As an early Mother’s Day present, I took my mother and stepfather to go see this film today. I’m not going to write a full review, there’s a bajillion of those online, by much better writers than myself (like ZAKI HASAN or GIRL ON COMIC-BOOK WORLD) plus if you have even the slightest interest in this film you’ve probably already seen it yourself, or are planning to go see it soon, and nothing I write would change your mind pro or con. So I’m just going to write my random first impressions.

First, overall, I loved it. I don’t know if I’d quite call this The Best Superhero Movie Ever as some have. I think Captain America: Winter Soldier remains my top nominee for that position as it was a tighter plot. But, yes, it certainly deserves all the praise it’s been getting.

I mean the film was kinda long. As I was watching it there were scenes that I found myself wishing would skip ahead. It’s almost 2 and a half hours long, I’d have to watch it again to be specific, but I’m sure I could cut it down by half an hour to make it leaner.

I would also say (as many others have) that this is much closer to being “Avengers III” than “Captain America III”. The main plot, including the villain’s stated motivation, comes directly from the events of Avengers: Age Of Ultron. I don’t know if it’s a matter of wanting to save the specific “Avengers” brand-name, such as the upcoming 2-part Infinity War sequel, or perhaps because certain actors are pre-contracted for “Avengers sequels” and don’t want to use those spots for this and then have to renegotiate for further films (Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk are noticeably absent), as to explain why this isn’t “Avengers: Civil War.” Better yet, it could have been just “Marvel Civil War” or even, dare I suggest, “Captain America v Iron Man”? Truly, the real stars of this film were Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. The rest, including Sebastian Stan’s Bucky/Winter Soldier, were supporting roles.

That being said, for those supporting roles, the film did a very good job of giving each character just enough to make them all feel relevant, no one felt “forced” into the film. And that includes the two new heroes that I was most anxious to see…

Chadwick Boseman totally kills it as T’Challa, the Black Panther. He adopts a unique accent, which sounds natural. Out of costume he’s suave, he’s confident, and commanding. Everything I wanted him to be. And in-costume he (well, his stunt-double) was shown as an equal in combat to Captain America and Bucky. I’ll admit, I was less than impressed with the man who briefly played his father, T’Chaka, he just didn’t give off the presence of a Black Panther himself, but we get two scenes featuring other Wakandans, and they all look impressive and regal.

And then, of course…

Tom Holland is very impressive as Peter Parker, and the brief but significant inclusion of Spider-Man in action is excellent. Despite what some say, I think the character’s presence in the film was very well-done. I was not AT ALL happy with Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May. Sorry, she’s just too young. And hot. Tony Stark even calls her hot. Aunt May should never be thought of as “hot.” I mean, Sally Field was too young-looking herself, but this is just ridiculous. At least the first Spider-Man film got it right with Rosemary Harris.

YES!

Um, no.

ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?!?

Okay, well, other than that, I loved Spidey in this film.

I was also quite happy with Paul Rudd’s Ant Man. To date I have not seen the Ant-Man film, as it just didn’t seem all that interesting to me. But it’s to the credit of the writers of this film that his inclusion is written well-enough that you don’t have to have seen his film in order to have to follow along with him here.

I was a little unclear about the actual status of the whole team at the end of the film (but can’t say why, without spoiling it) but, overall, I was satisfied with this film. And highly recommend it.

And, yes, stay until the end of the credits. I couldn’t believe the number of people who got up and started leaving when the credits first began. I wanted to stand up and shot “Where are y’all going?!? Hasn’t EVERYONE learned this lesson yet?!?” We get two scenes here. There’s a mid-credits scene (and then some other folks started leaving after that…c’mon people) and then a final scene at the very end of the credits (which are pretty long, so be prepared to wait).