Here They Come to Save the Day

Notoriously grumpy comics genius Alan Moore has referred to the recent influx of superhero films as a "cultural catastrophe." Them's fightin' words, but at the rate we're being inundated with these things, he ain't that far off. Still, if you can detach yourself from any unfounded hopes that big-screen adaptations of caped crusader tales will be artistic or venerable examples of cinema, you'll find plenty to enjoy (not counting Batman vs. Superman). These are summer blockbuster movies, popcorn-dropping stories meant to appeal to the kid in us who can still recall reading these comics with a religious devotion, pretending to be these heroes or hoping beyond hope we might wake up one morning with super powers. Captain America: Civil War nails these ideals by not only being a killer action flick but acting as the intersection of so many loose Marvel Comics threads set forth by the onslaught of their other properties.

In War, the fallout from the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron has the world on edge and wreaks havoc on international diplomacy. Toss in a mission gone awry in the opening minutes of the film, and people are scared of our heroes. Hell, why wouldn't they be? As Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (a perfectly smarmy William Hurt) points out to Cap and crew, they operate across sovereign borders with zero oversight, and the stuff that went down during their last outing in Sokovia left all kinds of people dead. World leaders want them to sign a document known as the Sokovia Accords, a treaty that will place restrictions on the team and have them report to a higher power. Tony Stark (the somehow always arrogant Robert Downey Jr.) is all for it, as he does battle with his own conscience over deaths they may have caused. Captain America (the usually pretty good but in this case kinda boring Chris Evans) refuses, however, stating something about how they need to do what they need to do.

If that wasn't bad enough, some jerk sets off a bomb at the UN meeting to ratify the treaty, thereby setting into motion a chain of events that, while complicated, is totally easy to follow. Surveillance footage would have us believe it was the dubious Winter Soldier (Captain America's Hydra-hypnotized pal, Bucky, played here capably by Sebastian Stan), but Captain America isn't buying it, so he takes off on his own to save the day, even though that's illegal now. Plus there's this mysterious dude Zemo running around, killing people and being nuts, and that's no good, either.

So yeah, it's a superhero movie, and that comes with all the cute one-liners and preposterous action one might expect, but War can be commended for actually delving into the moral ramifications of super-strong badasses who can blow up entire countries. Is a cadre of such proportions making the world a safer place, or are these heroes ignoring their collateral damage through the misguided belief that they are just and right? It's a lot to think about, but it never becomes so heavy as to overshadow the exciting action sequences or legitimately funny inside jokes about the characters or comics culture itself. Marvel has done a wonderful job of slowly leading up to the joining of so many characters, and new heroes like Black Panther joining forces with less mainstream champs like Ant-Man (the ever-brilliant Paul Rudd) is thrilling. They even got Spider-Man right, finally, as young Tom Holland's all-too-brief appearance as Spidey perfectly encapsulates the web-slinger's youthful hubris and quip-a-minute personality.

No, this is not Citizen Kane, but if that's the kind of movie you're stacking comic films against, you are thinking about the genre all wrong.

Captain America: Civil War
Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
With Evans, Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson,
Don Cheadle, Rudd and way too many more to mention
Violet Crown, Regal
PG-13,
147 min.

Santa Fe Reporter