“Are you #TeamCap or #TeamIron Man?”

This is probably the biggest question that defines the movie Captain America: Civil War – the finale to Captain America’s movie trilogy.

Even though there is a main villain, the movie changes the playing ground by instead focusing on and crafting an intensely interpersonal conflict that splits friendships and is the culmination of years of simmering tension.

In this movie, the Avengers, led by Captain America, accidentally cause massive civilian casualties during an international mission, causing the United Nations to draft the Sokovia Accords. The purpose of the Sokovia Accords is to establish a governmental panel to provide oversight and control the team.

Captain America is opposed to the treaty, because he distrusts the ability of government officials to effectively handle emergencies, and puts more faith in his personal judgement. Iron Man, on the other hand, is in support for the treaty, due to his belief that accountability is needed to prevent the abuse of superhero abilities, and his guilt over his past destructive actions.

Further complicating the issue is the reemergence of the Winter Soldier, a friend of Captain America, and previously the antagonist of the second movie in the trilogy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as an indoctrinated assassin for the Nazi splinter group HYDRA.

Captain America’s desire is to protect his friend, recognizing that his horrible actions had not been a choice, but Iron Man is trying to bring him in due to the numerous crimes that he committed (and is suspected of committing).

The movie’s portrayal of this conflict gives sympathy to and establishes understandable reasons for both sides, yet also does not shy from pointing out  each side’s faults, causing the movie to appear more mature and thoughtful than previous Marvel films that had cartoonishly evil, cut-and-dried villains. As a result, the conflict serves as applicable political commentary on the “oversight versus personal freedom” debate that has defined the modern era of national security.

I love that the movie further developed the shades of gray morality that are present in Captain America’s personality. To be completely honest, I cared very little about him in Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers, simply because he had been so pure and good of heart that he had been fairly boring to see on screen (in addition to being outshined by stronger characters such as Iron Man or Thor).

Yet his second movie gave me a man struggling to reconcile his idealism to a pragmatic and ruthless society, adding layers of complexity to his overall characterization and putting him at the top of my “favorite Marvel film characters” list. And his fights are amazing to see on screen. This is expanded even further in Captain America: Civil War, as he has even more characters to bounce off of and interact amongst.

The huge number of established heroes appearing made my inner fan explode in joy. And I particularly love the superheroes that this movie introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Panther and Spider-Man are truly the highlights. Both of them are just plain cool, being incredibly strong and capable of matching established heroes in an even fight. But in terms of personality, I love them for completely different reasons.

Black Panther is fairly serious and stoic, and not one to spout quips or one-liners every couple of seconds (as Iron Man or Ant-Man do). But even though he is not a comedy goldmine, his solemn, regal presence provides some of the most poignant scenes in the movie. His and the main villain’s conversation at the end of the movie is quiet, understated, yet moving.

Spider-Man, on the other hand, is very funny, and the movie provides an effective balance of his confidence and his high-school nerdiness. His obvious youth is a breath of fresh air compared to all the adult heroes, but he is still given the opportunity to discuss his moral code and establish his basic qualities for a solo movie later on.

Also, the fights are of the top-notch standard I expect from a Marvel movie. The actors involved actually appear to be experts rather than just helplessly flailing their fists at each other. The pacing is incredibly fast, but the hits are still brutal enough to be realistic. My eyes had been glued to the IMAX three-dimensional screen during the brilliant airport fight involving practically every hero in the movie.

The faults I can truly criticize in the movie are related to the massive cast. Many of the characters are either out of focus or severely undeveloped, and even Captain America himself occasionally gets shunted to the side by the sheer number of people he has to give screen time to. Particularly bad is that his friendship to the Winter Soldier, one of the major driving forces of the plot, is hardly given the attention it deserves.

Specifically, Iron Man often steals the spotlight as the leader of the opposing team, even though he has already had a movie trilogy focused on him and this is supposed to be a Captain America solo movie. This is more a criticism of the premise of the movie, though, rather than the execution, and the focus on his perspective helped redeem him in my eyes after the mediocrity of Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3. (In fact, I am just the tiny bit more biased in his favor after the movie, even though I came into the theater preferring Captain America to him).

Also aggravating is the romance element. Considering the grim and edgy tone of the movie in comparison to other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the relationship scenes come off as forced, out of place, and completely unnecessary, in addition to eating up valuable time that could have been used for giving depth to the individual identities of characters.

This especially applies to Sharon Carter, as the only meaningful impression I have of her after seeing the movie is “Captain America’s love interest”. Even though there are scenes that give her tidbits of development, the core focus is on Captain America’s attraction to her, or vice-versa, and she has only one five-second fight in the entire movie (that she loses). And, to add insult to injury, the characters have little to no chemistry.

But these are all minor imperfections in a brilliantly crafted superhero movie. It boasts superb fight choreography, moving emotional scenes, and a diverse, talented cast to carry the entire story. The Russos have not lost their talent since the last Captain America movie, and I eagerly anticipate their next – Avengers: Infinity War Part 1.