This review may contain spoilers, if you have not watched Captain America: Civil War, I recommend to stop reading and go watch it. Then come back and read and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Right now is a wonderful time for fans of comic books and super heroes. We seem to have an endless stream of film choices out currently and even more coming out and in development. Marvel has a plethora of fans and has a solid lead in the sheer number of movies released in the last few years. Marvel is more than just volume when it comes to their movies: the fantastic quality is what really stands out. The Avengers universe has top the charts, but lets focus on on hero today. Looking specifically at the Captain America movies we see a trend happening: each one is even better than the previous entry. Civil War had some hype built up, just like each movie before it, but it delivered on almost all levels.

This movie was absolutely outstanding and very enjoyable. Someone who hasn’t seen the other movies (I’m not sure such a person exists) can watch this and still have a blast, but obviously it helps to see them all. While the title of the movie only has Captain’s name in it, this movie certainly has a large cast of super heroes.

The plot has the government, and most of the world, growing weary of the Avengers acting without consequences and wants to institute heavy regulations. Captain America/Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) strongly disagrees with government regulation while Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) is experiencing massive guilt at his own actions, and those actions by the Avengers, which leads him to fully support regulation. This creates a split within the Avengers and two “teams” emerge. Siding against regulation with Captain are his old friend and former enemy Bucky/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ant-Man (Paul Rudd). Their affiliation with Bucky brands them criminals in Iron Man’s eyes since he still holds Bucky responsible for past criminal acts. Iron Man gathers heroes to form his own team to uphold peace. His team is War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Vision (Paul Betany), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland). This movie has plenty more story to pair with the brewing war, alongside the moral divide, Colonel Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) is on a mission to control Winter Soldier through mind control and destroy the Avengers.

Let’s talk about the some of the things I loved about this movie. As noted above, the plot is strong and keeps you invested throughout the film. A good story can easily be defeated by weak characters and/or weak actors. Fortunately for us, we have amazing characters played by incredible actors. I do not feel that any of the actors hold the movie back, but there are a few that excelled and stood above the rest. Sebastion Stan, Robert Downey Jr, and Tom Holland are each spectacular in their roles. There are plenty of rabid fans waiting for Holland to star in his own stand alone Spider-Man movie (July 2017) and he showed he can hold his own in a movie full of big name stars. The action is captured well with several cool fight scenes: Black Panther/Winter Soldier/Captain America have an intense combat and chase sequence. One of the biggest scenes in the movie is the airport battle between both sides. All the heroes are gathered and thrown into a massive battle royal. While the action is expected in a super hero movie, humor is sometimes neglected. This movie packs plenty of one-liners and stirs in comedy to lighten the sometimes dark mood. Something we all know Marvel to do particularly well, but it was exceptional in this case.

There is much to love about this movie but there are a few things that lacked the wow-factor. The director was infatuated with shaky camera work during the fights and chases. I can only assume it was to add “impact” to the brawls, however it is so overly shaky that people who suffer from any degree of motion sickness will feel disoriented quickly. Those who do not mind some shaky camera work will even find it excessive. True to the Avenger style, Civil War is not a short movie. At 147 minutes long it can present issues to those who ordered the jumbo size fountain drink, but don’t want to miss any of the action.

Even the few negatives can’t detract from the immense quality of Civil War. This movie is among the best movies in the entire Marvel cinematic universe and among the best super hero movies of all time. As of now, it is my favorite of the Avengers Universe and earns only 1 Apology. I can’t wait for more of the movies in the Avengers universe to be released.

-Movie Apologist