The question ‘Whose side are you on – Team Cap or Team Iron Man?’ has been floating around from the past many weeks and to choose a side was like having to choose between air or water. Both the characters have delivered some brilliant performances in their previous outings and each has a strong fan following. And it seems like the question will always be unanswered. Captain America: Civil War has so far been the best superhero movie in the history of cinema. It is a strong statement but it has the perfect amalgamation of story, action sequences, character unveiling and plot development.
Seems like Marvel knows exactly what the fans want from its movies and has managed to showcase that superhero movies don’t need aliens or masked villains or a CGI monster to make fans go gaga over them. A fight between two superheroes who have their own personal justified reasons to be against one another came as a breather to one and all. There couldn’t have been any better way for Marvel to kick off their Phase Three.
The biggest question that has been looming around since the announcement of the complete cast was whether Marvel will be able to give justice to the 12 superheroes who are going to be brawling against one another in the movie. It seems like justice has been served and how! Each character stands its own ground and none of the scenes seem out of place. With crisp screenwriting and a clear vision, the Russo brothers have delivered what everyone have been longing for, a complete comic book to screen movie.
The movie unfurls with the waking of Winter Soldier back in 1991 who’s out on an assassination mission. Flash forward to present day where we see guilt ridden Tony Stark remembering the day when his parents met with an accident and what could have been his last words to them. While Stark is giving speech to students, on the other hand the Avengers team led by Captain America are on an assignment to stop Crossbones from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. The fight results in devastating a nearby building, killing a number of Wakandan humanitarian workers. This incident coupled with the earlier events seemed enough for UN Secretary to come up with Sokovia Accords that’s been signed by 113 countries, which will help them control and keep a check on the Avengers.
Guilt-ridden Stark signs the Accords, whereas a bad experience in the past makes Rogers decide the opposite. That’s when the two superheroes decide to go on separate paths and everything goes for a whirlwind resulting in the epic face-off we all have been waiting for. 12 superheroes pitted against one another at the airport. Rogers and Bucky successfully manage to flee away from the scene and proceed to Siberia to stop Zemo from unleashing the other Winter Soldiers. And that’s where the final battle against Bucky along with Captain America and Iron Man takes place (though my hands are itching to reveal the secret, I won’t).
The movie is filled with action packed and emotional sequences. Few scenes that one should watch out for are: Winter Soldier’s 1991 mission, younger Stark’s interaction with his parents, T’Challa and Winter Soldier’s chase scene, the fleeting romance between Wanda and Vision, the airport face-off, Sharon Carter’s (Emily VanCamp) soft corner for Rogers and certainly Zemo’s tête-à-tête with our superheroes at Siberia.
Marvel is known to deliver some amazing visuals and in Civil War too, it left no stones unturned. Various VFX studios have worked on this film namely Industrial Light & Magic, Method Studios, Rise FX, Trixter, Double Negative, Luma Pictures, Lola VFX, Cantina Creative, Animal Logic and The Third Floor. The entire VFX team with the guidance of the production VFX supervisor, Dan DeLeeuw and ILM, VFX supervisor Russell Earl, managed to accomplish what every director wishes for; a film that’s VFX heavy without the audience pointing out the VFX blunders.
A couple of VFX heavy scenes that deserve an applause are Scarlet Witch wielding her power, Vision phasing through objects and humans, Ant-Man’s magnitude changing portions, the airport battle and one major sequence – the revealing of the detainment centre. The water has been rendered properly and nowhere does it look fake. Kudos to the VFX team!
Throughout the movie, the entire cast managed to deliver an incredible performance, leaving an unforgettable mark on the viewers. Stark’s and Rogers’ fight didn’t seem like an unwanted one as both had their set of perfect reasons of being against one another. And till the end it was difficult to decide whose side am I on (Captain America). However, I would like to discuss particularly about the newest editions in the MCU: Black Panther and Spider-Man.
Chadwick Boseman’s performance as the stealthy, agile, athletic cat with costume made up of vibranium – Black Panther, assured us that bringing Black Panther in MCU was a good move. He managed to strike a balance between his inner conflicts and rage, and be calm enough to take the right decision. An aura of mysticism always prevailed and we cannot wait to witness what more will he bring on screen in his solo movie.
And completely opposite to him is the young Spider-Man who lives with his pretty aunt May Parker. Forget about all the previous Spider-Man movies you have ever watched as this web crawler is nothing like those ones. He’s this adolescent kid who’s excited about his fight against and along with the divided Avengers team. Though a little chit chatty, he manages to impress the 11 other superheroes and also the viewers with his stellar performance. Holland and Marvel have a lot riding on their shoulder with Spider-Man: Homecoming upon their sleeves.
The Russo brothers have managed to give spotlight to each and every character even if they were a part of the film for a brief time. And this wouldn’t have been possible without Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely screenplay as every character’s dialogues and involvement were well scripted and timed. Not a single character lost its essence and had justification for being on whoever’s side they were on. Seems like Stan Lee and Kevin Feige’s combination is working in the favour of Marvel and Walt Disney Studios and I can definitely say that the film is bound to break many box-office records!
Final verdict: The film deserves to be seen on the big screens so don’t think twice before going for it and all the superhero buffs should definitely watch it. (Psst… Wait for the special Stan Lee cameo and two post credit scenes.)
