Note: A high-school classmate regularly posts fun-to-read comments and threads on Facebook about the MCU. His “best of” lists and rankings are constantly being updated as each new title comes out. In 2018 he posted his then favorite six movies from the MCU. That led to an extended comment from me in response. (DL, Sept. 13, 2021)
Your top six [Avengers, Black Panther, CA:CW, GoG, Iron Man, SM:Homecoming] is the same as mine with the exception of Civil War. My beef with CW isn’t the convoluted plot-forcing (although as you note, it’s pretty bad). My problem is the way it handles the core moral motivations in the movie.
Tony’s moral quandary seems to me genuine and needed. He feels guilty (and probably should) and wants to do something about it.
My problem is with Cap. He doesn’t just go slightly off the reservation; he goes completely off the chain. In the group discussion he backs the premise that “we are the most trustworthy guardians of our powers,” and then proceeds to kill/maim a bunch of cops, trash Berlin, and get Rhodey’s back broken . . . for personal reasons.
And his personal reasons aren’t even completely safe; they smell of mental unbalance. He freezes up when Bucky’s name is mentioned, and to save Bucky, he’s willing to tear apart the Avengers and completely turn his back on Tony. Tony’s absolutely right. “I thought you were my friend.” Like, there are friends and loyalties and duties. And then there’s Bucky. I’ll burn down the world for Bucky. That’s not healthy and completely undermines the premise that “we are the most trustworthy guardians of our powers.”
The entire conflict would have felt better to me if Cap’s stand had been *principled* and not about Bucky. . . .
. . . And if either side had had credible awareness of the irony of their behavior.
Which brings us to the Berlin airport fight, which for me is the most troubling part of the movie.
In theory, both sides of this debate recognize that super powered individuals are a potential threat to public safety and need to be kept in check. One side thinks the government should have oversight; the other side thinks the heroes are the best guardians.
But in theory, both sides want moderation and the public good.
So . . . they cause a major public disaster, totally destroying a hastily-evacuated (and hopefully successfully evacuated) major international airport.
The sheer wantonness of the destruction and the implications about its effects on people (effects which the movie is *asking* you to think about) really bothered me .Vision’s cutting off of the tower is the part that feels worst to me. He’s on the side that’s backing control and the public good. And he’s a super genius. So instead of just zapping the jet, he destroys the tower. Hope nobody was in there. Hope there’s no travelers waiting to fly. Hope no planes were on their way to Berlin. Because destroying the tower was definitely the only way, and there definitely won’t be long-term consequences and costs for a lot of people. It’s just wanton and totally lacking in self-awareness, and it made me really uncomfortable. Like, yeah, clearly these supposedly smart heroes are terrible at managing their disagreements. Lock those crazies up ASAP.
And it’s not just that it’s wanton and senseless in the story context; it’s that the movie itself (ie. Marvel Studios) treats it as . . . business as usual. Superheroes have big smashy fights and wreck stuff. Woo hoo! This is the MCU. This is what we do.
Except I thought this movie was trying to ask hard questions about the implications of some of this. I thought they were trying to clarify some of the moral ambiguity inherent in having so much power with so little accountability.
I guess not. I guess they were just putting together half-assed excuses for the Avengers to face off in a big showdown (“Awesome!!”) and for Cap and Iron Man to go at it mano a mano (“Sweeeettt!!!”)
It all leaves me with a big sour taste in my mouth and makes it hard for me to just sit back and enjoy the ride like I normally do in these movies.
EDIT: Oh, and I love your analysis of why origin movies are usually less satisfying then movies that tell more of a story. Hadn’t thought about that. Rings totally true.