Review of Captain America: Civil War (2016) by Henry G — 08 Apr 2017

Because the comparison is unavoidable, this film makes all the missteps that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice made. While it definitely outshines Dc's attempt in certain areas, namely character motivation, it falls flat in comparison to others. Like BvS, certain scenes should've been cut and certain aspects feel like tacked on fanservice *cough* Spider-Man*cough*. Both films have disappointed me in in certain areas and in the same area. The film entertains the idea of the superhero control, but strangely refuses to do anything worthwhile with it, it feels like it's just there to make a film seem much deeper than it actually is. As a result, Marvel delievers a film that is safe, far too safe to be considered satisfying.

You know what, I'm going to go a bit deeper. This movie fails in what it attempts to do. The accords, the most interesting part of the film, are merely a plot device and can easily be forgotten throughout the rest of the film, except the film won't let you. Instead, it keeps on insisting that the accords are still the focus when it absolutley is not the case. Let's compare this to another high on the radar CBM, The Dark Knight. TDK has the theme of that at their core, people are animals and all they need is a push. The difference here is that TDK actually does something with this theme rather than just talk about it. The entire climax of TDK focuses on this theme, while the accords in Civil War are just glanced over.

The airport scene. This scene was the last straw for me. It's a fight with absolutely no stakes or tension. It is the literal embodiment of flash over substance. There are no stakes because there's never a feeling that anyone could actually get hurt. At least when Batman fought Superman, there were stakes and someone's life on the line.

In every Marvel film prior, we've seen the Avengers make the lives of civilians their priority, yet this movie shows that Marvel isn't afraid to have their cake and eat it too.

In interviews, the directors have expressed concern over making sure that the film makes sense. Apparently in this case, that comes at the cost of compelling story telling. As a result, we get the most disappointing film Marvel has ever put out.

If you're hoping to see the superhero film that portrays a battle of morals and ethics, you'll keep waiting, because this isn't it either. I wanted to love this movie, I really did, but the more I actually analyzed, the more I just hated it. 5/10: Close, But No Cigar.