I don’t normally post TV spots. For one, they’re on the short side, and they rarely have anything really new or interesting to comment on. But there are exceptions, like this Japanese tv spot for Captain America: Civil War. Sure, the spot features a teensy-weensy bit of new Spider-Man footage. If you pause and squint, you can see the web-head is actually a part of the shot of the two teams rushing at eachother. But no, that’s not what’s interesting about this ad. No, what makes this ad stand out is the musical accompaniment.
As much as Civil War is about men and women in costumes beating the crap out of eachother over a disagreement in politics, it’s also about friendship. It’s about people caught in a whirligig of emotions as their loyalties are tested and the people they thought they could depend on turn in different directions from them. It’s about EMOTION. You need a soundtrack that reflects this, and the Japanese know this. Have a listen:
The song, as far as my research tells me, is “Someday, I’m Sure…” by Japanese pop group Exile Atsushi. I haven’t been able to ascertain what the lyrics translate to, but I’m sure it’s something about friendships being torn asunder, and the emotional turmoil that results.
Some would call this sappy sounding ballad a bad fit for Civil War, but those people would be dead wrong. Civil War needs musical accompaniment that matches the emotional drama at the film’s core, and apparently Exile Atsushi are the people to deliver on that. So, Internet, I’m putting it to you: find the full version of this song and cut a full-length trailer with it as the background music. Come on, you know amateur music videos and fan-trailers is like half of what Youtube is used for. The world needs a version of this that isn’t just 15 seconds.