If I were ranking the films in Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would put Captain America: Civil War in the Top 3 or 4. It’s that good.
In Civil War, Captain America aka Steve Rogers is leading the new team of Avengers to safeguard humanity but after another incident in which innocent lives are lost and when combined with the collateral damage caused during the attacks on New York, Washington D.C., and Slakovia the political pressure builds to install a system of oversight by the United Nations. This splits the Avengers into two sides. The side led by Steve Rogers wants the team to be free to operate as they see fit. The other side, led by Tony Stark aka Iron Man believes the government should have oversight and the team should be held accountable for the damage they cause.
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrVegVI0Us
Captain America: Civil War features 12 superheroes. Somehow, all of them get their due screen time and are properly developed, particularly the new characters of Spider-Man and Black Panther. Those two steal the show. Black Panther looks great on screen and Spider-Man is the best embodiment of the character yet. There’s only one side character that I felt was miscast, I’ll leave it to you to figure this one out because I don’t want to spoil anything. Otherwise, I had no problems with this movie, although one could delve into a “couldn’t Scarlet Witch and Vision just take out everybody” argument.
The thing that really makes Civil War one of the better Marvel Films is that it doesn’t feel bloated. It doesn’t feel like it exists just to set up the next one. The problem I had with Avengers: Age of Ultron was that it felt bloated. It crammed too much stuff into the movie to try and set up the rest of the franchise, particularly in the second half of the film. Civil War moves quickly, manages to develop each character, and sets up different story lines but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s very smooth and uses every moments of its two and a half hour runtime to tell a good story and fill it with plenty of action. The fight sequence in the middle of the film that finally pits Team Cap against Team Iron Man is one of the best I’ve seen.
The norm for Marvel films is to include an end credits scene that sets up the next film in the Marvel Universe. This one has two, a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene. There’s a lot of credits in between the two scenes so there’s plenty of time to go to the bathroom and get back to your seat.
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6raUs0CiCQ
Here’s a list of what’s out on home video and streaming this week:
Emelie
A Royal Night Out
Remember
Joy
The 5th Wave
The Choice
Easy Rider
There Will Be Blood
To Catch a Thief
The Truman Show
Almost Famous
Pleasantville
Begin Again
Into the Wild
While You Were Sleeping
Braveheart
The Machinist
Many of these are good but if you want to see how far a he’ll go for a role, check out Christian Bale’s performance in The Machinist. He was in that movie right before Batman Begins. It’s a miracle he didn’t die.
Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0fuHY4U1UA