The subtitle of Captain America: Civil War is a bit of an overpromise. The latest film from Marvel Studios presents not so much a military conflict as a family quarrel, although the clan in question is the Avengers, so fireworks are to be expected. This isn’t a Bad Thing, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has suffered from an overabundance of apocalyptic threats. Refreshingly, Civil War is a (comparatively) small-scale story about the conundrum of collateral damage: Who bears responsibility for the civilian lives lost during the exploits of Earth’s mightiest heroes?
On one side of the table is a faction led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), who is suffering a crisis of conscience over all the heedless havoc he and the other Avengers have wreaked. On the other is a bloc that stands behind super-soldier Captain American (Chris Evans). Cap’s reluctance to submit to the “Sokovia Accords” that will put the Avengers on a United Nations leash seems fickle. (Wasn’t he the lone voice asking for transparency in Winter Soldier?) His motives, however, are multifaceted: some moral, some personal, and some regrettably prideful. Indeed, all the Avenger-on-Avenger hostility means that the film’s moral landscape is a purposely muddled one with no clear villains, save a figure skulking in the shadows.
Civil War too often diverts its attention from Cap, who is still the most compelling figure in the MCU, to linger on Iron Man and other characters in the franchise’s burgeoning cast. Sometimes this is a distraction and sometimes not; the mesmerizing Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and charmingly adolescent Spider-Man (Tom Holland) are worth the diversion. Like both Avengers features, the film feels a bit clunky, overstuffed, and preeningly awesome. As with past Cap films, however, the fisticuffs are stunning and viscerally satisfying, and there are appropriately astonishing twists aplenty.
Captain America: Civil War opens Friday, May 6 in wide release.
