Movie Brief: Captain America Civil War

The Avengers sequel Captain America: Civil War has finally hit the big screen! In the much anticipated film, superheroes face-off in a battle that could destroy them all. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Ironman (Robert Downey Jr.) aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, which leads the other crusaders having to choose a side.

Whether you are #TeamCap or #TeamIronman, check out my radar rating to see how the latest Avengers flick measures up on my radar rating.

Plot: I went into the screening neutral—just call me Switzerland. But once the 3D film started to role, I bounced between routing for Captain America, then Ironman, and back to Captain America. Besides being the ultimate superhero specimen, you can’t help but love the honest and loyal persona of the 100-year-old soldier—he is hot, but has heart too—which is at the route of what ignites the war among the Avengers. After being confronted by the U.N. regarding the aftermath of their last mission that left innocent people dead, it’s made clear that going forward, there actions would need to be governed by the government. This notion doesn’t sit well with Steve—along with learning of his friend Winter Soldier a.k.a. Bucky Barnes surfacing again and being wanted dead or alive. Steve is reluctant to yield control to a system that he believes is susceptible to corruption. In contrast, Ironman a.k.a Tony Stark, is willing to comply and adamant that all the others fall in line, especially Scarlet Witch a.k.a. Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), whose fire-yielding force recently resulted in civilian casualties.

Engagement: You can’t help but be fixated on every butt-kicking move in this action flick. There’s a lot of it, butt-kicking I mean, and it’s high-octane, especially from Black Widow a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), who can literally take down any foe by herself. But after siding with Captain America in the superhero civil war, she doesn’t have to go it alone and joins Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man a.k.a. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hawkeye a.k.a. Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), and Falcon a.k.a. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to battle Ironman and his team. Team Ironman includes Black Widow, Spider-Man a.k.a. Peter Parker (Tom Holland), War Machine a.k.a. Lieutenant James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Vision (Paul Bettany), and a new character to hit the scene, Black Panther a.k.a. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is out to revenge the death of his father, whom he believe was killed by Winter Soldier.

Style: Supercharged costumes make this film super sleek, from Falcon’s removable wings to the Black Panther’s steely claws, and of course, there’s our favorite classics including Captain America’s patriotic suit and shield, as well as Ironman’s red and gold metallic body armor. The highlight of the film however was the CGI makeover that gave us a peek at a teenage Tony Stark. It was so realistic, it will make you do a double take!

Release: Friday, May 6th

Image source: Walt Disney Pictures