Movie Review – Captain America: Civil War

6

Synopsis:

Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow, Hawkeye and other Avengers must pick a side. (source)

Director:

Joe Russo and Anthony Russo

Writers:

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Cast:

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 and Daniel Brühl

(source: Marvel)
(source: Marvel)

Review:

Captain America’s first two movies were big hits, so the third one naturally generated huge attention. Marvel did not disappoint and gave us an action-packed masterpiece that was worth our waiting. The DVD and Bluray for Captain America: Civil War were recently released, so I think this is the right time to do a review. Before you read any further, please be reminded that this article contains spoilers.

The main focus of the movie is how The Avengers decides whether their organization should be under government’s supervision after the tragedy in Sokovia (What happened in the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015). Steve Rogers or Captain America thinks they should have freedom in their actions, while Tony Stark or Iron Man disagrees.

It was a great idea to divide the team to two sides when they both have reasonable reasons to support their beliefs. They discuss. They fight while holding back until things get too personal.

The film really did well with all the action sequences. You will be greeted with the first action scene within the first five minutes, and there are many more throughout the movie. The car chasing scene with Bucky Barnes, Black Panther and Captain America is breathtaking as in you will lose your breath as if you are the one running and driving. And the famous airport scene from the trailer is also excellent, both in motion-capturing wise and screenwriting wise. Each hero gets to showcase their powers with equal amount of screentime.

(source)
(source)

Another strong point has to be the sense of humor. Marvel movies, especially the ones that involve the Avengers’ members, always do great job at making people laugh. The new guys like Spider-man and Ant-man take big parts in putting smiles on your face. And of course, Stan Lee’s appearance is always important.

(source)
(source)

As much as Captain America: Civil War is enjoyable to watch, there are some issues that need to be discussed, which I will break down into a bulleted list below:

  • The tile – The first issue has to be the title. It is hard to understand why the movie is named Captain America: Civil War when there are so many Avengers in it. It should have easily been called Avengers: Civil War.
  • The pronunciation of Lagos – Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria. The movie was heavily criticized for the wrong pronunciation. It should be pronounced “lay-gos”. Instead, everyone in the film, from the reporters to the Avengers themselves, pronounced it as “la-gos”. To think that this is movie with a 250-million dollars budget, they should have done a better research.
(source: Marvel)
(source: Marvel)
  • Lack of female interaction – I know the male heroes are the headlining characters and there are currently only two female Avengers. But it would not hurt to see more of their friendship. We get to see the friendship between Black Widow and Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye, Falcon and Captain America, War Machine and Iron Man, and the most epic bromance: Captain America and Bucky Barnes, which I love, but we barely get to see the interactions between the ladies. What we get is two sentences exchange between Black Widow and Scarlet Witch and two seconds join-force fight scene with Black Widow and Sharon Carter. Why can’t we have an epic friendship between women?
  • Sharon Carter – Continuation from the previous issue, Sharon Carter or Agent 13 has become the new love interest for Captain America. It was almost like she is in the film solely for this purpose. And it would not bring so many criticisms if she was not Peggy Carter’s niece and if they did not flirt on the night of Peggy’s funeral. This relationship also does not support or drive the plot forward. We will just have to see if it has something to do with the next Marvel movies.
(source: Marvel)
(source: Marvel)
  • Iron Man’s motive – Tony Stark has every right to feel guilty about Sokovia and choose to be monitored by the government. In the end, he finds out that his parents were murdered by the then-brainwashed Bucky Barnes (Keyword: brainwashed) and chooses revenge. With his experience, he should have known how mind-control works. The dialogue also makes it more ridiculous when he says “I don’t care. He killed my mom.” This scene is needed to lead to the final fight scene between Captain America and Iron Man. But it was poorly written and the writers should have come up with a better catalyst.

Even though there are some flaws as mentioned (which are up to your interpretation), Captain America: Civil War could be one of the best Marvel’s installations. There is never a dull moment between the 2 hours and half. And I am sure it will be rewatched over and over again.

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8.9

Story

8.5/10

Acting

9.0/10

Screenplay

9.0/10

Special effects and stunts

9.0/10

Costume, hair and make-up

9.0/10

6 COMMENTS

  1. Love your review. I’m a huge movie lover. I haven’t watched any of the Captain America movies yet. Great reminder that I should start watching! Glad to hear there’s never a dull moment in the movie.

    • Thanks for your comment. I think you will enjoy all of them, but I think Civil War is the best, so it will be fun to save it for the last. 🙂

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