Captain America and the Falcon and The Avengers

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2016)

Released in 2016, "Captain America: Civil War" chronicles Cap (Chris Evans) leading an Avengers mission that results in the loss of many innocents. As a result, the Federal government and UN, represented by Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman), want to take the reins of The Avengers. While Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and a few others reluctantly support this measure, Cap, Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and some others categorically oppose it, which naturally pits the team against one another. Meanwhile, villains like Zemo (Daniel Brühl), Crossbones (Frank Grillo) are on the loose, creating further problems.
I'm a big fan of Steve Englehart's outstanding run on the comic in the '70s, which was the precursor to Mark Gruenwald's notable work 10-20 years later (his run lasted a whole decade!). What I loved about the comic was the relatively realistic tone, the interesting relevant issues and the fact that Cap & Falcon were the perfect representation of the USA. You'll see these elements in "Captain America: Civil War." The occasional interludes with Cap's babe, Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), are reminiscent of the comic. Speaking of The Falcon, I like the way the writers took the basic concept and made him better; for instance, the way his wings deflect bullets and the nature of his 'pet falcon' Redwing.
Since the plot ties into Cap's leadership in The Avengers we get numerous guest stars in addition to the ones already mentioned: Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), The Vision (Paul Bettany), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and War Machine (Don Cheadle). As if that wasn't enough we also get Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and, believe it or not, freakin' Spider-Man (Tom Holland), with a glorified cameo of a hot Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), lol. How the movie can juggle all these characters and keep it from getting out of hand is uncanny.
Lastly the core question of the titular 'civil war' is interesting and timely: Should the government usurp control over The Avenger's autonomy? Should this incredible team of superhumans become the pawns of the government? Captain America rightly says "No way."
The movie runs 147 minutes and was shot in Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Germany, Iceland and Brazil.
GRADE: A (8.5/10)