Captain America: Civil War and the Ultimate Captain Ameri-Thon
By C’loni Bailey, Assistant Manager for Bookmans Mesa
Movie marathons are kind of my thing. I sat through 21 hours in a movie theater for a Star Wars marathon when The Force Awakens came out, so spending 12 hours in the Harkins Theater at Tempe Marketplace for the Ultimate Captain America Marathon for the release of Captain America: Civil War was a piece of cake! Part of the fun of movie marathons is connecting with other fans. Only die hard fans would suffer together through so many movies. For this marathon, everyone was in great spirits. We cheered at the beginning of each film and during our favorite scenes. Cosplayers, including the local Arizona Avengers, showed up in support of the new Civil War film. And what a film it is!
Captain America: Civil War is easily the best Marvel film to date. I am a massive fan of what the directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, did with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is my favorite Marvel movie, but Civil War matches my love for it. I am impressed by the handling of so many characters from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe. None of the characters seem unnecessary or underused–not an easy feat with 12 superheros vying for screen time in a single fight sequence. The Russo Brothers did it and it is the best superhero fight I have seen.
One thing I love about Civil War is how it does not present one side as right and the other as wrong. Both sides of the conflict have valid arguments that make sense. Although I am staunchly Team Cap myself, I sympathize with Tony Stark’s arguments, even if I disagree with him. There are no shortage of feels in this movie. I teared up several times but these distressing moments are well balanced with a natural humor that never feels forced and plenty of hard-hitting action.
The real shining stars of Captain America: Civil War are the two newest characters to the MCU: Black Panther and Spiderman. Spiderman isn’t new to anyone but a new deal brokered between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, who own the rights to Spiderman, finally allows the fan-favorite web-slinger to be a part of the canon MCU. The audience went wild during Spidey’s introduction and his scenes are some of the funniest in the film. Black Panther is my new favorite character in the MCU. Handsome, regal and ferocious, the king of Wakanda is equal parts thoughtful and sympathetic monarch and insanely badass warrior with the best looking suit in the series.
Watching the new film after marathoning the other Captain America and Avengers movies is an interesting experience because they run together into what feels like one epic, over-arching film. Starting with Captain America: The First Avenger, following with The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers: Age of Ultron before ending with Civil War, the films establish how the character of Captain America has evolved from a skinny kid wanting to fight for what’s right, to a man who understands that fighting for what is right sometimes means having to fight against the people you love the most. That is heart-breaking.
The good news is the Russo brothers are on board to direct the two-part The Avengers: Infinity War films scheduled for 2018/19. After seeing how well they handle Civil War, I cannot wait for the Infinity War to begin!
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