The third installation of the Captain America franchise has hit theatres after a 2-year long wait causing a frenzy that seems to have divided the world into two groups of people: #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan. But is Marvel’s Civil War really worth watching?
In this movie, The Avengers are pressured by countries to give up their freedom and allow the United Nations to restrict their activities due to the increase of innocent casualties, thereby defeating the purpose of being ‘earth’s mightiest heroes’. This caused the group to be divided into two. One, led by Captain America (played by Chris Evans) believed that superheroes should be free to fight for their cause without any government intervention. The other, led by Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr) strongly disagreed.
While this interplay of good vs good (we can’t deny that both teams are ultimately “good” guys) sounds like a promising premise for a Superhero movie, the film is let down primarily due to the lack of *kapow* action. Besides the two major scenes at the start and at the end of the movie, the rest of the scenes trudged along quite sleepily, in my opinion.
The cinematography could also have been improved by including a wider variety of shots like wide shots to see the scale of the fighting scene. Compared to the previous Marvel movies, Captain America: Civil War was disappointing in this aspect.
Nevertheless, the strength of this latest movie from Marvel lies in the character portrayals of Spiderman and Iron Man.
In this movie, Spidey (played by debuting actor Tom Holland), sporting the iconic red and blue costume which was later enhanced by Mr Stark himself, was a more accurate depiction of the original Spiderman in the Marvel comics as he was played by a younger actor who charmed the audience with his cheeky lines and charming smile. This would give comic fans a reason to smile to see a true-to-fiction depiction of their superhero.
The other highlight of this movie was the opening scene, which delved into Iron Man’s past. Often portrayed as someone with an obnoxious character, it is refreshing to understand his past and how that helped to shape his character. This gave many people, myself included, a better appreciation of his character.
Verdict
As far as the plot goes, this movie was pretty good. Not to mention, that famous scene where Captain America flexed some muscle. However, unless you are an avid Avengers fan, you might want to give this one a miss.
Rating: 6/10
