Hey everyone welcome back to Silver Screen Spectacle! Today we’re continuing our MCU Flashback with the start of Phase Three. Captain America: Civil War or as everyone likes to joke, Avengers 2.5 got released in 2016 with an insane amount of hype behind it. Introducing a new Spider-Man and Black Panther along with being an iconic comic story led to an insane amount of hype. There was a big thing among comic book fans going into that year, as it also was the year of Batman v Superman. It led to an intense Marvel vs DC debate. If you want my thoughts on BVS, I have an article on it but it disappointed the vast majority of people which led to even more pressure on Civil War to deliver a crowd-pleasing film. It did not disappoint with acclaim from critics and audiences immediately, eventually grossing a massive $1.153 billion worldwide. At the time this was the biggest Marvel film yet, now that we’ve had bigger things let’s look back at the last installment in the Captain America trilogy.
I adore this movie from start to finish. Every single second of this movie is firing on all cylinders for me. Every single cast member turns in their best performance to date in the MCU. The standout returning characters are Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. Sebastian Stan, Elizabeth Olsen, and Paul Rudd. Evans and Downey Jr. are the heart of this film. As riveting as I find their performances, you do truly hate to see characters you have grown to see as friends fight. Sebastian Stan finally gets to show his chops while being a good guy for most of the film. After being skeptical of Olsen initially in Ultron, she fully won me over here. The scenes with her and Paul Bettany are among the film’s best slower moments. Rudd has a minor role, but his comedic timing is so strong it is instantly memorable. Chadwick Boseman was pitch-perfect casting for Black Panther. While I love him in other films, the intensity of his performance here is so memorable for me. Tom Holland is easily the best Spider-Man, yet he is the only one to feel like the age he is supposed to be. The most underrated part of this movie though is Daniel Bruhl’s performance as the villain Zemo. Especially on rewatch, it hit how good of a villain he really is and Bruhl plays the quiet villain so well.
The Russo Brothers return to direct after bringing Captain America into the modern day with The Winter Soldier. Up to this point in the MCU, this film has my favorite action sequences. Every single scene feels like it has weight and intensity to it that even Winter Soldier couldn’t consistently keep up. The airport fight feels like the right balance of fun and tension as not every character is trying to kill each other. The tension goes to 110 percent in the finale with the three-way fight between Tony, Steve, and Bucky. I still hold my breath during this fight all these years later. Despite no one getting fatally harmed in this scene, I fully believed that these characters were willing to kill each other if it came to that point. The script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is basically perfect to me. Despite the insane amount of characters in this movie, it still is 100 percent Captain America’s story. The conflict adds a lot of weight to Ultron and felt like the perfect balance of seriousness and humor for me. Every single character gets a moment to shine, and we finally have another great MCU villain. Zemo is a phenomenal villain and other than Thanos, the only one to win. We do not discuss his addition to the overall MCU enough, without his character in this movie they would’ve beat Thanos in Infinity War. All the visual effects are still great today and the cinematography is less shaky camera than The Winter Soldier, thankfully.
As for credits scenes, the first one was a great setup for Black Panther showing us Bucky going to Wakanda to get Hydra out of his head. This sets up some things that became crucial for Infinity War as well. The second one is just a fun scene and joke with Spider-Man, but I can always use more of Holland’s take on this character.
So overall Captain America: Civil War is my favorite MCU film up to this point. While not quite a masterpiece for me, it’s one of my all-time favorite films and is one I return to regularly. So, guys, that’s it for this Flashback: MCU Edition, as always if you enjoyed it give it a share and I’ll see you all next time.
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