Captain America : Civil War  - Reviewed 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe consists of roughly two types of films: most are standalone adventures based around one of the MCU’s central heroes, while every year or two comes an event picture – usually with Avengers in the title – that brings multiple heroes together in a story that ends changing the shape of the MCU and having consequences that echo through all the following films. 

Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America has gone from WWII war hero saving the world from Hydra, the Nazi's Special Science Division; to modern day fighting his best friend who is a brainwashed assassin for the return of Hydra; to now standing up for what he believes is right in protecting the world. 

Captain America has never been the most popular character, but with the talented performance of Chris Evans and the incredible respect given to writing of his character, Steve Rogers has grown to be one of the best characters in a comic book movie. In most cases, trilogies tend to fall apart in the third movie: X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman, etc., but with the addition of Civil War, Captain America has become one of the greatest comic book trilogies of all time. 

Steve Rogers leads a small group of Avengers after the events of Age of Ultron. While others, such as Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), going their seperate ways, Steve continues to try to protect the world from serious danger. But after a mission goes South, the world has had enough and creates the "Sokovia Accords Act" - a document that mandates any superpowered person and/or being to register with the government and act under the will of the panel when and if it is deemed necessary. With Tony believing that they need to be in check and balance, Steve believes that the safest hands are still their own. Split almost evenly between all the heroes, Steve and his Avengers become vigilantes, forcing Tony to have to arrest and bring him in. To make matters more complicated, the goverment blames recent attacks on Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), AKA the Winter Soldier. Steve believes they are false and does whatever he can to protect his best friend. 

While this movie does feature most of The Avengers and a few new characters, this is still first and foremost Steve Rogers' story. It never feels that he is not the main focus or that he is underminded. That being said, each character is still given his/her moment to shine. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Vison (Paul Bettany), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) all return better than ever. Though some of them would have been great seeing more of, they each had their purpose and worked well. 

Civil War is also the introduction of Tom Holland as Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe. Tom absolutely nails the performance and steals the show anytime he is on screen. His humour and wit truly embodies the essence of Peter Parker unlike ever before. Chadwick Boseman also makes his debut as Black Panther with another strong performance. While often he feels like a side character to the rest of the team, it works with his story well being an outsider with his own agenda. 

The best scene of the entire movie, quite possibly of any comic book movie, is without a doubt the airport battle. That scene alone is worth going to the theater. Though I badly want to get into detail of each moment, I will not say anything more than I was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. It is worth seeing without knowing any spoilers going into it. Trust me; it makes the experience much better. While the movie does lose steam in the final act, it still keeps itself together and ends on a heartfelt moment, one that has been building up for a long time. 

There’s no way to discuss Captain America: Civil War without also bringing up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros.’ attempt at booting up the DC Extended Universe all in one go. Both films feature similar ideas (collateral damage caused by superheroes) and similar attempts to both introduce and carry a large cast of characters. 

But while BvS shoved everything but the Hall of Justice sink into its story and pushed characters we neither knew well or cared much about through a series of increasingly contrived motions, Civil War takes people we have come to know and love over the course of 12 previous movies and sets them against each other in such a way that we feel the uselessness and pain of what they’re doing to each other. The clash between Batman and Superman felt like two assholes trying to kill each other for no good reason; when Cap and Iron Man go at it here, we’re watching the collapse of a years' long and often turbulent partnership that neither really wants to happen, and it’s tragic. 

All that being said, with great writing, heartfelt moments, mouth dropping action, and an overall fun experience, Captain America: Civil War ends the trilogy on a strong note. While the last third of the movie is not quite as strong as the rest, it does not take away from the truly amazing experience throughout the entire film. Though Captain America may have started as a secondary character in the beginning of the MCU, he has become one of the greatest heroes of our time. 

Comments 

Rushdi Sattar 

Marvel's best movie so far. The Russo Brother's have managed to put together solid drama with all the action which blends together to make fine entertainment. And Spiderman! 

Eyas Fazul 

The movie was action packed, fight scenes were incredible, but the fact that #TeamIronman were willing to take orders instead of the noble Captain America, made the movie controversial. 

Raphael Sohail 

The movie was kinda a mess for me as it was not up to the title 'Civil War'. The fight scenes were hard to follow but I enjoyed it, it was a great movie and more matured than other Marvel movies. 

Vasanth Kahandawela 

Captain America: Civil War promised end to end superhero action with intense scenes and a strong storyline....and it delivered! The Russo brothers have done it again! 

Mahesh De Andrado 

Tom Holland as Spider Man was the icing on the cake. 

Vihanga Praneeth Kodithuwakku 

Both of the introductory characters turned out really good and actions were blending in quite nicely. Write as "geeks are happy". 

Hussain Fahim 

Had a good balance of pacing and action. Was almost as good as Winter Soldier. 

Chevy Paranavitane 

Honestly I was not disappointed especially being a DC fan. The action in the movie was a bit excessive but entertaining at the same time. The number of superheroes involved in the movie showed great power in the marvel universe but simultaneously showed the poor chemistry amongst themselves. In my opinion I think it lacked a deep story but the action definitely covered up for it. I would rate the movie a 7.5/10. 

Ziya Hussain 

I don't understand how Rotten Tomatoes gave such good rating for Civil War comparing with BvS. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it was worse than BvS. Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman did a good job portraying their characters. 

Diresh Thevanayagam 

Well the complaints that DC is way darker than the MCU can be laid to rest after this. Civil War was dark and seems to be the foreshadowing for the future. 

Reviewed by Zeeshan Akram Jabeer