By: Dan Buser
“United we stand, divided we fall.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has had quite the run of success lately. The 2008 film “Iron Man” first launched the MCU. Since then, the films have become incredibly popular in pop culture and each entry is a highly anticipated part of the Hollywood summer blockbuster season. “Captain America: Civil War” sets out to change the MCU forever by pitting two of their most popular heroes, Iron Man and Captain America, against one another.
“Captain America: Civil War” is directed by the Russo Brothers, the men behind 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Chris Evans stars along with Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johanson, Paul Rudd, and many more.
Civil War takes place shortly after the events of 2015’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” After the catastrophic event that took place in “Age of Ultron,” the governments of the world no longer want to let the Avengers roam unchecked. Thus, the Sokovia Accords are adopted by the nations of the world. As the Avengers are asked to sign the Accords, complications arise that cause a split in the group. Eventually, one side is Iron Man who is for signing the Accords, and the other side is Captain America who is against the Accords.
The summer blockbuster season has kicked off with a bang with one of the best MCU movies yet. The performances in this movie are top rate, along with the writing and the direction. “Civil War” also features the best action set pieces of any superhero flick in recent memory.
The new heroes that were introduced include fan favorites Spiderman and Black Panther. Both of them bring some much needed humor and drama to the story. Old characters like the Vision and Scarlet Witch also get some much needed screen time.
The conflict between the two sides of the characters is set up perfectly, and presented so that the viewers see both sides to the argument. However, later on in the movie, some of the motivation for a particular character became hard for me to get behind. It was not for lack of appropriate setup, rather it was just a personal opposition to the character’s mindset.
A word of warning, if you haven’t seen other movies in the MCU there’s a pretty strong chance you’re going to be lost. With so many characters and subplots being carried between movies, the audience is expected to know what is going on as it would simply be too much to explain everything. However, “Civil War” never even attempts to explain anything, which is inexcusable. This ultimately makes the other Captain America movies essential viewing to enjoy “Civil War.”
“Civil War” is a great time where viewers will consistently find themselves changing sides and simply being wowed by hero on hero combat. Just a word of caution, do a little research before you go in, or else the movie will just leave you scratching your head.
Rating: 8/10
