Captain America: Civil War

If it wasn't clear that Marvel were the kings right now in the superhero genre, it most certainly is now as they extend their lead over their competitors. It comes at no surprise that the successful Marvel franchise has only been elevated with its latest incarnation.

The damage and lives that have been lost in the events in New York, Washington, Sokovia and now Nigeria have finally caught up with the Avengers and the government are now pressuring for the superheroes- or vigilantes- to be put in check and not have free will. A clash of opinions splits our heroes and tensions only build from there with Captain America Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) having very different views. The latest movements of Cap's old friend Bucky- also known as The Winter Soldier- have made things very tough for Rogers and Stark and has also created a new enemy in the form of the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). A combination of the two makes the rest of the heroes make a crucial decision: who's side are you on?

From the synopsis and even the poster alone, the film does seem quite overcrowded and there is a lot to get through. This has been a problem for many superhero films in the past with the characters being rushed or the film just becoming a total mess due to it- see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as an example. The tittle having Captain America may also be an attempt to make it seem not as filled to the brim but the film features all but two of the heroes we have seen, also adding more to the mix. In saying this though, The Russo brothers were able to create a jam packed film in a very good way. With there being so many mouths to feed within the film, each hero is given a moment to stand out and fills the movie with memorable moments. This is extremely impressive as you see each side as 5 or more heroes and for each of them to have equally great moments that all have great effect is something that movies with only a few heroes struggle to do.

Our beloved cast once again deliver with Robert Downey Jr standing out as this portrayal of Tony Stark takes a much more serious look at situations than before. A good progression of the character as he looks to put in place what he believes in, no matter who disagrees with him, not even some of his closest companions. Evans again delivers as Steve Rogers and plays the character incredibly well at this point with his brave and courageous ways. Elizabeth Olsen was fantastic as the all powerful and mysterious Scarlet Witch, just as she was when she was the most underrated part of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Paul Rudd made his first appearance with the rest of the impressive cast and he really showed his comedic talents as he hit every joke he made out of the park. Although he might of been a questionable casting at first, he has only proved himself furthermore within this film. The casting for the Marvel Cinematic Universe has proved to be very good and quite importantly consistent with all members including the likes of Sebastian Stan, Paul Bettany and Scarlett Johansson really delivering in their roles.

The old cast aren't the ones taking the full limelight. Chadwick Boseman looks to be perfect as the Wakandan Prince and is awesome as Black Panther. One of the best looking suits we've ever seen in a superhero movie and Boseman makes sure it isn't just an impressive looking character. His boldness and fighting for what he believes in can be quite similar to the traits of Steve Rogers. We can certainly look forward to seeing more of this character with an solo film already been announced.

For me, the thing I was most looking forward to was seeing the newest addition of my most favourite superhero, Spider-Man. With there being two previous attempts, I was looking forward to the new and fresh look at Peter Parker with Tom Holland on board. It was made clear that Spidey would be younger which would be something different to both Maguire and Garfield's portrayals. What's even better is that Holland was able to be a combination of the two bringing us the best Spider-Man we've ever seen. He has the awkwardness of Peter Parker that Maguire brought us and improves on the attitude shown by Garfield where he is quick witted and has a change of attitude when in the suit. This new Spider-Man is incredibly fun to watch as he trash talks his opponents whilst dealing with them. Due to this, a solo Spider-Man movie led by Tom Holland cannot come quick enough!

As you would expect in such a high budget superhero movie, the action in this is phenomenal. From the first piece of action in Nigeria with Captain America, Falcon, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow all coming against a familiar foe, the standards are set early on. A very positive thing from this is that the action always looks to impress with a fantastic chase scene to eventually the greatest action scene in comic book movie history. I won't go into too much detail but the airport scene is one that we are going to be talking about for many decades to come. A truly fantastic scene with lots of great action, allowing the heroes to fully show their strengths, it is one that will be referenced to death. The Russo's have brought the great action from 'The Winter Soldier' into Civil War and most importantly improves on it. The Russo's also bring some nice ways to film a lot of their action with the chase scene showcasing many different angles to get some rather impressive shots with.

The Marvel movies have all been created with good senses of humour within them. This is carried on in Civil War and boy does it deliver. With the likes of Ant-Man being introduced with the comedy shown in his solo film and the original cast members, the humour flows easily throughout the film. Arguably two of the funniest members of the film are an unlikely pairing but bounce off each other very well but you will have to see that for yourself. Although Tony Stark is more serious this time, he simply cannot help himself at times with his one liners or by making some sort of remark. The cast have great chemistry together and this shows in the comedy as they can bounce off each other with ease.

A criticism that can be given to the film does come within its storytelling. At first there is a lot of government driven policies to put the Avengers into check. The film seems to distance itself from that as the film goes on and becomes much more about personal agendas. It builds up the government looking to do this but after an event in Vienna, it kind of loses track of this. There is also a villain on the side of the film, that does feature quite a bit. However I do feel that the story surrounding him does fall flat a little. In saying this, it does leave it up for the character to potentially return and have an even bigger effect in the future.

Final Verdict =


A very good inclusion to the MCU, one that will be great for multiple viewings. Great performances once again, great humour and even better action. One of the best from the MCU and most definitely worth seeing!

So have you seen 'Captain America: Civil War'? If so what did you think of it? I hope this review was helpful and if you do go to see it, I hope you have as good a time as I did! Once again, thank you so much for reading, it is much appreciated!

My take.

Abridged version: I liked it, it not only felt fun but solid in a way that most MCU films don't. Had some issues (initial action scenes being way too shaky, a bit overstuffed, etc.) but nothing that irrevocably ruined the film.

I don't think the film truly loses track of the government interference as the film progresses, especially since



Also, I found the villain to be rather interesting in his own right, especially when

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I tried to not take it too seriously, but I still hate the "storytelling" of Marvel and the films. They seem cheap, like a never ending shower of bland sequels. The creative style in Civil War was very lacking, which gave the film very little identity/personality. The action isn't really developed or needed in the plot, just all for spectacle. I really loved the Airport sequence, but I hate how useless it is to the overarching story.

And Spider Man just swings by and says hey then leaves, Holland was awesome but his appearance and role in the film is in a nutshell why I'm not a fan of these Marvel movies. They are tv episodes, not movies

If remember correctly, Dirk, the reason Stark brought Spider-man with him was because Spidey could easily take Cap's shield with his webbing and the Shield accounts for about half of Cap's strength. His webbing (heavily applied) could also serve as restraints which are important considering Starks's intent was to arrest, not harm, Captain America and his accomplices. I think at one point Spidey had Barnes and somebody else incapacitated in his web.

For me, the best part of this movie was the action, which was pretty phenomenal. I always enjoyed heroes battling each other because they are either well-matched (eg. Cap vs. Iron Man) or you are wondering how the underdog is going to stay in the game (eg. virtually anytime Black Widow fights anybody with a superpower or a supersuit). Some highlights: There were so many heroes and so little time for Steve Roges it almost felt more like an Avengers movie than a Captain America movie.

When I was a kid reading the Avengers comic books, one of my favourite characters was Black Panther, not for his powers (he didn't seem to have any) or his gizmos (he seemed to lack them) but because his costume was so cool-looking. In Captain America 3, they managed to improve on the look and function of the costume and yet stay true to this look.

The movie was more than just fluff: it collided opposite ideologies, namely the Right (who believe in the authority of institutions) and the Left (who don't).

I'd like to see this movie again, partly because I enjoyed it and partly because there was so much going on that I could judge it better with a second look.

This was probably my least favorite Marvel film to date but since I rate them all pretty highly it's still not a disappointing film. There seemed to be a lot of assumed knowledge you would have coming into this movie. If you missed Winters Solider you would of been lost a lot of what was going on. I agree with the opinion that this was not a true Captain America movie, it was an Avengers movie even without Thor and Hulk. This movie focused more on the journey of Iron Man then of Cap. It was clearly not a movie for the casual watcher. As usual the visuals were incredible. I loved how the fighting styles were blended greatly, especially Black Panthers. I have always been a sucker for the acrobatics and this movie had it every ten minutes. I was worried with the huge cast there would be way too much tried to be packed in but I think they did a good job so continuing the journey of the MCU without sacrificing any one character.

I dug it.

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Suspect's Reviews

At this point, the team-up film is Marvel Studios’ bread and butter. They set the world on fire back in 2012 with Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, and in the years since then have repeatedly orchestrated creative groupings and pairings that continue to demonstrate the tremendous fun and inventiveness that comes from bringing engaging, interesting characters together. They repeatedly set a high bar in this area, and are not only constantly reaching for it with each new project, but basically have the entire industry doing it, too. Now, however, we have Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: Civil War, which succeeds in raising the bar higher than you’d think it could go.



Functioning as both a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Solider and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the film is the most comprehensive Marvel Cinematic Universe chapter to date, and while that put a great deal on the plate of writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie soars because the challenge is accepted and responded to in brilliant and entertaining fashion. Bringing together tremendous character dynamics; bold structure; an emotional narrative earned after years of story work; and spell-binding, fun action sequences, it’s everything a blockbuster should be.

Loosely based on the 2006-2007 Marvel Comics event series with which it partially shares a title, Captain America: Civil War picks up with its titular character (Chris Evans) working with his Avengers teammates – Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) – to stop terror around the globe. After a mission in Africa winds up causing a tremendous deal of collateral damage, however, the team suddenly finds itself under scrutiny and the subject of controversy.

In order to put the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in check, Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) presents the team – as well as former members Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – the opportunity to sign the Sokovia Accords: a document named after the destroyed city from The Avengers: Age of Ultron that would force The Avengers to work under a United Nations panel that would determine exactly when and where the team would go into action. This idea is supported by some, including Tony, Vision, Black Widow and War Machine, but Captain America, Falcon and Scarlet Witch are not shy about their resentfulness of the idea.

The Sokovia Accords are the powder keg, and it winds up being Bucky Barnes/The Winter Solider (Sebastian Stan) who lights the fuse. A terrorist attack is pinned on Captain America’s best-friend-turned-assassin, and while Cap is instructed to leave the situation alone, it’s an order that he rebels against – turning him into a fugitive. All the while, a mysterious man named Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) operates in the shadows, searching for key information tied to Bucky’s past.

Captain America: Civil War features what is unquestionably the largest ensemble we’ve seen yet in a Marvel Studios movie, and while the narrative isn’t quite as strong as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where the film makes up for it is in its tremendous character work – both in its understanding of who these pop culture figures are at their core, and having them play off of each other.

There’s no better example of the former in the film than Chadwick Boseman as the newly introduced T’challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, who is every bit as regal, intelligent, bold and passionate as the hero is on the page. And while they don’t have as much screen time as some of the other Avengers characters, there is nobody in their right mind who will walk away from the blockbuster not loving the absolutely brilliant return of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, and the long-awaited arrival of Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (who in just a handful of scenes fully encapsulates everything we love about the spectacular web-slinger and overwhelms us with excitement about the future of this iteration).

This film isn’t just about singular impressive performances, however: it’s an opportunity to see how these heroes both relate to each other and act when they are at odds, and the work done by the Russo brothers and Markus and McFeely is stunning. The headliner, of course, is the key conflict between Captain America and Iron Man - whose emotional battle will tear at the heartstrings of every fan like they’re watching their own parents go through a messy divorce – but the truth is that this is a feature where you can throw a rock and hit amazing character dynamics. As best friends of Cap, teammates, and former opponents, Falcon and Bucky have one of the most complex relationships in the movie, and it actually translates into a ton of laughs whenever they’re paired up. On the more serious side of the story, Wanda and Vision are wonderfully brought together, not only because of their relationship in the comics but also because there is a bond between them as “newborns” in the superhero realm. Somehow, everybody gets a moment with everybody, and yet Civil War has zero fat and never swings too far away from the central plot.

All of this couldn’t be pulled off within the basic superhero movie structure (heroes meet villain; heroes get beaten by villain; heroes recuperate; heroes defeat villain in large-scale showdown), so it’s a good thing that Captain America: Civil War burns that book in favor of a much more unconventional and risky approach. Without giving anything away, the film trades out a big, splashy, blockbuster finale (putting that sequence in the second act) in favor of something much more intimate and personal that works because it’s been earned over the last eight years of Marvel Studios storytelling, and the audience really cares about the characters. The movie takes some big swings, but that’s just how it’s able to knock it out of the park.

It’s easy to respect Captain America: Civil War because of the emotional and thoughtful approach it takes towards its characters instead of just having them punching and kicking each other – but the punching and kicking happens to be pretty phenomenal as well. In terms of action sequences, Marvel features have come a long way since the mediocre final battle in the original Iron Man, and while Joe and Anthony Russo blew us away with battles and set pieces in Captain America: The Winter Solider, their sequel ups the ante in every away. From the Avengers’ explosive mission at the start of the film to Cap and Winter Soldier’s attempt to escape from a building teeming with cops, it’s all intricately crafted and incredibly memorable. It should be noted, however, that every scene in the movie pales in comparison to the airport-set hero vs. hero battle in the second act – which I do not hesitate to call the greatest scene in the history of the comic book movie genre.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe on the whole is filled with great films and blockbuster gems, but between The First Avenger, The Winter Solider and now Civil War, it’s been firmly proven that they have a better grip on Captain America than any of their heroes, and it can be said with confidence that the three movies come together to create the greatest superhero trilogy of all time. The new movie is equally thrilling, fun, engaging, emotional, smart, and thought-provoking, and really everything you want from summer entertainment.

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