My biggest qualms with any of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that the characters hardly ever face any consequences for their actions. Whether that’s destroying a city in Bolivia or innocent lives being lost, Steve Rogers and company just kind of seem to do whatever they want.

Until Now. ​

The conflict which stems from Captain America: Civil War, the, I believe, 13th entry into this coveted universe, is one that comes with sparkling controversy. But it’s also one that is equal parts compelling and equal parts difficult. Compelling due to the fact that when have we ever seen Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) and Captain America (Chris Evans) go head to head? And difficult because well, It puts all us geeks on a line. Do we side with Iron Man and his cohorts? Or do I become the rebel with the Cap?. All of these prove interesting theories, and when watching the epic showdown between the two squads midway through the film, it’s clear we are at the point of no return.

After a casualty-heavy load of destruction in Lagos, Nigeria, at the opening of the film (coming in on top of Ultron’s heap of collateral damage rubble in the fictional Sokovia) the world’s government wants to keep our crusaders in check. The set-up may sound awfully familiar to anyone that saw Spectre or The Incredibles, but Civil War writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely lace the unoriginal premise with a sense of logistical nuances and freshness. While also injecting a sense of fun and joy missing from the other recent superhero smackdown, Batman V. Superman.

Tony Stark, guilt ridden and upset, surprisingly agrees to the UN’s plan (called “The Sokovia Accords”) where he believes the Avengers need to be kept in line. The leash tightening plan doesn’t sit well with Rogers who feels the plan would go against the gang’s M.O for their call in life. The rest of the Avengers are forced to choose sides: Vision (Paul Bettany) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) take sides with Stark; Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant Man (Paul Rudd), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and The Winter Soldier, now good guy, Bucky Barns (Sebastian Stan) saddle up with the Cap. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is stuck somewhere in between, and Markus and McFeely (in order to keep things fresh) throw in some new faces: Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther – to kind of even the playing field a little bit.

From a plot standpoint there is a lot to handle in Civil War (one of the many setbacks which keeps the movie from being above average in terms of Marvel films) but for Joe and Anthony Russo (the duo who brought forth the incredible, Winter Soldier) do their best to balance all the murky exposition as well as a few subplots, one which includes Tony Stark and his family ties, with a precision of deftness not found in many superhero films to begin with. I suppose the fun of these films, is not really the plot; because, at this point, I’m growing very tired of a Hydra wannabe, this time in the form of Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl’s), attempting to seek some type of vengeance for a wrong done in his life. I do chalk that up to our suspension of disbelief, but my goodness why the hell is everyone bent on world domination, Zemo does seem like a worthy adversary, but his beef with The Avengers is one that feels all too similar with any other baddie in the Marvel universe.

The real conflict is that of Tony and Steve, and it’s really the one you should pay attention too, not because they are the stars of the show (although they are) but because they are given time to grow in the environment, and finally have to ask themselves the tough questions and make discoveries about their purpose as superheros. Not to mention Civil War comes at such a well-timed release, you know with all the presidential election mojo going on, that it feels eerily specific to 2016 than most Marvel films have had the luxury of doing.
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The fun with these films is that we are able to go in and out of different worlds, and see the relationships of all these characters form into a bond that is as strong as any family. The writers here tap freely into a universe that has granted them with such dynamic prosthetics it would be hard for anybody to screw them up. Each character get’s their well due in the film, whether that’s the web-slinging upbeat and peppy Spider-Man, or the African prince of Wakanda named Black Panther, no slate goes unturned, which makes the mid film showdown between the two teams one of the more enticing set pieces in quite some time. When the camera did a pan shot of both sides, I could hear the announcer in my head saying “let’s get ready to rummmbbbllleeee”. A giddy feeling that I, myself, don’t experience quite often. Ante’ up. B+