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warner bros. / marvel
Like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War is an overstuffed, overlong superhero reunification bout, a simultaneous sequel to multiple films and a teaser for even more. It turns the franchise’s most popular characters into frenemies, adds new ones more than halfway through the movie, and ends without anyone dying or much being resolved. Both have lengthy subplots apologizing for the carnage of their predecessors, and villains who are decidedly un-super. If anything, all of these things apply to Civil War even more so than they do to BvS. It’s longer, has more characters, resolves less, apologizes more…
It’s also about as close to “objectively better” as it gets. You never feel like you have to go online to find an explanation for a scene you just watched, the tie-ins actually feel tied in, and best of all, the characters don’t wax philosophic about the levels of meaning of their respective symbolisms before they stage a big punch-fight. It’s the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world! God versus man! Day versus night! Son of Krypton versus– SHUT UP, LEX, I’M TRYING TO WATCH THE MAN PUNCHING!
Civil War‘s characters aren’t philosophers who mope around about “What does Superman even mean anymore” or “We were always criminals, Alfred,” they mostly just sort of act like children. When you strip away all the fluff, Civil War‘s conflict mostly comes down to this: Iron Man is mad at Cap’s friend, because Cap’s friend hurt Iron Man’s friends, and now the super-friends are torn apart based on who is whose better friend. Compared to a double daydream inspired by the one-percent doctrine, this actually counts as refreshing. It makes sense, at least. It’s not all puffed-up with existential buffoonisms while a manic Zuckerberg bounces around shouting the play-by-play.
Best of all, the centerpiece action sequence actually lives up to the hype. That’s rare in the superhero genre, and even for Marvel, where these scenes often exist solely to fill out the trailer. Remember Tony Stark’s collapsing house in Iron Man 3? I can understand people hating the movie when I think of that, even if The Mandarin reveal and his fleeing henchmen are some of the best scenes Marvel has ever done. Point is, to shoot an action setpiece that rises above the din in a genre sold largely on the basis of action setpieces is to achieve the nearly impossible. Civil War does it, with tension, humor, and most amazing of all, wonder. Can you believe these are the guys who directed You, Me, and Dupree? Can you believe Marvel hired the guys who directed You, Me, and Dupree? Can you believe Marvel hired the guys who directed You, Me, and Dupree, and it worked out for them? That’s amazing.
That said, the Batman V Superman comparison raises an obvious question: Do we really want to live in a Batman V Superman producer’s wet dream? It’s easy to be impressed by Civil War, it’s a lot harder to be happy about it. I mean good hustle, Marvel, but are we reviewing movies or a studio’s franchise plans?
I used to think the answer to that was obvious, but it’s not anymore. Lots of people are, undeniably, into reviewing studio franchise plans. Hey, guys, great job making money! Much better than those other jerks, are we best friends now?
Civil War has exactly one memorable scene (the previously-noted battle sequence team up). Civil War‘s main feat seems to be having created 147 minutes of reasonably entertaining #content while resolving nothing at all. Leave the resolution of all those storylines for future movies and television shows, I guess. Unlike Batman V Superman, Civil War also deserves a little credit for not ending with everyone having to team up to defeat some super bad guy or giant laser pointed at Earth. It ends instead, without spoiling too much, a lot like Ben Affleck’s The Town.
It remains to be seen, however, whether this ending truly is a break with formula or if they’re simply saving the space laser for another movie. Even Guardians of the Galaxy, one of Marvel’s best, still ends with a space laser. (Hold for commenter explaining why, actually, that plot device wasn’t really a space laser. This kind of commenter seems to be the target audience for this movie, by the way, those who live to explain the extremely subtle gradations in the standard formula.)
The entirety of Civil War is essentially a lover’s quarrel between The Avengers, the “they love each other but they just can’t get it together!” complication that goes at the beginning of the third act in every rom-com. Civil War manages to make that work pretty well, but as the philosopher Chris Rock once said, just because you can do something doesn’t mean it’s to be done. You can drive a car with your feet if you want to, that don’t make it a good f*ckin’ idea.
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No letter grade?
What is this, 2014?
Seems like Vince gives it an “I” for incomplete.
@Schnitzel bob And no COTW :-(
BRING BACK MATT (Lieb and Heather and also Rum & Rom coms)
@Verbal Kunt I forgot about that one, it was a great feature.
@Schnitzel bob @Verbal Kunt @JTRO Bring back Corgi Fridays!
@jeans ambrose
Bring back Brendon!
B-.
Bring back Four Loko!
Bring back Orbitz! (the drink, not the travel company, which still exists)
Thanks for the review. Now I can’t wait to get the flu!
I think the screenplay for this is a brilliant example of craftsmanship and the movie just has a confidence that’s hard to resist. Spiderman (cocky and enthusiastic) and Black Panther (regal and accomplished) are effortlessly introduced. Paul Rudd delights (as always) as Antman. The villain is intriguing because he’s not simply bent on destruction or domination, like the conveyor belt of comic book villains we’re used to, but instead takes on/takes apart the demigods he deems responsible for a personal loss. The only thing I could think of that could be improved was the score because I just didn’t notice it.
Yeah, looking forward to seeing this but I’ve definitely been way more aware of the corporate branding #content franchise strategy paradigm over the last few superhero films. Star Wars isn’t helping either.
*leans in to ear, whispers*
“hail hydra”
Man, now everytime I hear that I think Gary Shandling and get sad.
*Garry. Apparently it still is 2014.
@displayeduser1 I know. Same here and then I feel even worse for taking him for granted over the last several years.
They even killed a character in the last Avengers movie. The everybody survives trope is pretty annoying.
He was really annoying though. But a little pruning would go a long way to demonstrate vulnerability instead of the films being in god-mode.
I don’t think the problem is that nobody dies, the problem is that nobody stays dead. The last Captain America movie had around 4 characters who were brought back from the dead somehow.
@Verbal Kunt I think the bringing characters back from the dead thing solves the killing characters problem. If characters can be brought back, what’s the deal about killing them?
The character can always pop up in a new story in a different place and time. That’s what I appreciated about The Incredibles. While they didn’t exactly kill any of the main characters, they showed that a superhero could be killed — especially by a super villain.
Yeah, a character they introduced two hours earlier. (Who wasn’t nearly as good as Fox’s version, so, nbd.)
“[The] Civil War‘s main feat seems to be having created 147 [PBS specials] of reasonably [boring] #content while resolving nothing at all. Leave the resolution of all those [causes] for future [generations], I guess.”
Remember in the ’80s and ’90s the problem with the Batmans and Spider-Mans was too many under-developed villains? There were more than we could keep track of. Doesn’t it seem like now both DC and Marvel are making the same mistakes but with too many heroes? It’s the same problem though, too many characters that on their own might be interesting, but in the context of a team-up, seem completely pointless (like, has Hawkeye contributed anything, ever? and why does Scarlet Witch even exist?)
We’ve also firmly established that based on their otherwordly skills the team of heroes can defeat anybody. The question is no longer “IF” they can defeat it, but “how many civilians will die before they do?” Where is the suspense in that? There are no stakes.
That’s kind of a result of Marvel’s creative direction over the last few years. They’ve taken the typical Marvel superhero spats and turned them into all-out wars between armies. The villains have been reduced to cardboard plot devices that are only there to distract from the real conflict. Sure, a Doctor Doom or Magneto might have a moment here and there, but 99% of the villains are portrayed as bumbling morons.
Civil War could have been a good one-time conflict, but instead they’ve turned it into the template for their entire universe. I actually kind of hoped they would avoid that route in the movies, but here we are. At least it looks like they’ve done it well.
Vince, you wrote the perfect review to support my conspiracy theory that Disney is rolling out blowjob droids from the next Star Wars movie to help encourage movie critics to bury WB/DC. I am not blaming you or anything like that, you just wrote this review in a way that checked off every item on my confirmation bias bingo card.
If I see any BJ-2D droids rolling through SF I’m going to put pepper sauce in it’s multiport.
I mean didn’t he bury WB/DC for a cool hat? Vince wouldn’t lie on twitter.
Your reviewing these movies is the equivalent of a vegan reviewing a steakhouse. It’s just not for you, man.
You should see the comments if he chooses to skip reviewing a superhero movie.
Was thinking of that analogy like tearing your Inside Out?
I thought that shot of an analogy looked good but then Pacific Rimmed out.
This was a positive review.
Vince pretty much said it wasn’t for him but he enjoyed it for what it was.
Wait, so which movie was all flash and no substance? If I have to choose between BvS’s “ambitious, but flawed,” and Civil War’s “fun, but meaningless,” I’ll take ambitious and flawed.
Where history is concerned “ambitious and flawed” usually equals disaster. Maybe in art “ambitious and flawed” can be begrudgingly respected but BvS was just an act of iconoclasm. It was a dirty protest.
As far as BvS is concerned, there’s a fine line between iconoclasm and people being upset because something didn’t fit into their safe, little box.
I wouldn’t call either of them ambitious. I think “ambitious” means a movie trying to wrap itself around complex ideas. Trying to see how many superheroes you can squeeze into the same story doesn’t really qualify for me. They both attempted more or less the same thing, and Civil War was better at it.
Marvel has now got Spiderman to play with and this movie showed just how much fun can be had with him, especially when he’s interacting and fighting with the others. We also got our benchmark black superhero in Black Panther and he’s superb. There was no squeeze. It was a party with plenty of room for everyone.
Yep, Spider-Man was probably the most fun of this group, and he was in the movie for about 8 minutes.
Yup and someone posted on twitter (so you know it’s legit) that he has more lines of dialogue in his brief performance than Superman does in the whole of BvS.
Flawed movies are called ambitious when they cannot achieve meaningless fun.
I can’t speak on Civil War, but calling Batman v Superman “ambitious but flawed” is hilarious. It was a $250 million exercise in existential buffoonery. They spent the GDP of a small country for us to watch Kimbo Slice play with action figures for 3 hours. That’s not ambitious. It’s just asinine.
BvS was the film equivalent of a botched plastic surgery.
When can we stop pretending like Zac Snyder is a good director? He should be directing Muse videos and nothing else. Jesus Christ.
There’s nothing “ambitious” about DC’s movies. Two hours of darkness, angst, and shitty Objectivist messiah analogies doesn’t equal depth.
I think the issue is that the ambition behind BvS was to make a movie about life-sized action figures punching each other in front of a green screen where no one had any fun. Not Bats. Not Supes. Not Wonderwomans. Not the audience. Hell, I can’t even imagine that Snyder enjoyed himself much. When I go to a superhero movie, I want to have a good time. If I want to watch grim, joyless spectacle, I’ll watch election coverage.
How caught-up with the Marvel movies do you have to be to enjoy/understand this one?
You should probably see (at least) the 2nd captain america, the 2nd avengers, and maybe Ant-man. If you want to immerse yourself, you should see the 1st captain america and the 1st avengers as well.
@FreeRon Thanks.
If you have a basic understanding of who the superheros are, and that sometimes when they fight bad guys, there is collateral damage, you should honestly be fine.
no spoiler alert for the “everyone survives” complaint? Cold blooded.
I could have told you everyone survives and I’ll never even see the movie.
no spoiler alert on the “everyone survives” complaint? Cold blooded.
I could have told you everyone survives and I’ll never even see the movie.
@Magic Mike In the comic Cap is assassinated at the end, so I can see @fouttahere’s point
“The Mandarin reveal and his fleeing henchmen are some of the best scenes Marvel has ever done” correction it was the worst thing I think I’ve ever seen
The Dude said it best
[www.youtube.com]
My biggest complaint with Iron Man 3 has been addressed before: calling out the Mandarin, giving him your home address, and then leaving your 50 automated Iron Man suits locked in the basement while you wait for your house to get blown up. That was some stupid shit.
no spoiler alert on the “everyone survives” complaint? Cold blooded.
no spoiler alert on the “everyone survives” complaint? Cold blooded.
I could have told you everyone survives and I’ll never even see the mo– you know something I’m actually starting to think that it might be a fun time so maybe I’ll go see it.
@Magic Mike In the comic Cap is assassinated at the end, so I can see their point.
“…and best of all, the characters don’t wax philosophic about the levels of meaning of their respective symbolisms before they stage a big punch-fight.”
And then the rest of the review reads like it was written by a pontifying BVS Lex Luthor.”This fun and entertaining popcorn movie doesn’t have any true substance. Disney is evil, you are being tricked.” I used to think it was annoying when you’d skip out on reviewing big tent pole shit like Star Wars etc, but now I’m starting to understand why. You’re probably just as tired of writing these kinds of reviews as I am of reading them.
You couldnt even hide your disdain for having to review this movie.
You didn’t think this review came off as positive?
It came off as the least positive review it could possibly be for a movie that is considered among the very best of its genre. I understand that these movies aren’t for everyone, but the fans and the site might be better suited if they’re reviewed by someone who appreciates them.
I love these movies, so I only want to read reviews from people who also love these movies. The most important thing I look for, when seeking out and reading something written by someone other than myself, is that it is exactly the same thing that I already think.
@leatmoaf You’re leaving out the part about how painfully predictable this review was.
This review was so self aggrandizing and full of hot air that I had to fart half way through reading it. Vince is this a resume builder for Variety?
COTW
I’m giving you one Karate Champ “FULL POINT” for this.
No spoiler warning before you get into plot details? Fuck you.
Stop crying, you’re going to see the movie either way.
no spoiler alert on the “everyone survives” complaint? Cold blooded.
You could have given me a spoiler alert that there was no spoiler alert in the review. You spoiled my getting spoiled. Selfish.
Your valid points are all moot because you didn’t post a spoiler warning.
Like a cow’s opinion.
In a movie where a woman can explode your heart by thinking about it, it includes a Norse God and a guy who hasn’t aged despite being frozen on ice after a plane crash after WWII, an effective and threatening UN is by far the least believable thing in the movie.
Also, Vince, while your criticisms of B v S is spot on, the two are trying to accomplish two different things and it isn’t really fair to compare the two.
I’ll probably check this film out when it’s on demand. I can tell I’ll think this movie is cromulent and that’s about it, because that’s all Marvel produces these days.
After watching the movie, the thing that bothered me most was that. Also some things with Wakanda’s role in the world council.
Meh, I’m gonna go watch Darkman again.
[www.imdb.com]
As a comic book fan, the lack of overall resolution in the movie wasn’t as jarring to me…Marvel is clearly building to something here and that’s something I’ve grown accustomed to in the source material (whether MCU will pull it off is another question. I imagine I’ll personally be disappointed with the The Infinity Wars this is building to because as much as I liked Guardian of the Galaxy I don’t care about giant cosmic threats).
Even though the lover’s quarrel is what drove most of the action, I think you undersell the good thematic underpinnings that are actually there, namely responsibility and forgiveness. You have an act one villain who takes no responsibility for what happened to him (Crossbones) and an overall villain who is incapable of any forgiveness (Zemo, which I guess is your “Vengeance!”) with the two primary heroes either internalizing the responsibility for their mistakes and wanting to shoulder it all themselves (Captain America) or externalizing it and asking others to be responsible for them (Iron Man, even though as becomes clear in the third act this only extends as far as the first person who tells him something he doesn’t want to hear). Back to forgiveness, you have one hero who ends up being capable of it (Black Panther, who is rightly presented as at least Captain America’s equal in the nobility and righteousness departments) and one who ends the movie still struggling with it (Iron Man, both for his behavior towards his parents and for what Winter Soldier did).
It’s not the best version of these things ever made, but it puts more into the movie than you give it credit for.
“Marvel is clearly building to something here ”
In 35 years, yes. Can’t wait for all the resolution we get.
Remember when people were mad because their favorite characters were killed. Now we wish someone important would die. Thanks George RR Martin.
I liked this movie just as much as I liked Batman v. Superman. Maybe only a bit more. I really liked them both is what I’m trying to say.
Thanks. I look forward to hearing what other comic book movies you enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
You’re a hater Vince. Because you couldn’t grasp BvS, you hate on it. You arr wrong. BvS was in no way trying to be like Marvel, that’s why it was great.
I hesitate to even write this because this review wasn’t about BvS, but that movies wasn’t “great”. It was bloated (with only 3 Superheroes), entirely too self-serious, and for a large portion, exceedingly boring. And that’s coming from someone who walked into that theater wanting desperately to like it.
Vince ain’t no hater. He’s an extreme dude with a rad ‘tude.
@Torgo With some sweet ass shin guards.
“Couldn’t grasp BvS”? It was a superhero movie about two superheroes fighting, it wasnt Schindler’s list. Let’s not reach nerdlinger.
That ain’t even they names. They hawkguy and black widow. Where the fak checks at. Cmon man.
Nice parody of a stupid fanboy. +1
Vince’s review is spot on, but it does kinda come off like he can never be satisfied by the superhero genre. I think his biggest criticism has been the giant laser trope (2nd place going to Bridges getting destroyed), and I was stoked that Civil War avoids it in order to tell a more personal story that actually doesn’t pussy out and lets both sides come off as “right.” Plus neither Cap or Iron Man (or the rest of the heroes) mope about being heroes… the freaking conflict is that they love what they do so much, that they can’t live without the job as is. I for one loved that, and appreciate how they were able to shoehorn in so many characters into believably choosing a side despite everyone’s mutual appreciation for the lifestyle. But then again I am the exact target demographic and love the idea of Superheroes more than most folks (thank you Philosophy degree, with an emphasis on Nietzsche’s Will to Power/Ubermensch/Beyond Good and Evil concepts). Whatevs, Civil War gave me alot to chew on and was faithful to what makes so many of these Marvel characters awesome (and even made some of the lamer ones cooler too). Congrats Marvel (and Disney) you win again, I will continue to buy more tickets to gawk at your superior #branding.
Anyone familiar with the Comics version knows that Civil War started off strong, but grew ridiculously convoluted and ultimately favored one side wholeheartedly at the end. I’m glad they changed alot of it for the movie version, as it’s ultimately a richer, more logical story because of it. The lack of resolution at the end of the movie kinda left my angry (and even got me to knock off my A rating for an A-, *dismissive wank motion in one hand, dialing 911 to call the whambulance with the other*), but actually thinking about it in depth afterward made me appreciate it for going The Empire Strikes Back route with it (I should have seen that coming after Spidey’s joke earlier). Now we’re all stoked for even more Marvel movies in the future because everyone’s fractured and its going to be up to the new characters to bring everyone together again (just like the new Star Wars, eek another Disney tie in). So yeah, goodjob Marvel, haha DC.
Other thoughts (Disclaimer: slight spoilers, I’m gonna avoid specifics):
– I will join the chorus and say that Black Panther and Spider-Man were perfect. I can’t believe I’m excited for more origin stories after this, but I am. – – Also I’m glad I saw that mediocre In The Heart of The Sea movie before this, because I was able to realize ahead of time why Tom Holland would kill it as Spider-Man.
– Its kinda weird that Aunt May gives me a boner now. Also wow, I didn’t know Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei dated in the 90s… kinda made that scene funnier when I look back on it.
– Last Spider-Man thought: I think I dug him more because he reminded me of my 19 year old little brother, who is also just weirdly enthusiastic and stupid about certain things. The children are the future.
– Surprisingly, Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo is the 2nd best Marvel Movie villain after all of this. Dude is probably the most successful movie villain ever too, with a great twist at the end that actually makes his character the most well-rounded since Loki.
– Vision in fancy duds was endlessly entertaining for me. His powers really confused the hell out of me though. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s going to bang Scarlet Witch at some point and I am perplexed as to how that’s physically possible (I’d pay Brazzers to show us the CGI DGI when that happens too)
– Hey they finally made Falcon and War Machine cool. All the black guys had their moments, which was neat. But as a Mexican American, I once again have to ask why the hell there isn’t one fucking latino Superhero yet when were the largest minority in the country. This kinda ties into my larger point that there is a Hollywood conspiracy against Latino leading men (see my previous comments about Oscar Isaac having to change his name to finally get big) being too threatening to the white populace (but all our hot latina women– objectively the hottest ethnicity as proven by scientists with eyeballs and an appreciation for chi-chis and/or culos– can get love as long as they play sex pots) but I do not want to become the Mexican Ta-Nehisi Coates here.
– Everyone else got a boner during that Captain America Helicopter flex scene right? You’re gay if you didnt.
– The big fight was awesome, albeit maybe a little too jokey. But then again it was the most comic-like sequence ever filmed, so I loved that everyone recognized that it was ridiculous. It was the exact opposite of the fucking over dramatic mommy issues fight between Batman and Superman, and I am pretty damn happy about that.
– More Peggy Carter please. Make it happen Marvel, I’m sure you’ll find a way.
Fans wanted these movies to expand and encapsulate all of these stories and characters that we’ve become familiar with through the years, and we’ve been given that. These storylines took months to unfold on the page, book by book. And obviously not all of these movies are great, but most of us are willing to take the good with the bad. The ongoing nature of it is something we’re accustomed to, but I guess it isn’t for everyone. I like it better. Didn’t it seem kind of weird in the Raimi Spider-Man movies that Spidey and his villains were totally confined to one city, and all those events just somehow happened to revolve around one dude? Basically what we’re getting now is actual comic book storytelling in movie form. And I guess you’re either in or you’re out.
Civil War felt like a big budget two-part, mid-season TV drama, so the lack of resolution didn’t really seem an issue to me. It didn’t really set anything up to be resolved. The bit where Iron Man gets angry at Stubblyface McStuntman was where this showed most. That really felt like it was trying to contrive a conflict as a convoluted excuse to create the key fight scene to finish the film on.
My only real criticism of it, is that the emotional component was completely flat. It needed to start with Tony feeling guilty, with someone recollecting the lives of innocent people and collateral damage. If that’s the basic subject matter that motivates characters, open with it, and not with random and mysterious shenanigans in a snowy Russian base, and then a (fairly flat) bank robbery chase sequence that had nothing to do with anything. They might have redeemed it if they killed off Don Cheadle’s character, but the fact they didn’t was pretty weak.
I loved the Spiderman sequence though. It felt like a short film in itself that was just dropped into the film, but it was a very welcome interval.
I give this comment section a C-. You’re a bunch of doo doo heads.
A+
“Along with a black SUV flipping over and someone landing in a tripod stance, the Wilhelm Scream of the MCU”
Goddamn it, Vince. Now I’m gonna hear it every time.
I want to throw a brick through a Marvel office window with a note that says “Movies can be self-contained and still advance a larger story.” For all the slobbing people do over how great the MCU is, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for them to make a movie and not a two-hour long television episode.
Explain the difference. Are you saying there’s a lack of resolution? These arcs are spanning several films. Take it or leave it. I’m guessing you’ll leave it.