Massive entertiner

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2016)

Captain America: Civil War is an abundantly-entertaining piece of blockbuster entertainment which gives lie to the notion that an adventure film with lots going on must devolve into chaos. Following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the world has become understandably concerned about gangs of super people destroying bits of the planet every so often. When Bucky Barnes (Stan) is finally brought out of hiding, he becomes the catalyst to allow Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) to bring the world's super people under control, starting with Steve Roger's (Evans) Avengers.
Ostensibly an excuse just to get loads of super people to wail on each other for our amusement, Civil War takes the opportunity it has to delve into the people who make up its world while also at least considering the real-world problems actual superheroes (and by intimation, real-world superpowers) would pose if they did whatever they wanted. And it really makes with the super people wailing on each other.
A big part of Civil War's strength is its insistence on avoiding the trap of cameos even when many of its characters only show up for two or three scenes. Instead it gives everyone something to do – from Vision (Bettany) and Scarlet Witch's (Olsen) slow bonding to Spider- Man's (Holland) introduction and brush with the big leagues to Black Panther's (Boseman) dogged mission of vengeance – and something to feel (so that we feel it, too), creating a joyful smorgasbord of superhero action that is the most Marvel thing Marvel has ever made.
The list of such character-based touches is almost endless and fantastic – Falcon and Bucky's forced partnership, Tony Stark flirting with Aunt May to Peter Parker's extreme horror, Vision trying to figure out how cooking works – with new elements melding seamlessly into the new. Spider-Man and Black Panther are organically accepted into the whole, particularly Panther who is well connected to the main plot, as the various characters work not only within themselves but as part of the whole.