Warning: I’m giving y’all a spoiler alert just in case many of y’all haven’t seen it. I won’t go too much into it, but if you really know what lead up to the Marvel Civil War prior to this film even being made, this may not be an issue for you. Even still, out of respect for those that have not seen the film, I’m putting this up. This review (I guess it’s a review) isn’t spoiler heavy, but there’s enough.
I have watched the entire film based portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it stands so far.
Guardians of the Galaxy was so good that it got a Blu-Ray cop.
The Captain America trilogy just might as well be the best out the bunch. Last week consisted of me doing a movie binge which included Winter Soldier and Civil War. I still haven’t decided which one I like the best out of those two (because it is clear as day that The First Avenger, while a solid film, is weak against those two) and subsequent viewings might cement that for me, but Civil War just did so many things right compared to the clusterfuck that was Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (like, hiding what flaws there were in the film, Snyder, take notes). Black Panther has me so excited (for more than one reason #HeyBoo) that I went and bought Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run and they finally got Spider-Man right.
However, as far as the central debate of the film, I almost gave Cap the heave-ho.
I fucks with Captain America. Whenever Capcom and Marvel team up to whup each other asses, Cap and Spidey are my two main go tos, with the third being whoever. And when I can stand being patriotic towards this country, Cap sort of reaffirms that. Now I will be honest, actual comic books aren’t my forte, so much of my knowledge and appreciation of the good Captain has come second hand, and I’m willing to read back.
So with all of that being said, at first, I was for government oversight, I agreed more with Tony. I really was just mad at Cap putting his friend over his duty (shows how great of a friend I am). To me, any other time Cap was about the mission, and when Scarlet Witch immediately felt guilt over her mishap, he in so many words said, “It happens.” But as soon as brainwashed Soviet Hydra assassin Bucky is prime suspect, he wants to catch him before the government does. He no longer trusts the government after finding out Hydra had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.
But Cap had no problem letting this very government experiment on him. Obviously I don’t know anything about 1940s America but I would imagine that there was however small of a segment of the population that didn’t trust the government, especially once we became involved in World War II. Be a government guinea pig brehs but question the government when it comes to your friends. And then he put other people at risk of death and imprisonment, and indeed several people did sit in the clink while Cap and Bucky got away (yeah, he did go back for them, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place). DID YOU SEE BACK PANTHER WHUPPING ASS LIKE IT WAS GOING OUT OF STYLE? He would’ve murked them had it not been for the constant interruptions.
Point is, Cap’s hypocrisy was apparent during the entire movie. And that’s what makes the movie tick. Don’t get me wrong, Tony’s hypocrisy has been apparent all over the MCU, from Iron Man on down, because at the end of the day, Tony wanted to make Tony feel better, not anyone else. It’s just that Tony’s hypocrisy isn’t concealed by morals like the Captain’s are. We know what it is with Tony even when Tony is saying something else, and after all the moralizing Captain America has done over the movies, it felt like a slap in the face. But maybe I’m not looking at it correctly, because Cap’s morals lined up precisely with how he handled the adversity in this film.
Most importantly though, neither one of these men are right, and neither one of them are wrong. Civil War isn’t black and white. Once I got some perspectives on that, I understood, and I forgave Cap and he stays on the line up.
If you haven’t seen Civil War, see it. If you have, what do you think?
