Heroes will fall.

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2018)

Following my viewing of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I couldn't wait to see what lay in store for Steve Rodgers so when the first trailer for Captain America: Civil War dropped, I was ecstatic to see it given how big of a fan of the MCU I am. So in May of 2016, a friend and I went to go see it and I left the theater awestruck at what I had just witnessed and after rewatching it in preparation for Avengers: Infinity War, the movie still holds up albeit with a few small flaws. From its complex themes, incredible action and acting, Captain America: Civil War is another gold standard for the MCU and comic book movies in general.
The film begins in 1991 where an indoctrinated Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier is sent to track down a car transporting cases of serum for super-soldiers. We then cut to one year following the events of Age of Ultron where Cap, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and Black Widow attempt to stop former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Brock Rumlow from pilfering a biologic weapon, only to have Rumlow blow himself up and in the process, the team accidentally kill several Wakadan citizens. Following this, US Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross visits the Avengers in Upstate New York and tells them that in light of recent events involving superheroes and the collateral damage they've caused, the United Nations are preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords, which will place the team under UN control only to be used when the UN feels it is necessary. The team is split over this new turn of events. Tony Stark, having remembered what happened in Sokovia and his role in creating Ultron agrees to the accords while Steve is reluctant to sigh, having more faith in the superhero community rather than the government. But just before the accords are about to be approved at an embassy in Vienna, the building is bombed and Bucky is blamed. Among the dead is the King of Wakanda, T'Chaka whose son T'Challa swears vengeance on Barnes. Steve, now aware that his friend is still alive goes after Bucky but the two are apprehended and placed under arrest. Now, the Avengers must take decide who to stand with as Tony and Steve come closer and closer to waging war on each other while a villain determined to see the Avengers fall orchestrates a devious plot.
Back in the 1940s, it was so much more simple to distinguish who was good and who was evil when watching a movie but now, it's become much more complicated when assessing the events that have happened in previous MCU movies. The threats the heroes must face in these films have become so unlike anything else in previous superhero movies and some of these calamities have been carried out unintentionally by those heroes who seek to only do good in the world only to bring death and ruin as shown by Captain America and his team. The discussions on how to react or handle such a powerful group of individuals let alone control them is certainly compelling and fascinating as there are both pros and cons to each sides' argument as Tony strictly believes that The Avengers need to be kept in check following the events of the previous movies which is also driven by his guilt over unleashing Ultron upon the world while Steve is far more hesitant to do so due to what he dealt with in Winter Soldier and is compelled by the belief of superheroes operating without the consent of the government which is an interesting and thought-provoking idea and it helps to build upon the friction that's existed between Stark and Rogers since the first Avengers movie not to mention this animosity between the two serves the story well and proves a solid foundation from which future films in the MCU sprout from.
The way the characters are handled here is nothing short of perfect as The Russo Brothers along with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFreely have taken the time to make sure that each character, be them hero or villain, has just the right amount of development as well as giving each a chance to have their moment on screen rather than have a vast amount of characters on screen at once thus making it impossible for the audience to really care about them, something X-Men 3 and Batman V. Superman did too much of and therefore, the audiences failed to care about the characters in those movies but with Captain America: Civil War, such is not the cause as I actually cared about all the characters and I understood most of their motivations clearly. When we first met Tony Stark at the start of the MCU, we saw him as an egocentric billionaire playboy who made weapons for the government but when he discovers that his weapons are being used for, Tony sees just how shady the government is and by Iron Man 2, he has come to distrust the government or any sort of authority. In the Avengers, he hacks a S.H.I.E.L.D computer system to discover defiled government files to which he says that an intelligence department that is scared of knowledge isn't a good organization. However, following the events of the first Avengers and Iron Man 3, Tony begins to feel like he's losing his grip on the Avengers which leads him to create Ultron which also leads to the death and devastation in Sokovia which in turn leads a character who never trusted the government now realize that he now needs to be put in check. Stark's whole character arc during the course of the MCU is him being more accountable and responsible for his actions so in light of that, is it really fair to assume that all other superheroes should be kept in check as a result of one man's blunder? As for Steve Rogers, the first Captain America movie give him a chance to be the hero he was meant to be while the Avengers provided him with an opportunity to prove himself in the modern world. Winter Solider gave him some much-needed character growth and showed us some of the tension going on within him that we never saw in the first two films. With Captain America: Civil War, the viewer sees Rogers at his most conflicted as he struggles even further with this new burden as well as showing a fair amount of new character growth that we have yet to see in the MCU. To add to that, Steve's enduring nature and desire of not wanting to concern anyone else with the conflict surrounding Bucky Barnes brings his character full circle. It's precisely what a person from the 1940s would do and what a person who is devoted to their friends would do "until the end of the line." The inner turmoil that Rogers faces along with his moralistic self-freedom combined with a never give up demeanor is what makes the character of Captain America so charismatic and engaging but also provides a solid foundation for the movie's major battle to be built on which makes for a more intriguing story rather than what Batman V. Superman tried to do. Now we come to Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier who may seem like the villain of this whole predicament but as it turns out, he comes across more as a victim due to the brainwashing Hydra subjected him to. Out of all the characters in the MCU, Bucky has one of the best character arks. As the Captain America films progress, the viewer saw him mature from being a sidekick in the first to being an indoctrinated assassin/pawn to becoming something in-between here and while we see clues throughout the film that his story has yet to be concluded, it was wonderful to see Bucky be conflicted about his past coming back to haunt him and see his relationship with Rogers grow. The story he is given here borders on harrowing and since we've seen his story unfold over the course of the last two Captain America films, the viewer is also feeling the effects of Barnes' story. It isn't so much that Barnes is a tragic hero like Anakin Skywalker, but rather it's the effects of what he has done in the past and how they have changed him that his character ark so memorable here. As for the villain for the picture, Helmut Zemo, he is at once dangerous as he is being ambiguous in a way no other villain in a Marvel movie has ever been before, not to mention he accomplishes his motivations without the aid of any superpowers much like what The Joker did in The Dark Knight. Rather than feeling like your depthless and two-dimensional villain that is seen far too often in movies these days, Zemo actually feels like a fairly unassuming threat to the Avengers and while he's nowhere near the threat that Loki or Thanos pose, he still proves to be a major damaging force to the team. rather than be a villain obsessed by word domination or money, here he's a man overpowered by his own anger and his lust for vengeance and will stop at nothing until he gets it and thus makes him of the best villains in the whole of the MCU.
The film also brings up interesting questions that are thought-provoking as well as serving the story at hand rather than do what Batman V. Superman did where those same ideas are bogged down with pretentious themes lacking any real-world consequences while Captain America: Civil War fully embraces it's themes and uses them to great effect not just for the purpose of telling a story but also to make the viewer think. How far should defensive methods be placed on those who mean well but cause considerable amounts of destruction? Who should be held responsible for the damage caused by superhumans? Do the disadvantages of having superheroes fighting to save those in need counterbalance the advantages? Can the world put their trust in The Avengers when they are under the control of the UN? What if the UN sends the team to a place where they have no interest in going or what if there's an issue in a country like Iran or North Korea that requires the Avengers' presence but the accords won't allow them to interfere? All these questions that the movie raises as well as the contrast in every facet of the story is what makes this movie so wonderful and gripping to watch. Throughout the movie, The viewer is torn between choosing which side to stand with and which ideas they support