Came very, very close to topping The Winter Soldier, but the Russo Brothers deliver another great hit in style while having to maintain a great deal of characters

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2016)

!!! Plot Spoilers are in this review!!! !!! Plot Spoilers are in this review!!! Still here? Alright, but it's at your own risk if you still haven't seen this movie! First off I won't compare this to Deadpool, as these are entirely different films in my eyes and should both be praised and appreciated for what they have accomplished. Having seen Civil War twice, I can come to a solid conclusion that Captain America's third solo outing manages to keep up the grade of new superhero films that was set by comic book films like The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy. The Russo Brothers seem to bring out very, very good, if not great performances out of the MCU actors. Robert Downey Jr. adds yet another layer of depth to Tony Stark, bringing, in my opinion, the best Iron Man performance since the original Iron Man. Chris Evans plays Cap very well, and effortlessly makes the movie seem like a Captain America movie and not Avengers: 2.5. I was skeptical that the teams would be unbalanced due to Iron Man having the Vision and War Machine on his team, but Scarlet Witch more than makes up for her team's relative lack of firepower. She is easily the most powerful character in the movie taking down the Vision, who is powerful in his own right, almost instantly..The airport scene doesn't make the mistake of a Transformers film and has a limited amount of quick cuts, keeping the action in focus.The newcomers Black Panther and Spider-Man, brilliantly played by Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland respectively, are phenomenal. Holland is easily the best interpretation of Spiderman and Peter Parker (no offense to Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield, who were both solid) and steals nearly every scene he is in, bringing a needed youthfulness and the quipping that Spiderman is known for in the comics. And even with so much to maintain, conclude, and set up, the Russo Brothers make sure that it doesn't feel crammed. The only minor setback is Zemo. Daniel Bruhl is amazing in the role, by a lot of coincidences had to happen in order for his plan to work, like Iron Man following Cap and Bucky to his lair. Overall, Civil War is a near perfect comic book movie that is almost as great as TDK or CATWS, but The MCU has a great launching pad for Phase 3 in this film, and the expectations will only grow for Disney-Marvel from here on out.