Avengers, disassemble! That’s the gist of Captain America: Civil War, an elaborate excuse for creating a rift among the world’s mightiest heroes so they can theoretically rejoin forces when big bad blue Thanos puts earth in his cross hairs and comes after Vision’s yellow Infinity Stone.
Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his high moral values are the film’s central protagonist — if only by a hair — while directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo juggle the largest roster of Marvel Cinematic Universe characters in a single film yet within a politically charged plot. It’s a daunting task that’s miraculously pulled off at the lone expense of failing to create a worthwhile third-party adversary pulling strings from the shadows.
While Captain America, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and almost every other Avenger save for Hulk and Thor partake in easily the best action sequences of the franchise yet, newcomers Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) steal the show whenever they’re on-screen. Their inclusion is clever, albeit somewhat forced, and paints a bright future ahead for both characters in their imminent solo outings.
Captain America: Civil War is ultimately a bridge between Avengers features that leaves the world of superheroes in a different place from where it started and ends. As pure spectacle and politically intriguing its loads of fun. Buying into one revenge-seeking man being able to outsmart some of the world’s greatest minds is a bit of a stretch.
Disney and Marvel haven’t dropped the ball yet on a Marvel Cinematic Universe Blu-ray release and Captain America: Civil War does nothing to break the excellence streak. The Collector’s Edition release includes the film on Blu-ray 3D, a rarity for Disney that’s always welcome when it pops up.
As expected the action sequences, especially Cap throwing around his shield, are the highlights of the 3D presentation. Falcon, Iron Man and War Machine flying around, as well as Spider-Man swinging around are great effects as well, especially during the frenetic airport battle serving as a poster child for home video 3D. But Cap’s shield and his extended throwing arm jump off the screen and catch your attention more than anything else.
There is some color brightness loss when performing a quick check between the 3D and 2D versions of Captain America: Civil War on Blu-ray. Having both in the same package gives us the best of both worlds; the 2D version for optimum viewing and the 3D version for an entirely different immersive experience and only way to see the full-frame IMAX sequences in their larger aspect ratio.
In addition to a serviceable but not room-shattering 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix, Marvel and Disney have packed on numerous bonus features that dig deep into the film’s expensive production. Many of these features have been teased online already so prospective buyers know what they’re in for, but there’s far more to see on the discs than what’s found on the Internet.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall is the highlight, an extensive making-of documentary that examines the complexity of creating this film. A sneak peek at Doctor Strange is also fun despite much of the footage having been available elsewhere already.
Beyond that roughly 45-minute two-part documentary the remaining bonus features are short and to the point. Only Peggy’s extended funeral deleted scenes breaks the five-minute mark.
Here’s a rundown of all the extras:
- United We Stand, Divided We Fall Making-Of Documentary
- Captain America: The Road to Civil War
- Iron Man: The Road to Civil War
- Doctor Strange Sneak Peek
- Commentary with Joe and Anthony Russo
- Gag Reel
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
Captain America: Civil War may not be the best standalone Marvel Cinematic Universe film, but it’s second to none when it comes to altering or impacting motivations, alliances and events to come. If you need one reason to pick up the Captain America: Civil War Blu-ray 3D combo pack with Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD then do it for the airport sequence in full frame video.
