Review of Captain America: Civil War (2016) by Sean L — 07 Jan 2018

I know a lot of people love this movie, but I was rather lukewarm about Civil War. Having read the comics this movie is titled after, I wanted a deeper discussion about why each hero was picking which side, and showing that there's more grey and nuance to the freedom vs. security debate. Instead, this movie rushes through the motivations for everyone to pick a side so it can get to the action. Case in point, Ant-Man and Hawkeye are practically afterthoughts whose motivations are glossed over so fast it's almost insulting. It is pretty cool to see all these heroes fighting each other, using their powers creatively against and with one another, but the substance isn't really there to make it more than just a summer blockbuster spectacle. Also, Spider-Man's appearance feels shoved-in at the last minute and doesn't add much other than "Hey, we reached a deal to put Spidey in the MCU". In fact, having a child fighting in a conflict he doesn't understand just makes Tony Stark seem like more of a selfish idiot and harder to side with.

If you think I'm nitpicking, you'll probably love this movie. If you care about story and character motivations and don't mind if there isn't something exploding every 5 minutes, you might be disappointed by this movie.