Civil War brings a deeper integration and development of each character, in addition to expanding the universe bringing new characters

Rating: 9/10 (8 March 2020)

Civil War is responsible for deepening and providing long-awaited answers and has an essential role in answering questions raised in previous films, in addition to setting the stage for the expansion of the universe for future films that promise to be nothing than epic.
The Avengers are on a mission in Africa. Even if they avoid an attack of catastrophic proportions, civilians die. Secretary of State Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt resuming his role as "The Incredible Hulk", 2008) reports that 117 countries will sign a treaty that limits the team's activities. Tony Stark, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) understands that this restriction is necessary for tragedies to be avoided. Steve Rogers, Captain America (Chris Evans), believes in the individuality of the human being and sees in the treaty a form of manipulation. Meanwhile, another situation involving Winter Soldier / Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) contributes to the division of the Avengers.
The film is, at the same time, a continuation of the proposed themes of "Age of Ultron", in addition to continuing the arc of the "Winter Soldier", and bringing together the best characteristics of both, bringing the epic action with a very well stitched and with a political background that exposes various ethical and moral issues of our society amid characters with fantastic powers. Set after the events of "Age of Ultron", screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely adapt the arc of the "Civil War" comics by Mark Millar and Steven McNiven with extreme category, establishing the feud between Captain America and the Man of Iron when the Sokovia Treaty is placed under the table, signed by more than a hundred countries that aims to regulate and limit the jurisdiction of the Avengers who are acting by ignoring the limits of sovereignty, with unlimited power and without supervision, causing destruction and deaths caused as a result of previous clashes in New York (The Avengers), Washington (The Winter Soldier), Sokovia (Age of Ultron), Lagos (beginning of Civil War).
The plot makes a point of not pointing out who is right or wrong. Tony Stark is haunted by the guilt of past actions, while Rogers is concerned with protecting his battlemates and that the heroes' anonymity is key to their risky missions. The other characters naturally align themselves to one side or the other in an organic way and showing the whole context of their decisions, which generates a split between the heroes. Each fights for the ideals he believes.
Marvel still takes advantage of "Civil War" to bring back old acquaintances and introduce some new characters long awaited by fans. The Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) is the catalyst character and moves all the actions of the feature. We can finally see what happened to him after the end of "Winter Soldier" and how he is used as a play to trigger "Civil War" events. In addition, we have the introduction of T'Challa, the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman). In a few scenes we are already presented to the political side of the hero and, soon after, to the warrior side of the protector of Wakanda. From his first scene in Vienna with his father, even when he appears already dressed as the Black Panther, starring in crazy scenes of chase through the buildings, tunnels and streets of the city alongside the Captain and the Winter Soldier, they already show a magnificent introduction to this character.
We have back to Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision, who bond, Hawk (Jeremy Renner), Combat Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), and a comeback that will blow the head of fans of comics and films: Spider-Man. As a result of a highly publicized agreement between Sony and Marvel, the hero returns "borrowed" to the studio of the House of Ideas, Peter Parker is recruited by Tony Stark to fight alongside the Captain and his allies, Spider-Man reappears being younger than previously shown in theaters, as well as Aunt May. Living with his powers for about six months and still learning to deal with them, but already knowing that this meant new responsibilities in wanting to help people, he gets a " upgrade "in his still precarious Tony Stark uniform, in addition to satisfying all fans in the airport scenes with his acrobatics, agility and humor. Actor Tom Holland is extremely comfortable playing the most famous arachnid in comics. In his few scenes in the film, his mentor / apprentice relationship with Tony Stark is incredible. These scenes are the highlight of the comic relief of the story.
The script by Christopher Markus and Steven McFeely is decided to put different facets both in this agreement and in the people involved in it. General Ross (William Hurt) is known to the public, for "Incredible Hulk", and, therefore, famous for not being a very pleasant person or even just. When referring to the Emerald Giant and Thor, Ross compares them to atomic bombs, not people or superheroes, but weapons of giant destructive power. The Russo Brothers want their Civil War to embrace international issues and not merely within the realm of superheroes born and active within the United States.
In addition to this fight between responsibility and supervision, there is a more central theme in the film: revenge. Baron Zemo is a complicated character, since his true motivations are hidden until the final minutes, but I was very happy to see that his goal was simply to screw with the Avengers, because they caused the death of people he loves - and not conquer the world or make an army of super soldiers. It is still a little forced, but he did not care to die or be arrested, he was completely overwhelmed by the desire for revenge. The same is true for Tony after he discovers something we have known since Winter Soldier: Bucky was responsible for killing his parents (remember when HIDRA shows the agent's targets, and we see Nick Fury and Howard Stark among the dead?). That desire also grips T'challa after his father is killed at the UN. But when the Black Panther sees what the villain's central purpose was, he understands where he had fallen. Maybe the way Wakanda has behaved needs to change, maybe he needs to change.
Something interesting is to note that the Avengers union usually happens just to see them fighting as a team or exchanging jokes with each other. And this is not necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary, but eventually you start to expect "something more". After all, nobody likes a magician who only has one trick. Civil War is that "something more. "It's a film that is only possible because we know Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton and Bucky Barnes. We have seen how they have changed over the years, we know their motivations and weaknesses, and watching them fight goes beyond "heroes vs heroes" is fun.
Action scenes in different locations on the planet. In addition to the United States, the plot takes place in Vienna, Budapest, Nigeria, London and Berlin for example. The entire opening sequence in Lagos in the persuasion against the Crossbones (Frank Grillo) - which triggers the questions of the governors around the world - is simply breathtaking, as well as the attack in Vienna, the persecution of the Winter Soldier in Bucharest, the fifteen uninterrupted minutes of action scenes at the airport involving more than a dozen heroes and, of course, the final climax involving Iron Man, Captain America and the Winter Soldier involving a major revelation of the past. The Russo brothers repeat here what they had already done in "The Winter Soldier", creating extremely realistic and impactful scenes, using camera movements and frames that put you inside the action. Combined with the incredible visual effects and photography by Trent Opaloch and the soundtrack by Henry Jackman, make "Civil War" a unique experience. In all these action scenes, however much they involve several characters, they are extremely cohesive, well directed and which gives everyone space to shine.
The impression for the vast majority of people is that "Civil War" is an Avengers story before it's a Captain's story, and although they're not wrong, this is a story led by the Captain, an arc that focuses more on him than in others. "Civil War" has some problems. Characters like the Combat Machine, Hawkeye and Ant-Man are just there for the action to get more interesting, and Zemo's motivations are extremely expected - one more person who lost his family and blames the heroes - but this is by far the film that leaves more consequences for the universe, that brings more weight and importance to itself, and for that reason it is perhaps the best of Marvel so far. It is the real closing of Phase 2, and more important than deaths or twists, we have a breach of trust and friendship. Yes, the world is hunting heroes now, but more than that, the Avengers, as we know them, are over. From now on, it will be fascinating to see some developments of the consequences of the acts presented here. We will see Tony reacting to the fact that he is wrong, something he does by not following Colonel Ross's orders. Wanda and Visão were clearly moving towards something more intimate, but there was a tremendous breach of trust between them, and the android ends up questioning his reason. And Black Panther now decides to implement a different philosophy in his country, abandoning the path of revenge and going against the world by hiding the Avengers there.
"Civil War" is yet another hit by the Russo brothers in Marvel's multi-million dollar franchise, bringing action, adventure, humor, drama and lots of fun in a lean script, with excellent dialogue and twists that leave everything just right to please the audience . It is, so far, the best Marvel film, which brings a deeper integration and development of each character, in addition to expanding the universe bringing new characters that will have fundamental importance.