It’s finally here, the movie we have all been waiting for. Or at least, the movie that I have been dying to see for what feels like forever now, Captain America: Civil War.

Obviously, it’s no secret that this movie was amazing. Reviews have been pouring in left right and centre that praise Civil War and have been calling it the best film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date. I think I might have to agree. I’ve already seen it twice within a few days and I honestly wouldn’t rule out seeing it in theatres again.

Now I’m no expert when it comes to the Marvel comics. I have only ever read one Marvel story bind up and that was Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War. I will never be able to provide you with in depth comparisons between the comics and the films and I definitely won’t be able to tell you about all the little hidden Easter eggs, but what I can do is tell you about how much I loved this addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise and how it was entertaining even for those who have never picked up one of the comics in their life.

When I went to see Civil War on opening night, (yes, I had to buy my tickets two days in advance) I only saw it as a regular screening. As in no 3D, just plain old regular 2D. I promise you, it was still amazing. However, when I saw it the second time, we chose to see it in Ultra AVX 3D. When you jump from a regular screening to Ultra AVX, there is an incredible difference in terms of your movie watching experience. You get a bigger screen, INTENSE surround sound and 3D with Ultra AVX, not to mention comfier seating. The action scenes were 100x better in 3D. I mean, the action scenes are amazing on their own, but with the enhanced effect of 3D, they’re that much better.

Now, here’s the part where I have a little bit of an unpopular opinion. Not about Civil War, but about Avengers: Age of Ultron. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I fell asleep trying to watch it. I found it to be confusing as hell, but what bothered me even more were the corny jokes. They weren’t funny, but rather just plain old cringeworthy. I only bring this up because the writing for Captain America: Civil War was flawless. The comic-relief scenes actually made me giggle and the more serious and dramatic scenes were perfect.

As I mentioned, I have never read a single Marvel comic other than Deadpool. I didn’t really know the story behind Civil War or the events that occur during this portion of the comics. However, I do have two best friends that are avid Marvel readers. They basically know everything there is to know and they have become my personal fountain of Marvel knowledge. Anytime I have any question, they can easily provide an answer. In terms of the films, I have seen them all except for Ant Man (don’t kill me, I promise to watch it soon) so I generally know what’s going on from a film perspective, but in terms of the details the films leave out, I have no idea.

One comment that my friend made was that she wished they had done Civil War as an Avengers sequel rather than as a Captain America sequel. She mentioned that if they had done it that way, the signing of the Accords would feel like a more two sided argument whereas with it being under the Captain America name, it felt more one sided and that the film forced you to see Captain America’s perspective as the correct perspective. I would never have even thought about it that way unless she had mentioned it to me, but it opened my eyes to how different the comics and the films are from one another. Even just the fact that the comics included literally EVERY SINGLE character in the Marvel universe into the Civil War storyline, but the films only had a few. This detail didn’t bother me too much as my knowledge of the Marvel characters only goes as far as the films provide, but I can understand why this may have bothered some of the hardcore Marvel comic readers.

I personally really enjoyed the amount of characters that were involved in the film. I think it was the perfect amount for me to keep track of and made it easier to remember who was on which team. Of course there were moments of tension between the characters, but as I mentioned before, there were quite a few funny moments as well! The scenes between Falcon and Winter Soldier killed me. Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan have amazing chemistry together and they are both just so naturally funny. Honestly, all of the characters just worked so well together. Whether it was Vision and Scarlet Witch or Iron Man and War Machine, each of the characters present within this movie were perfectly woven together.

I loved the new addition of Black Panther. I honestly know absolutely nothing about him, but Civil War definitely has me intrigued to find out more. I’m really looking forward to the Black Panther stand alone film! We also were introduced to yet another new version of Spiderman! I’m not going to lie, I was really worried about this new development at first. We have already been introduced to two Spiderman franchises and I was worried that this new guy was going to be the same old song and dance. I am here to tell you that this was not the case! I promised a spoiler free review, so I won’t say anymore about the scenes involving Spidey, but I promise you…they were fantastic.

A BIG factor in Civil War was Mr. Bucky Barnes. A huge chunk of this story line revolved around our favourite Winter Soldier and I have no shame in admitting that this did not bother me at all. Nudge nudge wink wink. As I have recently learned, Bucky does play a VERY important role in the Captain America comic book franchise, but the Civil War movie featured him in a completely different way. If you didn’t catch my hint before, I love me a little Sebastian Stan, but seriously, he kills it as the Winter Soldier. He has easily become one of my favourite characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Civil War almost felt like a second Winter Soldier film to be honest. You learn a lot more about his past via flashbacks and what his role is in the film version of the Civil War storyline.

One of the coolest things about this film was that there was no villain. In terms of a superhero movie, that is just unheard of. I loved the spin on this trope and the idea of the main cause of conflict being one another. Of course, there are bad guys that cause this tension to occur, but they’re not the ones causing physical damage to the heroes. It truly is a unique spin for the super hero genre.

If I have one complaint at all about anything from Civil War, I think it might be that little moment of insta-love. Those who have seen it know what I’m talking about…I mean, they just had to throw that in there right? Because it isn’t a superhero movie without at least one kiss. Meh. It did provide for a good moment of comic relief, but was it necessary? Nah, I don’t think so.

As you probably can guess, I loved Civil War. I loved the characters. I loved the idea of there not being a villain. I loved the idea of two teams of “good guys” fighting against one another. Civil War is such a wonderful film that you could easily watch multiple times in theatres. I mean, I’ve seen it twice already and I’d be down to go again.

If I could leave you with one piece of advice, it would be to stick around for TWO end credit scenes. But I mean, you already know this right? After credit scenes are like a staple with Marvel movies.

And finally, my only question is: did Bucky get to eat his plums?