Marvel at it's best...

Rating: 9/10 (29 April 2016)

**Warning may contain major spoilers**
I'm gonna compare Civil War to a few things here as I feel it's only right to. Especially as the year has opened with hero against hero which creates a good base for any superhero movie. There has always been that debate, #whowillwin when matching heroes against one another and I believe the hype over Batman V Superman was greater with regard to who wins but Civil War had more hype overall.
Is it really a Captain American movie? Robert Downey Jr. has been quoted saying it's Iron Man 4. In my opinion it's another Avengers movies which centres around Rogers and Stark disagreement to be put into check. Only Thor and the Hulk are missing and you can understand their absence. Though the Russo brothers have done something rather incredible, and that's a perfect balance between all the characters. It's a super busy line-up yet each and every character gets decent pieces, each having their own moments. It's almost like Vision has devised a formula calculating the percentage each character should have and divided the 147mins perfectly.
The debates between Rogers and Stark creates an unnerving tension which eventually tears them all apart. There's a basic agenda there but understanding both sides of the argument it's hard to pick a side, even when knowing certain truths you can still sympathise with the other. As a whole, it's like they've stripped everything back to basics and built it back up whilst letting the heroes tear it back down again.
It's not just the characters they balance so well either, but the action versus downtime and comedy. This has some of the best fights out of all the marvel movies put together and I believe that to be as a result of it being mostly hand to hand combat and some web to shield. The staircase fight was Bournish but with super strength, the airport showdown is epic beyond measure again, everyone getting their piece of the action. The foot-come-car chase was clever too and just when you thought you've seen Natasha kick-ass before, she goes and throws all that about. A lot of very imaginative action without it going silly; in fact it's the most believable fight scenes I've seen in a Marvel movie.
The comedy element is there and yet again, everyone else having their moment giving the audience so much to talk about, which I reckon most of would be unfortunately lost during the adrenaline rush. It isn't just Stark that throws the witty one-liners and cheesy comebacks, Sam, Clint gets some in and even Bucky shows his sense of humour for a brief moment. This is down to excellent script writing and there's a lot of clever dialogue to go about.
We see the familiar heroes, Rhody, Sam, Wanda and Scott Lang having a small BIG part with his quirky uncomfortableness. Clint obviously returns and it seems he has a lot more to say. Or it feels that way; I'm not doing any word counts here. But they introduce two more characters from the marvel universe, one of which is already a major player on the field and the other being T'Challa, the Black Panther.
Chadwick Boseman does an superb Black Panther and really makes his presence known. He can punch and kick with the best of them. And what is really great about the introduction of both these characters is that there really isn't one. No origin story for either so not to derail and insult the audience. Like Spider-Man needs a background story. (He's always been one of my favourites)
Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is recruited in comic fashion and what he brings to the arena is nothing short of amazing. Not sure if Tom Holland has the Peter Parker look but it's refreshing and his boyish chatter is brilliant, actually complimenting on his enemies abilities and attributes whilst giving them the slingshot and web bashing. It was his part I was most worried about hoping they wouldn't ruin him or just give us a hint. It works. Thank You.
I'm not sure about Martin Freeman and as much as I love him as an actor I'm not sure he fits in. I don't think his part was wholly necessary or to have him play it. Maybe they should have dressed him up to be more like Agent Coulson. William Hurt's character yes but Emily VanCamp's Carter could be seen as a weak link though she has more than one purpose in this fight.
Now, it does lack the major bad-ass super villain but there's no need and even though there's a hint of one or a squad of them, there's a clever twist and like Batman V Superman, it involves mothers. (Hmm, was that one below the utility belt?) It totally works and allows the story to finish with the ending it deserves
Other things to note are the baseball cap disguises everyone seems to wear and of course everyone being on first name terms. You can't see everyone going about calling each other by their superhero names when sat around desk. It actually adds some humility to each of them. And yes Stan Lee makes his usual comical cameo with some lasting effect thanks to Rhodes.
Is it to comic book lore? Well, after consulting my comic hero expert it's better than the comics "fleshing out their storyline". Is it better than Dawn of Justice? Yes. So much better on so many levels. Is it better than Avengers? Definitely better than Age of Ultron, it's like a separate movie all together and my current mood is saying it's even better than Avengers Assemble. I think it's because this time it's personal and not so over the top. It's marvel at ground level and at it's best.
94% 9/10