Movie Review: Captain America: Civil War
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- It's an Avengers movie! It's a Captain America movie! It's an Avengers movie AND a Captain America movie! But is it any good?
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This is what happens when people who love a genre make movies in that genre. Sure they want to make money. But if all you want is to make money you end up with really bad super hero movies.
SPOILER, but
I really loved the scene between Stark and Peter Parker, when he asked him why he does the things he does. and he says something like "if you know something bad is happening, and you don't help, it's happened because of you" and that really effects Tony for a sec- because Parker is describing Captain America's position in the argument.
This was pretty much a perfect superhero movie to me. This wasn't just amazingly good at juggling tons and tons of plates, it actually managed to feel more like a comic book in a better way than any other comic book movie. It feels like years of universe building paying off. The humor was appropriate and hilarious, but when it wanted to be somber and dark, it was all the more so by way of contrast. A scene like the one that precipitates the final fight scene would have fallen completely flat in Batman v Superman, but was really painful and convincing in this movie (even the sort-of reconciliation after that was convincing). And yeah, the action and acting are all borderline frustratingly flawless. Honestly, it's amazing how this can be so good and the new DC movies can be so bad.
I watched Civil War last night. I was very impressed with the way they balanced the ginormous cast. It worked beautifully - they were all important.
Love your take on films keep it up
Superman returns will always be the best modern superman next to Tom welling and the Bruce Timm verse
Two comments: SPOILERS: First: Zemo was easily one of the best villains that Marvel has created so far. He spent an entire year meticulously planning his revenge and executed it with cold precision. He took the time to study The Avengers for their weaknesses and used guile to exploit those weaknesses all while remaining undetected. He is the only villain so far to utterly defeat the Avengers, and he didn't throw a single punch. Plus, his emotional reveal at the end was so subtle and real, and his interaction with Black Panther in that scene gave me goose bumps. Second point: Tony's arc was fantastic. I loved how his PTSD, first touched on in Ironman 3, has progressed to the point where Tony is starting to lose everything. This is compounded by his lifelong inability to deal with the pain of losing his parents. He loses Pepper. He loses The Avengers. He loses the ability to make measured decisions, clouding his judgment with emotion and guilt. This gives Zemo an opportunity to manipulate Tony through his insecurities and unresolved issues. Eventually, Tony is prepared to lose his and his friend's freedom for security and relief. Great movie!
WHOA!!! Ice water rather than a Yuengling with a DOUBLE-SHOT of Jager! Refreshing, indeed!
Marvel respects their characters. They respect what made them great to begin with. And that shows in the films. DC seems to be apologetic for theirs, and are constantly trying to make them 'better' for the screen. And that doesn't work. That's the biggest sin of BvS: the characterisations of the core heroes. It could have made such an interesting contrast, but the opportunity was wasted away.
That's a terrible attitude. Just because their plan was ambitious doesn't give them carte blanche to make a bad film. And neither superman nor batman were in character. Unlike the dkr comic. Not to mention the rushed death of superman, which artistically was a complete failure.
A superman who doesn't know what hope is. A batman you doesn't know what justice is. Yeah you're right.
+Zain Shariq Meanwhile, the "Supergirl" show gets her tone just right every single time. Hell, they even get Superman's tone right, and all we ever see of him is a chat window; but even in chat he's presented as relatable, optimistic, encouraging.
Before the Marvel movies, I never knew much about or cared about Captain America, but he's become my favorite Avenger.
My biggest problems with the movies were the sound editing (The score seemed all over the place), and the actual cinematography was really flat. I saw someone somewhere described it as looking like it was shot in the same style as NCIS.
I would say Winter Soldier was perhaps the more fundamentally sound film but at the same time i'd put Civil War ahead if only because CW managed to be just as good a flick but with WAY more they had to deal with. WS might still be the best pure MCU film in some ways but i think CW was a far more impressive feat to pull off. I think Russos may be better Avengers directors than Whedon. They managed to have more characters in CW than AoU and make it all feel focused, tight, and efficient. No jarring "set up" scenes other than the inclusion of new characters
Great review as always Steve!!1
You probably know this, but when Steve Rogers gave up the Captain America role in the late 1980s, it was because the government demanded he work for them on a formal basis, and he refused to become nothing more than an operative and possibly an executioner for the government. If you're looking for the roots of this movie in the comics, I wouldn't look to the "Civil War" storyline nearly as much as I would "Cap No More" (#332 - #350).
DC's big problem remains that it's so eager to prove comics aren't just for kids, they make them as dark and dour and unpleasant as possible. Much the way that teenagers try to prove how adult they are by rejecting the happy and joyful.
+kingbeauregard That's one of DC's big problems. The other big problem they have is that they saw the success Marvel's had with a shared cinematic universe and said "we need one of those" but didn't want to take any effort to lay the groundwork for it like Marvel did. Instead they want to skip to "Justice League" as fast as possible.
This movie was fun, but also predictable and wasteful of the most interesting characters, Spiderman and Black Panther, the latter deserving of his OWN movie. It was, as you said, like a cold refreshing glass of water, I enjoyed it, but it was also just as transparent and ultimately forgettable. Far better than any of the lackluster Avengers, Thor, and last two Iron Man films for sure.
My Top 5 MARVEL Cinematic Universe Movies
5. Captain America: The Winter Solder
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. The Avengers
2. Captain America: Civil War
#1. Captain America: The First Avenger
Honorable Mentions: The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2
DC I hope you're taking notes from Marvel and your animated universe.
Sort of like Kingdom Come is Justice League starring Superman. I just felt that it addressed the issues from the previous Marvel movies a bit.
As an overall quality of film i do feel winter soldier does take the cake by only a little bit, however with CW I personally dont think i've had so much joy in the theater since spiderman 2.
A minor quibble: Too much camera shake in the early action scenes. Otherwise, agreed.
Steve, have you thought about doing a full series covering all of the Marvel Cinematic universe films? I've really enjoyed the three you have covered and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the others.
I like that 4:45-5:32 is a subtle slam at the two last Superman films. I am looking forward to going to see this, thanks.
So the movie was Civil War done right, then? I LOATHED the comics this movie was based on: the conflict was invoked by blatant use of the Idiot Ball, the complexities on the conflict were ruined by having the pro-reg side commit horrible atrocities and STILL claiming they were right in the end, the head-deskingly stupid epilogue that seriously tried to argue superheroes should be more concerned with pop culture than heroic ideals, and worst of all, it facilitated One More Day.
+TB Tabby Yes, it absolutely was. That's why I was so worried about this movie from the day it was announced. Civil War was a terrible crossover "event" in the comics, and I was afraid trying to adapt it to movies would wreck the MCU. Each trailer I saw and especially the good reviews following the overseas release lessened my worries, but going into the theater my thought was "if this is even an okay movie, I'll come out happy." Fortunately, it was much more than just okay.
In this version of Civil War, when characters did things that weren't necessarily right, it was because of believably human mistakes rather than editorially-mandated conflict inducement.
I appreciate the spoiler-free review, Steve. I can hardly wait to see it!
Am I the only one thought this film was good, but not great
100% spot on review, this movie is everything a superhero movie should be and raises the bar!
I liked Civil War, but as far as every character having a purpose I guess that depends on how you define it.
Spider-man felt really shoehorned in. I think this could have been lessened if they had introduced him earlier. I think they should have included Tony's "flashback" scene with his parents as part of the prologue because it makes absolutely no sense for him to use such an intimate and personal moment to some MIT students during a presentation. They should have just laid their cards on the table and showed right away that Bucky killed the Starks and that this was information that was going to come to light in this movie. That creates suspense right away. Then replace that whole MIT student scene with Tony recruiting Peter Parker as a potential Avenger. He was still funding the team so that makes sense and then on the way out of Stark Tower, Tony could have the confrontation with the grieving mother. I think they didn't do anywhere near enough work to make Spider-man's presence organic to the story like they did Black Panther.
You also don't get any sense why Hawkeye is on Cap's side. This may be in a deleted scene somewhere or implied somewhere that I missed, but he is the most bewildering character when you start to think why they are on the side they are on. Ant-Man doesn't have the strongest motivation, but he has history with Falcon. I did think it was weird though how when they recruited him you got the sense they needed his size changing powers for something specific but that doesn't seem to be the case.
These are minor quibbles but they ended up bothering me because I thought the solutions to these problems were so obvious.
+Sequester Zone I think Spider-Man and Ant-Man were recruited because each side wanted someone the other side didn't know about.
MrGBH Yeah, that makes sense to a degree. Like I said, they are minor quibbles, but they still bothered me a little.
Tony got Spidey so he could try to capture people with webs...hoped it would end faster.
FACE That was obviously the plan AFTER he got him but he didn't even really know much about his abilities until he actually met him, so as a reasoning for using him in the first place it doesn't work.
***** He had video of Spidey webbing up a car to stop it hitting a bus, so maybe it was his plan?
As War Machine once said, Spiderman.
You had *one job*.
Great review as always Steve and too support your stance against the DC universe and how they are mishandling their characters. Civil War is indeed a great comic book movie that does indeed wash away the bad after taste from Batman v Superman.If you have time I would like to see you do a comparison between the two movies, just to highlight exactly where Marvel went right and DC went wrong.
I have one problem with this movie SPOILERS
Why didn't Cap tell Tony his parents where kill by HYDRA before all this? If Cap had done that Tony would have probably better understood where Cap was coming from and their fight could have been avoided.
+NapalmTheUsurper he said so. he thought he was protecting tony, but really he was sparing himself the trouble of telling him. It was weakness.
+NapalmTheUsurper As I read it, he knew Tony was pretty volatile, and even if he didn't know specifically it was Bucky what he would have known was that Tony had just blown up his suits the year before and was at least TRYING to work it out with Pepper. Then, when Tony starts getting more suits, getting Tony more mad at Hydra wouldn't help things.
Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch perhaps, but Cap did say it was a mistake on his part not telling Tony, so whatever his reasons, he acknowledges he was wrong.
Yes, yes and yes. This movie is the tonic that we needed after BvS. Great job...I found myself agreeing with everything you said.
Great movie review! Keep doing them!
Steve. Somehow in this video you managed to set my Ps4 in rest mode by voice command. That was not cool. :'(
Just came back from the movie and i agree with everything in this review, also the only swearing in the movie is done by spidy and that blew my mind
I loved the movie, but the ending, just something about it felt off. And I don't know why.
And..... [spoiler below don't extend comments if you don't want to see it]
I wish someone had died. A purposeful death, not just "we need to kill one of the heroes off for the hell of it" but to truly unite the rest at the end.
I loved Spider-Man, was meh about Aunt Mae, but the one thing that I didn't buy is him not knowing at an ATAT was. Otherwise he nailed it.
I was riding the fence most of the movie seeing both sides, but that big reveal with iron man and Captain made me really dislike the captain's I'll look past and save my bestfriend despite the costs. Made me feel like a lot of those casualties throughout the movies by the winter soldier could have been avoided if he'd just man up and realize they aren't kids anymore.
dariusd2003 While overall I was more leaning towards Cap, I do understand that he places far too much on Bucky. But at the same time, the entire Iron Man side was stupid. Yes, innocent lives were lost, but it was absolutely nothing compared to the lives they saved, and they did do everything they could to keep the death count low. Even with the incident in the beginning of the movie, if she hadn't done what she did, even more would have died.
But the one thing that I absolutely loved was even though I sided with Cap more (even though I personally hate Captain America from the comics) both sides were flawed and it showed that there is no perfect answer to the problem.
ok Steve I will take your advice. I will go see the movie. It's on simultaneous release in the UK. (that didn't used to happen? what happened there?)
If America is a Superhero? (bear with me) Take Superman. Say the dilemma is that he gets into a transporter/replicator, is replicated 100 million times, and becomes 100 millionth less super. About as un-Super as an average American male. That way (says The Joker for the sake of continuity, what fucking continuity) you can stand for justice and be really brave, in a story you don't know will end happily. You can stand in front of Black churches and make sure the congregation goes to worship without fear of molestation or fire bombs. You can stand at the entrance to schools and attempt to stop a shooter with fucking assault rifle - so the teachers and pupils don't have to hide. You can stand, I learned this today and I'm just a a little bit emotional about it, In front of a public wash room so that a trans man or woman can go to the washroom of their choice and not fear being beaten up so much that they'd rather hold it in and get an infection. (!!!!)
So that's the Joker's dilemma. Do what America should have done, be what America should always be. But risk being uncool, unsuccessful, vulnerable, die - lose.
My questions
Would Superman take the offer? I would, but I'd want to make sure I stayed as Superman in character NOT sit down while others get sent to the back of the bus. NOT I have to say this, NOT like an average american good guy (who apparently don't enter washrooms or be in any other way good, unless they have a gun).
Would Hollywood bankroll the film. Would anybody watch it?
Would anyone instead say "It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and protect one another. We have nothing to lose but our chains."? And then, DO SOMETHING, I don't know. Arrest some very rich people and empty their bank accounts into the Treasury, claim 2nd ammendent rights on the grounds that Stuffy and Co form a 'well ordered militia' on that basis arm them with whoppee cushions and feather dusters to go and take back Washington back for the people. I dunnno SOMETHING.
but first I'll watch the miovie
Excellent review.
It was an alright movie, but I had a lot of issues with the glaring plot holes. For example, the most problematic is that the villain needed both Captain America and Ironman to be at the hidden base at the same time at the end. Ironman wasn't even going to be there until he was convinced at the last second. Considering the villain is little more than a civilian and in no way hyper intelligent, there is no way he would be able to pull off that level of Batman gambit. Things like that.
I definitely agree that they do well making both sides feel like they have a legitimate case for their choice. I was a bit iffy about it before, but your reminder of what Ironman's story is all about makes me agree that it makes sense. I still don't feel like it was sold as well as it could have been in the movie, relying too heavily on past knowledge of the characters, but that is kind of the way the MCU works, so it is to be expected.
And for the record, I actually DIDN'T know Spiderman was in the movie until about 3 hours before I saw it when my boss let slip that he was in it. He thought I knew too. I don't research my movies beforehand and prefer going in blind.
+Meadhands
"Captain America and Ironman to be at the hidden base at the same time at the end."
As I understood it, that was just gravy to him. His only real reason to get to that base was to kill the super-soldiers. Had anything gone differently before then he'd have been fine. If he gets the location from the Hydra guy, then he may just have let the Accords settle things (he may or may not have framed Bucky -- "If you don't tell me I will have to use this book, and other bloodier methods to find out" is what he says in the sink scene). They kill Bucky; OK, that's a hiccup, but at least the Avengers are probably still weaker, and he's got all the time he needs. They capture Bucky, he replaces the psychiatrist, and then whatever happens, happens. He now knows the location. He probably is counting on at least Cap & Bucky to try to get to him, but if they don't so what? They've either been captured or killed, no loss on him, Avengers still broken. That Tony showed up to is just a bonus. If he didn't come, I'm honestly not sure what would happen -- leak the video to Tony somehow? -- but I never understood it was the plan for them to all be there. His only plan at the base, again, was to kill the remaining Soldiers.
Also, remember: the accords were the reason Zemo kickstarted his plan.
+firefly4f4 Really? I got the opposite feeling from it. Getting Ironman and Cap to fight felt like the main goal with the BONUS being killing the super soldiers. I mean, it wasn't the super soldiers who ripped up his home town and killed his family, it was the Avengers. If his goal was as you stated, I would call that terrible priorities.
*re-reads*
My apologies, I left off one piece --the tapes of the attack were at the base. Kill the remaining soldiers, get the tapes was why he had to go there. That they THEN showed up at the base proper was just gravy, in that he got to witness it in person. If they didn't get there, he leaks the tapes to Tony some other way.
(again, it's admittedly a bit of speculation)
Maybe? I don't really remember. That's kind of the problem with watching a movie once where the plot comes together in the end is that one misses all the threads that are dangled and (hopefully) tied by the end. I'd probably have to see it again to be sure.
I saw it three times in the first 6 days... yeah, I'm kinda nuts like that :)
The key is that interview scene with the Hydra guy. It does sound like Zemo only went after Bucky because the guy chose to drown rather than speak.
sorry; always wanted to do that.......ant wait to see the flik!
And Spider-Man was essentially perfect in this role.
Never understood the bad guys motive..Why didn't he just send the video to Tony Stark, wouldnt that have the same effect ?
The video was only available within that high security bunker that was presumably in Russia. And Tony Stark turned up in person to the bunker shortly after he arrived, so it was actually quicker and easier to have him see it in person that it would have been to send it to him, which presumably he would have done if Stark hadn't been there.
nah he needed tony in the same room as bucky and the captain or else he would have time to cool down.
I'm not going to see anymore movies at because I don't see how this i getting a great review I was so disappointed in this movie I'm done seeing movies
+Richard Greeter Good.
alesin1992 This movie was so disappointing compared to the winter soldier is marvel trying to become the call of duty of movies
fursttttttt..