Last night I saw the midnight showing of the new Captain America movie - and my God it was one hell of a roller coaster ride! The title is not kidding when it says 'Civil War' because this really is a war between the Avenger team. Friends are fighting friends, and they're not holding punches, to say the least, Marvel were not holding back when making this movie. It has to be seen to be believed.
You may be thinking just why I'm saying that - the trailer gives the plot away right? They're all fighting over the Sokovian Accords. Wrong!
Well, half right, there's other things at play here too, which I won't go into for spoiler reasons. What I will say is that the trailers are completely misleading, Marvel have presented every clip to look one way, when in the actual film, it's going another. They've actually used different takes in some cases than they do in the film, to mislead it's audience. And somehow, that really, really works. You expect a scene to be going in one direction, then Marvel throw the curve ball at you and leave you reeling.
To say the least, this film is two and a half hours of tense fighting, mainly focusing on Chris Evan's Captain America, and Robert Downey Jnr's Iron Man. Characters like Black Widow, Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye and Vision are involved, but the argument is centered around Cap and Tony Stark. It's agonising to watch their friendship deteriorate, even as they desperately try to stay friends, while remaining on opposite sides. What I enjoyed about this was that the character did try to talk it out, and that both sides of the argument were shown.
In this film, there is no right and wrong, there is just Steve Roger's opinion, and Tony Stark's, and you as the audience member can choose which side you are on. It's a tough one to call though, both sides have their good arguments, and both sides also have their bad. Both make mistakes along the way, both try to do what they think is the right thing, and they are both right in their own ways. Even now, I'm still on the fence about which side I'm on, I still honestly do not know. I don't think I ever will choose a side for definite, it's just too difficult to call.
Besides all this angst and pain, the film is also surprisingly funny in places. Paul Rudd's Ant Man is as funny as his solo film, Bucky and Falcon have sort of teamed to make a great double act, who bounce off each other, and Steve Roger's well.
And, who'd have thought it, but Spiderman is hilarious in places. Honestly, I never find Spiderman funny, in fact, I generally find him a bit tedious and boring. But this film really brings him to the fore, in some ways he and Black Panther steal the show. For once Peter Parker is compelling, actually looks like a teenage boy, and acts like it too. Tom Holland did a fantastic job playing him, and I feel like after his own solo film, I may actually become a Spiderman fan.
Likewise, Black Panther was not what I was expecting. For some reason, I was expecting a more wild character, someone who would not listen to anybody and would act within his own needs, but I was wrong. T'Challa is incredibly regal and calm, willing to listen, yet absolutely lethal in his search for revenge. I don't know much about his character history, but his future in the MCU is going to be very interesting to say the least.
All in all, Captain America: Civil War is a masterpiece, possibly the best Marvel movie to date. The ending is unexpected in a lot of ways, and is going to lead perfectly into Avengers: Infinity War. There's brilliant light and shade throughout, you will laugh and cry for the entire film. There's only a few niggles I have with the film, and those are either down to personal preference, or because I was expecting something different (mostly at the end credit scenes, of which there are two. The scenes are good, but I was expecting a different character to be in one, but that's just me). But this film is incredibly, honest to God amazing.
And one thing is for certain, the Avengers will never be the same again after this.
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