Keeping it Civil

I keep reading complaints about how terrible it is that all movies are just heroes in tights and CGI explosions. I wish more of them were - if only every movie could be Captain America: Civil War (2016).

I'm not sure why this is a Captain America movie - in most ways, it's an Avengers movie. It starts with Cap, Black Widow, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch doing an op in Lagos Nigeria that goes bad. Wanda sort of saves the day, but there are casualties. After the scuffle in Sokovia, this leads to the adoption of the Sokovia Accords, requiring superheroes to register and operate under UN control. Iron Man goes along, but Cap won't sign.

Then at the UN, a bomb kills the hereditary leader of Wakanda, leaving his son T'Challa as presumptive heir and revenger - the Black Panther. Let's pause to say the Chadwick Boseworth as Black Panther is awesome. We get a bit of him, but mostly this is a tease for his movie, coming out next year.

It turns out that Bucky, the Winter Solider. has been re-activated by Col. Zemo - not quite the old Nazi from the comics, but close. We get a fair amount of Bucky in this one. He's a good guy (but conflicted) unless his brainwashing is working, and then he's bad. Ms. Spenser thought he was too cute to be particularly fearsome, and I'd probably agree. Sorry, Sebastian Stan.

Like so many of these Marvel movies, Civil War is overstuffed with characters and set pieces. We get Agent Carter's funeral, a romance between Cap and Carter's niece, a foot chase through traffic, a sweet domestic scene between Vision and Wanda (who aren't romantic yet in the movies, but I'm shipping them hard), the last minute addition of Tom Holland Spider-Man, and some sweet Wakanda scenes.

By the way, with Don Cheadle as War Machine and Anthony Mackie as Falcon, this movie has a little more soul than some superhero shows. Appreciate it.

It all winds up with the big battle royale at the airport. Really ends on a high note. When it was over, I wanted to watch it over again, or re-watch all the Marvel films leading up to it.