This weekend was the much anticipated opening of Marvel’s latest blockbuster: Captain America: Civil War. It’s from a studio I have learned to trust. It had a superior trailer to and got way better reviews than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I was still disappointed.
I went into the movie nervous but hoping to enjoy myself. I enjoy Marvel and love the Captain America franchise. Winter Soldier might be my favorite superhero movie. But I like it when my superheroes are people I can look up to and I don’t like it when they fight.
I’ll start with some positives: if a mindless action movie is what you’re looking for, this is a good one. There’s some great set pieces from chase scenes to fights to explosions. It was fun to see some of my favorite characters out doing their thing. Black Widow kicks ass. Hawkeye acts more like the Matt Fraction Hawkeye than ever before and that’s basically all I want ever. Scarlet Witch remains lovely and her interactions with Vision hinted at interesting things to come. I was here for Black Panther and Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa was far and away the best part of the movie. But really I went to see the end of the Steve and Buck arc that Winter Soldier started. And that’s where the trouble begins.
I have a lot of feelings about Captain America. I love him for all his square jawed, scrappy, idealistic heroism. I love the idea that with the right amount of heart and super serum any scrappy little kid could be a hero. I love that he never gives up and never backs down when he sees injustice. Somehow this movie managed to pervert all of the things I love about Steve Rogers.
The Steve Rogers I love is on the side of law and order. I’ll maintain that Winter Solider is the fascinating film it is because Captain American finds himself operating outside the law, and that’s a sign that something is WRONG. Not just a little wrong, but cataclysmically wrong. And it turns out everyone’s Nazis, so yeah. That’s a problem. Therefore, in this movie when Captain America again finds himself opposing law and order, everything seems wrong. Because this time there is no decades-old conspiracy. The law and order he’s opposing is the United Nations. And it’s his own friends and teammates.
Following unacceptable collateral damage on several missions, the Avengers are asked to submit to UN governance which will provide oversite to keep the world safe. Sure, there’s some serious flaws in that plan, but on its face that doesn’t sound like a bad idea. It might be good for the people with ultimate power to answer to the people they protect. And the idea is backed by Iron Man. Anything that’s important enough to make chaotic-good spoiled playboy Tony Stark read legal documents and sit in on governance meetings clearly deserves attention.
Except Steve dismisses it out of hand. Which sounds nothing like the Steve Rogers I want to believe in. Now let’s talk about the ‘reason’ Steve throws it all away: Bucky. Again, I have a lot of feelings here. The concept of The Winter Soldier – a good man being forced to become a mindless weapon that goes counter to everything he believes in–hurts so good. It combines all kinds of interesting moral questions into one painful emotional package. It’s excellent storytelling. But it falls apart in this movie.
In the movie we see Bucky as Winter Soldier destroying stuff. We also see Bucky outside of his brainwashing. But he’s not an emotional wreak over the things he’s been forced to do. He’s still kind of killing random people and acting like a dick. He’s been framed for some terrorist acts, but he doesn’t help his case much. And Cap comes running in, against international law, to try and save Bucky from the people who want to bring him to justice for the things he didn’t do. And then they don’t talk their way out. They fight their way out with lethal force. It’s hard to root for someone who kills people trying to enforce the law.
Basically, my review boils down to there not being enough plot here to make me believe that my heroes would act so unheroic. Sure, there’s some powerful emotional forces at play here. Steve’s loyalty to his lifelong friend and Tony’s love for his family. But neither of them get leveraged quite enough for me to enjoy or even justify seeing two heroes I like smashing the shit out of each other. If I wanted to see powerful people not listen to each other, I could just watch politics dang it!
There were some fun moments. Watching Bucky and Falcon interact was delightful. Even despite my deep weariness of Spiderman reboots, the new Peter Parker is reasonably charming. But it’s so frustrating to see characters I care about never bother to stop and think for one damn second. The only character who does think also gets the only true heroic moment of the movie. (Spoilers)
After committing himself to hunting down Bucky for his father’s murder, T’Challa learns that Bucky was framed. While Cap and Iron Man beat the shit out of each other, the Black Panther corners the real killer and brings him to justice. And I don’t mean he murders him. I mean brings him to actual justice by capturing him and turning him over to the proper authorities. That’s what I expect from my heroes. I expect them to rise above petty jealousy and their own grudges. I expect them to be able to put their emotions aside and act in the interest of the greater good. What a pity that with over a dozen superheroes in this movie, only one of them manages an act of heroism worth remembering.
Nerd Academy 