The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

There have been fewer talked about films over the last six months – possibly longer – than the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)’s latest entry, Captain America: Civil War, save for possibly the largely underwhelming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Just the very idea of Cap and Iron Man going head to head has been enough to make even the most casual comic-book movie fan salivate – and they won’t be disappointed. At least for the most part.

By now, we all know the plot – the government-sponsored Savokia Accords that are to police and scrutinise superhero activities, have split the Avengers and some other familiar faces and pitted them against each other in what has been built as a battle for the ages.

While there are parallels to draw between Civil War and Batman Vs Superman, the former benefits from the fact that its heroes have been established over the last eight years and so it’s easy to invest in the emotions of the situation the heroes find themselves in – and emotion is a key word here, because there’s plenty of it thanks to the fact that the base of the film is much more complex as opposed to the usual black-and-white, good-versus-bad set-up of previous MCU films.

Other than just two sides of opposing views facing each other, personal revenge, the continuing fallout of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the introduction of new characters, like Black Panther and, of course, Spider-Man, flesh out the story into a much more rounded film.

There’s an air of seriousness that has rarely reared its head in previous MCU films, but it doesn’t come at the expense of the touches of humour and general energy that has come to define the MCU. There’s a good balance between these factors that all comes together nicely thanks in part to the performances, which keep things grounded. Evans and Downey Jr produce their best and most complex turns as Captain America and Iron Man respectively and their own personal feud is the driving force of the story. Downey Jr. in particular can chalk this down as one of his best performances in years, reminding us that he was a ‘serious actor’ in his pre-Iron Man days.

But this is not the perfect superhero movie everyone willed it to be. Like the Avengers movies, Civil War still feels like a cog in a machine that isn’t all that clear. The most obvious assumption to make would be that it’s all still building up to the next Avengers films, Infinity War Part One and Part Two.

As a spectacle, this is a thrilling ensemble comic-book adaptation that was impossible to imagine when Iron Man was released way back in 2008 and is a good platform for the expanding Marvel roster. The best metaphor one could refer to in describing Civil War, though, is that it’s a little bit like eating at prissy high-end restaurant that serves small dishes – the food is fantastic, but you leave still feeling hungry.