If rumors are to be believed, Captain America: Civil War (CACW hereafter) is the third and final installment in the Captain America trilogy. But given its huge success at the box-office, and being it is Hollywood; Marvel and Disney, we can rest assured “surprise” sequels are on their way...
At two and a half hours, CACW feels much like its title promises – an extended chaos. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo to a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, CACW is based on the Captain America comics by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The film’s cast includes a long list of names such as Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Frank Grillo, William Hurt and Daniel Brühl. Did I say long list of names?
Winning critical claim and being praised for its thought provoking subject matter, I find such reviews pitiful. But wait, I am ahead of myself. At its heart CACW follows two main themes –revenge, and oversight vs. independence. While each of these topics can be a serious matter, all that CACW does is use these motives as an excuse for extravagant violence and a show of special effects. And that is absolutely fine; after all, for God sake, it’s comics. But to call it thought-provoking? Hmm… Is that all we can expect from films these days? I dare say nay.
To further elaborate, revenge (CACW perspective): an excuse to mass-kill dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent people, in a complicated plot intended at revenging the death of one innocent family. Hmm… And as to oversight vs. independence, let’s see (CACW perspective): “Since we cannot agree on this topic, let’s just fight it out; but be mindful as we are fighting friends, so all we can do is stun them into an agreement with our viewpoint…” As thought-provoking as the color of blood.
Giving this film an in-depth analysis would be an overkill, pun intended. Thus I’ll conclude with the following statement: if you love superhero comics and are willing to forgive faulty comics' rational, this film will be quite enjoyable. Regardless of the above, the choreography of the fighting scenes is, for the most part, very impressive, and aside of several sluggish scenes, the plot is engaging enough.