The Sunday Mail
WORDS can never really do justice to the marvel that is “Captain America — Civil War”.
However, I do love a good challenge and in the spirit of things yet to be done, I am going to give this week’s review the good old college try.
Let us start with a lesson or two and introduce you, dear reader, to a few new words.
The first word is “mark”. While all the new words in today’s lesson are predominately used in in the world of professional wrestling, and here I use the word “professional” very loosely, they do apply in film too.
A “mark” is your typical gullible movie-goer, one who easily believes or allows themselves to be so engrossed in what they are watching that it becomes difficult for them to differentiate between what is real and what is not. They can easily be identified — either they cry at the end of a soapy movie or they simply garner an actual hatred or admiration towards actors for the roles they portray in movies.
The “smart mark” is the one with enough sense to know it is all make-believe but yet leave enough room to allow themselves to enjoy whatever movie they are watching.
The third type of a moviegoer is the “smark” and he is the most annoying of the three. He can be identified with the know-it-all attitude; spends most of his or her time trolling the net looking for the latest inside or behind the scenes information. Their most annoying trait is that they can be counted to ruin everybody’s day by dropping the odd spoiler or two.
Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out which of the three categories I belong too; but for those who have never met me, it is the third type. This brings me to this week’s review.
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Marvel’s latest gem “Captain America — Civil”, war for a very long time now.
Prior to release, I did all the research. I trolled the net for months, watched every promo and trailer released in the lead up to the film, and expressed glee when Sony and Marvel finally agreed to share the rights to the Spiderman character and name.
I read the comic book arch, of which the story is based on, ages ago and was fully aware of the changes that would have to be made for the big screen adaptation. I bring up all these factors to paint the picture of my indifference as I went to watch the movie’s premiere at Ster Kinekor-Sam Levy last week.
However, nothing could have prepared me for the shock that awaited me and probably awaits anyone else who is yet to watch the movie. The film blew me away!
While in essence this is a Captain America movie, the third in the series, the Avengers play a huge part in the film.
It kicks off months away from the events of the last and mostly forgettable Avengers movie, as Cap (Chris Evans) leads his new team on a routine retrieval mission.
Unfortunately, things take a turn for the tragic when Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) inadvertently kills a few innocent bystanders while trying stop a bomb from exploding.
The United Nations is forced to intervene and bring some order to these gifted humans. Their solution is to make them sign the “Sokovia Accords”, a set of guidelines that are meant to govern and control the team of superheroes.
Obviously this leads to a conflict of ideology between the team’s two leaders with Ironman (Robert Downey Jnr), who is stricken by grief for all the damage he and his team have done, more than happy to sign the treaty.
The straight-laced Captain America is against the idea and their clashes divide the team into two separate camps.
What follows is a series of cat and mouse games between the two groups fitted with plenty of fist-fights, special cameo appearances and your usual espionage, thriller and comic book themes. The narrative is on point.
Prior to the release of the film, most people figured that one would be forced to pick a side, with the most correct side being Cap’s, given that it is his movie. However, The Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe, do an excellent job of displaying the pros and cons of both sides of the argument.
The dialogue is on point and not a word or phrase is wasted.
The action is thick and fast, and credit has to be given to the new players Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa/Black Panther), Paul Rudd (Antman) and Tom Holland (Peter Parker/ Spideman) for an excellent job.
Much of the success of these characters will go a long way into boosting their own solo projects. For once, Marvel did a standout job in portraying a credible villain in Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo. His motives, plan and performance are all excellent.
I would expand on this but I do not want to spoil the movie any more than I have already done. Continuity is the key word for all Marvel movies and this movie does a brilliant job tying up loose ends from past releases, specifically the Bucky story, and setting up future events, which have more to do with Thanos’ impending threat and the Infinity stones’ story arch.
“Captain America — Civil War” is a gem of a film and has set the bar extremely high for any other film due for release this year regardless of genre.
