Movie Review | The Road to Civil War: Marvel Renaissance (Glasgow Film Festival 2016)

The Road to Civil War: Marvel Renaissance

The Road to Civil War: Marvel Renaissance is a cracking financial thriller spanning the time from Marvel's beginnings to its buyout by Disney in 2008. It tells the tale of Marvel's bankruptcy in the mid-1990s and the near collapse of the comic book industry. Featuring big industry names like Mark Millar, Avi Arad, Mark Waid, James Palmiotti, and more, it tells the tale of Marvel's downfall, and then what happened as the company began to recover, eventually growing into the giant entity it is now.

Presented as a sequence of interviews, the story is split by some background exposition about the changes in management. Without official backing from Marvel, the producers were unable to use footage from Marvel films or comics, so they had to cut each scene carefully so that the audience would feel like they were experiencing some views of the products even though they were not. It is a very smart, well though-out documentary, cut in such a way that it is completely absorbing for its entire duration.

It covers interesting tidbits of knowledge that most people would not have known about Marvel, such as the way that Arad and Perlmutter gained control of the company and worked hard to pull it back up out of the ashes as a stronger, more encompassing entity. It is also interesting to find out about the separation of the suits from the creators. The company structure means the suits let the creators work on the comics while they deal with running the company, with very little overlap.

When Disney bought the company back in 2008, the creators only found out when it was publicised on the news and company website. The turmoil took its toll on the hard working staff in the company, with many worried about the stability of their jobs, and not all that impressed by the Disney takeover because it was unannounced. They did come to terms with the merger, however, and realised the security it brought to Marvel.

In technical terms, the short documentary is a masterful production, with fantastic shots of New York City and very clear, high definition interviews. The sound quality is also great, with very clear voices and a good soundtrack to help build tension and keep a nice superhero feeling throughout. There is also a fantastic scene, illustrated in comic book-style by Alexe Lefèvre, about Arad and Perlmutter crashing a meeting to prove how the true value of their characters was a lot higher than the bankers seemed to think.

8/10

Great - Silver Award

This short documentary covers the trials and tribulations of Marvel through a rough time, and how they managed to survive it and come back stronger than ever. The directors do a great job of bringing the story to life, with some very clever production and depth of research. With so much input from previous Marvel employees, it is great to watch The Road to Civil War: Marvel Renaissance as it provides an insight into events most people would not otherwise know about. Truly edge of your seat viewing!