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trevorhale-of-kalos · 7 years

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While I write my spoiler review about all the characters, plots and developments in Civil War, I need to talk about Bucky and Steve before I explode with all the feelings. I also needed some positivity and after watching the movie a 2nd time I could put aside my expectations and enjoy more.

*** SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS ***

SPOILERS AHEAD. PLEASE DON’T READ IF YOU DIDN’T WATCH THE MOVIE YET, IT’LL RUIN IT FOR YOU AND I DON’T WANT THAT.

- First of all I need to comment on how amazing is the fact that the whole trajectory of Captain America came full circle. Steve Rogers has his first mission as Captain America because of Bucky, to rescue Bucky. And now, his last mission as Captain America before he drops the shield and basically gives up of the title is because of Bucky, to rescue Bucky. Captain America’s existence starts and finishes because of Steve’s devotion to Bucky Barnes.

- The movie starts with the Winter Soldier soundtrack and the first notes already gave me chills. Seeing Bucky being stored and restarted as a machine, as a dangerous weapon and nothing else and hearing his screams made me tear up even before the marvel logo came up.

- The Winter Soldier going on a mission on a motorcycle, I can’t wait for the gifsets and parallels with Steve riding one in WW2. And then we had Steve with his bike in TWS and another scene with Bucky majestically stealing another one in Civil War.

- Steve is in the middle of a fight against Crossbones, opportunity he was waiting for months but as soon as Crossbones mentions Bucky (your pal, your buddy, your Bucky) and how he remembered Steve during torture sessions, everything around Steve becomes static and white noise. His face goes to such a painful expression he loses touch with everything around him.

- Steve literally confessed to Wanda that when he hears Bucky’s name, he becomes a 16 years old boy again and is immediately back in Brooklyn (his home). Bucky is his home. He can’t think about nothing else, he goes back to being 16 when Bucky was his whole world and if to feel this strongly about a boy at the mere mention of his name isn’t love, then I don’t know what else could be.

- Bucky is trying to function as a person, he does simple things as buy fresh fruits for himself. That was so nice to see. We can see him speaking Romanian here and it was awesome (he also speaks Russian in the movie, we get Sebastian speaking three languages in this one). But they also show us how he is still a very traumatized person, he looks paranoid and when he starts to look around the soundtrack changes, there’s a mix of street noises and the camera goes like tunnel vision and he starts searching for someone observing him until he finds out that he was framed in the UN attack. My heart broke at his expression, he knew at that moment he’ll have to leave behind what he built (even if small and simple) and move again.

- When Steve finds Bucky’s safe house, he explores the place a little, the camera frames Bucky’s unmade bed and lingers there for a while, I thought Steve was going to grab Bucky’s pillow and bring it to his face to smell it.

- Steve finds Bucky’s notebook, he goes through them and there’s a picture of Steve dressed as Captain America inside. That was so… OMG Bucky Barnes, has a picture of Steve in his notebook, a very warn out photo that was obviously held in nervous hands countless of times.

- The moment they see each other for the first time again is so charged with longing and want and love and fear. They look at each other in silence for awhile. It’s very emotional. Steve looks at Bucky from head to toe, very slowly, as if checking for injuries or signs that he is not real. Steve also talks to him very carefully, as if trying not to spook a wild animal.

- Bucky pretending that he only knows what he saw at the museum about Steve and lying that he doesn’t know why he saved Steve from drowning (”I don’t know why I did that”). So many fics we’ve read about Bucky trying to protect himself and thinking he is not worth being in Steve’s life again because he is too broken, not the same person Steve knew. And this is exactly the reason that the scene transpires, specially when provided more context about Bucky’s guilt and low sense of self worth in other scenes ahead.

- Steve knowing Bucky so well even after all these years and seeing right through him, calling Bucky out on his lies (“yes you do”). Also Steve believes Bucky right away when he says he wasn’t responsible for the attacks. No questions asked, no proof demanded. Steve gets ready to protect Bucky immediately and he knew he wasn’t shielding Bucky from bad guys, but actually the police operating inside the law and shattering everything the Avengers were trying to accomplish with the regulation.

- Steve and Bucky fighting in sync, like they know each other’s body so much they fall right at their old dynamics and it’s beautiful, like a dance. The whole stairway fight scene is so amazing, Bucky being violent to get away and Steve trying to give him time to escape but also trying to lower the collateral damage that Bucky was leaving behind, I was laughing and crying at the same time.

- Sam chasing Steve chasing Black Panther chasing Bucky, that was a hell of a ride. Amazing scene and showing how protective Steve is of Bucky, the police behind him and demanding his surrender and Steve was like: “lol no I can’t hear you I gotta save my boyfriend” he had zero care or patience for anything else, even collateral damage around him

- Steve’s defeated and painful look when they throw Bucky on the ground to arrest him

- Bucky’s accepting blank face being manhandled and locked inside some kind of vehicle-cage, he wasn’t just locked, he was immobilized, it was so sad and close to the way Hydra did to him.

- Steve watching Bucky through the monitors during his psychological evaluation, with a painful look on his face unable to stay still.

- Bucky being called James and with restrained irritation saying “My name is Bucky”. That line killed me. In the Winter Soldier, Steve saying “Bucky?” is what broke through his conditioning, started the process of remembering himself and it’s the name he chooses to carry.

- Bucky shaking when he sees the red book and screaming as soon as he realizes what’s about to happen, that he will be forced to obey, that he’ll become a weapon again and have no agency anymore after 2 years fighting to be a person again.

- Bucky escaping and fighting Steve, who was apathetically getting beaten instead of really fight back with full force.

- Steve trying to prevent Bucky from taking off in the helicopter, that was one of the most intense scenes I ever watched, Steve gave his everything, he was so desperate he was going to lose Bucky again, he was ready to die trying to get him back.

- Steve pulling Bucky out of the water, an amazing parallel to the end of The Winter Soldier, Bucky is unconscious and Steve saves him. He finally got Bucky when he falls this time.

- The way Bucky giggles when he is telling Steve about how he remembers the newspapers in his shoes was adorable. It wasn’t a simple smile, he giggles.

- Actually all the little smiles Bucky gets to have in the movie are because of Steve.

- The flashback in which Bucky is used like a punching bag for the other soldiers to train, that was so sad and terrifying.

- Bucky cute knowing smile while Scott Lang was fangboying over Steve

- Sam, Steve and Bucky, these huge men inside that tiny beetle was hilarious, the whole theater was laughing hysterically

- When Steve and Sharon kiss, Sam and Bucky smile approvingly but Bucky has a painful smile in his face, he is like trying to encourage Steve and be supportive but his eyes are sad and the smile is strained, like is kinda hurting him to do it. He even blinks to put some effort

- Sam becoming a reluctant friend of Bucky, they bicker at each other and their banter is hilarious but we can also see the foundations for an awesome friendship in the future. It’s good to see Bucky making connections besides Steve.

- Steve is again confronted about stopping and handing Bucky over and he literally fights everybody instead, he is not giving up Bucky and they grab a quinjet, just the two of them, and fly to Siberia to prevent the villain of taking control over five other winter soldiers. They know is basically a suicide mission since they are outnumbered and the other soldiers are stronger than him but that’s how they always fought and they won’t stop just because the odds are not in their favor.

- Bucky mentions in such a small broken voice how he thinks he is not worth all the trouble, all Steve is going to lose because of him. And Steve goes still and you can see in his eyes how what Bucky said destabilize Steve emotionally and he tells Bucky something like “it wasn’t you” . It doesn’t change Steve’s resolve, he pays zero attention to what he’ll lose, you don’t see him spending a second reconsidering. He knows what he wants and he wants Bucky by his side doesn’t matter the cost. And in the end, when Steve drops his shield he proves to Bucky just how much he is worth it, he is worth everything Steve has and is.

- They have a quiet moment and joke about how old they are. That’s something they have in common and it solidifies how much they are alike, how much their struggles and journey align and how they are the only person that can understandhow the other feels like. Shared life experiences and all that jazz.

- Steve mentions one of Bucky’s girlfriends and Buck is like I have no idea who you’re talking about, but Steve reinforces the Teenage Boy Pinning For My BFF™ theory by giving Bucky the name, nickname and details about the girl/date. Steve was clearly too invested in Bucky’s love life in the past and he sounded kinda bitter about it.

- Then the camera chooses to show them inside an industrial elevator, facing each other in a very suggestive way. We can see how awkward they look around trying to break the tension and stealing furtive glances from each other. It’s a short scene but very charged and a deliberate choice from the directors.

- Steve and Bucky checking the perimeter, Steve with the defensive position with the shield and Bucky with the offensive one with his rifle, the way they move and position their bodies in sync, as if they were each other’s extension in battle and they can fight as one. Even when Steve lowers his shield to talk to Tony, Bucky has still Tony is his crosshairs ready to protect Steve if necessary, watching his six.

- When they find the truth about what happened to Tony’s parents, Bucky hangs his head and he looks so ashamed even if it wasn’t his choice to kill them. He obviously expects Steve to give up on him too, finally. We can see during his flashback his dull eyes and a flash of pain when Howard recognizes him. Steve immediately reinforces Bucky’s defense saying to Tony that wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t himself.

- Bucky throwing the shield for Steve and also they fighting together and teaming up to go against Tony and passing the shield to each other as if they did this a million times before.

- Tony asking if Bucky at least remembered killing his parents and Bucky answers with “I remember all of them”. It was so painful and it gave a strong insight about his trauma and the things he has to live with it, he knows it wasn’t his choice but he also knows it were his hands and the fact that he remembers every victim, it’s a wonder he is a person who can function dispite the guilt, Bucky is so strong, no one else could’ve endured this amount of trauma and still be alive.

- Bucky fighting furiously after Tony hurts Steve badly and going for his arc reactor and then when his arm is cut by Tony’s energy blast, Steve advances against him in rage, he beats him up with so much anger, there’s nothing rational about it it’s pure fury.

- Steve saying the line “I can do this all day”, the line he only used before to a bully in a back alley and against to Red Skull. Long gone are pleasantries, he clearly sees Tony as a bully now after he ripped Bucky’s arm off.

- Even being without his arm and lying hurt and barely conscious on the floor, Bucky tries to help Steve by grabbing Tony’s legs when Steve is getting beaten, Bucky won’t give up, not while Steve is in danger, he only stops when Tony kicks him in the face and blood oozes.

- Steve neutralizing Tony’s arc reactor with his shield until the suit is down and then moving away to grab Bucky who is on the floor. The camera hovers over Bucky’s face as if we could see Bucky from Steve’s eyes, it was Steve’s point of view. He helps him stand and they start to walk away with Bucky leaning against Steve, flesh arm around his shoulders just like it happened the first time he saved Bucky when he was being tortured by Zola. It was a beautiful and powerful parallel.

- When Tony says Steve is not worth the shield and that the shield doesn’t belong to him because his dad was the one to make it, he just drops it. Like it’s nothing. The message is clear: “all I need I have in my arms right now” and he keeps moving carrying Bucky. The full circle is so intense. Steve really started being Captain America because of his first mission to save Bucky and it ends exactly at the same point, in his last mission to save Bucky. Steve chooses Bucky over everything, he chooses Bucky over being Captain America.

- And Steve dropping his shield for Bucky is not news, he did it once in the helicarrier (The Winter Soldier) and he did it again but this time the choice wasn’t between fight or die, it was between keep fighting or quit fighting. And he proves Ultron was wrong: he can live without a war as long as he has Bucky with him.

- The post credit scenes. After Steve rescues the imprisoned avengers and send Tony a letter that pretty much says “I’m sorry for everything but not really since I grabbed all my pals back and I’ll be basically running the secret avengers now, ring if you need us” he and Bucky go to Wakanda, T’Challa’s home.

- Bucky obviously feels immense guilt and fear of being controlled again, of not having his agency and not being able to make his own choices and ending up hurting someone, hurting Steve. As Sebastian explained, Bucky has no reason to stay alive, he’d kill himself just to end all the pain and fear. But he can’t do that to Steve. So he chooses to go back to cryo until they find a way to remove the programming from his brain. Bucky is willing to face his trauma and go back to cryofreeze for Steve, because if was up to him, he would just pull a bullet in his head. Steve is what is keeping him alive.

- It’s clear that they talked about this before, because Steve checks one more time if Bucky is sure about his choice. The moment for protests already passed and were ignored, but still Steve checks one more time, hoping for a different answer this time. Steve looks dead inside, he has no reaction and his facial expressions only show how tired he is and how he gave up. Steve spent this whole time fighting the whole world for his selfish reasons, to get Bucky back to simply have to let him go now because it’s what Bucky wanted. And he can be selfish with everybody else but he can’t be selfish with Bucky, his own desires be damned.

-Bucky looking like an angel dressed all in white, with his small self deprecating smile saying it’s the best for everybody because he can’t trust his own mind. And Steve in dark clothes (the symbology alone could have me writing a whole post) looking dead inside and going with it.

- When Bucky gets in the chamber, Steve has his eyes fixated on him, but as soon as the gas/freezing air starts to fill it, Steve lower his eyes, the last sight he has of Bucky is alive and peaceful, he chooses not to look at him and see him frozen.

- It’s also beautiful how T’Challa went from Bucky’s attacker to his protector. Steve leaves Bucky in his care and he promises that no one is going to get to Bucky and Steve looks lifeless through the window. Everything he lost and threw away for Bucky, now he has to give up because Bucky asked him, and the effect that the act of respecting this choice has on Steve is visible.

They are star crossed lovers, something always is trying to keep them apart (intolerance, war, time, memory, villainous plots, misunderstandings, trauma) as it happens in the most iconic and epic love stories ever told.

But time after time they overcome the obstacles and find a way to be together again. This is the only constant in the Captain America trilogy. And in the future this theme will remain and they’ll find their way back to each other again, they always do.

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