I used to Like Captain America cos he was hot; now I Love him cos he has Substance

There's no denying that the Superhero franchises are not giving us the chance to escape their clutches this year. From the moment Deadpool burst into our lives re-born (and mother-f*íng awesomely) created we knew we were in for the cinematic equivalent of finding extra fries at the bottom of your food bag. Ryan Reynolds managed to recover from the mess that was Green Lantern (where the only plus was him meeting his baby mama, Blake Lively.) Deadpool is not for everyone though, PLEASE don't watch with any prudes you may know.

Coming down from the high of Deadpool : Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice made me regret ever walking into the cinema. It wasn't that the movie was inherently bad, it just wasn't as good either. It left me feeling... NOTHING. I'm not excited for the next; I'm not sitting in anticipation for the story to be constructed; nothing. Absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, DC made the mistake of trying to create a "Marvel Universe" in 1 film (with very little dialogue & terrible dramatic pauses), whereas Marvel took 8 years to build up to the climax, cue: Captain America: Civil War. No guesses for where I fall in the Marvel vs DC debate as of late.

Captain America: Civil War

The Plot: 

"Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must pick a side." (Summary by Google :)) - Yes. I'm that lazy today!

The Review:

Critics are saying that this might be the best Marvel Universe film in the entire series. And although that might seem extreme, I have to agree with them. Not only was the story so well conceived and weaved with everything that came before (& most importantly, what's still to come) but it was just plain & simply enjoyable. The usual amount of wit & humour was upped (probably by the inclusion of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Tom Holland as Peter Parker) . 

The action "more believable" and instead of overly dramatic pauses to prolong fight scenes,  we had genuine feeling and emotion from the characters. My favourite new inclusion into the mix would be Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther:The prince of the African nation of Wakanda. Not only because of his fluent sounding Xhosa but also how he totally embodied the Wakandan Prince / Panther role. 

Another one of my favourite character's-that-have-been-given-more-scope is Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter. I like that Marvel hasn't rushed her into a relationship with Cap, but instead are allowing them to "get to know each other", like any normal relationship would develop. I also enjoyed that she's been toughened enough to be in the same scenes as Black Widow. Strong female characters often get lost in the throws of male ego, but these femme fatales hold their own. 

I really enjoyed the villain choice with Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo. Although he seemed to only play a catalystic role rather than antagonist  it didn't really matter. With a Tarantino film in his repertoire it's hard to imagine why we don't see more of him. One of my other favourite movies he's done is of course, Rush, where he played a young Niki Lauda. 

Overall I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and think that phase 3 of the Marvel universe is off to a very good start indeed. I fully intended to be #TeamIronMan but somewhere along the line and somehow I felt myself being pulled over to the "Dark Side" of #TeamCaptainAmerica . You'll have to draw your own battle lines though. The pure quality of story-telling & movie making has got me excited and enticed for Doctor Strange later this year.  All I ask is that, for the love of Aunt May's hotness, please don't ever leave the cinema before the final credits (& secret endings!!! duh) have rolled on a Marvel film, you won't be disappointed. (Just nerd out like cosplayers at comic-con).