Marvel’s Civil War Defies Formula

Marvel’s Civil War Defies Formula
Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

It’s getting pretty exhausting as a critic, to continue to write about Marvel’s movies. Time after time, they knock it out of the ballpark, delivering a finished product that often exceeds expectations. They’ve done it for the umpteenth time in a row with Captain America: Civil War.

Civil War proves that giant ensemble superhero pieces aren’t just a one-off like Avengers, that you can have your heroes fight without setting it in the grimmest setting imaginable like Batman V. Superman did, and best of all, continues the pattern of setting up future properties for Marvel with some heroes we’ve never met.

Civil War is a Captain America movie only by title, and loose bits of the story. The Avengers take up most of the screen time, the little which is spent with just Cap is often accompanied by Bucky or Iron Man. Like Batman V. Superman, the collateral damage from Marvel’s other movies takes center stage and spurs the story in Civil War, as people all over the world blame the Avengers for the destruction that comes in the wake of their big battles, usually the third acts of Marvel’s Phase I and II films.

Cap is distrustful of the idea of government oversight, having dealt with deep infiltration in government organizations he thought were on his side previously in the events of Captian America 2: Winter Soldier. Tony sees the need for this, and thus the stage is set for Cap’s rogue team of Avengers to clash with Stark’s above-board team.

Joining the fray out of a sense of duty and honor is King T’Challa of Wakanda, holder of the mantle Black Panther. Following events that lead him to believe Bucky is responsible for a deeply affecting death, Panther ends up alongside Stark, fighting to bring in Bucky Barnes, the deadly Winter Soldier.

Also joining team Stark after game-changing negotiations with Sony is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. As much fun as Andrew Garfield was in the role, Tom Holland has finally nailed the true comic book Peter Parker. Likely because of his own age (he’s an actual teenager, rather than a grown man), Peter’s starry-eyed, nervous, chattering wonderment at being around these larger-than-life heroes bleeds through in the fight. Even as he’s clashing with Cap’s team, he’s chattering the entire time, cracking jokes and apologizing for talking so much.

One of the things that marks Civil War (which definitely should be “Marvel’s Civil War” and not “Captain America 3”) as different from other Marvel movies is the actual lack of spectacle. Fatigue had begun to set in when it came to superhero movies, as each one seemed to follow the same thing, each ending with some giant, city-wide destructive event. Civil War often keeps its fights on a smaller scale (save for one spectacular moment I won’t give away), opting instead to look at the personal stakes involved instead of causing yet another city to fall victim to collateral damage from Avengers.

Civil War once again confirms Marvel’s cinematic superiority, especially following so close on the heels of Batman V. Superman. It proves that you can have your heroes fight each other and still make a movie that has fun pacing and intricate characters, and defies the formula in every spot it needs to. It may be getting tiring to say, but Marvel has once again knocked it out of the park.

Categories: Commentary