Despite living in the UK and being able to see Captain America Civil War since April 29th, I only got around to seeing it today due to work towards my final essay for university taking up my time. Now it's done, I treated myself to Civil War to see if it would live up to my hype. I'm just back from seeing it the first time as I write this small blog up. Full disclosure, this won't be a full review like another certain review of mine, this will be more of a bullet pointed summary mixed in with small analysis and criticism where I feel like it. Oh and obviously SPOILER WARNING: Full Spoilers will be discussed below.

What I Liked

• I imagine this might be a topic of contention on some of the spoiler boards on CV and beyond, but despite the sprawling cast in CW, I didn't feel like it was overbloated or crowded. Every major character of the Avengers had their own moments, their own perspectives and contributions to the overall narrative of the story. Sure the focus was on Tony and Steve's ideological clash of values, but everyone had their own thoughts and feelings on what was going on. It wasn't like two gears turning the clock so much as it was all the gears meshing together if you'll forgive the metaphor. That was just how I felt about it.
• Almost all the actors gave their characters great motivation, assisted by a tight and polished script. Evans especially keeps on impressing me with his well rounded and versatile depiction of Captain America. He can make Cap staunchly principled, vulnerable, a moral paragon or a concerned friend at will, definitely a personal favourite CBM performance. Downey Jr was also given more room to flesh out his depiction of Tony Stark in a manner he hasn't really had a chance to do since Iron Man IMO. We see how Tony's sensibilities have changed in a more conservative manner through the statesman's son's death in Sokovia, how he's willing to work with the government and put in check and that he's not willing to be totally unreasonable about Cap's motivations for going rogue.
• Again, the supporting cast get some great moments. I was particularly fond of the Vision's scenes as I felt left wanting more after AOU. CW continues his journey of understanding humanity and his logical motives for siding with the Pro Sokovia Accords side made perfect sense, even though Vision was on the Anti Reg side in the comics. Wanda goes through her own neat mental journey in the film, Rhodey is ever the military man, Sam is Steve's reliable wingman, Widow has a complicated relationship with the Sokovia accords to say the least, it's all good. No one feels truly wasted from my first watch.
• I was glad to see that the Russos continued what they did with the Hydra and The Winter Soldier backstory (although I had to take a 'break' at the Sam/Steve interrogation scene so my dad had to fill me in) Adding the trigger words, the existence of more Hydra super soldiers who were hard to control (thus accounting for why Hydra didn't just use them to overthrow SHIELD and take over the world) as it felt narratively organic for their approach to the Captain America films.
• Speaking of narrative, a great deal of it flowed just as well as it did in Winter Soldier. From Rumlow's biological weapon heist resulting in the death of Wakandans, to King T'Chaka's support of the Sokovia Accords and his death, there were a few such connections that paid off as the film went on. Just like any good story told by film should. Moreover, the Russos applied the grounded tone of TWS and did so effectively to superhuman characters. The Vision felt just as human (in a robotic way) as the other characters for instance, just that he was a synthetic being with a cosmic power source in his head.
• I suppose it will be asked in the few comments this blog gets given my position on MOS' approach to collateral damage, so to pre-answer those questions, I much preferred this approach on collateral damage to the other one. When Wanda moved the bomb from the street but couldn't avoid it blowing up a large part of the building, people died and the consequences were addressed. When the Sokovia Accords meeting was bombed, the consequences and loss of life drove the narrative on. It wasn't just an colossal number of deaths or a massive amount of CGI/real explosions, this felt like a battle of superheroes had consequence. The heroes, government and villains had different ways of dealing with it and both sides had fair and decent arguments, Clint's get off your ass line and Tony's put in check speech in particular. I'll be up for clarifying further if needed.
• And that brings me neatly onto the Sokovia accords. Unlike with the Civil War comic, where frankly Tony comes off like an authoritarian fascist and the Pro Reg side does some seriously questionable actions, here the Pro Sokovia and Anti Sokovia sides both have justified arguments. And no punches are pulled in the clash of ideologies and worldviews, there are points to both sides, even if you don't agree. I think I saw one thread 'Iron Man was right, Cap was wrong' or something, but the point is neither side is outright villified. Sure Tony keeps Wanda under lock and key and Cap focuses on personally protecting Bucky but there are serious ideas that aren't discussed pretentiously or trying to be more than they are. The debate is plain for the audience to see.
• Plainly, it's the two guest stars which make this movie even more special. Boseman won me over on his Black Panther I have to say, his accent is solid and shows he did do his research as said, his motivations are much different to the MCU characters we're used to seeing, his fighting style and suit are absolutely badass and ultimately his arc is handled with the care and attention it deserved of Black Panther. On the other hand, the Wonder Woman of Civil War is just as cheerworthy as she supposedly was. God damn Marvel, you got Spider-Man right. Not just Raimi right, true to comics right. Holland surprised me greatly and stole the show, even with funny man Paul Rudd around. It's probably been said a lot already, but obviously this is probably the best live action Spider-Man to date. The set up of his amateur vigilante exploits was explored uniquely, the jokes and quips are the most Spider-Man like to date, he moved and fought like Spider-Man and I think I detected a bit of a Queen's accent as well. That really sold me and I look forward to seeing both characters in the MCU.
• Obviously one does go and see a Marvel film for the action as well as story and the action is easily the best to date for me. The fight scenes were superbly choreographed, the special effects on each character's powers were brilliant, the action was kept tense and well paced and that made the best fight scenes in a CBM I have ever seen. The airport fight is undoubtedly the most comic book fight fanservice that has ever been put into a CBM fight scene. Even with the Battle of New York in Avengers, the highway fight in the Winter Soldier and the Battle of Sokovia in AOU, this fight still did things that wowed and surprised me. Spider-Man and Ant-Man's contributions were a big part of that excitement obviously,. And the final fight was just as satisfying due both to the choreography and intense action, but also the intensity of emotions and personal reactions to what Zemo revealed. It gives me high hopes for what to expect in The Infinity Wars or whatever they're going to be called.
• Oh yeah and the twists were great too. I saw one of them coming from the beginning (and was glad they followed through with it) but the other did catch me out.

What I didn't Like

"Oh no, this review is too positive, you're clearly a DC hater and an MCU fanboy" says the imaginary critic of this piece. Although I really liked this movie, not everything can be perfect. As I shall concede below.

• So let's get Zemo out of the way. I don't actually think he's a weak or a bad villain, I actually think he was a decent villain and he succeeded where others failed. I just didn't really see him as Zemo, or that the outcome of the movie couldn't have been reached without Zemo's interference. One way or another, I think the Sokovia Accords would have been introduced and that Tony would have found out Bucky killed his parents as the Winter Soldier. So yeah sort of contradictory, but that's my opinion on it.
• The Sharon Carter romance felt tacked on, came out of nowhere and added absolutely nothing to the film. Not to mention it was kind of creepy what with Steve having a thing for Sharon's aunt back in the day. Honestly the best romance in the MCU has been Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, which is weird.
• Likewise, I felt the exclusion of Pepper wasn't really addressed convincingly, it was just tacked on to try and reconcile the end of Iron Man 3 with AOU and CW. Can't say I'll miss Paltrow or Portman from the MCU but it
• Nothing really came of Martin Freeman's character of Everitt Ross unlike William Hurt's General Ross. He was more of a placeholder when he was rumoured to have a bigger role.
• There were probably a few plot holes too, like how Bucky couldn't be found for two years and then suddenly he's found when he hears about him being framed for the bombing of the Accords meeting. Or why Zemo left the body of the psychiatrist in the freaking bath instead of burying him somewhere secluded. Fortunately you have to look for them in this film.
• Although Captain America was the main focus of the film, it is essentially Avengers 2.5 in the most obvious way compared with Iron Man 3 and The Winter Soldier. They may as well have called it Avengers Civil War to boost box office profits. It is a shame Captain America's third film got hijacked to be Avengers 2.5.
• Lastly, as a battle boards debate, I did feel it was a little inconsistent for Iron Man to be in as much trouble as he was against Steve alone. Don't get me wrong, there were actual justifications such as the multiple damages to his suit and didn't affect my enjoyment, but Friday stating "You can't beat him in hand to hand combat" felt a little off to my battle board sensibilities and believability of how the fight would go. Tony's Mark 1 took a tank shell to the chest and was fine for instance.

Verdict

Despite the larger cast, bigger story and potential to make things overcrowded, I didn't feel that way about Captain America Civil War. It was a near perfect balance and storm of enjoyment. It was a political thriller when it wanted to be, it was a superhero ensemble when it wanted to be, it was a discussion of freedom of choice vs government oversight when it wanted to be, it was funny when it wanted to be, it was serious when it wanted to be, it could be about values and freedom versus vengeance and collective good. And it didn't hurt it was a damn fine superhero brawl when it wanted to be. Ultimately it was an incredibly satisfying movie that was just what the MCU needed after AOU and Ant-Man, a helluva strong start to Phase 3. Despite the aforementioned potential pitfalls in the first sentence, it's easily the match of The Winter Soldier as my joint favourite MCU film, knocking the first Avengers off the second place spot.

Score: 9/10

Hope you found this waffling rambling 'review' a decent read, feel free to share your thoughts about Civil War in the comments.