The Marvelous Marvel Rewatch (Now Playing: Avengers: Infinity War)

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Captain America: Civil War

And so Phase 3 begins.  If Avengers 4 is going to finish phase 3, then this is a hell of a worthy bookend to start things off.  Below are my thoughts and as always there are spoilers, so if you haven't seen this movie, STOP reading this and go watch the movie right now!  It's awesome!!


Pluses:

The airport scene.  I have quite literally been waiting for this movie most of my life just for that airport scene.  It's not really that it is hero vs. hero, so much as I've just always wanted to see a bunch of super powered beings fight it out like a huge splash page in a comic book.  As a kid, I was just frustrated that there were no good Marvel movies at all.  Then when the first X-Men movie came out in 2000 I was disappointed that the action was no where as good as I had been imagining it would be.  The special effects and film making skill were just not there.  For a long time, I didn't think I'd ever seen movie action that rivaled something like the Secret Wars comic.  Civil War finally made it happen.  Movies can finally do everything comic books can do.  It's amazing!

All of the action in this movie is fantastic.  This may feel like I am repeating my first point, but I can't emphasize this enough.  This is the best action movie ever made.  I said before that Avengers 2 had the best action in the MCU up to that point, but this movie takes it to a whole new level.  On top of that Civil War has some more visceral, street level action scenes that are at least as good as the Winter Soldier movie, like the opening Lagos scene or the chase scene with Bucky, Cap and Black Panther.  The ending battle really feels like a life and death fight.  This movie keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

Even if you take out all of the action, this is still a hell of an enjoyable movie.  Cap, Bucky, and Falcon all have great chemistry.  "Can you move your seat up?"  "No."  Then they both nod approvingly as Cap kisses Sharon.  Iron Man and War Machine also have great chemistry.  Hell Cap and Iron Man have great chemistry.  And the storytelling in this film is masterful.  They set up the ending perfectly, but then they throw in a red herring so that you don't see it coming (at least I didn't).  And the best part is that both Cap and Iron Man have very valid perspectives, so you can see how the heroes might choose either side.

Baron Zemo is my favorite MCU villain.  He isn't some generic villain who goes, "I'm evil and super powered so I'm going to kill you...muhahahah!"  He isn't trying to take over the world either.  Instead he's out for revenge, cold, calculated revenge, and he pulls it off masterfully.  I love that he basically succeeds in his plan which is another thing that you don't see coming.  He also is a more realistic super spy than even Black Widow.  She's more of a female James Bond, where Zemo is more about disguising himself, hiding in plain sight and keeping a low profile.  That is more what I imagine a real spy is like.  He also destabilizes the Avengers by using their conflicting loyalties against one another, another trait of a real spy.


Minuses:

None.


In conclusion, Civil War is the new gold standard in action film making, and at the same time it will enthrall you with it's great acting, intricate plot and clever villain.

10/10


My rankings going into Phase 3 look like this:

AMAZING
1) Captain America: Civil War
2) Captain America: The First Avenger
3) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4) Guardians of the Galaxy

GREAT
5) Iron Man
6) Avengers: Age of Ultron
7) Black Panther

GOOD
8) Avengers
9) Ant Man

AVERAGE
10) Iron Man 3
11) Thor
12) The Incredible Hulk

POOR
13) Thor: The Dark World
14) Iron Man 2