Marvel's Captain America: Civil War (2016) - Written Review

After 8 years, 12 movies and billions of dollars in box office, it seems that Marvel Studios are making the biggest movies in Hollywood at the moment, but even with this continuous success, it could be very easy for Marvel to fall out of favour with audiences. Many people were left disappointed with Avengers: Age of Ultron last year, and some were worried that the cracks in Marvel's vibranium armour were beginning to show. The films were feeling a little repetitive, with few repercussions for the heroes and very few strong antagonists. Thus, it only makes sense for Marvel to begin their third phase of interconnected super-hero movies by basically destroying the Avengers.

Captain America: Civil War is the biggest shake-up in the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. When the new Avengers cause a disaster in Wakanda, the United Nations prepare what they call the Sokovia Act - a document that if signed restricts the activities of any 'enhanced' individuals and makes the Avengers answerable to the UN only. Tony Stark believes this to be a great idea, realizing the destruction that his super-heroics have caused has lost many lives and countless billions in damage. Steve Rogers, however, disagrees with the act, refusing to sign it. When an attack on the UN is tied to Bucky Barnes - AKA the Winter Soldier - Cap raises tensions further by trying to help his former friend. This causes tensions between the Avengers, not knowing who to side with. With the UN, Tony and Wakandan Prince T'Challa all after Bucky, Steve must decide whether to protect his friend or risk starting a civil war...

And this is pretty much the tip of the iceberg in terms of the various plot-threads Civil War juggles. It would at first seem like an impossible task, acting as a sequel to all of the previous Marvel movies and yet standing on its own, but the focus remains clearly on Captain America himself. Cap is the one driving the story ahead, even if he isn't the only superhero in the film. This is definitely a direct sequel to The Winter Soldier, just with all of the other characters included - and two introduced - as well.

There is so much beneath the surface of Civil War that just makes it an incredibly engaging film to watch. There's so much explored about the role of super heroes, the sheer strength of these 'enhanced' individuals and about responsibility. As much as he is the title character and should surely be the hero in all of this, Captain America crosses the line of law so many times throughout the film that you realize that maybe he isn't as right as he believes. Bucky Barnes is an assassin and should in theory be put in prison for his crimes, but Steve ensures that he never goes anywhere near a jail cell. Tony Stark is the one trying to do the right thing, and even then he seems to be going through a mental meltdown in the film. There is no black-and-white good versus evil in this film. Heck, even the actual villain Zemo is completely justified in his actions, acting as very much the 'little man' in the film. It's scary how in-depth Civil War goes with its themes and ideas, but all of them stick brilliantly. This is a film that questions everything the characters believe in and causes you as an audience member to be unsure of who to side with in the film.

In case you haven't gathered already, I love Captain America: Civil War. It's a brilliantly-written, incredibly-acted and the overall production quality of the film is to the highest possible standard. This is an action movie masterpiece that works on virtually every level and makes even The Winter Soldier look sub-par in comparison.

Where do I even start?

Chris Evans once again shines as the titular star-spangled man, given easily the biggest film is the entire franchise to rest on his shoulders as he tries to negotiate and ends up fighting for what he believes in. Civil War puts Cap to the ultimate test and makes the seemingly goody-two-shoes much more flawed and complex than ever before. After what they did with Cap in Winter Soldier and now here in Civil War, the Russos clearly know exactly what they want to do with Steve Rogers as a character and it is sublime.

Robert Downey Jr. meanwhile delivers easily his best performance in recent memory, managing to make the character who's on the surface the antagonist of the film also seem like the protagonist with a rich history and complex character. After three solo movies and appearing as the lead in two Avengers films, it'd be easy to be bored of Tony Stark, but here in Civil War he gets some much-needed character development and even back-story that has only been glimpsed before.

Chadwick Boseman makes for a great new addition as T'Challa, AKA the Black Panther, and really stands out from the rest of the characters thanks to his excellent screen presence. His costume is fantastic, and Boseman's role helps to further flesh out this world of characters Marvel has established.

And then we have Tom Holland as Peter Parker. Holland knocks it out of the park in pretty much a cameo role as Spider-Man, being easily the best actor to play the web-slinger, and is given some truly great lines and a cartoon-ish, if pretty cool costume. Honestly, I cannot fault Spider-Man in this movie, and Holland's performance alone makes me excited for next year's Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Meanwhile, we also get Elizabeth Olsen, who despite a still slightly off accent has some great moments throughout the film. I was worried that after Age of Ultron her character would be sidelined, given this was first and foremost a Captain America movie, but she gets some of the best moments in the film - whether they be action sequences or dramatic moments. And yep, she's still my favourite Avenger.

The rest of the cast list pretty much goes on forever, but everyone is consistently excellent in their respective roles. I even began to like Agent 13 a little more in this film, and Paul Rudd shines in a very small role as Ant-Man.

What ultimately works about Captain America: Civil War is that it feels like everything has been building up to this moment. This conflict of ideologies has been teased in the two Avengers films, but Civil War also shows off the universe-building Marvel has created. There are references to almost every Marvel film in the series - even The Incredible Hulk with the inclusion of William Hurt's General Ross. This allows us as an audience to already know these characters, their abilities, their personalities and just why they are heroes to the extent where we can emotionally invest in them fighting one another. This isn't a conflict of misunderstanding as much as it is a conflict of personalities, and it pretty much spits in the face of everything Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stands for. Sorry DC, but Marvel wins the superhero v superhero movie this year.

The action sequences have some truly stellar stunt work and great cinematography. The opening fight shows the new Avengers in full swing and it's great to behold. I'm so glad the film took the time out to show us this new Avengers team before pretty much ripping them apart.

The big ensemble fight is an amazing piece of work in the film though. Every single character's unique power set is brilliantly utilised, from Hawkeye's archery skills, Scarlet Witch's magic abilities, Spider-Man's web-slinging and Black Widow's martial arts training to Ant-Man's size-changing, Falcon's wings and Black Panther's sheer brutality. While the fight is incredibly well-done, it also manages to balance both humour and drama in the mix. This is a fight you want to end, but you can't help but get sucked into the sheer excitement of it all. Seeing all of these heroes testing their powers against one another shows how strong but also how unique they all are. The conflict works because you know that the characters don't want to fight one another, but almost have to. The best part is that this isn't even the climactic fight of the film, with the action finale being one of the most heart-breaking in recent memory.

The overall production quality of the film is to the highest standard, as you'd expect with a Marvel film. The visual effects are polished, the editing is snappy yet not too rapid, the cinematography is excellent and Henry Jackman's score is pretty darn good...even if I do think it sounds like his Winter Soldier and Kingsman scores got mixed in a blender together. The jokes always hit home, the drama is well-done, and it's safe to say that after 13 movies, Marvel still hasn't made any bad ones.

Overall, Captain America: Civil War is a film that knows exactly what it wants to do. All of the characters are carefully woven into the story while keeping the main focus on Captain America. The conclusion to this Captain America trilogy is easily the best of the three with an ending so ambiguous that I have no idea where all of the Avengers will be in time for the next team-up movie.

This is a film that just works. If you haven't seen many of the previous Marvel films, maybe this won't click with you as much as it would if you had. Pretty much everything in this film has been previously established, meaning that we get to skip the first act set-up and crack on with the story the film-makers want to tell.

Honestly, while I'm sure I could nit-pick on things that don't make sense, you can do that with pretty much any movie. Civil War does everything it sets out to and more, resulting in one of the best, if not the best Marvel movie to date.

I give Captain America: Civil War a 10/10.