Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

Starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl and Tom Holland we venture again to theaters to see the third installment of the Marvel Comic book franchise titled “Captain America: Civil War”

PLOT: We find the principle hero “Captain America” aka Steve Rogers leading a newly formed team of Avengers in their pursuit to safeguard all of humanity. But after an international incident involving the Avengers that resulted in large human collateral damage, world political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by an international governing body to oversee and direct the Avengers team. The restrictions fractures the Avengers into different camps with one led by Steve Rogers who desires his Avengers team to remain free to defend humanity without government interference and the other group who are following Tony Stark’s aka “Iron Man” decision to support government oversight and accountability.

MY REVIEW: Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo “CA: CW” delivers very, very satisfying entertainment as we watch our Marvel heroes battle both villains and their personal mistrust with each other. But more importantly, its rare when you see an action comic film where the Director(s) takes the time to exhibit real emotional DNA inside their characters comparably to their particularity super strengths. In this "CA:CW", all of the Avengers seem more like real life human beings than just plain comic book heroes.  We get to see their emotional landscapes as they reflect on inner personal thoughts, motivations, fears, and friendships with genuine well written intelligent conversations.

Its other strength is more visual and is rooted in the well-orchestrated action scenes. Clearly influenced by previous recent films you will see the Russo brothers shoot all of their close quarters action fight sequences very similar to the look that is indicative of the Matt Damon Jason Bourne films with its close camera range hand to hand combat and frequent editing style,  while the multiple chase scenes are eerily similar to last year’s “Mad Max; Fury Road” with its very stylized breakneck speed on wheels.

There is nothing super memorable in this movie nor does it offer up any real surprises per se, but this version of Captain America still works exceptionally well because the casting of this large ensemble of fine actors work so well together. You mix in a solid plot and subplots along with the right amount of well-timed humor and witty banter (there is a short but funny scene involving a VW Beetle) “CA: CW” never falters once during its 2:30 minutes running time.

So, I say T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five (main engines start), four, three, two, one and you will have lift off to the opening summer movie season with high energy, smart and thrilling execution in the heartfelt “Captain America’s Civil War on the Bourne Supremacy Fury Road”.

3 - 3/4 Stars