An above average Marvel movie

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2016)

If Captain America: The Winter Soldier wasn't enough proof that the Russo brothers are some of the most capable superhero movie directors of our time, this is. Captain America: Civil War is possibly one of the best directed superhero movies ever made. The story is very well thought out and does justice to the characters, while simultaneously developing said characters beyond what we've seen of them in previous movies. It's surprising that even though this is the fifth movie starring Chris Evans as Captain America, there still seems to be things we can learn about him. I was never the biggest Captain America fan, and as I went in to the cinema I was decidedly on Iron Man's team, but you cannot help but feel very conflicted between the two from start to finish. The Russos' keep you gripped for the entire movie, and there really isn't a dull moment. Perhaps that's because of the constant flow of action sequence after action sequence, which felt overwhelming at times (pretty much every ten minutes or so another giant fight took place). However in my eyes this was undoubtedly the best action in any superhero movie (the sequence in the airport is nothing short of mesmerising), from The Avengers to The Dark Knight. The story is also surprisingly thought-provoking, as it not only explores themes never before seen in a Marvel movie but also continues to show the Russos' talent for storytelling.
What Civil War does particularly well is manage the great cast of characters it has, both new and old. This has often been a problem in previous Marvel movies, for example both Avengers movies always kept some characters sidetracked. However there was none of that here, and each of the many, many characters in this movie had some very memorable moments. Past supporting characters such as Vision and Falcon were given lots of time and energy, although ultimately once again it was Captain America and Iron Man who took the spotlights. This movie is really a sequel to 2014's The Winter Soldier, and was heavily focusing of Sebastian Stan's Bucky, and his relationship with Captain America. The main new editions to the cast, Black Panther and Spiderman, were thoroughly well-written, fantastic characters that by the end you will be very excited for their upcoming movies. Tom Holland did a great job as the most realistic, grounded Peter Parker we have ever seen - suddenly everyone is glad they didn't bring back Andrew Garfield. Although for me, Black Panther was the most interesting and the character I enjoyed watching the most, due to his fantastic place in the story and of course Chadwick Boseman's great portrayal of the character. The only other person really worth mentioning was Daniel Brühl's Zemo - a surprisingly well fleshed-out villain who instantly surpassed any of Marvel's other (usually very forgettable) villains. Forget Batman Vs Superman, is the true movie that the fans wanted.