Captain America: Civil War

The Avengers come under fire from the UN as a result of all the havoc they’ve been wreaking over the world. They disagree over signing a proposed treaty designed to provide some oversight.

Treaties? Disagreements? The UN? This sounds boring as shit. Fear not dear reader, this dispute means the super heroes wind up smacking each other in the face over and over again! It’s like Batman v Superman but with my one true love Scarlett Johansson The Avengers!

There is one big difference, this film is not shit. The Russo Brothers made a half decent film with Captain America 2 and have been called back to direct the third instalment in the sub-franchise. The plot does centre somewhat on the Captain America storyline, but really this is just an excuse to get all the Avengers together, and it’s awesome.

The sense of fun and light self-awareness we saw in Iron Man, Ant-Man and the first Avengers film is back and really works well here. The jokes are actually funny and the action feels intense but never gets bogged down in noise and explosions. I always go by how people in the cinema liked it, and this one was a real winner.

New characters are introduced in meaningful and memorable ways. Spider-man gets to show his face but instead of super-hero overload it actually adds to the film. Ant-Man also shows up with Paul Rudd in fine form, and it’s good to see Elizabeth Olsen back in the mix, she’s brings some more serious acting chops to the line-up.

It’s nice to see something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, doesn’t rely too much on knowing about the previous films, and doesn’t feel like such a fucking chore.

One of the better Marvel films. Slowly but surely I am embracing the fact I will be dead before this stuff ends.