Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Avengers Phase 3 kicks off in brilliant style with Captain America: Civil War

So let’s take a look at the intro to Phase 3 and what it means to the world’s favourite super team.

Now I was worried about this one, considering how much we saw in the trailers and character profiles in the build up to the film’s release, but I was pleasantly surprised that not only was most of the bulk of the action NOT in the trailers for once, but there is SO MUCH more in this film.

There are some mild spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched it yet, stop reading now!

Ok, the biggest thing they teased in Captain America: Civil War was of course the Spiderman reveal, with Tom Holland taking over the webs now and Marisa Tomei taking over as a much younger than normally portrayed Aunt May. Which also brings some fun into the script with a, now single, Tony stark being somewhat attracted to her (that would be a VERY interesting twist) as he not only finds Peter, but sits down and becomes a mentor for him before making him his snazzy new suit.

Captain America: Civil War has been called Avengers 2.5, but it’s really not. What it IS is a start of a change of guard in the actor and character department that actually works really well and kicks off the Phase 3 run of films in BIG style. What really stands out here is the choreography of the fights. Every one of them is gritty, hard and brutal… But all of them are fantastic to watch and make you route for both sides evenly.

The biggest thing that shocked me in this change of guard is how they have not been afraid to seriously hurt characters that may, or may not, be back later. We already know theres no Iron Man 4 on the books, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, as he is in the first Spiderman film next year.

But of course the BIGGEST thing about this film is the bringing back together of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and the history not only between them both, but the other big characters. If you’ve read any of the comics, or know anything about Winter Soldier, one of the big reveals won’t come as a shock, but I heard gasps throughout the cinema while I was there from people who obviously didn’t know. What really stood out was how this effected other relationships Steve Rogers has, like with Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and, as we knew, but also revealed, Peggy carters niece, Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and how things are changing so much in the universe since Tony’s reveal of himself as Iron Man, like that was a big pivotal moment in the universe (well, it is as far as the governent and, now Secretary of State, Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) is concerned)

As all that is going on, other relationships are changing and evolving. Especially that between Vision (Paul Bettany) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), as he’s cybernetic, her natural aura that puts people off her and make them feel uneasy when she’s around doesn’t affect him and he’s trying to get closer to her, but still not understanding the nuances of having a body, let alone emotions and feelings since becoming Vision. This leads to some sweet, but also cringe worthy moments between the two and other characters too.

Overall this was a great film, one of the best in a while, not guardians of the Galaxy great, but great all the same and a fantastic kick off to the new Phase of the MCU, even if they have cancelled Inhumans and replaced it on the slate.

A solid 8 out of 10!

~Lone