By Janice Liu

Being super is serious business! – Janice Liu/Popcorn Hugging can be manly! – Janice Liu/Popcorn Secret handshake – Janice Liu/Popcorn

Will Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) kiss and make up after x movies worth of wrestling to determine whose masculinity and power is more representative of the American Dream? Who is the real leader of the Avengers? What is worth fighting for, Captain America’s old school valour and reductionist moral compass, or techno-king ubermanch Tony Stark’s moral relativity?

The story so far: while the Avengers are excellent at averting apocalypse, too many people die. The tide has changed since Manhattan’s trans dimensional metallic millipede invasion. With the band’s city-decimating summer tour of Sokovia and the flavor-of-the-week PR fiasco the film opens with, things aren’t looking good.

Who watches the watchmen? the world wonders in not so many words. Disappointingly, Civil War doesn’t have anything new to say about this familiar superhero movie trope, or the other themes it invokes like fascist regulation or mutant-hate (whoops, I meant Miracle-hate, sorry Fox!), except it’s uh…bad?

Enter the international diplomatic community, ready to negotiate, sign and sanction the hell out of this problem. The issue of global political oversight is a divisive one; Iron Man is for, Cap is against, and scene.

What’s new in new Captain America? You can expect the same formula that’s served the franchise well – old-school action, a swiftly moving story, spectacular action punctuated by a splash of light comedy, and a truly likeable cast. The filmmakers have leveled up – solid exposition that cuts to the chase, brilliant entrances so on-point it would put Hawkeye to shame, and heart-stopping environmental fight scenes. Fans, old and new, can look forward to immersive origins stories and memorable cameos.

Bonus points go to the directors, the Russo brothers, for crediting their female characters (Black Widow/Scarlett Johansson, Scarlett Witch/Elizabeth Olsen, the Carters) with complexity, strength, and what’s especially rare in a blockbuster, a point-of-view.

But the reason you really must see this movie is the characters. Lovingly fleshed out in quick, dynamic scenes and exchanges, the relationships between our heroes are handled deftly. Civil War has cracked the code – finally, a marvel movie with relationships I believe and care about! Where desperate attempts to establish a screen connection between Black Widow/Cap/Hulk was almost excruciating in previous installments, this time I found Scarlett Johansson a believable action heroine now that her role went beyond failing to balance out a sausagefest, and explored her morals and motivations in their own right.

The heart of this love story lies with Cap and his men. Cap/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Cap/Bucky (Sebastian Stan), Cap/Iron Man, in every direction emanating from our man in red white and blue to the men in his life, there’s affection, tension, vulnerability and companionship. There’s also quick banter, comedy, and of course, extreme violence. If you enjoy any of them above, or have a special appreciation for the physique of Chris Evans or Robert Downey Jr, you’ll enjoy the movie. If you don’t, you’re probably lying.

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