CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

“I'm sorry, Tony. He’s my friend.”

“So was I.”

Making a sequel that's on par with Winter Soldier was always going to be a challenge. After all, that movie is one of Marvel’s best. Somehow though, the Russo Brothers have done just that.

Captain America: Civil War is a sequel to both Winter Solider and Age of Ultron. While the Civil War aspect of things come from the events of both Avengers movies, the base relationship at the heart of this film between the Cap and Bucky is definitely a continuation of the Winter Soldier story. On paper, that’s challenging, as it means a lot is going on. But once those two stories begin to intertwine, things get easier. And it works really well.

One of the things I like most from the story aspect of things is that this movie addresses something both Avengers movie mostly glazed over: Collateral damage. Yes, the final fight scenes in those movies are about saving the day. That’s the point. But what about the people who don’t get saved? The fact that Civil War looks back at this, and uses it as the bases for the movie works great. It allows you to see both sides of the fight, and that in some ways, both sides aren't necessarily right or wrong. And, because you get to see the two sides of the argument, you get a whole lot of characterisation. The clearest case of this is Tony Stark himself. The events of the movies have changed him, and you might notice he's a lot less jokey than he used to be.

Civil War features a host of characters, most of whom you saw in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It does however, bring two new superheroes to the table: Black Panther and Spider-Man. Yes, that’s right, the wall crawler is finally part of the MCU. And, along with Black Panther, he serves as one of the movie’s definite highlights. Black Panther definitely gets more of the spot light than Spider-Man, but I think that’s a good choice. Audiences know Spider-Man’s story. Maybe not this one’s, but they get the jist. Too many though, Black Panther is someone they haven’t heard of. Not yet, anyway. This year really is turning out to be the year of definitive. First, we had Ryan Reynolds as the definitive Deadpool. Next, we had Jon Bernthal as the definitive Punisher. Then Ben Affleck as Batman. And now, we have Tom Holland as Spider-Man.

Of course, no movie is without downfalls. And, from my first viewing at least, one is abundantly clear, the movie’s behind the scenes villain, Zemo. I don’t know much about the character comics-wise, but I’m pretty sure he’s a bit more than a guy who’s angry because his family died. He’s one of those villains, that as you watch heroes go head to head, you’ll forget that he’s even in the movie. He’s the initial spark for some of the plot in the movie, but, beyond that, that character could have been anyone.

The rest of the cast does a great job, as always, of bringing their characters to the screen, especially in the Airport fight scene, the big clash between heroes. In simple terms, that fight is freakin’ awesome. I’m not going to say anymore, because some of the best parts are spoilers. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. do great jobs in bringing their characters back the big screen, in roles that by now they've pretty much perfected. Talking of the cast, one of the funnier aspects of the movie was the jokes between Falcon and Bucky. You don't really expect them, which helps make them that much better.

I’ll be honest, apart from the famous moments, I don’t know much about the Civil War comic. I’m guessing they’ve had to change a lot of it to make it fit in with the universe the movies have created, but that’s fine. It allows for the Russos to add in their own twists to the mix. Safe to say, with their quite frankly great work on both Winter Soldier and Civil War, I think Avengers: Infinity War is in good hands. Captain America: Civil War not only serves as a good, no, great entry in the series on the whole, but also acts as a good debut for Black Panther and Spider-Man. It once again shows off the Russo Brothers' ability to take these characters, both new and old, from the page to the big screen and add a compelling story to drive them on.