Captain America: Civil War REVIEW

The third installment in the Captain America series proves to be exciting, funny, and surprisingly weighty. Never has a trilogy capper felt more like a beginning.
Ending a trilogy is tricky. For every "Return of the King", "Toy Story 3", and "Last Crusade", you have a dozen Spider-Man 3's. By the third installment studios typically have the intoxicating taste of money swishing around in their mouth and they start to believe that bigger is better. "More villains!" they say, more plot lines, more nonsensical action. More, more, more. Such is and is not the case with Civil War. Let me explain.

Civil War has everything we've come to expect (and more) from a Marvel movie but for once it actually feels like all the wit, action, banter, and punches actually mean something. This movie, if nothing else, is an introspective on friendship, morals, and motivations. While the marketing for this movie asks us to pick "Team Cap" or "Team Iron Man", I feel this can be a little misleading and a little too easy. Both characters are wrong, both are right, and both have very different motivations behind what they truly believe means doing the right thing - which makes for an incredibly hard-to-watch third act. 

However, Civil War is a departure from your standard Marvel fare in that for once the world (galaxy, universe, whatever) is not at stake and there is no massive CGI fest showing something falling from the sky that will obliterate all mankind. The stakes here are friendship and the consequences of our actions, even actions made when we were under the belief that what we were doing was right - and that cuts to the core more than any giant meteor or spaceship threat ever could. In fact, one of Civil War's greatest successes is in it's villain. I know, crazy right? Did Marvel actually produce a decent villain that isn't named Loki? I won't spoil too much here, but the person behind it all isn't about world domination or crazy amounts of power, he just wants the Avengers to destroy themselves, and he does it all through subtle, slow, methodical manipulation. Does he succeed? You'll have to see for yourself. 

For those concerned with the sheer amount of characters involved and it feeling overwhelmed (ala Spider-Man 3), don't be. Each character, new and old, gets their moment to shine and you understand every one's motivation behind the fight. With that being said, this is definitely Captain America's movie. The three Captain America movies are great in that they a wonderful job in continuing to flesh out his character, and Civil War takes him places he's never been before - mentally and in the actions he takes.

Also, it must be noted here, that while many let out a collective GROAN when they heard that Spiderman would yet again be rebooted with a new actor, let me just say that this new take on Spidey is refreshing and exciting. It's great to see someone so young and genuine trying to find his place in the world. In short, I guarantee you will be wanting more Spiderman by the end of this. 

This movie can probably be thought of as what every MCU movie has been leading to. It's all come to this moment. After this movie, things will not be the same. Or, at least they shouldn't be. 

In the end, Civil War is great not because of the spectacular action scenes and giant cast of characters. Civil War is great because of the intimate nature of the conflict. It hurts your heart to watch, but as in real life, lines are drawn and decisions are made that have real consequences. I'm not sure (yet) that it's Marvel's best film, but it's definitely their most personal.  I respect Marvel for (finally) going bold and betting big on this one. It certainly paid off. 

Grade: A-