If you had told me two years ago after "Winter Soldier" that the third Captain America movie would be based on "Civil War", include a dozen heroes, AND feature Spider-Man, I would have said you were a crazy fanboy expecting too much from a character's solo movie. But here we are now, all those things happened, and as everyone expected, it's the best film yet to come from Marvel, being a culmination of everything that's come so far and setting up quite a bit for the future, having even more of an impact than the preceding Avengers film.
If I was going to put a ratio on it, I would say this film was 67% of a Captain America movie and 33% of an Avengers movie. It mostly builds itself off of Captain America's solo movies and could be seen as a true conclusion to the character's film trilogy (unless we get a fourth movie in the future). At the same time though, we have the inclusion of other heroes who do get some pretty good focus while not hindering Cap's.
Last year, I expected a bit much from "Age of Ultron" to directly set up "Civil War". It did, but in subtle ways. I've come to realize that with an Avengers movie, it needed to end on a positive note. Captain America's movies, however, are more of the darker political thrillers that appear to have the bigger impacts. In this movie, we get a closer examination of the consequences of events from other movies, as well as this one, showing the effects on the public and the casualties that resulted.
I went into this movie being on Team Cap, much like how I was in the comics, but this movie did a really good job of making us see things from Iron Man's side. They even base a scene right from the comics of a mother coming up to Stark and blaming him and the other heroes for the death of her son.
Considering this movie is about the government wanting more say in the Avengers' activities, the ironic thing is that the idea of the Avengers in the movies started out as a government initiative through SHIELD before going off on their own. Hell, even "The Ultimates", which initially and partially served as inspiration for the first Avengers film, were a government based team.
The character interactions are truly the heart of the film. Given we've had 12 movies building up to this movie, it really adds to the heartbreak of watching these characters who are friends going at each other. While there's the main conflict between Steve and Tony, another relationship focused on is Wanda/Scarlet Witch and Vision. As comic readers know, these characters marry, and said romance between them is prominent. They are quite likely the undisputed strongest members of the Avengers, and they know it. Something that was really hinted at with Wanda in "Age of Ultron" was her moments of losing control of her powers, such as when she briefly read Vision's mind while in the cradle and when she decimated a few Ultron bots while screaming in agony over her brother's death. This movie takes it further, considering her loss of control over powers results in a number of casualties and more incidents later. Vision, who seems to have more control over his powers despite not knowing the capabilities of his Infinity Stone (oh I feel that's gonna be an emotional moment when Thanos comes for it), is protective of Wanda, even when they're on oppostie sides, surprising himself how much he cares.
We get two new heroes introduced to the MCU in this film. The first is T'Challa, the Black Panther. I tell you, he is a character you don't want to mess with. His combat skills make him one of the best fighters we've seen in the MCU. Besides that, he goes through a good character arc from being set on revenge to letting it subside to do the right thing. I really look forward to his solo movie in a few years (though I bet he'll have a few guest stars based on the mid-credits scene).
But of course, there's one character everyone's been waiting for, and who I was most excited to see, in a Marvel movie: Spider-Man. Portrayed now by Tom Holland, we have the youngest Peter Parker we've seen yet in film and who I would say is the perfect mix of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. He's able to dish out the quips between some banter with both Stark and Rogers as well as annoying the other heroes with how much he talks (and he is hilarious by the way). At the same time though, he's about as awkward as you'd expect from a teenage hero who's moved up to the big leagues. In a way, he seems out of place among the other heroes, but it feels natural considering he sticks around New York and now he's thrust into a battle between heroes who have a global focus. As for the costume, much like the Amazing Spider-Man 2 suit, it's the closest adaptation we've had, but even more. The way the eyes move are great too (I do wonder how they work though). As much as me and many fans complained about not seeing enough Spidey in footage before the movie's release, I'm glad they kept him under wraps for as long as they did, because it made me appreciate him even more. Something I liked during his first meeting with Stark was when he was asked how he got his powers and replies "It's a long story". It's a good reference to how many times people have seen the origin while also keeping the promise that they'll just breeze over it. Even here, we do get a subtle way explaining why he's Spider-Man, but without referencing Uncle Ben or "With great power comes great responsibility". If there's one thing I'm not sure about, it's that he and Aunt May live in an apartment instead of a house. I know it's not a big deal, but it's just different from every other version of Spider-Man I've seen. Needless to say, I look forward to his solo movie next year.
While the main conflict of the film is between the heroes, the main villain of the movie is based on Baron Zemo. I say 'based on' because he's very different from his comics version. I really don't want to get into much detail without spoiling much, but he's a very unique villain for the MCU. Let's just say he's not motivated with world domination, and we may be seeing him again if anything with the Thunderbolts is planned.
The action in this movie is even better than in "Winter Soldier". The hand-to-hand combat is still top notch and we get the most amazing superhero melee that I think even the Infinity War films (or whatever they're going to be renamed) will have a hard time outdoing. But of course, there's the climactic battle with Tony against Steve and Bucky. It gets pretty damn brutal and if your heart wasn't breaking watching the movie before, it will at this point.
Like I mentioned before but won't go into detail about, this movie, much like the Civil War of the comics, has a major impact on the future of the MCU (but handled MUCH better here). The split between the heroes will continue on, and while I'm sure these effects will continue to be felt in characters' solo movies while including guest stars, it does make me wish we could get a few extra movies that focus on these separate Avengers teams before they undoubtedly reunite in Infinity War.
And as much as I loved "Batman v Superman", I will admit that "Civil War" was the better film. I still don't understand though how critics can hate one and love the other when they're almost exactly the same. You'd understand what I mean if you saw both films.
Overall, whether this if your first Marvel movie or you've been here since "Iron Man", you'll most likely come down with some major feels while watching.
RATING: 10/10
Updated Marvel Cinematic Universe Film Rankings:
1. Captain America: Civil War
2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4. The Avengers
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. Ant-Man
7. Iron Man 3
8. Thor
9. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Iron Man
11. The Incredible Hulk
12. Iron Man 2
13. Thor: The Dark World
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