A mini-Avengers battle...

COLINS FILM CLUB REVIEW - Blu Ray disc CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

We have seen a lot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the years, with the individual origin and background stories to establish the characters of Iron Man, Captain America and others which culminated in the first Avengers film. In each case our heroes have had to deal with personal demons and equally bad ass enemies. The thing is this perfectly balanced universe loves to occasionally throw a huge pebble into the pond and sit back to see how the ripples effect everything, and this is exactly what Captain America: Cival War does. The fallout is largely between Cap (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jnr) after a mission in Lagos goes badly wrong and there are human casualties. The Government's of the World decide to shackle the Avengers with red tape and a huge document called the Sokovia Accords, something Tony Stark is fully behind but which Steve Rogers finds hard to accept, especially since there is more going on than meets the eye... enter Bucky Barnes - aka The Winter Soldier, who is later framed for and explosion in Berlin where the Accords are being ratified. The King of Wakunda is killed in the attack and the World hunts down Bucky, except Cap finds him first. We now learn of the real architect behind the events so far is a certain Baron Zemo who lost his family in the Sokovia incident and who plans revolve around pitting the Avengers against themselves as they cannot be beaten otherwise. Using Bucky as the bait, the trap is sprung...!! Civil War has a fairly complexed story which requires a bit of attention, this is a good thing though because although the action scenes are the main stay of the film it's the non-action scenes which have the bulk of the narrative and information you need to gain insight into just how precise and ingenious Zemo's plan is, and although he does not figure a lot during the film the few scenes he is in he makes for a complicated and intriguing character. I'm sure we have not seen the last of him. Now, as I said there are a fair number of action scenes, starting with the apprehension of Crossbones at the start to a frenetic running and car chase which introduces Black Panther to the MCU, and culminating in a brilliant scrap at an airport and the final showdown between Bucky, Cap and Iron Man. As well as Black Panther we see the return of Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch, we also get to see Vision again both in action in the fight scenes and wearing a jumper! Trust me, it happens... plus the brilliant Paul Rudd is back as AntMan, and after resolving various legal issues with Sony, we finally see Spiderman, and you be pleased to know he isn't annoying or a crap bit of CGI either, the scene where Tony first meets him is absolutely delightful! But let's not forget Cap, after all it is his film even if it feels like Avengers 2.5, Chris Evans gets to really shine in this film, although his motives for going against the Accords is a little skewed when it comes to friendships you cannot fault him being loyal to Bucky, they share so much history together and at one point they both remind each other of how old they actually are. As is par for the course with Marvel films today, the SFX is excellent, with moderate use of CGI but also brilliant practical effects as seen in the car chase section and when Cap holds onto a helicopter. Although the film is quite long it's running time is filled with moments which are stand out as far as the MCU is concerned and it's truly a film from which ramifications will be felt... remember the pebble in the pond? Well this film is one damn big ripple which will no doubt be felt for a while by the Avengers, although the friendship between Stark and Rogers, already tested by the Ultron mistake, is put on a knife-edge here. Without giving away too much it's enough to say that the Avengers are fractured possibly beyond repair, with maybe our last look at Cap by the end of it all. Without a shadow of a doubt, Civil War is THE best Marvel film to date... it's well written, well paced and packs a lot in without ever feeling heavy handed. The Russo Brother's who wrote and directed it have pulled off a minor miracle tapping into the events of Age of Ultron whilst setting up at least three more future films - Spiderman Homecoming, Avengers Infinity War 1 & 2. And just how the various Avengers will get back together remains very much up in the air by the end of Civil War. I really enjoyed this film... it's everything a good sci-fi action film should be and it's carried the Marvel story forward into a darker and unpredictable future, truly shaking things up and may even rank up there alongside The Dark Knight as being one of the best Super Hero films as well. The Gag Reel on the extras is a hoot too, and the Blu Ray disc is packed with features. Doesn't matter if you saw it at the cinema, just get a copy on DVD and Blu Ray today...

A superbly plotted ensemble cast-film, each character is given enough screen time and the carefully woven story end in one of the best Marvel hero punch-up`s yet seen on screen.

COLINS FILM CLUB RATING

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