Captain America: Civil War - A Spoiler-Free Review

I know I'm going to upset a lot of people with these comments, so let's get it over with.

On the whole, I'd place Civil War on-par with Batman V. Superman.

Now, I see you Marvel Zombies are readying your pitchforks and torches, so let me explain why.

Basically, Civil War has the exact same over-riding problems Batman V. Superman did.

It's primarily concerned with offering fan-service and making references to the comics at the expense of a cohesive story. It requires some characters to act in a blatantly illogical fashion in order for the plot to work. The villain's evil plan is entirely dependent upon coincidences that should be entirely beyond their control that are never adequately explained. And - much like Age of Ultron before it - Civil War seemed like it was more concerned with setting up upcoming movies than it was in telling its own stories. As Batman V. Superman left us more excited about Wonder Woman, so too does Civil War leave us more excited about Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now with that being said, did I like the movie?

Yes!


Technically, the film is far from perfect.. The first hour drags a bit. There's some incredibly cheap CGI. And a lot of the fight scenes are filmed WAY too close and the jump-cuts went by so fast I thought for a moment the projector was running at a too-fast frame-rate.

But THE fight scene - you know the one I mean - THAT fight scene is perfect.

The acting is great across the board. Tom Holland in particular is impressive and not just because he is easily the most comics-accurate Spider-Man we've ever seen in a live-action work.

Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Good. Not great. Better than Age of Ultron. Not as good as Winter Soldier.

Oh, and one more thing - stick around through ALL the credits. There's two sequences to look out for.

The Best News All Weekend...

No, not Shia LeBeouf getting arrested for drunk driving after suffering a head injury. This is even better.

SOURCE: Torchwood Star Barrowman Up for Captain America Role

Now for those of you who aren't Doctor Who fans, let me explain. John Barrowman is a very good actor who plays the character Captain Jack Harkness - a time-traveling con-man with a heart of gold. Barrowman has dual UK/US citizenship (born in Scotland, lived in the US during most of his childhood, went back to the UK as an adult) but you'd never know from his accent that he's not a life-long American. And coincidentally, when he first appeared on Doctor Who, it was in a story taking place during World War 2 and Captain Jack was masquerading as an American volunteer fighting Nazis during the Blitz. Captain Jack was so popular after his first appearance in the first series of the new Doctor Who, he was given a regular role in Torchwood - the first new Doctor Who spin-off.

So why do I mention all this? Well, I do think it's a rather inspired and perfect casting choice - Barrowman being a great leading-man figure and a fine action hero who has the right look for Steve Rogers. But I also think it's a very brave casting choice.

Why? Well, casting a semi-Brit to play Captain America is pretty brave. Casting an openly gay semi-Brit who is the poster-boy for the Equal Rights for Homosexuals movement in the UK as Captain America...

Either this is the ultimate in bravery or part of an organized plot to cause every right-wing radio host in America to spontaneously hemorrhage. Either way, I can get behind it.