Let the War begin! And with it, the Marvel Universe will never be the same again. Loosely based on the very popular comic book event from Marvel, Captain America: Civil Warcements the Captain America trilogy of films as some of the very best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Warning, spoilers ahead…
Picking up after the events of Age of Ultron, Captain Rogers leads a new team of Avengers but the collateral damage remained the same. While Cap believes the Avengers are here to safeguard humanity from all threats, there are those who believe they need to be reined in and be held accountable. With political pressure to do something, a new system is put in place that renders the Avengers as merely government police officers. Unlike the comic book version where our heroes had to register their identities and make them public, in the film, they basically sign over their rights to function without government interference, which is what Tony Stark favors and what Steve Rogers is against. This divides the team into two fractions, those loyal to Cap and those who stand behind the accord and Tony.
Things get even more complicated when Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Solider resurfaces and is linked to a terrorists bombing that killed the King of Wakanda. This attack was actually setup by Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) who has a very personal score to settle against the Avengers. Now Team Iron Man consisting of War Machine, Vision and Black Widow is after him and standing in their way is Captain America who would risk everything to save his childhood friend. Joining Cap is Bucky, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Falcon and a surprise visit from Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). Iron Man’s team gets a couple of additional help when we get the first appearance of Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and the welcoming to the Marvel Universe of Spider-Man (Tom Holland). This leads to an epic showdown and a spectacular fight sequence. I can’t say enough about how cool Black Panther looked or how amazing (pun intended) Spider-Man was to see. Their appearances make me extra pumped to see their solo film projects.
The final act was its most gut wrenching when Iron Man battles both Captain America and the Winter Solider. I say gut wrenching because it pits not only friend versus friend but in many ways, brother versus brother. We learn some horrible truths that bring all the Iron Man and Captain America films full circle. Brilliantly written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and masterful directed by the Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe makes Civil War not only one of the very best Marvel films of all-time but perhaps even one of the best comic book films ever made.
Make sure to stay through the ending credits because there are two post credit scenes, one that will further the overall story and another that was just simply fun to watch.
Directed by: Anthony & Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johannson, Anthony Mackie, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Emily VanCamp, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, William Hurt and Daniel Bruhl
PG13 146 Mins
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – 4.5 (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
