Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4

The latest film from the ever-expanding MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Captain America: Civil War proves itself to be a wholly unique film in the long running series of superhero films. What makes so different from its predecessors is its distinct lack of focus on the hero aspects of its star-studded superhero cast. Captain America: Civil War is not a story about superheroes, but a story about individuals with superpowers that are remarkably human. 

Events in Captain America: Civil War directly link up with several previous films in the MCU. On the side of Iron Man (Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr.) we have a clear connection established with the climactic events at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron. On the other side of the coin, we have Captain America (Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans) who is still fighting the remnants of Hydra while seeking out his childhood friend Bucky who served as the primary antagonist in Captain America: Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan serves as the primary catalyst for the division of the Avengers that leads to the inevitable Civil War. Both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers must grapple with the responsibilities of their actions and the choice on whether to submit to an international governing body. While Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are the two title characters of the film, newcomers Black Panther and Spiderman serve as primary thematic thread and the comic relief respectively. An enormous collection of Marvel Superheroes appear together for a films that is both wildly funny and distinctly mature. 

The Russo brothers again return to direct Captain America: Civil War after directing the wildly successful Captain America: Winter Soldier. While Winter Soldier was a tense, action-packed spy thriller, Civil War plays out more like a political drama punctuated with a great deal of both entertaining action and laugh out loud comedy. What is perhaps most impressive about Civil War is the careful attention to its many characters. Prior to seeing Civil War I had my doubts that anyone could make a film that had so many beloved characters in conflict. Film as an art form does a great deal more to make us attached to fictional characters than other art forms. The relative lightness stands in stark contrast to the civil war comics on which the story is based. By avoiding the darker aspects of the Civil War story was a clear risk, but the screenwriters over at Marvel managed to maintain a mature and thoughtful narrative thread that provides the film with its dramatic heft. Even though the film succeeds in many areas, it does falter slightly in its earlier acts. Civil War jumps often between various locales early on to tell its story. While this execution does work, it does make the film quite a bit looser than its predecessor Winter Solder. The biggest praise for Civil War has to be given to the films excellent rendition of Spiderman, and the fantastic airport sequence that occurs near the end of the second act. Both of these sections take place back to back and give us one of the best executed stretches of action entertainment that I have ever witnessed in a film. Kudos to both the folks over at Marvel for casting Spiderman, and to the Russo brother for their masterful inclusion and execution. 

The very structure of Captain America: Civil War gives it the films only weaknesses. The sheer multitude of characters and locations give the film a near scatterbrained structure, but overall, Captain America: Civil War will stand as not only one of Marvel’s most entertaining movies, but also one of their most complex.

Rating: See It 

-Tyler

Captain America: Civil War…. A movie that needs no introduction. Iron Mar, War Machine, Black Widow, Black Panther, The Vision, and Spider-Man Vs. Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man and Hawkeye. So much star power and super powers in a single movie. So much to talk about so let’s get into it!

One of the biggest things that I can complement about this movie are the heavy themes that drive this movie. A team of Avengers divided over a contract to keep the superheroes in check. While the Avengers have done so much good in the world and saved so many lives, there are still people who have lost loved ones and see them as vigilantes and want them to have restraints. Tony Stark in favor of said contract and Captain America opposed. One of the best things about this is that you can really understand each point of view. This is something that is central to this movie. There are so many people that we care about in Civil War from each side that it would be impossible to pick a side. This understanding of both sides leaves the audience in a state of awe just watching these events unfold and not really rooting for a team. These superheroes are friends and don't really want to fight one another but due to the given circumstances, are forced to. Friendships are tested and alliances are drawn. The resulting conflicts make for some of the best action sequences to date. While these action scenes are awesome to watch, they also carry a lot of weight and emotion to them. Like I said, these people don't want to be fighting one another and it is honestly sad to watch. I feel the name of the film “Civil War” is fitting. One of the most famous American Civil War quotes is that “This union has been divided like a civil war, brother against brother”. This quote came to mind because it is so true for this film. These heroes have become like family and it is truly heart breaking to see them fight to near death.

Now along with the cast that we have grown to love on screen, we are introduced to two new characters to marvel: The new spider-man and Black Panther. Tom Holland as the new Spider-Man was awesome. They really nailed this character from the brief background story, to his nerdiness, to his banter and jokes while fighting. This kick start to the new Spider-man series starting in 2017 I feel has a bright future with Tom Holland leading the way. Now to possibly my favorite character in the movie, Black Panther. I could not get enough of this character and I am so excited for his solo movie coming to theaters in 2018. From the little backstory that they gave you, it already sucked you in and made you care about this character. Not to mention that he is also a badass! His suit is awesome and the action scenes that he was in were really well done. It had an intensity that was really captivating and great to see.

One last thing that i have to praise is that this movie has a "small" feeling to it. Yes there are a ton of superheroes in this film but it has a much smaller feeling to it than the Avenger movies did. They aren't fighting in an entire city, they aren't fighting an alien army, and they aren't fighting on top of a city floating in the sky. Everything is down on Earth and close counters and this gives it a much more realistic feel to it that was great to see. While the other Avenger movies are really fun to watch, they are over the top sometimes. Civil War had this smaller feel to it and it felt refreshing.

Now there were some little critiques that I had. Sometimes the shaky camera work was a little too much. They do a lot of close of shots that really add intensity to the action but that will come with a consequence of being a little overboard with the shakiness. While I personally didn’t have an issue, I can very much see how it would cause sensitive people to get almost dizzy at times. Also, they build to something bigger in the climax but when it happens, it didn’t happen. While I see why they did this for the point of film, I felt a sense of disappointment almost that they didn’t give us this thing they were building up to. You'll know what I mean when you get to it. Other than that I don't have any big issues with this film. Marvel continues to dominate the superhero universe. Even with such a serious movie with these deep themes, they still find a way to bring us joy and humor in spectacular fashion. DC and their superhero films have a looooot of work to do in order to be close to the level Marvel is at.

I don't have to convince any of you to see this film because it is one of the biggest films of the year. All I have to say that it is a fantastic movie that i will be seeing multiple times!

Rating: See It 

-Nick