Captain America: Civil War Review

Kevin Feige, the Russos' and his team really get Cap. The Captain America trilogy is the best trilogy the MCU has provided so far. I don't think the last two Iron Man films are any good, and Thor is quite mediocre. I'd so far as to say it's the best superhero trilogy out there as of now(Yes I did not like The Dark Knight Rises, calm down people, just my opinion). 

The film does a great job at showcasing Steve's and Tony's point of view. There was no bias or favoritism involved despite it being a Captain America film. The entire time everyone's reasoning to joining a certain side is completely justified and as an audience member you absolutely see their points, making it very difficult to see who is wrong and who is right. 

Tony Stark has a point. This is what the world wants, some form of accountability. Superheroes should not get a free pass. Are you gonna let a superhero get a free pass if someone close to you died during some random battle? It's tough to deal with, and it's so easy to root for Cap, but realistically, if this were the real world, you would want accountability, lets not kid ourselves. Would it actually work, maybe, maybe not, but the idea of it puts everyone into a more safer and secure mindset. He knows for a fact he needs to be put in check after the events of Ultron. 

However, in Cap's point of view, given what happened in Cap 2, how HYDRA took over and the how untrusting the government can be, I think we can all agree the safest is in his own hands. The government may say that they care about the safety of the people, and even if that were true, they're also as interested in fighting in wars and guaranteeing their interests. If superheroes were to fall into their full control, the government would just use them for that purpose. 

All these ideologies and view points are present and the film does a beautiful job presenting that, it's not just superheroes fighting for the sake of fighting. Give credit to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. 

The Russos' also deliver a fantastic action sequences throughout. I'm not given to hyperbole, but the second act may be the best action sequence in a comic- book film ever. You'll have to see it for yourself to understand what I mean. 

This film is also wonderfully acted, it's the best acted MCU film to date. Scarlett Johnasson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, and William Hurt deliver the goods. 

Standouts to me were Sebastian Stan. He brings more to Bucky than ever. The bromance element between Bucky and Steve never felt overdone, but enough to give you the feels and make you care. He is quite a tragic character and it's very fleshed out. Chadwick Boesman delivers an effective T'challa/Black Panther. You understand his place within all this chaos and his hand to hand combat is quite an exciting thing to see on screen. Elizabeth Olsen has a much more impactful role as Wanda Maximoff this time. 

I'd like to mention though, the bug heroes absolutely steal the show in that airport sequence. Paul Rudd's Scott Lang is basically the audience as he displays his inner fanboy. He has a big moment in the film that will surely be memorable.

In a short amount of time, Tom Holland, the Russos', Kevin Feige, and the creative team do what Sony failed to do. I'm now more excited than ever to see the next Spider-Man feature. Being a giant comic-book fan, this is the Peter Parker/Spider-Man I've always wanted to see. Holland combines the best of Maguire and Garfield in his performance. Spider-Man is not just shoe-horned in, he's got a substantial role and it's just fabulous.

For film's two leads, the heart and soul of this movie is Chris Evans as Captain America. One would think this is like an Avengers film, and Cap would get the short end of the stick, but to be honest, it really isn't just an Avengers film. Captain America is very much the lead character. He really is the heart of the MCU at this point. His morality is his greatest strength and there's an inspirational quality to his character. Downey Jr. this time around portrays a more disturbed and depressed Tony Stark. He's a bit more bleak and it's fascinating to see Tony at this state. The two of them share some intense scenes together and they're all fabulous. 

The only nitpick I have is Zemo played by Daniel Bruhl. Although I found to understand what his motivations were, it seemed as if his execution heavily relied on coincidences a little too much. It seemed very far fetched for all the things to unravel at point of the film, but it didn't take away from the impact it had. Honestly they didn't need Zemo at all, if you took him out of the equation then I would contend that this is a near perfect superhero epic. 

With all that being said, it's still a wonderfully crafted film that did not disappoint. Where Batman v Superman tossed out ideas without ever thinking them all the way through, Civil War is constantly aware of the consequences of its characters' actions, both to themselves and to the people around them. In my opinion Captain America: Civil War breaks the curse of every superhero threequel being either bad or disappointing. Civil War is another knock out and entertains relentlessly. It's an impressive opening to Phase 3 and nudges out The Winter Soldier for me by a hair. The Russo Brothers have a very good hold of this franchise now. They knew when to be serious and when to be humorous, balancing out the tone of the film extremely well. Not to mention juggling every character as much as they can. I think Infinity War is in very good hands.

9.3/10