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Captain America: Civil War | Parent Movie Reviews

If you haven’t seen Captain America: Civil War, it’s time! Be sure to watch this before Avengers: Infinity War comes out on April 27. This is part of my Marvel Parent Movie Reviews: know if the newest Marvel Avengers movie is appropriate for your little superhero before you go! 

 

Civil War Title
photos credit: Walt Disney Pictures

 

If you haven’t caught up on all the Marvel movies just yet: what are you waiting for?!  You want to get in on this action ASAP, folks.

Here are a few lists of Marvel movies to watch in order. Start here.

If you get started now, you’ll be set by the time Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp hits theaters this summer.

I’ve also got a preview post talking about Avengers: Infinity War parent movie reviews as well. Is this one going to be kid-friendly? I have thoughts on the probability.

 

Captain America: Civil War | Parent Movie Reviews

Before I get to the review, I want to share a little backstory.

Last August, I sat in a crowded exhibition hall at D23 Expo hoping to hear about the next Marvel movies on the slate. Captain America: Civil War was number one on my list.

Imagine my reaction when Captain America himself (Chris Evans) and his bestie, Falcon (Anthony Mackie), came out on stage and shared a few scenes they were working on. I kinda lost my mind.

Shush it- you know you would too.

 

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My voice is just now recovering from all the wooo-hooooing I did that day.

Those scenes hinted that this movie was going to be my favorite of the year.

It’s now been confirmed.

This IS my favorite movie of the year.

I’ll get it out of the way now: this film is AWESOME and AMAZING and BETTER THAN I EVER HOPED. And yes, ALL CAPS were necessary for that statement.

The story picks up with the Avengers once again out on a mission. Unfortunately, the mission goes sideways, and there are civilian casualties. This situation combined with the previous events in Sokovia (Avengers: Age of Ultron) pushes the world leaders to insist on official oversight.

 

sokovia accords civil war

 

This is where the team splits.

Team Iron Man expresses support for signing the accords; Team Cap stands firmly behind remaining independent.

Disclosure: I am and forever will be #TeamCap, but I could see both sides of the argument. 

While the team could somewhat agree to disagree, an attack during the accord signings changes everything. Lines are drawn, and the two groups are pitted against each other.

Team Cap takes on a mission outside the law to find the Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers’ best friend from, like 100 years ago (literally). Team Iron Man also wants to find Bucky, who’s been implicated in the Sokovia Accord attacks.

 

Captain America helicopter scene

 

Each side brings on some new recruits to help with their numbers. This is where the movie shines.

Team Iron Man adds the Black Panther, a character new to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but not new to the comic books). He’s joined up with one goal in mind: revenge.

We also get a new look at an old friend, Spider-Man. If you’ve seen the previous versions of the web-slinger, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. This version is perfect.

The back story most of us know is that a somewhat dorky teen accidentally acquires powers from a spider bite. We meet him about 6-months after his transformation, and he is absolutely ADORABLE.

He’s still that same dorky teen, but now he can do a whole lot of incredible things.

 

spider man civil war

 

As a mom of a somewhat dorky teenager myself, I couldn’t help but love Spidey in these scenes.

However, my favorite addition was to Team Cap.

Returning to the big screen is my best-loved little action hero, Ant-Man.  Why do I love him? Because Ant-Man is all of us when he meets Captain America.

 

 

Brillant fan-girl moment here.

This movie was a full body and mind experience. I had deep thoughts- deeper than I expected to have after such an entertaining movie.

It had me on the edge of my seat. It had me laughing. It had me clapping. It had me crying over some of the friendship changes that occur. During one scene involving a VW Beetle, I whispered, “Squad Goals” to my son and he fist bumped me.

All the feels are in this one.

You absolutely won’t be disappointed here, no matter what side you’re on. Go see it: Captain America: Civil War is in theaters everywhere on May 6th.

 

Captain America: Civil War Parent Movie Review

My kids are 13, 11, 9 and 4 1/2. Here are my recommendations for each age based on my children’s maturity levels.

Teen/Tweens Should be good to go.  Unless they are highly sensitive, children in this age range will be able to follow the story and enjoy it. No sex or nudity in this movie, but there are a few swear words and of course fighting and violence.

6 to 9-years old Depends on the maturity level.  If they have seen and understood the previous Marvel movies, these superhero lovers are going to be fine. I took my 9-year-old to this one, and he loved it. During the helicopter scene (image above) he was peeking through his fingers, but I think this had more to do with watching it in 3-D IMAX than anything else- since I was also peeking through my fingers!

However, if your child of this age is highly sensitive, you may want to avoid the movie or screen it ahead of time.

6 and Under I would probably take my daughter to see it if I had to. Meaning if we did not have a babysitter to keep her at home. But I also screened the film ahead of time, so I know what to expect. She is a “mature” 4 1/2 and has seen the previous movies- and understood them.

I say, “proceed with caution” in this age range.  Most likely it’s not appropriate for your kid, but it’s not terrible either.  It is rated PG-13 due to violence and adult themes so a child who only watches Thomas the Tank Engine may not be ready for this mature of a show.

Images courtesy Walt Disney Studios. Used with permission.

Media tickets to an advanced screening were provided in exchange for an honest review.

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12 Comments

  1. aahh!! can’t read this until tomorrow!!! going to see it tonight! but it’s very tempting!

  2. Thanks for the review, Patty! My boys really want to go see it. Looks like we are OK to do so.

  3. I’ll see it, but with low expectations. I’m not a fan of superheroes fighting each other. I feel like the Marvel movies have fallen back on that several times already.

  4. Ok, so I went to see it and I loved it! Better than last years Avengers! I switched teams at the end of the movie.. was Team Captain America at the beginning, but switched to Team Ironman… that scene at the end had my crying. thanks for your review! And for reminding me of Ant Man fangirling on Captain!

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