‘Captain America: Civil War’ Review

I love superhero movies, but I must admit that I’ve become disillusioned by them to some extent. The fact that I’ve not seen Avengers 2: Age of Ultron should be a sign of this. I’ve played through the LEGO Avengers game so at least have an idea of the storyline, which gives me some grounding when moving onto Captain America: Civil War.

Captain America: Civil War

It comes as no surprise really that Captain America: Civil War is about the dangers of super heroes, it is something that has been brewing since the Marvel movie universe came into being. The fact that the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes is the main contentious character is also something that is somewhat easy to see, especially with his introduction in previous films.

The problem that Marvel has is the rights to their own characters, and this is something that many fans are already aware of. Sony has rights over some, as do Fox, and for the most part Disney do too and this causes some confusion as to who can appear in which movie. Thankfully Sony appear to be flexible with their hold on Spider-Man and we get to see him in this movie.

What is impressive about Captain America: Civil War is the new characters that appear in the movie. We see Ant Man who does make an impressive impact, but more importantly Black Panther steals every scene he is in, as does Spider-Man. The main battle between the super-heroes is impressive and most importantly does well in hiding the fact that there isn’t really that many superheroes in the battle. The most important part is the peril that this battle creates.

The importance of Captain America: Civil War is the fact that superheroes are dangerous, and the previous escapades have proven this. As governments around the world try to control the Avengers (and others) there is always that argument that they should be controlled, for the good of the people of the world. This is emphasised well by the film, as is the turmoil of characters such as Iron Man who believe in the controls.

This deep into the Marvel Universe story, we almost feel at home with the characters now. This is why actors like Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr.  and Scarlett Johansson feel like they fit so easily into the roles. There is a weakness in the film though when we start to look at the more antagonistic characters like Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) and Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) who are restricted to their somewhat small roles, though they try their best as actors to stand out in all the chaos.

What Captain America: Civil War does well is play to the fans, who are looking forward to the Civil War storyline. A narrative that is so important in the comic books, it isn’t really surprising that it can’t be replicated on film, but still that hope is still there from fans that it actually can. What we get though is a film that does pay homage to Civil War, but also stands out on its own.

Captain America: Civil War is a film that does well in trying to be epic, though still feels restricted by the politics behind superhero movies. We get to see Spider-Man (finally), and we get to see the superheroes we know and love in full scale war. This is a level of Marvel chaos that we have been wanting to see ever since the Avengers were brought together, but in honesty it could never live up to the Civil War it so wanted to be.

Captain America: Civil War is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.

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