Captain America: Civil War

Marvel filled the hero cloning device and then turned on the uniformity generator. When these heroes, profiled long ago, spend the first hour verbally tapping each other to find out how much they prefer diplomacy over muscle, you somehow end up buying it, even though we know their motives and have an inkling of how and why they make their choices. Yet the action at Leipzig airport perfectly defines what's wrong with the MCU. The protagonists, who have stood together until recently, are suddenly about to face a massive battle and... nothing. Where's the personal drama when they manage to tell each other they're still friends between their fists landing on each other? Every move is predictable, every action guessable. The Siberian anabasis also misses a second chance in the same vein. True, in the individual aspects - the partial action moments, though none of them reach the Winter Soldier's momentum, the Black Panther, the Bourne-esque feel of the first half - it is strong and proves that the Russo brothers got it right, but as a whole, it’s absolutely draining, unsurprising, and you forget about it in a few days. Given what the film earned, there’s no reason for them to change anything for years to come. (05/05/2016)

One of the best Marvel movies, if not the very best. Fortunately, the trailers didn't reveal everything, so the plot of Civil War is surprising, whether you know the original or not, and yet it is not at all overdone and, moreover, from beginning to end it flows so naturally, not a trace of any awkwardness... In short, the complete opposite of (the first and second) The Avengers. Impressive quiet conversational scenes like Singer's X-Men are interspersed with Paul Greengrass-like action, jokes are not a necessity but a welcome spice, what is meant to be dramatic and fateful is so, and when it comes to emotion, it is 100% touching and not the least bit ridiculous. The new characters fit in quite naturally (the likeable Spider-Man), Henry Jackman, unlike the previous Captain, composed seriously listenable music, and finally someone thought that in the epic ending of the film, a flood of digital special effects does not have to destroy cities to make the audience clutch their throats.___P.S. It wasn't until now that I realized what Batman v Superman was missing, which, by the way, has a very similar plot, but it just serves it worse. (05/04/2016)

A new Marvel era begins with Civil War. Not only because the film introduces new players to the stage with unusual ease, but also because it definitely opens the door to a dimension left completely aside in the first, and partly also in the second Avengers. Civil War closes the gap between the "down-to-earth" series Daredevil and the escapist blockbusters, while at the same time showing DC and Warner quite indiscriminately what a careful character and story build-up is for. There may be cliché in the middle of the story, but Brühl, as a mysterious mover, is an unusually civil and believable (semi) villain. At the same time, Captain America is definitely finding his role as Captain of Inconsistency - a character so faithful to the original heroic idea of the comics that in the time of relativization, everything actually becomes a subversive element. His clash with Stark is much better motivated and, most importantly, much more meaningful than Batman v Superman. The intimate and unexpectedly impressive finale is an imaginary breakthrough. In this world, nothing will be as simple and clear as before. Marvel overwhelmingly won the battle with the competition and with itself. After Civil War, you may be wondering if you're more on the side of Team Captain America or Team Iron Man. But it's hard not to be on the side of Team Marvel. Who would have thought back in 2012? (05/05/2016)

Excellently filmed, almost as good as Winter Soldier, just with a whole load of extra frills. Perfectly balanced characters, clever story and a villain who...wins? Civil War is probably the most ambitious comic movie at the finale, but the most important thing is that it doesn’t disappoint. It doesn’t fall apart and it manages to stick to the skeleton of the original storyline (in the first version it planned just a small role for Iron Man, no huge battle of superheroes) which it then wraps in nutritious action. (05/04/2016)

So many themes and subplots that I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually three movies edited into one. Nonetheless, even such a flood of information and plot twists doesn't hurt and makes Captain America: Civil War a dense 147 minutes. I am feeling a dizzyingly blissful feeling that it will be Anthony Russo and Joe Russo who will be orbiting around Avengers: Infinity War. Because here, so many characters are gathered that even Avengers: Age of Ultron seems almost intimate. But I love Steve Rogers' stories precisely because they are... well, simply, about Steve Rogers. Promoting Iron Man's participation to the second main character is a perfect idea, because Robert Downey, Jr. has never given such an amazing performance before, but the detour to Spider-Man, though perfectly functional and enticing, is too obvious a backdoor restart to not disrupt the pace. Something like that would fit wonderfully into an Avengers film, theoretically even into an Iron Man film, but here I felt a slight disappointment that this particular excursion takes away space from more important things. Fortunately, the rest of the newcomers (Baron Zemo, Black Panther, or at last larger roles for Sharon) and familiar faces, led by the perfect Ant-Man, fit into the stories wonderfully, and the incorporation of Wanda or Hawkeye into the plot brings me immense joy. Based on the reviews, I feel like writing that this is Cap's weakest solo film, but considering how much fun I had and the fact that even at its greatest ease, it simply isn't a solo film, it's not necessary to do so. It just seems that this time it enters the genre boundaries perhaps a bit too broadly. (05/10/2016)