Are you on Team Cap or Team Stark? That is the question for this year since the godawful Twilight series is hopefully dead, dismembered, embalmed, mummified, and buried 12-feet deep in a cement and lead-lined mortuary with a 20-foot steel vault door with seven time dial locks, three different electromagnetic locks, banded in titanium and surrounded by a triple 39-foot tall electrified fence with concertina wire, guard towers with shoot to kill orders, dog patrols with an AWACS, satellite AND AC-130 gunship in constant hover so the series will NEVER be spoken of again.
Whew! But I digress...
Captain America: Civil War, the throwdown we have been waiting for for three years is finally here! And it's lots of big, dumb fun. We pick up where last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron ends, and a small digression with Ant-Man. The Avengers are still a dysfunctional family to say the least, Nick Fury is missing, SHIELD is in ruins, Thor is in his magic jacuzzi cave somewhere, and the Hulk (i.e. the most expensive special effect of the series) is gone and everyone secretly hopes he is dead. The movie opens with the Avengers taking down some bad dudes who want to do something that will kill a lot of people for some reason. During the fight, an explosion kills a lot of innocent bystanders. The world is horrified because since the Avengers have now essentially leveled New York, Washington DC, Sekovia and now Lagos, the UN feels it must pass some accords to put a leash on them. They must be now registered, give up their identities, and do what the UN says. Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is all for this because it reins them in and makes them answerable for their actions (i.e. sell-out stooge). Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) is against this because it robs them of their freedom and being subservient to political whim does not sit well with him (i.e. whiny brat). The heroes take sides (look at the poster) and whoop some ass.
As I said earlier, this is actually a pretty fun romp. Unlike Iron Man or Captain America: Winter Soldier that actually try to give poignant and relevant messages for today's environment, this is basically just a big fight movie. I am not saying that's a bad thing, but the intellectual rigor of this film doesn't really pass a 12-year-old's. That's too bad, because many Marvel movies, Winter Soldier in particular, work because they actually have something to say beyond a big fight. Marvel Comics, in general, work for the same reason. The secret to Marvel's success was that back in the 60's when it started, all the stories had heroes with fatal flaws; they were like us with relatable and understandable problems in contrast to the living iconography of DC heroes Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. And while it is fun to take a break and just revel in some fun every now and then like Civil War, I hope this is not a trend.
A big problem with this movie for newbies is that you will be pretty lost. Marvel has done a masterful job at weaving together all of their movies and TV shows into a large, cohesive whole while being able to tell individual stories as well. The problem though, is that if you don't follow them, you will be a little lost. Each movie feeds the next, and this one in particular has a lot of allusions to the older movies. Try as it might to summarize in exposition, there is a lot of material to cover in this film, and if you haven't been keeping up, you will be a little lost. Heck, I've seen all of them and even I would get lost occasionally trying to remember things that happened in previous films. That caution aside, I say go see this. It's all big, dumb spectacle, but it is a fun ride. There are some new guys thrown in the mix, too, Black Panther and Spider-man, both handled well, but also seem to be a little gratuitous. It is exciting to see them both, though, and they will make fine additions to new movies in the Marvel Universe.
Go see it, have fun, bring the kids (if you must) and enjoy! Just don't expect too much, and you will have a great time.
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