Review of Captain America: Civil War (2016) by Mel N — 29 Apr 2017

The second best Avengers movie after the first film, but my third favourite Captain America movie (after The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier, in that order). This is an Avengers film nonetheless. There are a lot of great action scenes in this film but most of the plot feels like a drag, like an excuse for the Avengers to fight each other.

Besides that BIG cool thingy at the airport, there are not many surprises in Civil War up until the moment when Stark loses his mind (that was a very interesting plot twist). I'd equate this big reveal to the Shield/Hydra reveal in TWS. There are a couple slack villains in the film, but Ironman ends up getting the job. Marvel has a big issue in the villain department so maybe it was natural to turn up to the heroes division. I found Spiderman quite childish and annoying. Being the second reboot in less than four years I would have enjoyed a more grown up/grounded character. On the other hand, Paul Rudd's Ant Man was a highlight, and a surprise. The ending was sloppy at best, leaving promised conclusions frozen in cryogenics. This film could have been so much more if it weren't for the need to setup the next 5 years of Marvel movies.