One of the saving graces of last year’s mostly disappointing Summer movie season happened early on with “Captain America: Civil War.” This film brought most of the Avengers back together, with the noticeably conspicuous absence of the Incredible Hulk and Thor, who must have been vacationing on the Island of Misfit Superheroes or something. But I digress.
The film is all about Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America/Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) and the end of their super bromance due to irreconcilable differences: Iron Man/Tony Stark believes that due to the catastrophic damage caused by the Avengers whenever they go out to rumble with some evil entity, while Captain/Steve believes that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Their rift widens even more as The Winter Soldier aka Bucky, Captain America’s friend, has been wreaking havoc and is a brainwashed man on the run from not only Iron Man, who blames him for his parents’ deaths, but also the Black Panther, who wants to avenge the death of his father.
This movie has way too many moving pieces/superheroes, and several of the regular Avengers are reduced to near-cameo appearances, such as Scarlett Johannsen’s Black Widow and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye. Since Thor and The Hulk were unavailable for comment, Captain America and Iron Man have to enlist the second string; Ant Man (played by Paul Rudd) joined Team America, and we’re treated to the introduction of the umpteenth incarnation of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland) who thinks that Iron Man/Tony Stark is the coolest thing ever. With the players choosing sides, they dash toward each other like they’re about to play an epic game of dodgeball, but they decide to settle things with a superhero slugfest for the ages, with most of the combatants getting a superhero time out in some kind of underwater prison.
The battle goes on way too long, and then things quickly shift to the mastermind behind this confrontation, but like the rest of the Avengers movies, the villain ends up to be pretty flimsy. The film winds up with a climactic battle between Iron Man, Captain America, and Bucky/AKA The Winter Soldier. It’s a brutal battle, and by the end of the fight, we quickly learn that there were no winners, only losers.
Although it was well received by moviegoers, it seems like the Marvel Cinematic Universe has exhausted the possibilities of its core superheroes and it may be time for a breather and let the universe expand to other interesting (albeit relatively unknown) characters. Tony Stark’s snark is wearing thin, and it may be time for the character to join Thor and the Hulk on a well-deserved vacation.