Captain America: Civil War is What a Superhero Movie Should Be

Captain America: Civil War - movie review

The carefully crafted world of Marvel superheroes has been building to its newest release, Captain America: Civil War, which hit theaters in the U.S. on May 6.

The spoiler-free review is this is the best superhero movie to date. It deftly weaves in humor and a thought-provoking plot with lots of action and amazing special effects.

Every character gets a chance to shine, but nothing feels like it was wedged in. Every scene serves a purpose. Captain America: Civil War is all killer and no filler, and I would splurge on a 3D ticket or IMAX to get the most out of the movie.

For those that don’t mind light spoilers, read on….

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Last chance to remain spoiler-free…

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Captain America: Civil War - Team Cap vs TeamStark

Captain America: Civil War picks up after the events of Sokovia, the city destroyed in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Due to this and other events, the governments of the world are wanting enhanced individuals to be held responsible for their actions, and put in check.

The result is the Sokovia Accords, which binds the Avengers to only take on missions sanctioned by the governments of the United Nations.

Captain America: Civil War - Cap vs Tony

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), formerly the rebel playboy, has decided this is a good idea for the Avengers. He is weighted under the guilt of too much death and destruction caused by the team’s battles.

On the other side of the fence is Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who has always toed the military line, but is wary of giving governments too much power over them, especially after the events that occurred in Winter Soldier.

The Avengers end up splitting up, with half behind Tony, and the other half behind Steve, who is also trying to find his old friend Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) before the governments do.

Eventually the two teams go to war against each other culminating in an amazingly crafted battle in a deserted airport field. New characters, like T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Peter Parker/Spiderman (Tom Holland, who so far is my fave Spidey), are carefully woven in so they feel necessary to the plot, instead of just there to set up a solo movie.

Captain America: Civil War - Team Stark

In the midst of it all, it seems there is actually a real villain to fight against – Helmut Zero (Daniel Brühl), who has an issue with the Avengers, and when his actual plan is revealed, you won’t see it coming.

Captain America: Civil War is brilliantly directed by Joe and Anthony Russo from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely which shows that even though there are two sides to a conflict, neither one has to be completely wrong. It also makes clear what each character’s motives are for choosing the side they’re on.

Captain America: Civil War - Team Cap

I also have to give props to the special effects, especially during the sight gag with Ant-Man in the airport battle, and during a sequence that shows Tony Stark (and RDJ) as they looked in their late teens/early twenties, similar to how they de-aged Michael Douglas in Ant-Man.

Even though Captain America: Civil War runs about 2 1/2 hours, every scene serves a purpose, and the pacing makes it not seem so long. This film is definitely worth seeing in the theaters, preferably in 3D or IMAX to enhance the overal impact of the visuals.

It also left me looking forward to the upcoming solo Black Panther and Spiderman movies, thanks to those Marvel end credit scenes.

Captain America: Civil War is all killer and no filler. Go see it!

Captain America: Civil War - Spiderman

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Captain America: Civil War

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
Director: Joe and Anthony Russo
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Brühl
Website: marvel.com/captainamerica

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The non-spoiler trailer:

The trailer with a few spoilers:

[All photos and video courtesy of Marvel]

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I'm Michelle Snow, the writer and creator of Zengrrl. I write about travel, entertainment, women's issues, health, body positivity, and more, both for this blog and freelance. I have also authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida. If you aren't already following me, the links are below, as well as on the top right of this page. Thanks!