Captain America : Civil War (2016) Movie Review

It's an all out war in Captain America : Civil War

Directors: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Studios: Marvel Studios
Starring:  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, Frank Grillo, William Hurt and Daniel Brühl



Plot: After a failed mission which caused the lives of innocent civilians, an agreement to make the Avengers a public organization has been passed, dividing the team into two: those who agrees and those who does not. Along this ensuing trouble, a revelation about the Winter's Soldier's past is going to cause a rift between Steve Rogers and Tony Starks. A rift that will change the course of destiny for The Avengers.

After the awesome (yet a bit polarizing) 'Batman V Superman' last march, this May now comes the continuation of the Captain America franchise and the extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Captian America : Civil War. It features all our favorite superheroes (minus Thor and Nick Fury, and yeah, the rest of the Marvel families) in an all out battle, not with aliens nor robots, but with each other. I originally disliked this film only because Marvel has decided to start over with the Spiderman mythology and has discarded the last two movies featuring Andrew Garfield. But after seeing it myself, I found it to be actually really, really, really, really good. Let me tell you why in this edition of Certified Ace. (Warning: A lot major spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk)


Just like the previous DC superhero flick that we witnessed last March, Captain America : Civil War also shares a similar storyline with Batman V Superman. In BVS, superman is being held responsible for the casualties caused by his battle with General Zod in the final part of 'Man Of Steel' (2013). In Civil War, the nations of the world has decided to sign the Sokovia Accords, an agreement making the Avengers a public organization, which basically means that they will be taking orders from the government. Which sucks for Steve Rogers aka Captain America because as you know, whenever he feels that they need to help, he is going to do it without hesitation. But Tony Starks aka Ironman on the other hand feels thatt each one of them needs to be checked and kept in control. This is where the conflict rises. The two sides can't agree on whether they are going to sign the Sokovia Accords or not. This is where the first half of the film is about. But as it progresses, it soon changes it's course and switched it's focus on the hunt for the Winter Soldier. The two divided groups of the Avengers, #TeamCap and #TeamIronman are soon in a race in saving, and on the other hand, capturing Bucky Barnes aka. The Winter Soldier.

I actually liked this kind of conflict as Steve Rogers is torn between his Avengers co-captain Tony Starks who wants to capture the winter Soldier, and his long time BFF Bucky Barnes. It showed Captain America at his most critical point in the series as he is forced to choose which side he will be. And obviously based on the trailers, he decides to save his BFF Bucky and fights Tony Stark and friends.

As for the casting, of course, the whole Avengers team was excellent in their roles as always. although some of them had very little screentime, luckily, we are already familiar with these characters so we don't need too much introduction. The ones that needed to be introduced to the audience were Black Panther (played by Chadwick Boseman) and Spiderman (played by Tom Holland). 

For the role of T'Challa / Black Panther, I think that Chadwick Boseman was a perfect fit for it. He has this dark (sorry for the word) brooding, serious aura that really fits his character as he is avenging his father's death at the hands of The Winter Soldier. He was given enough scenes to really build up his character despite the limited time. i think he would really do good for a solo movie of his own.

Meanwhile, Tom Holland as Peter Parker aka the friendly superhero Spiderman was actually okay. Although if I were to choose, I'd still pick Andrew Garfield for the role. He has much charm than Holland. But on the other hand, Holland looks perfect for the age of Peter Parker so I guess I could let him pass. I kinda liked his first few scenes with Tony Starks in their house (although I hate the fact that they choose a very young actress for Aunt May). He looks and talks funny and awkward which was awesome because that's how I like my Peter Parker (wait, did that sounded right?) He also has good chemistry with Robert Downey Jr in that scene. The biggest problem I have is when he starts to join the battle between Team Cap and Team Iron man. Every time he si on screen, it's like he's required to say something. I mean, he could spit out a few jokes once in while but this was just too much that it ended up a bit forced and really irritating. some of his jokes were even forced that they made me cringe. He even joked about the Star Wars movie which was really out of place and confused me a lot. But i'm telling you, he has some really great stunts and action scenes.

Aside from Spiderman's hit or miss jokes, one thing that I noticed in the film was that it was short on those explosive, bombastic destruction that is already a Marvel trademark. Aside from the explosion in the opening scene that killed some Wakanda citizens, there's no other scenes in the film that featured massive destruction as compared to it's predecessor, Captain America : The Winter Soldier. Probably, it's because the heroes themselves are trying to avoid that to prevent more casualties. Anyways, you will still get that epic super Bro bersus Super Bro battle in the climax which features our heroes fighting each other. so that will give you a bit of bombastic scenes like Antman tunring into Giant Man and causing the wreckage of an airplane.

As for the technical aspects of the film, as always, Civil War looked great. No, Awesome. It looked awesome. Espacially if you see it in 3D, or even more in IMAX 3D. The opening scene itself has plenty of head shots, scenes being taken from the view on top of buildings so it really emphasized depth of the 3D effect.

And last but not the least, you'll love Civil War even more as it features not only a mid-credits scene, but a post-credits scene. The mid-credits scene features Captain America taking his BFF Bucky Barnes to  T'Challa's secret location/ lair for his friend's security by putting him on ice, similar to what happened to him in Captain America : The First Avenger. Meanwhile, the post-credits scene features Peter Parker in his bedroom, playing with his web slinger when all of a sudden, it opens and reveals a hologram like blueprint/ menu on his ceiling. So I guess that one was for his upcoming solo film "Spiderman : Homecoming".

Verdict: Well, just like most Marvel films, Captain America : Civil War is a very nice treat for fans nad non-fans of the comic book series. It features your favorite superhero movies in one epic showdown, which is definitely a historic moment in the MCU. For me, Civil War is like the best thing that's ever happened to Marvel since Guardians of the Galaxy.

Rating:  ✰✰✰✰✰