The Dawn of Civil War

Title:                 Captain America: Civil War

Synopsis: In the wake of massive damages, political pressure builds up for the regulation of the activities of the Avengers. Dividing the team between those opposing and those supporting the initiative led respectively by Captain America and Ironman, both sides are set on a collision course leading to the ultimate superhero showdown.

Director:           Anthony Russo

                          Joe Russo

Producer:          Kevin Feige

Screenplay:       Christopher Markus

                          Stephen Mcfeely

Score:                Henry Jackman

Genre:               Action/Adventure/Comic Adaptation

Actors:               Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr.

                           Scarlet Johansson, Sebastian Stan

                           Anthony Mackie, Paul Betany,

                           Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner,

                           Elizabeth Olsen, Chadwick Boseman,

                           Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp

                           Tom Holland, Frank Grillo

                           Martin Freeman, William Hurt

                           Daniel Bruhl, Marisei Tomei 

Production Company: Marvel Studios

Distributor:                 Buena Vista

Budget:                       $250 million

Running time:             147 minutes

Rating:                        PG-13

Since the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2008 with the Ironman movie, the make believe universe has grown. Weaving an intricate mesh of events, evolving into something seemingly with a life of its own possessing the uncanny capacity to both enthrall and awe, the MCU like a juggernaut has transformed into the embodiment and the standard of what fans and critics alike have come to expect of superhero movies. And with the release of its 13th installment, the MCU has once again delivered on its self imposed mandate, held its standard and probably maybe, upped the ante.

Captain America: Civil War promises to be an explosive and clinging-to-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of affair. With the best of the MCU superheroes pitted against each other and led by the highly moralistic and self-righteous Captain America on one hand and the compulsive and egotistic Ironman on the other, we cannot expect anything less. Its 147-minute run time is packed with jaw dropping and mind blowing action sequences and tops the icing on the cake with a fifteen minute fight scene shot in one of those 65mm IMAX digital cameras that gives you that out of this world theatre experience.

The ass kicking and catchy dialogue aside, this movie also excites our imaginations on a deeper level. For one it is the first major movie after Avengers: Age of Ultron (besides Antman) featuring the favourite heroes. And even more so because at no other time in the MCU have we witnessed this kind of massive ensemble of heroes - not even in the two Avengers movies. This movie also sets a new precedent where the heroes are not facing some formidable all evil villain but rather sees rhem facing off against each other in defense of what they consider as right and moral. All of this off course is preparing the groundwork for what the MCU may look like in the years to come.

This movie is therefore significant in that again it can be considered as representing the final threshold which will lead to the series of events that will culminate in the much vaunted stellar battle to be witnessed in the coming 'Infinity Wars' which will redefine the terrain and reshape the outlook of the MCU.

Judging from favourable reviews - Civil War currently enjoys a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes; a metascore of 76 on metacritic and an 8.5/10 on IMDB, this movie is set to make a truckload of money. This is to be expected if we follow the precedent set by Avengers and Ironman 3 where the first Marvel movie released featuring a major Avenger hero after an Avenger movie turns in the benjamins. This is true as spectators are hoping to see this movie wrap up and iron out some of the unresolved questions at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron as was also true for Ironman 3 in 2013 following the end of the first Avengers film.

Civil war was released to an impressive start at the international box office with an estimated $261.6 million since its release on April 27. It is expected to perform better than recent superhero films including Deadpool and Batman v Superman which have sold $761.7 and $864.2 million respectively and at this point seems poised to cross the 1 billion dollar mark or at worse touchdown somewhere in the vicinity of $900 million.

Author: Uzezi Macaulay

Photo Credit: World wide Web