Captain America: Civil War – {A Slightly off kilter review}

It is no surprise that I’m a Marvel fan girl.  Definitely not as hard core as some, but a fan nonetheless.  So, when I was offered an opportunity to check out the latest installment in the Marvel Universe, Captain America: Civil War, I jumped at the chance.  Did I care that I had to drive through downtown Austin, during rush hour, taking roughly an hour an a half to drive 23 miles?  Nope.  Did I hesitate to rearrange my evening schedule on a work night?  No.  No I did not. 

There have been movies I’ve done that for and later regretted it and I’m happy to say that this is NOT the case with Civil War.

I try so very hard not to include spoilers in my reviews so that if you haven’t yet seen the movie, you aren’t avoiding my blog… which is difficult when I really want to talk about ALL THE THINGS but I also know how I felt when I learned a certain Game of Thrones tidbit prior to seeing the newest episode so I will do my best.  You’re welcome.

There is so much I love about this particular movie that you see in the previews so I’m not giving anything away – Oh – You haven’t seen a preview?  Which rock have you been living under?  

The premise is simple – Yes, superheroes like the Avengers do good stuff… but there is always collateral damage. And that sucks. So how do we address this? Clearly more government is the answer. A trip down to the local Social Security office will show you how efficient the government can be….

Of course there are conflicting belief structures in place… otherwise, there wouldn’t be the “civil war” part of the movie, right?

The marketing behind this movie is also pretty brilliant to help with creating a bit more buzz (because, you know, no one talks about Marvel movies…) by asking fans to pick a side. {For the record, #TeamCap all the way and I have the T-shirt to prove it}

Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes in Captain America: Civil War.

What Marvel does masterfully is to create an experience where the viewer can truly see both sides. You can see the emotional pull for all the characters as the align where their hearts lead them and the results are nothing short of spectacular.

The action sequences are dizzying in the best of ways and pull you in the way Marvel has done a bajillion times before and hopefully will continue to do, and the balance of the dramatic with the comical makes the 146 minutes pass quickly.

Personally – I think my favorite part of the movie though was the character development. Not just our old favorites as they wrestle with the theme at hand, but the “new” characters introduced. Ok, so they aren’t NEW characters (hence the air quotes) but they are new to the avengers movies up to this point. Additional development of Vision in this move was supremely satisfying in a way that Avengers: Age of Ultron left me wanting.

There were a multitude of deep thoughts sprinkled throughout the film that I really can’t go into without ruining things, but none felt forced or even scripted. I love movies that make you think while pulling at your emotions and then, with perfect comedic timing has you literally laughing out loud and everything about this movie did just that.

Captain America: Civil War

I honestly don’t know what was more amazing – The fact that people STILL don’t stay until the very end… The fact that there was NO line in the ladies room after the movie… or the fact that this might be my favorite Marvel movie of all time. And I know I’ve said it before, but the reality is that just when I think that Marvel has set the bar high enough that even THEY can’t top their brilliance, they do.

Captain America: Civil War opens in theaters today (or last night if you snagged tickets to the Alamo Drafthouse or other select theaters) and it’s definitely worth seeing in the theater even with your over tub of overpriced popcorn and giant sized beverage that you will be careful not to drink to quickly so that you can avoid running to the bathroom mid-fight scene… And when possible – see it in 3D.  Some of the 3D effects literally made me jump a bit and I’m not certain that would have been as effective in 2D.

So that said… Whose side are YOU on?

*****Edited to add****

I got a question from a fan about whether or not to take their child so let me weigh in here.  Captain America: Civil War is rated PG-13 for the action and “violence” in the film.  There was probably some minor profanity too but y’all know my ears don’t hear that shit.

That said – YOU ARE THE EXPERT WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR KID.  Make the decisions that make sense for you and your family.  Some kids as young as 6-7 I’d have no qualms about taking to see the movie.  I *may* have shared “the look” with my BFF when we were at the movie when a child was crying and needed to be removed but that was more about the interruption of the movie when I was distracted by a crying child and less about the parenting choices being made…  Even at the pre-screening there were children of many ages present so would I take MY kids?  Absolutely without question.  Should you take YOURS?  Depends on whether or not they can be trusted to sit through the whole thing.  Otherwise you’re going to be missing something major.  It’s murphy’s law after all…