Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Political involvement in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.

Directors:

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Writers:

Christopher Markus (screenplay by), Stephen McFeely (screenplay by)

Stars:

Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

16 wins & 66 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Evans	...	Steve Rogers / Captain America
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Tony Stark / Iron Man
Scarlett Johansson	...	Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Sebastian Stan	...	Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie	...	Sam Wilson / Falcon
Don Cheadle	...	Lieutenant James Rhodes / War Machine
Jeremy Renner	...	Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Chadwick Boseman	...	T'Challa / Black Panther
Paul Bettany	...	Vision
Elizabeth Olsen	...	Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Rudd	...	Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Emily VanCamp	...	Sharon Carter (as Emily Vancamp)
Tom Holland	...	Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Daniel Brühl	...	Zemo
Frank Grillo	...	Brock Rumlow / Crossbones

Storyline

With many people fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero's actions. This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spider-Man) and Team Captain America (Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man) while a new villain emerges.

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Plot Keywords:

marvel cinematic universe | based on comic book | superhero | siberia | bucharest | 

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Taglines:

Divided We Fall

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem

Details

Official Sites:

Marvel Official Site Official Facebook

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German Xhosa Russian Romanian Hindi

Release Date:

6 May 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Captain America: The Fallen Son

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$179,139,142, 8 May 2016, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$408,084,349

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,153,304,495

Company Credits

Production Co:

Marvel Studios, Vita-Ray Dutch Productions (III), Studio Babelsberg

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos 12-Track Digital Sound (IMAX 12 track) Dolby Digital IMAX 6-Track Dolby Surround 7.1 Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

(At around one hour and nine minutes) Chris Evans injured his arm muscles while filming the iconic shot of Captain America holding back a helicopter with his hands. Evans said, "That shot is a little bit of bicep porn. 'Zoom in on the biceps', that's what the script said. Kevin Feige didn't airbrush my biceps, that's me. It's not a utilitarian shot, it's a shot where you're trying to look heroic. That position (of holding the helicopter with one hand and the ledge with another) is actually a very unnatural position to use to stop something, but we used it because I have to flex my bicep, you are trying to make the scene look great, and I genuinely messed my arm up doing that shot because of the strain." Robert Downey Jr. joked that the filmmakers didn't mind that Evans hurt himself because of how great the shot turned out, and they have been using it to promote the film ever since. Anthony Russo revealed that the iconic shot almost did not happen because on the day of the filming, there was a miscommunication with the Costume Department and Evans came in wearing a thick jacket. They immediately sent him back to change, because then they wouldn't have been able to film the shot of his muscles bulging as intended in the script.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 30 mins) During the fight at the airport when War Machine hits Captain America with the first electric baton while he is on the ground, the top of Cap's shield bends but in the next scene the bend is gone.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Karpov: [in Russian; reading from a book] Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybreak. Furnace. Nine. Benign. Homecoming. One. Freight Car.
[shuts book]
Karpov: [in Russian] Good morning, Soldier.

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Crazy Credits

The main closing credits have the cast and crew cast shadows, each shadow representing an element about that credit's role.

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Connections

Referenced in Everything Wrong with...: Everything Wrong with Justice League in 24 Minutes or Less (2018)

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Soundtracks

Pie Jesu
Composed by Gabriel Fauré
Arranged by Robert Henry
Performed by The Atlanta Boy Choir
Maestro Fletcher Wolfe, Director
Hendricks Coates, Soloist

User Reviews

Used to be Black Hats vs White Hats. Now its No Hats

Since it is increasingly important in these reviews to appeal to all readers, and not offend anyone, I am offering two reviews. Simply pick the one you like.

1. Great Production Values, Two and a Half Hours of Action, Whats Not to Like?

This, the shorter review, simply states the obvious. Marvel is getting progressively better at delivering action and most people today go to these films for the action, so this is win-win. Yeah. Everyone smile and wait for the next Marvel release. Have your wallets ready.

2. As Marvel increasingly monopolizes the Superhero space, the themes get darker and darker.

The early 1920s believe it or not were a lot like today. Everyone sensed a growing unease in the collective gestalt, so they compensated by more partying, less critical thinking, and going to more movies. Interestingly, movies both before and after the Great Depression offered pure escapist entertainment. You went to the movies to get anything BUT reality.

A century later, that paradigm has shifted. Ever since the "graphic novels" started to tackle serious adult themes, there seems to be a race among superhero writers to see who can put his (her) hero through the most angst, and drag the audience along for the ride.

I am not sure this is a good thing but I seem to be in the minority. I have seen a Spiderman movie where Spidey's main squeeze was killed because Spidey was a few seconds late. I have seen Superman movies where the main goal seems to be to discover how many buildings you can smash with Superman's head. And now, picking up on the same thread, I am seeing Avenger movies where governments -- these would be the same governments spying on your emails and trying to ban cash -- are trying to tell the "enhanced" humans what to do and not do.

Now, the suits at the studio would argue this must be what the audience wants because they are making money. This reviewer would argue that when you have a monopoly on a product line that people want, they will see it regardless. Only one of us is right.

In my view, the best superhero films are the ones that are the most humanistic. Superman comes out of a coma to be with the child he did not know he had. Iron Man rewards a boy who helped him when no one else would. Hulk drops out of an airplane not knowing if he will change or not, but he has to stop the bad guy and protect Betty.

My attitude is, if I want adult themes that badly I don't need to go the theatre, I can simply try to renew my license or wait in a hospital emergency room. I "get" this is how they are making superhero films these days. I suggest that in a year or two someone will rediscover the older, more sentimental, story lines, the audience will love it, and people of the future will look back at the films of today and wonder, what were they smoking?