Marvel's terrific 'Civil War' validates the franchise model
Sit through enough lousy blockbusters and it becomes increasingly difficult to defend their existence.
As a kid, no other movie season is as exciting as summer blockbuster season. But that big screen magic has faded over the years. Even the blockbusters I enjoy (“Star Wars - The Force Awakens,” stretches of “Jurassic World”) feel like hollow shells of things I loved growing up.
Earlier this year, as I suffered through a screening of “Batman vs. Superman,” I worried if the big screen magic was forever dead inside me. Little of the summer’s upcoming slate excites me — even watching a two-minute trailer for the “Independence Day” sequel threw me into a depressive spiral.
This moviegoing funk dulled my excitement for “Captain America: Civil War,” the summer’s official kickoff movie that has received high praise from critics and movie grumps far more disillusioned.
It only took five minutes of “Civil War” to respark the magic.
Considering the premise, Marvel’s 13th (!) installment in a shared universe of superheroes, magic stones and CGI green monsters should be the episode that proves such convoluted interconnectivity works better on a comic book page than it does on a big screen. A dozen superheroes weave in and out of the narrative, fighting about all the fighting they’ve done in the dozen previous movies. The premise itself is overstuffed, so the execution ought to be impossible.
Somehow, some way, directors Joe and Anthony Russo figure it out. “Civil War” makes room for everybody, funneling individual character arcs into a larger conflict between Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). The movie focuses on character first, even staging numerous action sequences around how the characters react/grow/change within those explosions and chases.
At this point, most interested in “Civil War” probably won’t need a summary of what it’s about or how a rift between Cap and Iron Man grew from the events of previous movies. “Civil War” opts for little background, leaving audiences to rely on past knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Newbies can cheat by watching just “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”)
As much as a “shared movie universe” can be dismissed as a moneymaking ploy, Marvel is maximizing the concept with “Civil War.” When Don Cheadle’s War Machine chooses a side, an informed audience already knows the reasoning. Same goes for why Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) may not want to punch each other so hard.
Retaining the character work allows the movie’s central conflict to expand and breathe. “Civil War,” as much as it’s about making the Avengers fight, is also an examination of political power and the collateral damage caused by those overstepping for a perceived greater good. The conflict between Captain America and Iron Man works because both men are right and wrong.
Some of the best scenes in the film are the non-fisticuffs moments exploring the personal reasons why Cap and Iron Man take their firm, broad positions. For Steve Rogers, it’s a childhood bond with Bucky, now a brainwashed assassin known as the Winter Soldier. For Tony Stark, it’s the people who have died because of his perceived genius.
It isn’t enough for the Russo Brothers to evolve previously introduced characters. Two significant additions play a major role in how “Civil War” operates so deftly. Chadwick Boseman (“42”) enters as Black Panther, an intense new hero driven by revenge and the past mistakes of the Avengers. Then there’s Tom Holland here for an extended cameo as Spider-Man. Everything about his involvement is joyous — it’s the Spider-Man that made most of us fall in love with comics in the first place.
The appearance of Spider-Man plays into the most surprising aspect of “Civil War.” The movie is fun. It jumps between punchy Paul Rudd quips and emotional conflict without breaking narrative momentum.
As with other ambitious blockbusters with hundreds of working parts, the seams can occasionally show. The CGI, in spots, doesn’t quite live up to what it’s supposed to be depicting, and better not to think about how the villain, played by Daniel Bruhl (“Inglourious Basterds”) manages to execute his master plan.
Those faults can always be found, even in the perceived classics we grew up with as kids (even “Star Wars” has plot holes). But the stuff that matters works. Story. Character. Believable and engrossing conflict. Spectacle. “Civil War,” at least for me, is validation of the movie blockbuster. When it works, it’s magic.
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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.