There’s trouble afoot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Saving the day has its costs and the collateral damage from the battles of The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron come a-calling in Captain America: Civil War. The price paid: The cohesion of our favorite superhero collective.
The third Captain America film picks up soon after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. There is some public demand for accountability for superheroes. See, although they save the day, they also leave a wake of innocents killed in the name of defeating baddies in their wake. The United Nations has crafted a proposal that would have the Avengers reporting to the international body, which would also regulate their actions and orchestrate their involvement in battles against evil across the globe.
This plan has split our heroes down the middle — led by Captain America and Iron Man. Steve Rogers (Cap) believes that this oversight would be responsible for more lives being lost as the superheroes would be entangled in bureaucratic red tape that would prevent them from intervening when trouble calls. Meanwhile, Tony Stark (Iron Man) believes that the UN proposal is a necessary next step in the evolution of a world where people with powers and aliens (Thor is an alien, right?!) exist.
Delving deeper, this riff between Iron Man and Cap has its origins in Stark’s creation of artificial intelligence machines that wound up giving us Ultron. Now, in Captain America: Civil War, that divide deepens and plays out on an international stage with the future of heroism in the crosshairs.
On one side, we have Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Vision (Paul Bettany), Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). On the opposite side of regulation is Captain America (Chris Evans), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), new to the scene (and one of the best superhero introductions we’ve ever seen) is Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), along with Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). As everyone knows from the final Captain America: Civil War trailer, a certain webbed wonder makes his Avengers world debut. Yup, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) also has a fantastic Marvel Cinematic Universe debut and it leaves us wanting more!
The film itself is utterly fantastic. Captain America: Civil War may be the smartest of the superhero movies ever made and also may just be the best superhero movie ever made. Time will tell on that front, but what is clear is the Russo Brothers (director-brothers Joe and Anthony) could not have more of a command on the source material and the world that finds these characters existing. They are masters of cinematic scope as well. Given all the characters they have to introduce, the massive action scene undertakings they have to capture and the setting up of films and storylines to come that they have to stick to, they are the true superheroes of this film, and frankly, the MCU.
That’s just one reason why the Blu-Ray and DVD for Captain America: Civil War is such a treasure. As you will see in the bonus features, viewers get a front-row seat to the wizardry of the Russos.
Leading the way in that way is United We Stand, Divided We Fall — The Making of Captain America: Civil War. The two-part behind-the-scenes look is just over 20 minutes each and spotlights the cast and crew and their incredible insight into how the mesmerizing flick came together.
Part I focuses on the story aspect of this incredible endeavor and showcases how the comic origins made their way to the big screen and how masterfully it was crafted into this two-and-a-half-hour spectacle (that doesn’t feel long at all!). We also get to see how the cast got to dive in to their own stunt work that allowed for the filmmakers to further bring audiences into the reality of the action, while simultaneously giving the performers a thrill of a lifetime.
We also like the insight into some of the shooting locations, how character interactions were perfected and why it was important to have Ant-Man join the team (including Rudd’s thoughts on being the new kid on the block!).
Part II of the making-of doc delves deeper into Vision’s role in the film and Bettany’s characterization, how Black Panther fits into the film and fans will cherish the casting choice of Holland when they hear the actor discussing his utter awe at the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he has in playing Spider-Man.
If you’re wondering how we even got to this point where heroes would be battling heroes, Marvel has outdone themselves with two featurettes, with each looking at the leader of each side of this conflict, Captain America: The Road to Civil War and Iron Man: The Road to Civil War. What is so fascinating is both heroes have valid reasons for their points of view and it’s easy to see why they would clash.
Sometimes audio commentary tracks can be a bit empty, particular after such fantastic bonus features that have talked up the film as much as can be done. But, as the Russo brothers are such visionaries, and it seems impossible to capture all of their cinematic aspirations in a featurette, the audio commentary track featuring those two, plus writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is often-times entertaining and always enlightening look at the making of what time will surely call their masterpiece.
Final Thought: For us, the Captain America movies have always been the brightest shining stars in the MCU. Between the movie itself and the stellar bonus features, Captain America: Civil War shows that the best can keep getting better.
Film Grade: A+
Bonus Features: A