Captain America Civil War Review: STOP FIGHTING!!!!!

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We’ve had the Son of Krypton Vs the Bat of Gotham. We’ve had the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen Vs the Unstoppable Force that is the Punisher. And we’ve had Deadpool Vs, well everyone. Now the Marvel Cinematic Universe is being ripped in two as it too sees its heroes at each other’s throats, with the formidable Team Ironman facing off against the Righteous Team Cap. Seriously, villains, you might as well just take this year off, recuperate and finally get out of that damn chair Thanos!

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The story of Captain America Civil War the heroes of the MCU that we have all come to love come under scrutiny by the government. While they have saved a butt ton of lives; the undeniable catastrophic destruction they constantly leave in their wake is an issue that cannot be ignored anymore. With this in mind the governments of the world want to put the Avengers on a leash, making them more responsible for their actions and making it so they cannot go into any fight they so choose. This new act puts a divide straight down the middle of the Avengers; with Ironman wanting the act to help lessen the destruction caused by his and his team and Cap thinking the governments involvement will hinder their heroic efforts and possibly stop them from saving lives in the future out of bureaucratic nonsense. And so the battle lines are drawn, the MCU is split in two and the two sides are sent on an inevitable collision course as friend is forced to fight friend and a family is ripped apart.

This story not only puts every single character of the MCU in interesting and new positions but leaves the whole universe in a state of turmoil that is not only utterly compelling to watch but also, when all is said and done, shakes up the universe in a new and interesting way that has never been done to it before. Also, for a movie that involves a 16 year old wearing a spider themed onesie, the themes and moral questions raised in this film are not only explored surprisingly well but also feel rightfully heavy and impactful. It was fascinating and engrossing to see the two sides fight it out, not with fists but their words and convictions, seeing where all the members of the MCU feel on the issue was not only well written but fascinating and made complete sense to who we know these characters to be.

Speaking of the characters of course each and every one was marvellously represented in this movie. from how the characters acted to the situations they are being thrust into to the fantastic acting, as usual Marvel studies has done their characters justice and made this little nerd’s face hurt from smiling with glee so much. All the returning cast slip effortlessly back into their roles and even manage to bring their performances up a notch. Chris Evans is, and always will be the true American hero and little kid from Brooklyn, Captain America and seeing him have to toe the line between not only warring friends but ideology was compelling as hell. Robert Downey Jr. turned another great performance as Tony Stark/Ironman and seeing his pain from past events haunt him through this movie and motivate every single decision was, especially as a long-time fan of this film series, truly satisfying to see and gave this movie not only more weight but the past movies elevated importance too.  

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In-fact this whole movie seemed the most in-tune with its predeceasing big screen family. The call backs to past films never felt out of place or intrusive, but warranted and needed to add the extra emotional impact to a line or event. From a simple subtle line referencing a characters past to the whole films plot being in response to the destruction the Avengers have not only stopped but caused, the way this film entwines and furthers the DNA of the MCU is amazing.

For the new cast, they too were exceptional. Tom Holland as The Spectacular SPIDER-MAN (can you tell he’s my favourite superhero) made one hell of an impression on the scenes he got in this film. Striking the perfect balance of youth, humour and heart; I was amazed to see the Spider-man from the comics jump from the page to the screen in such gob-smacking fashion. Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther was also a sight to see. His character was given a surprising room to breathe and really give this character the introduction he deserves, allowing us both the man behind the mask and the fierce warrior he becomes once the mask is dawned, and Boseman embodied both expertly. 

Now looking at the roster of characters in this movie, it’s plain to see I can’t mention everyone otherwise this review would be a mile long with praise for each and every member of the cast, and yes that would include Stan-The Man-Lee. But looking at the roster of characters you might also get worried that this movie may be a little over stuffed. I was worried about the exact thing going into this movie but somehow, whether it be witch craft or advanced alien technology, somehow this movie managed to balance out each and every character so not only did the movie not feel overstuffed, but also every character go their own moment, own believable reason to be at this fight, and interesting development to help them evolve even further. It’s amazing that they were able to do this and all I can do is applaud this too good to be true feat.

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In this expert juggling act that Civil War is constantly acing, they also find the time to skilfully weave into the dialogue and set pieces of the movie mind-blowing fan service that left me both rolling with laughter and smiling with, at this point, painful happiness. And what is even more impressive is that these moments of fan service don’t get in the way of the story, but in-fact sometimes even further and better the events of it.

Captain America Civil War also marks the darkest movie in the MCU to date. From the very beginning the stakes are set to 11 and the emotional punch of this film is given both power and strength. Because we know these character so well from all their past movie appearances, it is genuinely heart breaking to see what these characters are going through. Whether it be having to fight a trusted ally or have everything taken from them; this movie had the most peril any Marvel movie has had before it and truly delivered on this intense atmosphere.

But through all this doom and gloom, in true Marvel fashion, there is still plenty of humour to be found in this film. And not only is the humour well crafted, but it also isn’t as intrusive as it has said to be in past movies such as Thor: The Dark World or Avengers: Age of Ultron. Again, the humour never got in the way of the serious tone this movie was so expertly building up and was only placed in where, and from whoever it made sense. The movie knew when to make us laugh and when to make us almost cry and that is a level of control and insight I truly admire.

So the debates were well done, the characters amazingly well represented, and the comedy skilfully woven in, but what about the War part of Civil War. Well the action of this movie was bonkers. From the incredible physical feats of the innovative and mind twisting moves showcased in the many hand to hand combat sections of the film to the nerdy-dream fulfilling, out of this world CGI incorporation into the fight scenes, basically I can’t give this films action enough credit. When you make what is probably the best superhero showdown of all time and show me Spider-man swinging about in all that mess being a snarky badass, that’s quite a feather in your cap.

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Now this paragraph is probably going to get me in trouble, but let it be known before the nerd rage starts flying down on me that I really did like Batman Vs Superman, don’t believe me, check out my review here: http://www.burtonreviewsandnews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/batman-vs-superman-dawn-of-justice.html (pulgplugplug). But this movie utterly schools that BVS in almost every way. There a lot of comparisons to be made between arguably the two biggest block busters of this year, obviously. Its hero Vs hero and ideologies are being flung left right and centre and they even hit upon similar story and emotional beats. But Civil War does each and every single one of these is such as smart, well thought out and well executed way that makes the scenarios and character moments in BVS feel a lot more clunky and nonsensical. Now again, I still had great nerdy fun with BVS but when Civil War can be both a nerds dream and at its core an amazing film on its own two feet it’s harder to go back to BVS and take it for what it is.

However, out of all this shining and unstoppable fountain of praise there is one chink in the red and gold suit of armour and that is the music. While it wasn’t obstructingly or offendingly bad it also wasn’t anything special. It didn’t take away from the utterly epic moments or detract from them but to have a theme boom through the speakers as Ironman’s gauntlets crash into Captain America’s mighty shield would have elevated the moment to even bigger heights of awesomeness and ingrained moments like those in my mind even further, just like how I still hear the haunting scream of Winter Soldiers theme when I think of his epic introduction in Captain America: Winter Soldier, or the heroic Avengers theme that encapsulates the moment when these heroes from far and wide, through space and time, finally became a team.

So yeah, this movie is unquestionably amazing, fantastic, all the positive adjectives Stan Lee put before his superhero’s comic book title. It’s a miracle and wonder that this film was put together so well, you can tell that every detail of this film was handled with care and precision as it was not only mindful of the MCU’s rich past, but also put it on a very interesting and fresh path, and did I mention SPIDER-MAN. This film is easily the best Marvel has made and I can’t wait to see where or heroes are taken in the future.

Captain America Civil War = 10/10

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