD and ruled there for hundreds of years. I ask, where would these societies be TODAY if left alone? My answer-W A K A N D A.
As eager as I was to see the big-screen interpretation of T’Challa, I was also extremely wary. Marvel had done well casting Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, Anthony Mackie as Falcon and Don Cheadle as War Machine, but I didn’t believe they could truly bring the dignity and strength to Black Panther without coming off as insulting & patronizing. Thankfully I was wrong. Black Panther was no token and it was obvious throughout the film that he was not just their equal as a hero, he was also more (as the leader of a country). Chadwick Boseman was brilliant as the Monarch/Superhero/Scientist; even speaking Xhosa with his father T’Chaka (played by John Kani, who taught the language to Boseman. ).
In addition to the cultural reasons, the Black Panther was also impressive when it came time to “put the paws” on someone. If you remember Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Bucky had errrryone SHOOK. People talked about the guy in hushed whispers, lol. He’d beaten up on Black Widow, Falcon, Nick Fury and Captain America through most of the movie. He even busted a few caps in Cap (I meant to say that). Fast-forward to Civil War and ol’ Bucky is getting smacked around by Black Panther. Spanked. Pooty-tanged. On more than one occasion. T’Challa was also more than a match for a number of heroes during the airport battle. I especially liked the scene where Black Panther jumped in his special jet & followed Iron Man to the hidden base. For all of the tech and hardware in Tony Stark’s armor, he still could not detect the Black Panther tailing him. IMPRESSIVE.
The point of all of this is to say that Civil War has set the bar incredibly high for ANY future films on the horizon. Obviously I gave the film an “A” PLUS PLUS. Whether DC or Marvel, the film makers will definitely need to come with the thunder to impress critics and fans alike. HOWEVER, there are 2 films that may not just compete with Civil War, they may even surpass it (if that’s possible). And many of you already know what I’m referring to…..
My favorite villain Thanos will finally take center stage in Avengers: Infinity War parts 1 & 2. If Guardians Of The Galaxy was any indication, Marvel has the ability to take things from an earth-bound to a GALACTIC scale. Man, I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it.
Oh, and yes I AM finally going to go see X-Men #stillsippingthekool-aid
- *A very special THANK YOU to my sons for encouraging me to hurry up & write this post. They loved the Black Panther animated series as kids.*
