Captain America: Civil War (Rated T)
Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure
Dwight's Rating: 3.5 stars

Let's get this out of the way immediately: "Captain America: Civil War" is pretty darn good!

It's really, really good!

Almost every month (mainly because there is at least one of these largely ridiculous, loud, and explosion-filled comic book-based, superhero movies released every single month), I rail against this genre -- which has become as ubiquitous in our times as the Western was in the 1950s and '60s.

I've complained incessantly that these films are replete with the same old nonsense, over and over -- silly villains with laughable objectives of world domination or world obliteration or rare diamonds, and brooding, moody, self-loathing, people-hating mutant or alien or bipolar anti-heroes.

Whether it's Marvel or DC, it's hard to keep track of which movie had the scene with the guy blowing up the thing in the city, which caused that whole explosion, killing all those people, resulting in that superhero coming in to save the day.
Case in point, just a few weeks ago the highly-anticipated and much-hyped "Batman v. Superman" finally landed in theaters, pitting two of the greatest comic-book superheroes ever against each other. And now, less than two months later, this latest film in the "Captain America" franchise features seemingly every single Avenger splitting into two groups to do battle against each other.

In fact, it's amazing the similarities between "Batman v. Superman" and "Civil War". They both address many of the issues I've had with their predecessors -- primarily, the depictions of catastrophic destruction seemingly designed solely to showcase the skill level of the visual effects team and the latest advancements in computer technology, rather than for the advancement of plot.

Unfortunately, I often have not been able to separate the fact that this is merely fantasy from all the excessive violence. I continue to wonder whether this has desensitized us to all the terrorism and mass shootings in the real world today. Conveniently, as with "Batman v. Superman", my concerns have been incorporated into the "Civil War" plot.

Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and all the many others, must pick a side.

And boy, are there many others! You may need to make notes to keep track of all of these superheroes. You may wonder how it came to be that this would be a "Captain America" movie, as a opposed to part of "The Avengers" series or "Iron Man". It could easily have been any of these, or even its own new franchise.

Alas, aligning with "Captain America" may have been the best choice. Despite the great affinity I have for the original "Iron Man" (2008), I have hated its sequels -- less so the most recent one in 2013, but especially 2010's "Iron Man 2". I also seriously dislike both Avenger movies. However, both "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Winter Soldier" have been much more tolerable.

I was a bit concerned about the dizzying and frenzied action within the first few minutes of "Civil War"; the fast ADHD editing style seems designed to trigger seizures. Thankfully the pacing soon settles to something much more enjoyable. As expected, the CGI graphics and special effects are stellar, with a typically loud but rousing soundtrack.

What's different here is a storyline that is much more believable and better written than is typical of many of these films, especially compared to "Batman v. Superman". We can see that these people, who are fighting for justice, are all friends, or at least have respect for each other. The fighting scenes are also quite different, and with levels of intensity one would expect for people claiming to be "on the same side". The dialogue is also clever and witty.

Quite surprisingly, we see what is likely many of these actors' best performances in these roles. Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson is more fully developed and realized here than in any previous movie. Not since the original "Iron Man" has Downey been this wonderfully snarky.

We are also introduced to some very promising new actors and characters. Young British actor Tom Holland is the new Spider-Man. His brief but spirited scenes will have you looking forward to yet another reboot of this franchise, scheduled for release next year. And you'll likely be raving about Chadwick Boseman (who portrayed baseball legend Jackie Robinson in "42") as Black Panther. That character will also be featured in his own film in 2018, with the very talented Ryan Coogler ("Creed", "Fruitvale Station") set to direct and pen the script.

Other characters are also more interesting than ever before, including even Scarlett Johansson as Black Window and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton. Paul Rudd's Ant-Man seems more appropriate here as comic relief than in that eponymous 2015 film. And while this latest incarnation of the Captain America/Steve Rogers character has been a little bit of a bore in previous outings, here, too, Chris Evans has imbued him with more personality than ever.

It's as if we are at a massive buffet table with an endless bounty of delights. It's better than all of the individual movies: it's the best of the "Captain America" films; superior to all of "The Avengers"; "Ant-Man" should have dreamed to be even half this good; better than the "The Amazing Spider-Man" reboots with Andrew Garfield; and up there with the best of the Tobey McGuire "Spider-Man" franchise.

I still don't think this is at all sustainable. Clearly some of these movies are much better when there are scores of these characters together. Yet, in addition to the aforementioned, there's a steady stream of Marvel and DC releases scheduled for the next few years, including another "Thor" sequel, the follow up to "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Wonder Woman", and at least two Avenger movies with the subtitle "Infinity War" (Dead God!)

One can't help but imagine that things would be a lot better if these releases could be reduced to big special events every five years or so. But who knows? As was "Deadpool" earlier this year, and the original "Guardians of the Galaxy" a couple of years ago, "Captain America: Civil War" is proving that even this tired, overused and abused genre is still capable of impressive and surprising treats.

o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of " Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian