Captain America: Civil War Review Roundup: What Critics Think of Marvel's Superhero Battle

Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and the gang reprise their roles

By Zach Johnson May 05, 2016 12:51 PMTags
Captain America: Civil War, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Evans, Sebastian StanMarvel Studios

Like it or not, it's time to pick a side: #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan.

In Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, an international incident involving the Avengers puts the team in a very different kind of danger. Government officials from around the world propose legislation would dictate if and when Earth's Mightiest Heroes could intervene and save the day—something Captain America (Chris Evans) strongly opposes. Meanwhile, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) thinks they should take responsibility and sign the Sokovia Accords. Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp) side with Captain America, while Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Vision (Paul Bettany) side with Iron Man.

Of course, alliances can change.

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie is rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem.

Here's what critics are saying about Captain America: Civil War:

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Marvel Studios

• "Part of the fun of Marvel's Avengers movies to date has been having a front-row seat to the super-powered posse fast-balling quippy, barbed insults at one another," Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty writes. "When they're not squaring off against doomsday villains like Loki and the ho-hum Ultron, they seem to get off on taking each other down a notch. They're a family, sure. But you got the sense that, like most families, they didn't always like one another." Calling it "the best one yet," he adds that it feels like "a family reunion gone violent...As with even the most dysfunctional families, it would be nice to think that no matter how heated things get, all gets forgiven in the end. That certainly ends up being case with the Avengers… for now, at least. Who knows what insults (and punches) will fly at their next family reunion?"

• "Very much an Avengers movie in scope and ambition if not title (the conspicuous absence of Thor and Hulk notwithstanding), this chronicle of an epic clash between two equally noble factions, led by Captain America and Iron Man, proves as remarkable for its dramatic coherence and thematic unity as for its dizzyingly inventive action sequences," Variety's Justin Chang writes. "Viewers who have grown weary of seeing cities blow up ad nauseam will scarcely believe their luck at the relative restraint and ingenuity on display."

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Hottest Star Superheroes & Villains
Marvel Studios

• "It's almost easier to say what isn't in Captain America: Civil War, since the latest Marvel movie features deaths, bad feelings all around, alliances formed and broken, two guys with bug names, a kiss and the best superhero battle put to film yet," USA Today's Brian Truitt writes. "Tear away the powers, abilities and egos, though, and the third Captain America movie is at its core a deep exploration of friendship and family and what sacrifices should be made to hold onto both. And while it's not the greatest Marvel effort—that honor goes to the previous Captain America: The Winter SoldierCivil War does pull outstanding performances from its two franchise faces, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr."

• "It's a fact of movie history that films are created as both a response to, and a product of, the larger world. And superhero movies, which are the current cinema's site of obsession over anxiety-making issues of global safety, must continue to address the unthinkable if they're to be more valuable to culture than mere moneymaking products on an assembly line, or retreats into childhood nostalgia that only pretend to be making sense of the environment that produces them," The Wrap's Dave White writes. "Civil War strikes that admirable balance: serious-minded action that never forgets to indulge in serious fun."

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• "Chris Evans as Captain America—with that retro-patriotic turtle-shell of a shield strapped on his back, and muscles sculpted into the exaggerated proportions of a parade balloon—looks completely ridiculous. Yet his very lack of embarrassment is what makes him so shiny and wonderful, and his spirit sets the tone for Captain America: Civil War. It's that rare superhero movie that doesn't grind you down with nonstop action or, worse yet, the usual tiresome cavalcade of smart-ass wisecracks," TIME's Stephanie Zacharek writes. "In Civil War, regret feels like progress, a hook of feeling for the actors to grab onto (and not just an excuse for a sodden gloominess à la Batman v Superman). Like all modern superhero movies, even this relatively restrained one is still bigger and louder than it needs to be, and it's overstuffed with action sequences. But the Russos add enough witty touches to prevent complete brain shutdown... Captain America is most enjoyable for its quieter moments, and for its more intimate special effects, like Scarlet Witch's ability to make tiny tongues of flame leap from fingertip to fingertip, or even just the way Evans' Captain America, frozen in the '40s only to be thawed in a strange, modern world, always looks a little dreamily out of place, as if he'd really prefer to be listening to Sinatra."

• "The best way to think of Captain America: Civil War is as a toy box in which the sheer quantity of toys partly makes up for the lack of anything new. But the big takeaway is worrisome," New York's David Edelstein writes. "Marvel has created a universe teeming with superheroes who simply don't have enough to do. They're all suited up with nowhere to go."

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• "Evans persuasively conveys his decency without overstating the matter. Through their contained performances, he and Sebastian Stan...give emotional heft to their characters' friendship, a crucial element of the story. Just as crucial, Evans leaves room for doubt about whether Rogers is right to resist outside rules, even as the film clearly sides with him," The Hollywood Reporter's Sheri Linden writes. "Downey, whose ace timing and effortless snark make him the movie's chief comic relief, also provides pivotal emotional chords."

• "It's almost not fair that Captain America: Civil War is opening barely a month after Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The movies share so much, from their escapist origins to their melodramatic themes of male honor and revenge to ambivalence toward unchecked power, that comparisons aren't just inevitable, but required," The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday writes. "Civil War is by far the more dynamic, entertaining film—and not surprisingly so, considering how well Disney has shepherded the Marvel Comics Universe to big-screen dominance. Crisply photographed, thoughtfully acted and often refreshingly amusing, Civil War injects doses of much-needed fun into a genre of filmmaking that's become mired in dour pretentiousness, when it's not ridiculing its own excesses in such meta-snark exercises as Deadpool."

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Chadwick Boseman Is Marvel's "Black Panther"
Marvel Studios

• "Is it hypocritical for a popcorn movie to condemn violence while reveling in it? You bet. That's kind of rule No. 1 in Hollywood. The third chapter in the Captain America franchise is more like a third Avengers movie with the climactic airport battle pulling out all the stops as both teams—decked out in their best comic-book drag—gather on the tarmac to kick ass," Rolling Stone's Peter Travers writes. "Sure, it's too much and way too familiar. But an emotional subtext bleeds into the kill zone. The conflict between this broken family of Avengers probably won't be resolved till the upcoming two-part Avengers: Infinity War, which the Russos will also direct. Meanwhile, Captain America: Civil War brings the fun, the fierce and the fireworks."

• "Rollicking and action-packed, Captain America: Civil War is a comic book extravaganza that lives up to the hype. The characters are on point. The plot doesn't require a doctorate degree. At 147 minutes, it manages to move (fairly) briskly," Us Weekly's Mara Reinstein writes. "Smart humor is peppered throughout. All right, let's just spell it out: This movie course-corrects nearly everything Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice got wrong."

Captain America: Civil War is in theaters Friday.

 

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