Captain America : Civil War - Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must pick a side.
The script, by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, is structured like a great all-day Netflix binge, with capacious, character-building dialogue scenes and a constant drip-feed of revelations and twists. (The great lesson of Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 – that these characters are invariably more interesting out of their suits – remains well-learned.)
Throughout, the control of tone is pin-precise. The film’s centrepiece action sequence – a six-on-six battle royale on a German airfield – feels like the lavishly enjoyable last word on a thousand "who would win in a fight between…" playground arguments, while Downey Jr and Evans’s climactic battle, though it deploys much of the same computer-generated whizz-bang, is startlingly heavy with heartbreak.
At the root of that is Civil War’s greatest strength – and the reason it makes all thought of the recent Batman v Superman debacle evaporate on contact. The Russos’ film has an unshakeable faith in these decades-old characters: they’re not wrangled into standing for anything other than who they are, with no gloss or reinterpretation or reach for epic significance required. This is the cinematic superhero showdown you’ve dreamt of since childhood, precisely because that’s everything – and all – it wants to be.
fight scene between crossbow and steve rogers (Cap. America)