Two Words: Airport Battle

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2016)

While watching Civil War, I couldn't help but think of DC / Warner Bros.'s desperate failures to catch up with Marvel's unstoppable success, specifically the recent disaster Batman v. Superman. Both films are about allies finding themselves on opposing sides, only Marvel actually succeeds on every level DC fails. Where BvS botched everything from the basic setup (why are these guys so angry with each other?) to nearly everything else that followed, Civil War soars with nuanced clarity: allegiances will fall / form, friendships will break / build, and summer entertainment will be had. Civil War finds tentpole-heroes Captain America and Iron Man at odds, each coming to grips with their power and position on the global scale on starkly different sides. Neither side is clearly right-or-wrong. Instead, we are presented with a familiar world, in which "good-and-evil" are not black-and-white, but largely grey. Even the de facto villain, one of the better in the MCU, finds sympathy through his heartbreaking and understandable motivations. These disparate sides are each so nuanced and logical, I found my loyalty swinging back-and-forth like Peter Parker at an air show. Speaking of which, Holland's turn as the webbed-crusader is easily the greatest in cinema: young, witty, wiry, and wide-eyed. Our first view of him is a standout, even while placed within the larger context of the marquee "airport battle", maybe the greatest superhero melee ever. The Russos, who have taken Whedon's place as go-to directors for Marvel, have such a strong control of humor, story, character, and action, they've even managed to better their fantastic Winter Soldier here. With them at the helm, any assemblage of Avengers is one to anticipate.