Captain America: Civil War ***½ (2016, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Tom Holland) – Movie Review

Welcome to directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo’s spectacular follow-up to their Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). It’s an incredibly lusty, grown-up, head-banging movie with a whole lot of thrilling stuff going on and a lot of spectacular value lavishly provided on screen in an epic running time at two and a half hours. The production is an absolute knockout, with brilliant CGI, 3D, IMAX, a technical marvel, just as you’d expect. The story is the usual thinnish comic-book one, but Civil War disguises that nicely by its uber-slick sleight of hand.

Oddly enough, it’s very like the rival Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) , in many ways, starting from the premise of two superheroes taking each other on, as interference in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man. Frustratingly, there is the flimsiest excuse for a reason for this crucial plot point explaining why the superheroes go head to head in both movies, and again a flimsy reason for the inevitable falling back in together.

But, never mind, it’s a comic book movie, not a Shakespeare adaptation. Nevertheless, the Russo brothers and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely treat it like it is, producing a splendidly dark and serious movie with a few light-hearted comic moments, though comedy isn’t this film’s forte. Best to stick to the vengeance themes, troubled heroes, evil villains, and fantastic action, guys, you’re on very safe ground there! And Marvel are on safe ground with the astounding-looking production. Maybe Civil War is even a shade more impressive as a production and a movie than Batman v Superman, but then, coming in second, it really had to be.

The comedy comes with the introduction of the new Spider-Man, making his first appearance in the Disney/Marvel franchise, with much fun being had at the expense of 20-year-old Tom Holland’s youth and inexperience. Not really many laughs there, then, and this proves a risky and inauspicious début for Holland after Sony’s dumping of Andrew Garfield. In fact, it’s Downey who rescues Holland in their scenes together, with Downey’s flair for comedy shining through.

Indeed Downey completely dominates Captain America: Civil War, and easily dominates Chris Evans in his battle with him, so the teamcap v teamironman contest is easily resolved in a knockout win by Downey. This isn’t a spoiler about the actual screen story, only the Evans v Downey contest. Likeable and appealing though Evans is, he’s no match for Downey, who cements the entire movie together. If he left the Avengers, the whole edifice could fall apart. At the screening Disney invited us to tweet teamcap or teamironman – but it’s no contest, it’s Downey.

Civil War brings on most of the Marvel characters and their current interpreters, and to be fair some of them make an impression, particularly Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther and Paul Bettany as Vision.

Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) remind us how one-note and uninteresting their characters are in roles that defy these good actors. On the other hand, that nice Daniel Brühl defies his casting as an excellent supervillain in Baron Heinrich Zemo. He’s excellent chilly and intensely chilling. Very good, or rather, very bad, Brühl!

Intriguingly, there is teasing mention of Pepper Potts but no sign of her and Gwyneth Paltrow or of Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury.

In truth, the wish to offer great value is a boomerang that slightly comes back and hits the Russo brothers in the face. There really are too many Marvel characters in the film, with a risk of over-exposure. And the movie really is too long, with one or two baggy dialogue scenes that could be cut shorter and sharper or even cut out entirely. Even one or two of the action scenes could have the same ruthless treatment. Shorter and sharper would stop the slight feeling that the film is drifting around the two hour mark, with no end or resolution in sight, as the 3D specs start to weigh heavily of the nose and your bottom starts shifting in the seat.

And, of course, we know the film’s story has no usual story arc or in fact resolution as it’s an on-going saga with Avengers: Infinity War – Part I and Avengers: Infinity War – Part II announced for 2019 and 2019 and the Russos conformed as directors. Personally, I love my stories, and I like my stories complete. This is movie-making for the TV crowd, a comic-book soap that will run and run as long as Coronation Street, I’d guess. As ever, stay a while through the credits for a, extra teaser sequence. And, as ever, creator Stan Lee appears, and he sure gets his laugh.

I want to end on an up note, the same one I started with. Captain America: Civil War is an incredibly lusty, grown-up, head-banging movie with a whole lot of thrilling stuff going on.

The Russo brothers also directed the likeable crazy crime caper thriller Welcome to Collinwood (2002) and the Owen Wilson comedy You, Me and Dupree (2006) before going on to bigger things.

The July 2017 reboot of Spider-Man will include Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, who probably won’t be the only superhero to appear in Spider-Man: Homecoming, to star Tom Holland and be directed by Jon Watts.

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© Derek Winnert 2016 Movie Review derekwinnert.com