Their latest release is probably the most anticipated of the four as we see Captain America return for a third time. The films centered on Steve Rodgers have probably the most held together films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I really like both The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier and the character of Captain America played by Steve Rodgers has become my favourite Avenger by far. However, the majority just consider The Winter Soldier to be the only good Captain America film and also one of the best films out of Marvel.
As usual, I have avoided the trailers for this as I was going to see this whatever it was going to show me.
Even though this is officially the third Captain America film, the marketing campaign has it looking more like a third Avengers film. Another marketing device their team has created is whether you are on #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan. I think you can work it out that I am all about Cap.
Thankfully, it is first and foremost a Captain America film. But with some lovely bits of Avengers action in it as well.
The first half sets us up nicely with some interesting character development as we see why the lines are being drawn within The Avengers. There are great tie-ins with The Winter Soldier which was helping me confirm that this is a pure Captain America film. It was also great to see characters that we already know so much about still have depth that we did not know about.
Into the second half, and the film-makers have deserved to go into all-out action. However, not only do we get the showdown that we wanted. They are still giving us an interesting character study of everyone involved at the same time.
Civil War probably has some of the best action I have seen in a Marvel film. It was so much better then I expected. One big reason that I loved the action a lot was thanks to the build-up, the tension and the great character development we see in each Avengers member.
As for the big battle royale moment that we have been waiting for. It is great to watch and is a wonderful highlight. You can tell the directors love the source material as they were showing some interesting match-ups throughout this set-piece that ended either jaw-dropping or very funny results. For me, Ant-Man stole the show in that particular set-piece, and I hope you agree with me once you have seen it.
With another over-blown ensemble, there was always the potential of the too many cooks in the room cliche. Thankfully, it gave a nice balance for everyone to have their moment on screen much like in Avengers Assemble. Chris Evans continues to show that he was born to play Steve Rodgers. Robert Downey Jnr. was more subtle this time as Tony Stark, but still played his role well. Sebastian Stan really stepped it up for me as The Winter Soldier which was great to see. Elizabeth Olsen and Emily VanCamp were probably the best of the other supportive roles. For the small period he was on screen, Paul Rudd was great and made me want to see more of him. It was also great to see more of Anthony Mackie's character compared to his virtual cameo in Avengers: Age Of Ultron.
One character lots of people were intrigued to see, was Tom Holland as the first Spider-Man we have seen in a film being made by Marvel Studios. He could well possibly be the best on-screen Spiderman/Peter Parker we have seen so far even though he is on screen for a short while. I will still have to wait till his own film comes out before I start confirming that previous statement.
Another new character was Black Panther. It was an ok introduction to Chadwick Boseman. However, I did not feel I knew enough about him just yet. But thankfully, we will be getting a solo Black Panther film in a couple of years time.
Even though I was 'Team Cap' at the start. You do feel both sides opinion throughout the film and struggle to pick only one side. This film really makes us show our heroes become vulnerable and flawed and it makes you question them like we do with our real-life celebrities.
Despite are heroes facing-off, we still managed to get a villain in this. But sadly, this ended up being my biggest negative. Like with nearly all Marvel villains, he did not provide any real threat and you will easily forget him after seeing the film. In fact, I might go all-out and say that it was the worst villain we have had. However, it was nice to see Daniel Bruhl play the villain as I am a fan of his work.
Despite that, it ended up being the type of superhero film that gave me hope in a genre that many feel they are getting bored by. This is certainly getting me excited for the next batch of films coming are way.
The 2hrs 27mins duration flew by for me. Whilst having similarities with Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Civil War has a tone to make it an enjoyable watch compared to its DC counterpart that felt like an endurable watch.
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo continue to show us that superhero movies can have depth, can have layers and most importantly be a great watch at the same time. We saw it with The Winter Soldier, we now see it Civil War and these two talented directors have now got both Infinity War films to contend with which is becoming Marvel's grand finale. Well all I can say is that Marvel is safe hands when this dynamic duo is at the helm.
One added note. There is a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene. Both are ok, but nothing highly exciting.
Rating: 8/10
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