Captain America - Civil War - A Spoiler-Free Review

After twelve superheroe movies successes, I keep waiting for Disney/Marvel to stumble. Not that I want them to, but I feel that at some point the Marvel Superhero movie ride has got to stop. I thought the same with Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. But, neither of those missed the mark, and neither does Captain America Civil War.

Captain America Civil War is a great comic book movie. It builds on the twelve movies that came before it and it really feels organic and a natural progression. I feared that such a large cast of heroes
would be mishandled, but they weren't. We got individual moments with all of them that and their
interactions really made the whole better than the sum of the parts.

The tone is more adult as the film deals with some serious issues and for the majority of the movie
there's no clear villain for them to fight. They're fighting their identity and ideals in a world that
doesn't understand them and is afraid of them.

This film succeeds because it has heart. A lot of heart, humanity, and a good dose of humor that balances a lot of the story's tension and conflict

While I did miss Thor and the Hulk, Spider-Man and Black Panther were pleasant surprises. Tom Holland as Peter Parker stole the show from Downey Jr. in their scenes together. I was really
happy with the amount of screen time Spidey got and I'm really looking forward to seeing his
feature film. And the same with Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and I can't wait to see how
they explore Wakanda.

Despite a running time 2 hrs 26mins, the movie didn't feel overly long, in fact it left me wanting more.

The only complaint I had was that the film's antagonist wasn't fleshed out, his motivation seemed a bit clumsy.

While the film is the first of the Third Phase of Marvel movies, it wraps up with a new status quo that felt like both an ending and a new beginning. Although we have a vague idea of that new beginning is headed, I guess we'll just have to wait and see where Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 take us.