Captain America: Civil War - 10 Biggest Last Minute Concerns
1. It's Not Grown Up Enough
That's not a slight on the involvement of the excellent Paul Rudd, or the rumoured comic scene stealing of Anthony Mackie's Falcon, but rather a concern that the politics of the film's central story cannot be fleshed out in as substantial enough way as necessary. The marketing has been heavy on the Accords and the idea of political control of superheroism, but if this is to be a giant, self-confessed popcorn movie, it's hard to think that those grown-up concerns will be under-written to allow everything to descend into pitched battles.
Perhaps that's why there's a little left to be desired in the principles the film is built on, as Little White Lies' review says:
Ethically and politically, the film has a lot to answer for (unless you happen to love totalitarianism). But at least it stridently endorses something and doesnt just throw out a load of half-hearted hypotheticals to give the illusion of depth. Captain America isnt a fascist in the historical sense, but he does display certain tendencies. Its weird that no-one in the room is able to step up and tell him, Dude, I think what youre espousing is, like, totally undemocratic."
Whisper it, but it seems there might be something broken about the film's politics - THR expressed something similar, though not quite as pointedly:
"In many ways the movies red-blue divide (the color distinctions are based on Judianna Makovskys stellar superhero outfits) is far more nuanced than the split in U.S. electoral politics. But the screenplays angsting over the ethics of being a crime-stopper is also, finally, an excuse for more pummeling clashes."
Nuance is a good thing, obviously, but I was personally hoping for political consequences beyond the fighting. Perhaps I'm in the minority who wanted Phase 3 to be defined by ideological split beyond this first skirmish?
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