In this current era of comic book movies being all the rage at the box office, it seems only natural that we’ve gone past the traditional narratives of superheroes battling supervillains, and have ended up in the next inevitable level of story… heroes versus heroes. This year already gave us BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, which used the iconic heroes fighting one another as an interest point, even if the real purpose of that film was to set up a Justice League film. But Marvel has done their cinematic world building, and already has two AVENGERS movies under their belt, and they’ve smartly set up plot points that easily lead into the screenplay of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. Based loosely on the comic book mini-series story called “Civil War” that came out a decade ago, the basic concept revolves around the government wanting to regulate and control superheroes and their actions, with Tony Stark/Iron Man on that side of the argument, and Captain America very much against it. But when both sides think they’re doing the right thing, can anyone actually “win” when the dust settles?

Picking up where AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER left off, the new story opens with Captain America (Chris Evans) along with Avengers teammates Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) tracking down Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones (Frank Grillo) in a foreign country, but unfortunately things go bad and innocent people die. This is yet another incident giving the world a reason to fear the actions of The Avengers, and it leads to Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt) calling a meeting with the heroes to discuss the institution of accords that will regulate their actions. Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) agrees with these ideals, and this causes a rift between The Avengers. Adding to these problems, Cap’s old friend Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is being hunted by the government and soon is thought to be responsible for a horrible assassination that draws hatred from Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) of Wakanda… a man that also has a secret persona. With many looking for The Winter Solider wanting justice, Captain America wants to get to his friend first and find out what’s really going on. And his efforts to keep Bucky safe set off a chain of events that pit hero against hero, but who is pulling the strings behind it all? Is Bucky really a monster who kills people without control? Will these events destroy The Avengers forever?

As complex as THE AVENGERS movies are, I don’t envy The Russo Brothers (co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo) having to juggle the large number of characters or complicated events in a movie like this. Not only do they have to handle the superhero politics that drive the basic conflict, but they also find themselves responsible for introducing a major new player in the game with Black Panther, and re-introducing a Marvel mainstay with a new version of Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland)… and they handle it all beautifully. It says a lot that they could pepper in two new major superheroes almost effortlessly without the benefit of giving them their own standalone productions first. It’s also impressive that both new characters are some of the best parts of this film, making big impressions with limited screen time. Chadwick Boseman delivers Black Panther as an awesome character that holds his own with the other heroes, and effectively come across as a regal Prince from a mysterious foreign land. T’Challa is done so well, he may be one of my favorite Marvel movie heroes to date. And Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is executed with perfection as well, brought back into the cinematic universe in just the right amounts. Holland’s take on Peter Parker finally feels like the wide-eyed kid who is just trying to figure it all out, and is just as wowed by the spectacle before him as all of us. Even in the Spider-Man costume, he’s appropriately in awe of what’s going on around him, and for the first time ever this finally feels like the Spidey we’ve come to know and love from the comics.

The balance of Tony Stark being an antagonist while not quite being a villain is cleverly played, as we the audience can see both sides of the situation. The collateral damage created by the heroes and their actions is acknowledged in an organic and believable way, and it’s reasonable to think governments would want to establish some level of control over all the superheroics. But unlike the Civil War comic book storyline, the movie makes things a little more personal, turning the focus of Cap’s actions more toward protecting his friend Bucky and making it less about the proposed accords. In some ways this lessens the impact of the battle and keeps it more contained and private – the comics had our heroes fighting in the streets and toppling cities, the destruction of which directly led to them stopping in order to not make things worse. Here it’s that sort of destruction that leads to the accords in the first place. There’s also some puppet master type shenanigans going on that round out the final act, which ultimately draws the narrative away from the mega-battle that takes up the middle portion of the story.

The big set piece everyone will be talking about actually occupies the middle of the production, and is so awesome we’re left reeling from it for quite a while after. This is something CIVIL WAR handles right that BATMAN v SUPERMAN didn’t quite get. The centerpiece melee audiences are mainly going to see isn’t the ending of the film, but here it happens and allows for the story to continue and play out the right way. In BATMAN v SUPERMAN the big hero battle happens and leads right into an even bigger battle, which just felt like a rushed mess, and in essence took away from the main selling point. And again, this is a credit to The Russo Brothers finding ways to make a complex story work and flow well without rushing story points to get there. CIVIL WAR does feel a tad long and at times talky at two hours and 26 minutes, and it does suffer one of the recurring problems a lot of Marvel movies have, in that the villain is underdeveloped and a bit weak – the normally excellent Daniel Bruhl does the best he can as Zemo, but it’s just not a strongly-written character. But those shortcomings aren’t nearly enough to damage the overall effect of the finished product.

While this is at its core a Captain America movie, and Chris Evans does a fine job in the lead, it works because it’s a strong example of a solid ensemble piece. In many ways this easily could have been another AVENGERS movie as well, and it does make you wonder just how much bigger in scope the next team film could possible be. Keep in mind, pretty much everyone in the Marvel cinematic universe is here, with the exception of Thor and Hulk. There’s just something so great about seeing Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Vision (Paul Bettany) and others pop up even for brief moments, giving the Marvel cinematic universe a true interconnecting feel that matches that of the comics. Perhaps the one thing missing from CIVIL WAR is a tease or connecting point for the next AVENGERS adventure, in which the heroes take on Thanos (my favorite Marvel villain) and the Infinity Gauntlet (part of my favorite Marvel story). And that two-part epic is also being helmed by The Russo Brothers, so considering they’re two for two on Marvel movie home runs, I think we’re in good hands. If pressed, I think I’d still say THE WINTER SOLDIER is the better Captain America movie, but CIVIL WAR is a pretty solid third entry in Cap’s film franchise and easily one of the best Marvel movies to date. Make sure to stay through the credits to see not one but two stingers.

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