Review of Captain America: Civil War (2016) by Xander M — 21 Jan 2018

After the disappointing Avengers Age of Ultron and good but not great Ant-Man in 2015, I was excited for Captain America Civil War. I was team Cap all the way but as the movie draws to a close I did not know which side was in the right.

This movie does a very good job with balancing the two sides so each one is right. If you do not like what Iron Man is trying to do and you want Cap to win then by the end of the movie you will sympathize with Iron Man.

The conflict here is done very well though the battle at the airport feels more like kids playing a paintball match then superheroes trying to beat each other to a pulp. The story progresses along at a good pace and sprinkled throughout the movie there are twists and turn no one could see coming.

The biggest problem with the story is the sub plot with Zemo. While he gets off to a good start when he tortures the man in the motel he soon falls into the category of a bad MCU villain. He is relatively forgotten and eventually shows up at the end.

Black Panther takes him down in a fairly pathetic way. Captain America was better in Cap The Winter Soldier but he is still fine here. Iron Man is good and shows a lot of emotion. Black Widow is awesome at the start but is also kind of forgotten.

Falcon is fine, Scarlet Witch is much better now then she was in Age of Ultron, Winter Soldier is again great but I preferred him in Cap Winter Soldier, Hawkeye is also sort of forgotten, I still do not like Vision, Black Panther is awesome, War Machine is meh.

He should have died so that the movie can feel like there was consequences. Paul Rudd is again hilarious as Ant-Man and Tom Holland makes for the best cinematic Spider-Man ever. Crossbones is completely wasted.

My hopes have been answered for Emily van Camp's character. She is Peggy Carter's great niece. Now Marvel just has to explore Cap's relationship with her and her character can come full circle.

Overall it is a great movie with a huge ensemble and lots of action but the bad villain and barely any consequences way it down. Thumbs up.