Full of action, drama, and suspense, Captain America: Civil War is one of Marvel’s best films and can be considered one of the best superhero films of all time.
Captain America: Civil War is Marvel’s most ambitious project to date. With the large cast of characters, the lack of a clear protagonist, and battle amongst friends, Marvel is entering uncharted territory. While always producing quality films, there’s no doubt that Marvel has developed a winning, if not tiresome formula that they very rarely strayed from. The last time they broke away from the usual, we were introduced to the Winter Soldier. Bringing back directors Anthony and Joe Russo, Civil War might end up being an even better film than Winter Soldier, possibly making it the best Marvel film yet.
About one year after the battle with Ultron, the Avengers are out on the hunt for Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) who survived being inside a collapsing, burning building. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) are hunting a lead out in Nigeria. The Avengers are able to prevent Rumlow from stealing a biological weapon, but in the process end up accidentally causing another…well…not so great event that puts another skidmark on the reputation of the team.
Back at the Avengers base, the group is met by the Secretary of State, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) who informs the Avengers that the United Nations is preparing to pass the Sokovia Accords. The Accords will establish a governing body that will control the Avengers and their actions, giving them supervision that they’ve never had before. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is all for the Accords, especially after Ultron decimated a whole country. On the other hand, Rogers is against the Accords and has his issues with the government calling the shots. In Vienna, the Accords are ratified and made official, but not before a bomb interrupts the proceedings, paving the way for the rest of the events in Civil War.
Civil War may unofficially be the best Avengers movie to date, surpassing both The Avengers and Age of Ultron. It’s tough to say if Winter Soldier or Civil War is the better film. Both films tackle Caps relationship with Bucky, and while Civil War may be the larger film of the two it winds up feeling much more personal. While it’s no doubt a Cap story, it’s also a story introducing Black Panther and Spider-Man while also taking the time to go on and develop almost every character on screen. And that’s a lot of characters. Vision, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, War Machine, Black Widow…all of them get their moments. And it doesn’t feel forced or put in their for the sake of being out in there. The Russo’s and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do an amazing job at making the dialogue feel as organic and originally as possible.
At this point in the MCU, it almost seems like a Captain America film is as much, if not more, of an event in comparison to The Avengers films. Winter Soldier showed the dismantling of SHIELD, and Civil War shows the (sort of) dismantling of The Avengers. Where things will go in the rest of Phase 3? Honestly, who knows. With Spider-Man and Black Panther getting their own movies, one has to wonder if the effects of Civil War will linger into Queens and Wakanda. But if the after credit scenes mean anything…well, you’ll just have to stick around after the film and see for yourself.
Captain America: Civil War is directed by The Russo Brothers, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and stars 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, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, and Daniel Bruhl. Captain America: Civil War will be in theaters May 6, 2016.
And please. Stick around for the scene after the credits.
