Captain America: Civil War is the latest film in the “Avengers Universe”. It picks up after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron from last year, as well as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and merges themes from both into a culmination that is this movie.
The movie starts as Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are chasing thieves, who’re attempting to steal a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. The team arrives as the theft is in progress. Bystanders are hurt, and the situation gets out of hand, with a bomb set to go off in a crowded area. The Scarlett Witch uses telekinesis to move the bomb out of harms way, but it goes off, killing many people.
Most of the world is still up in arms about what happened in the nation of Sokovia, in that the Avengers team, left unchecked, is answering to no one. After this incident, there is pressure for them to submit to an international oversight panel, however, this doesn’t sit well with some of the Avengers, including Captain America. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is for it, even if in name only. Some hearings start to take place, but an assassin is sent in to bomb the meeting, killing the King of Wakanda, who was leading the effort. His son T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) uses this as a rallying cry for justice, especially since it appears that Bucky, aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is discovered in security footage right before the blast.
Herein lies the conflict. Cap is convinced that it’s not Bucky’s fault, given that he’s been brainwashed all these years, and hopes to capture him and save him. Iron Man, on the other hand, feeling guilty from the destruction of the city in Sokovia, insists that Bucky be captured and brought in to account for his crimes. The various Avengers take sides, and this begins the Civil War, while everyone is trying to locate Bucky.
Each side tries to get the others to join their team. Thor and The Incredible Hulk are unavailable/elsewhere, so Cap ends up recruiting Ant Man, while Iron Man entices a very young Spiderman. These scenes are some of the best and funniest of the film, as well as the “big fight” that regards what should be done about Bucky.
There are a few twists in the film and a surprise or two. Overall, I found it a good film, but not a great one. There are too many moving parts, and perhaps too many heroes. It’s orchestrated well, but I would say this film wasn’t a Home Run.
As I recall from the comics, it was Captain America who sided with the governmental control, and Iron Man was more for improvisation, so their positions in the film was pretty contrary to that.
Regardless, I do recommend this film. As with all Marvel movies, there is both a mid-credits and also a post-credits scene.