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Captain America: Civil War

                           review by Bobby Blakey

Marvel is heading into Phase 3 of their cinematic universe in a big way with their latest entry into the super soldier saga with Captain America: Civil War. This is easily the biggest undertaking of the films outside of the Avengers, but does it end up failing to be a Captain America film and more so just another Avengers or can the returning Russo brothers manage to wrangle it into a cohesive film that lives up to the story it’s based on?

Captain America: Civil War follows the continuing saga of the Avengers as they continue to fight to protect the world, but when the world begins to fear them due to all of the destruction and death left in their wake the government steps in to get them in check. With already a divide between Captain America and Iron Man over this government interference the reappearance of an old friend and enemy draws the line once and for all pitting the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes against each other. Just about all of the cast from the previous films return as well as a few new additions including Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Bruhl, and William Hurt. With this many of the cast in one film you would expect this to be a chaotic mess, but thankfully the Russo’s have masterfully brought the film together that offers up the perfect Captain America outing. While the rest of the cast are all in play in a major way this film makes sure that it is continuing the Winter Soldier story that was left unresolved in the previous film. This is first and foremost a Captain America film without a doubt, but when you are the leader of the Avengers you are bound to get the others involved.

The cast all do a great job as always with everyone getting their time to shine. For those concerned with how all the appearances are handled you can rest easy to know that there are no throw away cameos and everyone gets something significant to do and serves a purpose. The already great chemistry between Rogers and Stark gets to boil over in the best possible way here. Evans and Downey are great on screen together offering up some great tense scenes together. On the flip side the rekindling relationship between Rogers and Bucky is great to witness even if it is frustrating at times by what it causes. While everyone is great there are two that really steal the show. Chadwick Boseman is awesome as T’Challa aka Black Panther. He embodies the character in every way to perfection. Every time he is on screen you can’t help but love everything about him and before it is over you will be itching to see his own film sooner than later. The other is that of Tom Holland as the latest Peter Parker aka Spider-man. There have been a lot of speculation on to his involvement and without spoiling anything it can be reported that he has more than just a cameo. Holland is easily the best Spider-man to date and like Black Panther fans will be eager to see what he has in store for his solo film Spider-man: Homecoming.

All the other members of the cast are handled well with just about them all given their own arcs and only a couple that aren’t delved deeper into, but even they get a variety of great moments. The film allows the past and current events along with the Winter Soldier lead up to the big confrontation that fans are ready to witness and you will be glad to know that it is more epic than you can imagine. There are some truly iconic comic moments of awesomeness that will leave fans cheering. The action is intense chaotic throughout, but well-handled as never to feel to rushed so that the viewer can still enjoy it. If there is any shortcoming with the film it would be in the villain in play. For some that have not heard who it is then will keep it a mystery, but while it worked fine it was a bit underwhelming. This is an iconic character from the Marvel Universe and it was extremely toned down and even changed completely to tie in with their existing storylines. This would have been fine had we got the look fans would have wanted, but sadly it was not to be.

Even with this minor issue the rest of the film more than makes up for anything that may fall short. This issue will only be with hardcore comic fans and the rest of the world at large will not have any idea of what they missed. In the end Civil War may change up the story a bit from the comic source material, but it sure doesn’t fail on delivering one of the best if not the best superhero movie to date. It is still hard to believe how perfect they crafted this film with all involved, but they nailed it and did more than just set up the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they turned it on its head and made you ready for new things to come. It will be interesting to see how many people change teams after this movie ends. As with all Marvel films be sure to sit through the credits as there are two after credit scenes that are well worth the wait.

In addition to the film this release also includes deleted & extended scenes, commentary, a gag reel, featurettes and an exclusive sneak peek at the next Marvel film Doctor Strange making this a must have for all fans. Pick a side and join the fight when Captain America: Civil War comes to Digital HD, and Disney Movies Anywhere on September 2nd and Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand on September 13th from Marvel Entertainment and Disney Studios.

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