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First reviews are out and they're hugely positive. Though that shouldn't be massively surprising given the lack of an embargo on the reviews. A lot of big films that the studio are concerned about, such as Batman v Superman, have an embargo placed on them until just a day or two before release. Marvel are allowing these to come out a good two weeks before the film is released anywhere in the world. That's some real confidence for you.
At the moment the film has got a RT score of 100%. admittedly only from 14 reviews. Here are just a few of the gushing excerpts -
Variety - The shaming of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” will continue apace — or better still, be forgotten entirely — in the wake of “Captain America: Civil War” a decisively superior hero-vs.-hero extravaganza that also ranks as the most mature and substantive picture to have yet emerged from the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Birth.Movies.Death - Captain America: Civil War isn’t just a great Marvel movie, it’s a great movie. And that greatness - which is dependant in part on the groundwork laid by 12 previous movies - is the final proof of the concept that Marvel Studios first tried out in Iron Man back in 2008. It’s the film that proves the shared universe concept isn’t just cool, and isn’t just a great marketing idea but that - when used right - it creates a kind of gripping, resonant longform storytelling that no one else has ever accomplished on this scale. Civil War isn’t great despite being the third Captain America and thirteenth overall Marvel movie - it’s great because of those things.
This is it, the peak of the superhero movie shared universe. Captain America: Civil War is a tight action thriller that works on its own, but when taken as the latest chapter in an unprecedented experiment in longform storytelling it’s a brilliant chapter, one that makes everything that went before seem better if only because it was all leading to this pinnacle.
Total Film - If there’s a risk of the Marvel ‘formula’ becoming stale, there isn’t any evidence of that here. Civil War isn’t just a damn-near-perfect popcorn crowd-pleaser; it doesn’t offer any easy answers for its combatants, or the world going forward. Team Cap or Team Iron Man? The real winner here is Team Marvel. 5/5
Empire - Matching its blockbuster scale and spectacle with the smarts of a great, grown-up thriller, Captain America: Civil War is Marvel Studios’ finest film yet. There. We said it again. 5/5
The Daily Beast - Finally, a big budget superhero sequel that manages to be both effortlessly entertaining and utterly sobering, instead of just one of those things-or, as we've endured too frequently in the past, neither of them. (Looking at you, Batman v Superman.)
Crave - It is entertaining without being fluffy. It has consequence without being dire. It is the floor of a child’s bedroom, covered in action figures who are perpetually in mid-conflict, whose limitations have yet to be discovered. And it bears the unmistakable promise of an thrilling future filled with even more imaginative joy.
CinemaBlend - 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.
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 film is equally thrilling, fun, engaging, emotional, smart, and thought-provoking, and really everything you want from summer entertainment. 5/5
Uproxx - Captain America: Civil War feels like a pinnacle for Marvel. Like, I can’t imagine their movies getting any better. This feels like the crescendo. This feels like the movie this series has been building towards for eight years. After all these movies, Marvel earned this fight. This is the best Marvel movie so far. This is not hyperbole. I have my doubts they can make anything better. This is as close as things come to “superhero movie perfection.” This movie made me really happy.
Both Black Panther and especially Spider-man are getting rave reviews for their appearances in the film, while the airport sequence glimpsed in the trailers is already being talked up as the greatest action sequence in any superhero film ever