Review by CJ

Director:
Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Starring:
Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jnr, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Paul Beattany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Holland, Daniel Brühl

Other notable appearances:
John Slattery, William Hurt, Marisa Tomei, Martin Freeman, Stan Lee

Running time:
147 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
The Avengers, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy

After the events in New York City, Washington DC and Sokovia, the United Nations propose an accord by which the Avengers will act under instruction from and be answerable to the United Nations. When the team is split by the decision and loyalties are questioned, the Avengers find themselves fighting each other for what they believe is right.

Captain America: Civil War is a the 13th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

I loved this film so much. Every time I see an ensemble film set in the MCU I say it is my new favourite and Captain America: Civil War is no different. It has the feel of an Avengers film but does deviate to focus primarily on Captain America where required as one would expect for a character billed film.

New characters have been seamlessly introduced to an already large cast. With so many characters appearing seemingly out of nowhere, Captain America: Civil War had the potential to be another overworked, underdeveloped Spider-Man 3 debacle. Yet the writers and filmmakers have given every character enough room to move without detracting from the overall flow of the film.

I was pleasantly surprised by Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. I have never read a Spider-Man comic so my only point of reference for the character was the 1994-1998 cartoon (Cheez TV represent) and the cinematic portrayals by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Unfortunately, all of these left me less than impressed by the web-slinging hero so much so that he would easily have been my least favourite mainstream superhero. However, I really liked Holland’s Spider-Man. He was funny, nervous, curious and brave. I look forward to seeing more of this type of Spider-Man.

I don’t recommend going to see Captain America: Civil War unless you have seen the preceding MCU films. Most of the MCU films require some knowledge of the past lore to understand backstory and plot points. The only exceptions to this are origin movies for the individual heroes (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Ant-Man) and Guardians of the Galaxy. In these cases, having seen any preceding films will help with inside jokes and references but is not imperative.

Captain America: Civil War has everything fans have come to love in the MCU — comedy, action, flawed yet likeable characters, and two end credit sequences. If you enjoyed the MCU films from Iron Man to Ant-Man then Captain America: Civil War is a must watch.

Rating:

“I just want to be sure you’ve considered all our options. Because people who shoot at you, usually wind up shooting at me too.”