Marvel movies are cinematic comfort food, and I always go back for seconds.

What’s It About? When Captain America and Iron Man come to a disagreement about the future of the Avengers, a shadow agent exploits the tension to cause an all-out battle between the two heroes and their closest allies.

STRAIGHT UP: Standout action and character work; among Marvel’s best. 4/5

What I Liked

Improving on the source material – In the comics, the Civil War event featured an overcomplicated plot, heroes acting out of character, and “shocking” moments in very poor taste, all of which ultimately ruined a very cool core premise. The film adaptation realizes more of the storyline’s potential by shrinking the scale – making the interpersonal conflicts feel more intimate – and giving Tony Stark and his team a more reasonable motivation to stand against Cap.

Incredible action sequences – There are two separate hero-on-hero brawls in the latter half of this film – one heavy on spectacle, the other heavy on pathos. Both of them are among the very finest superhero action sequences ever made, and neither of them would have seemed possible just a few years ago.

Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther – As the first black hero in the MCU who is emphatically not a sidekick, Black Panther might prove to be one of the most important movie characters to debut in 2016. The positive response from audiences so far has been heartening. Good on Boseman, who deserves to succeed after surviving a disastrous role in Gods of Egypt.

Tom Holland as Spider-Man – Holland is note-perfect in limited duty as Peter Parker, and Spidey almost steals the whole show in the big clash between Team Cap and Team Iron Man. As a dedicated Spider-fan, I couldn’t be happier.

Character reclamation projects – Some characters who didn’t impress me in their most recent appearances redeemed themselves here. Ant-Man’s inclusion in the MCU is finally justified in a huge action sequence; Black Widow is free to be herself, with the awful romance subplot from Age of Ultron at least temporarily out of the picture; and Scarlet Witch gets to show off her powers and personality in more exciting and substantial ways. There’s also some beneficial declamation going on, as Hawkeye’s role is reduced. (He should probably go back to being retired.)

A little more serious, a little less quippy – There’s a noticeable drop-off in the amount of snarky one-liners in Civil War compared to a lot of Marvel’s recent output. While I’m not advocating that these films go the way of DC and drop the humor entirely, I do welcome the more serious tone – Age of Ultron and Ant-Man had me at my limit for sarcastic banter.

What I Disliked

An infinite crisis – One problem that Civil War inherits from some of its predecessors is that it is perhaps a little too ambitious, just barely managing to fit a busy plot under the lid of a 2.5-hour run time. This requires a hefty amount of exposition that ultimately makes the film feel much longer than it actually is.

Another forgettable villain – While I understand that a more charismatic villain might have taken away from the Civil War storyline’s particular appeal, that won’t do anything to address audiences’ longstanding complaints that the bad guys always come across as afterthoughts in Marvel’s films.

Awkward fits – While it pays off in the end, it’s not immediately clear how Ant-Man and Spider-Man really fit into this story – their inclusions feel shoehorned in, no matter how I think about it. Similarly, a few characters temporarily change or suspend their allegiance in ways that don’t seem to make sense.

CLOSING THOUGHT: If I start to sound a little defensive here, it’s because some of my colleagues have been strangely unenthusiastic about Civil War, while I can’t see where I’m not supposed to be impressed. Any way I look at it, this film works, and with its signature action scenes it brings something to the table that nobody has ever seen before. There’s not much more that anyone can expect from a movie like this. Unless one is of the belief that Marvel is intentionally lowering their sights – passing on the risk required to make a great movie in favor of consistently producing merely good ones – then Civil War ought to satisfy, and I’m willing to make a case for it anytime, anywhere.

Also, for the record, I’m on #TeamCap