Captain America CIVIL WAR

Well after days of being a dilly dallier, I finally made it to see Captain America Civil War today. Whew what a ride it is...

I expected it to be dark, but it is even darker than I expected in its tone. You see, the Avengers have been called to account for all the damage they caused in the past when "helping" the world populace.  Of course the accusers don't take into consideration that it's usually the bad guys doing most of the damage. Well, the hulk did sort of mess up NYC along with the rampaging aliens in the first Avengers movie. Hydra AND Shield were both responsible for wrecking parts of DC in "Captain America and The Winter Soldier." Then Tony Stark's accidental creation was responsible for destroying a whole Balkan country when the Avengers fought Ultron.

There is the devastation in this new one when they are the targets of well-equipped assassins in Captain America Civil War. Civilians were killed and city blocks were turned to rubble. The king of the African country in which the original devastation occurred was killed in the fray.  His son and heir, played by the versatile Chadwick Boseman, demands justice. He also has a super alter ego known as the Panther.

That does it for the world community. Many countries band together to require the Avengers to register their true identities, places of residence, and to agree not to act independently. They face imprisonment if they step out of line.  The world wants to tell them when to act and when not to. As you can imagine such an idea doesn't sit well with some of the Avengers.

A small number of the Avengers agree to the terms and sign. However, Captain America (arguably the best-known and most popular) does not. Some of the Avengers line up behind him and refuse to sign. So we have two groups of former Avengers fighting against each other with the CIA demanding to know the whereabouts of Thor and the Hulk...good luck finding either of them with Thor off world and David Banner hiding in relative obscurity as long as he keeps his temper.

To add spark to the growing fire, the CIA captures The Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, Captain America's lifelong friend.

Naturally the Cap wants his friend out of custody, but the government refuses. Unfortunately for them the psychiatrist assigned to question Barnes is a fake. He feeds poor Barnes the code words programmed into him and the Winter Soldier is off and running once more.

Half of the former Avengers side with Stark and sign the accords.  The other half side with the Cap and refuse.

For the big cataclysmic battle each group brings in a new person or two.  On the side of Stark (Iron Man), he brings in the teen-aged Spiderman. On the side of the Cap, he brings in Ant Man.  Both Tom Holland as Spiderman and Paul Rudd as Ant Man provide some necessary comic relief.  Spiderman hasn't discovered all his capabilities and flounders occasionally. Ant Man has dry wit and a humorous take on his situation. One of his bits is hysterical. Believe me with all the darkness of the film, watching old friends battle each other, the humor is needed.

There is a final battle in the film which only succeeds in alienating the participants more.

You can bet there will be a sequel, but it may still be very dark. And for those of you are avid fans of the films, don't forget Thanos is out there in space vowing to get rid of the Avengers and subdue the Earth once and for all...

Like all Marvel films this one has another scene after the credits have begun to roll. But this one has a second scene added after all the credits are done. I have to say these are the longest credits I've ever seen on any movie. They ran for about fifteen minutes...but there is another scene at the end which I'm sure leads to yet another film for a single character...

Can't help it, I love the Marvel movies.

Oh and look for Stan Lee, the elder statesman of Marvel comics in another quirky cameo in this one.

Lastly are you Team Iron Man? Or are you Team Captain America? I for one am forever with the Cap.

Take care. For those of us in the southeast it's been a stormy few days. Thankfully I wore a hoodie when I went to the movie today because I walked out into a severe storm and needed the protection!

Enjoy your favorite actors in their latest films. Nothing is like it in our culture.

Until later...