Captain America: Civil War

When an incident involving Wanda Maximoff causes a deadly explosion in Lagos, the UN want to regulate the use of the Avengers.

'Captain America Civil War' is an enjoyable but slightly overlong MCU movie that has some fantastic spectacle and strong character moments.

The plot has an excellent premise with a plausible world reaction to the exploits of a group of people with superpowers and a good villain. Where it slightly falters as a stand-alone movie is the introduction of several new characters that somewhat bogs down the proceedings, but for the wider franchise narrative (and expansion) it is necessary. Several characters have emotional arcs to go through in this story and there is only so much time to do it all.

All that being said it has some of the best moments of the franchise, particularly during the scenes of internal conflict amongst the central characters. Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America and the Winter Soldier are involved in some very compelling scenes, as are Wanda and Vision.

Some of the visuals are incredibly well done. The early Lagos action scenes hit like a sledgehammer and you can almost feel the impact of what is being shown. The airport showdown is excessive but so much fun you can imagine the writers planning a fanboy's ultimate fantasy. The final confrontation is well made from a spectacle and character perspective.

The first time I saw it was my first sight of the digital effect that makes actors appear younger. This is a very impressive use of CGI that feels like real movie magic.

All performances are strong especially Robert Downey Jr and Daniel Bruhl.

It's a 7.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

I'm going to be honest in saying that over the past few months, I've slowly become bored with the constant superhero releases, the current box office seems rife with them, not that that's a bad thing, it's just a tad repetitive. But then there's the Captain America series of the MCU films which seem to venture away from the typical action-packed, over-the-top aesthetics of other superhero films and instead focus more on the drama, the plot, the characters, and instead form a thriller in the style of 'The Manchurian Candidate' or the 'Bourne' films.

Personally I was a huge fan of 'The Winter Soldier', abandoning the action to instead create a political thriller was a fantastic idea, and it seems that the Russo's have yet again gone down a similar route in creating a more complex film (that does unfortunately contain plot holes here and there) that instead leaves the audience thinking rather than just presenting mindless action, however 'Civil War' is definitely more "actiony" than 'Winter Soldier' was, and unfortunately I dislike the overuse of CGI which this film does contain, but thankfully the interwoven smart plot allowed for some material that'll hopefully be an influence towards other superhero movies, to actually create clever content instead of dumbed-down footage. Definitely one of the stronger Marvel films!

What impresses me about this movie is how much good was done in a short amount of time for each character. There are really clever time-saving 'tricks' like Tony using the broom to bust open the hatch that caused the Spidey costume to come dangling down. That saved them minutes of precious dialogue; it just cut straight to the point. And during that whole scene in Peter's place, almost every line of dialogue counted toward something important, with just enough 'fluff' to make it sound like a real conversation instead of 'movie dialogue' (the funny asides like 'please move your leg' and 'your ridiculously hot aunt'), etc.

The same is true about the scene near the beginning with Tony's holographic 'flashback' . That scene served so many purposes at once - first, it got me caught up in the background story; then, it gave me an insight into Tony's attitudes and regrets concerning his parents; then, when it was shown that it was a therapy technique, it showed me that Tony still has unresolved emotional issues concerning his parents, which then set up the stage for a reveal that causes Tony's later actions.

These two previously mentioned scenes took about four or five minutes tops, and many other scenes in the film managed to squeeze in a half-hour's worth of material (per scene) into 5-minute snippets by accomplishing a lot of stuff simultaneously (story-building AND character-building AND plot development) , and making it feel natural and not rushed or forced.

This film serves as a great example for others to study when it comes to screenwriting effectiveness. Something really remarkable was done here. And it was very refreshing after seeing so many big-budget blockbusters with horrible screenwriting.

Captain America Civil War is a gripping, bold, smart and awesome superhero movie. It boasts of a talented cast, a great direction and awesome action sequences. Matching spectacular and epic moments with the smarts of a great, grown up thriller, Captain America Civil War is a fun, epic and emotional ride that you won't miss.

Rating: 8,8.

The Winter Soldier has competition for being the best Marvel movie. There's no other way to say it: Civil War is phenomenal. Marvel continues the trend of upping the stakes by pinning our favorite heroes against each other: Captain America and Iron Man. There are a lot of other characters, so much so that it feels more like an Avengers movie than a solo movie, but the story is told in such a way that the spotlight is always on Cap and Bucky.

Civil War is tonally different from Winter Soldier in that it's more bombastic in its storytelling. Again, there are a lot of Avengers in the movie (more than the freaking Avengers movie). While Winter Soldier was a relatively grounded, dark political thriller, Civil War is a louder, more colorful take on the political theme, and a much more personal one as well. This time it's a matter of morals and ethics, and it's amazing how the movie pulls off giving each side of the argument weight and credibility so you could argue about who's right and who's wrong all day.

Steve wants to protect his best friend Bucky who was brainwashed by Hydra and is now a fugitive from the law. He doesn't trust any form of government faction. He saw how far up corruption goes and he's not willing to lose jurisdiction of the Avengers to yet another corrupt governmental body. Tony wants everyone to sign an agreement for the UN so they won't be seen as a threat by the world governments due to their track record of leaving behind messes and casualties. It's a terrific plot, very thrilling and character driven. At its core it's a very personal story between Steve and Tony. The other characters are written as complimentary pieces to one puzzle. It's not gratuitous at all. You understand everyone's ideologies - why they disagree with each other, why they're on the sides that they're on, why they're fighting for what they're fighting for - and they're each given enough screen time for us to care. And the action scenes are TWS level. Nothing quite beats the first confrontation between CA and WS, but the end of the second act of this movie has an action sequence that is absolutely mesmerizing. It's the civil war. Seeing all of these superheros go against each other is exhilarating, and their interactions are hysterical, especially since a lot of them are meeting each other for the first time.

The new characters are excellent - Black Panther makes a hell of an impression as a sophisticated Wakandan diplomat, and Spider-Man is easily the best live action interpretation of the character; major props to Tom Holland for sounding exactly how you'd expect Spider-Man to sound like. It's an absolute joy to watch. One aspect of Civil War I find especially fascinating is the use of its villain, Zemo. You have no idea what he's plotting for a good chunk of the movie. He shows up intermittently as the first couple of acts are playing out doing cryptic stuff vaguely involving Hydra, and finally the third act converges on Zemo and why he's doing what he's doing, and it's about the simplest thing: vengeance. It's incredible to watch this ordinary man - no powers or abilities - just a smart, patient man, have a conceivable shot at destroying the Avengers. And the actor is excellent too. It's a nice change of pace from the invincible demigods and dull dark elves we've been getting in previous installments.

Civil War is an expertly made film all around. The acting is top notch as always, the directing and the writing are masterful, I can go on and on. It's a political, personal, and powerfully conveyed story with tons of popcorn blockbuster appeal, rivaled only by The Winter Soldier in the MCU. Highly recommended.