Captain America: Civil War review – a spectacular blockbuster and a must for all Superhero fans

Posted on 7 May 2016
By Alex Green
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Arguably one of the most anticipated superhero films ever made, Captain America: Civil War hit screens at midnight last night to high expectations.

Marvel fans shouldn’t worry though because this film defies expectations and is better than
most fans would have even thought, and then some.

It can now sit amongst the MCU’s best films as well as completing what is one of the best
superhero trilogies ever with the Captain America series.

The film’s excellence comes from the brilliantly clever story, loosely adapted from the Civil
War comic book series in 2006.

It twists and turns and puts Avenger against Avenger, then back to normal, then back again
in a constant switching of plot twists and turns. The dialogue throughout is phenomenal,
especially the scenes where the team is discussing government control, out of suits and
really talking about their business and future.

Why the story is so strong however is that is comes from a very personal view point, not
only from Cap, but from every character involved. It pits friend on friend, morals against
morals and tests the Avengers loyalty to the hilt.

What’s so clever about it, is that there’s no real villain amongst this Avengers split as it’s all
opinion and belief. But it strains the audience to see the Avengers fighting because you’ve
been with them for so long.

The real villain of the film shouldn’t be forgotten here, Daniel Bruhl’s Baron Zemo, for he
also plays a pivotal role throughout. Not only is it pivotal but in fitting with the rest of the
characters, he’s involved for a deeply personal reason and like a lot of the world, has been
hurt by the Avengers, sending him off on this destructive path.

Throughout all this though, this film does firmly remain a Captain America story. With the
Avengers splitting, Bucky returning and a new enemy in Zemo, Cap is really pushed to his
limits in this film. Whilst you can see he’s happy to be reunited with his best friend in Bucky,
it’s clearly painful for him to see his new family of the Avengers be torn apart.

All of these emotions, pitted with the other characters conflicts makes for a really
psychological thriller of a film, making you choose a side as well as making you try and
understand the other. Credit is due to writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for
constructing such a tight knit and tense film with all the characters they had to squeeze in.

High praise should also be paid to directors Joe and Anthony Russo for taking that script and
turning it into the aforementioned thriller. After their success on The Winter Soldier, they step it up with Civil War, making the film a little darker to set the tone as well as shooting
some beautifully angled shots straight from the comic book itself and not to mention that
this film contains the best action from any superhero film to date.

The end battles at the climax of the film will go down in film history for the sheer scale and
pace of the fight.

This battle also appeared as giant nod to comic book fans everywhere, as we saw Cap vs
Iron Man, Scarlet Witch vs Vision, Spider-Man vs Bucky and Falcon. Fans also got to see
more unorthodox fights like Ant-Man taking on War Machine or Black Panther clashing with
Hawkeye.

One of the main concerns regarding this film beforehand was how this many characters
would work but not only did they make it work, each character was given their own moment
to shine and show why they were in this battle.

Old characters and new had their own entrance and reason for being in this war and this
was portrayed expertly across the length of the film.

Old characters and new are given the time to express exactly why they’ve chosen this battle
and when this all comes to the final battle, it’s seventeen minutes of jaw dropping action
and suspense, unseen anywhere else in a superhero film. The suspense is only made more
prevalent because you know each characters motives and beliefs which makes it all the
more fascinating to watch them battle each other.

Newcomers Black Panther and Spider-Man steal the show, setting up their solo films
brilliantly and making explosive entrances.

Black Panther is everything that Marvel fans have been waiting for. He’s fast, strong,
virtually bulletproof and is relentless in his chase to get what he wants. It’s only a shame
that audiences must wait another two years for his film, because he was one of the stand
out stars.

The return of Spider-Man too was met with high expectations and it’s safe to say Marvel
met those expectations and pushed them even further. Giving Peter Parker another
personal reason to fight, Spidey swings into the fight, chattering away the whole time, much
to the bewilderment of Team Cap.

He was written exactly like he is in the comics, with humour at all the wrong times with a deeply personal motive to set him up for his fight. This was something that severely lacked in previous Spider-Man films. Tom Holland’s chemistry with his co-stars was also a joy to behold and will have fans pining for more.

Captain America: Civil War works so well because Marvel have built this cinematic universe piece by piece, never missing a detail, always one step ahead of its audience, reeling us in to love these characters as much as we love them on paper.

It tugs at your belief in your favourite character, or who you think is right and who you want to win.

It all matters so much because we’ve been on this journey with them, instead of making them battle in the first film in which they all meet.

This is the genius of what Marvel has achieved and is still trying to achieve. They make great comic book films but just like the comic books themselves, they create stories and characters that fans care about and will cherish forever.

The rest of Phase Three for Marvel looks slightly different than anything we’ve seen before but one that fans are looking forward to with as much enthusiasm as ever, and who can blame them after such an explosive start as Civil War.

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