Captain America: Civil War Review
Technical Rating
Plot and Story: 24/35
Cinematography: 17/25
All Editing: 11/15
Acting: 10/15
Script: 6/7
Musical Score and Soundtrack: 2/3
Total: 70/100
It’s kinda ironic that I’m the first writer on the site to see this one, given that I’m already so fed up with all superhero movies in general. Aside from Deadpool, it seems like their creative capacity is really running out. They pulled out all the stops for this one, however, in an effort to outdo Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it worked out well. Far from the flop of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War makes a battle of good guys seem semi-legit, giving the comic book geeks the spectacle they’ve been dreaming about for so long. I was pleasantly surprised by their ability to pull it off, producing a movie that I’m confident will break the box office come opening weekend.
It’s like Avengers on beaver tranquilizers (get that reference?) with so many superheroes jumping in the action that I could hardly keep up. Like I said, I’m not a superhero guy, nor a superhero, but I really enjoyed this movie. I don’t know in detail nor care about how well it connects to the other plot lines, but in itself, it is a pretty great movie. Luckily I went with a friend who is in fact a superhero nerd, and he confirmed that the linkages made sense.
Given that 1) you’re going to see this movie no matter what and 2) it’s too hard to talk in-depth without spoiling the surprises (don’t look at the cast list on IMDB if you’re worried about that), I’m going to talk about the technical aspects, which I believe, for a superhero film, are very impressive.
Aside from the “Civil War” concept being believable, the story also isn’t super predictable, with several twists and turns that keep the viewer interested and excited each time another cameo is made. The cinematography was pretty creative at times, but the editing is really what stood out to me. Given the diversity of heroes in the movie, the setting is constantly changing. In order to help the viewer understand, the editors used white titles of cities for changes in location and years for flashbacks. Locations changed so often that it became a really neat feature of the film. The acting was better than expected for a superhero movie, and I was particularly pleased with Tom Holland’s job as Spiderman. Lastly, the script was superb. Like the Avengers movies, the film was just as action packed as it was funny, every fight scene accompanied with quips to lighten the mood. Then at times when you least expect it, s**t gets real, giving the movie some substance to go with the fun.
I only have one major critique: the opening scene was sub par. For a movie this fantastical, I expected it to start with a bang, or at least begin in an interesting way. The scene they used is very important to the story, but they could have filmed it much more creatively, or started with something different and added in the back story later. Anyways, go check it out on May 6th. You’re going to like it even more than you expect.
