SuperHero Movie with Heart

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2016)

I like the what the makers of the Marvel movies have done with the Captain America series. While most of the other movies in the "Marvel Universe" are big, expansive, special effects driven explosion- fests, the Captain America movies have been a bit more character-driven. Make no mistake, there is still plenty of special effects and explosions, but these movies takes their time to delve into characters and this is what sets them apart.
Such is the case with CAPTAIN America: CIVIL WAR. This could easily have been called AVENGERS: CIVIL WAR for it follows a rift in the Avengers over the freedom to do what they need to do as they see fit with no oversight. And while the movie inevitably leads to a battle between the two factions, as big a part of this film is the human cost of these battles and the internal battles some of these heroes wage over the cost of keeping the planet safe.
And, for the most part, this film succeeds in telling both tales - the smaller "personal" film wrapped inside a big, special-effects laden summer blockbuster.
At the core of this film is the conflict between Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey, Jr's. Iron Man. Consequently, this film will fail or succeed on the performance of these performers and the tone that they need to set. Fortunately for us, both Evans and Downey know these characters and the tone very well so it was like watching two veteran boxers duking it out in the ring. It was fun to see them put back on the costumes and go at it.
It was also VERY fun to see almost the entire gang back on screen, if it is on opposite sides. Black Widow (Scarlett Johannsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olson), Falcon (Anthony Mackey), War Machine (Don Cheadle) Vision (Paul Bettany) and even Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) are all back at it. They are ably joined by newcomers Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spiderman (Tom Holland) and the scenes where all of these are together was liking watching a great jam when the band got back together. There is going to be standalone Black Panther, Black Widow and Spiderman films and I am looking forward to each of them. Of course, I'd be up for a Hawkeye stand alone film, so I guess that makes me a fan.
Is it a perfect movie? Well...no.
The plot, as is often the case in these types of films, is paperthin. The franchise, rightfully, takes Thor and Hulk out of the picture (they will be together in the next THOR movie) for if either of those characters were around (especially THOR), then you would have a strong 3rd party to break the tie.
But they aren't and the Civil War raged on. I liked that there were consequences to the actions (one SuperHero ends up with life changing injuries) and the central dispute remains somewhat unresolved at the end. It would have felt false for it to be tied up in one nice, neat bow.
I do have a few quibbles. William Hurt's Secretary of State is too heavily written and acted and the first hour (of this 2 1/2 hour epic) drags in spot. But in the end, the movie does it's job and is very entertaining with parts action, parts human emotions and parts FUN (hear that BATMAN vs. SUPERMAN?) and that makes it well worth seeing, if you like these sorts of film.
And, I do.
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)