As I write this, I think Captain America Civil War is still to release in the USA. It's sitting at #89 on IMDb and it's been universally loved. I really love the MCU as a collected whole, and Captain America Civil War is one of the best, but if I'm going to review it honestly, it's still flawed.
Flaw 1: Action scenes in shaky cam. Was Paul Greengrass a cameo director? The first couple of fight scenes were very hard to see with camera movement. And after ironically seen the trailer for Jason Bourne I was looking forward to dolly shot action sequences. Nope. They were very "Bournesque." The now famous airport battle was thankfully rather still (I'd imagine due to the heavy CGI), but the earlier fight sequences would have been far better shot if we could have seen the action.
Flaw 2: Minor Spoiler. The character motives. The motives for the fight with Civil War, especially at the end, was very personal. For all 3 of the main characters - Bucky, Stark and Rogers - it became a personal battle. I think this was a flaw of the Civil War issue. The reason Civil War was so brilliant a story arc in the comics was that it was ideological. The movie had tones and set up the reasons, but by the end it became a personal grudge match. And worse, the characters behaved in ways that seemed to contradict their own actions earlier within the movie. Stark was especially guilty of this by the end of the movie. Overall it was an "acceptable" plot, but it would have been nicer to keep closer to the ideological battle of Civil War.
Flaw 3: Major spoiler. The ending of the film. In the comic, the end of Civil War sees Captain America die. Crossbones and Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) kill Rogers. I am highly surprised this didn't happen in Civil War, and I thought it would have been a tie into the MCU to allow for Mystic / Time powers to be introduced to "resurrect" Rogers pre-Thanos. So as the movie starts with Crossbones and then Agent 13 is in place soon after, I felt the movie was building up to it. And then nothing. Why? If Captain America's death wasn't the end of Civil War (as it was in the comics), why were those scenes needed in the movie. Crossbone's battle made some plot sense, but Agent 13's place in the movie was superfluous. In fact, it would have been more interesting without her, as her only role was to return the equipment to Falcon and Rogers. They instead could have used Ant-Man to steal them, since he is a criminal. Good setup wasted.
Final Thoughts: And here then is the rub. It's not a perfect movie if you try to be critical, especially if you know the source. But it's also really good, with great action scenes, especially that airport scene. The fighting felt heavy. The punches really felt like they were hurting because the emotions were there. It wasn't just some random alien, but it was our Avengers we've spent the last few movies getting to know. I did enjoy it, I'll go back and watch it again.
Flaw 1: Action scenes in shaky cam. Was Paul Greengrass a cameo director? The first couple of fight scenes were very hard to see with camera movement. And after ironically seen the trailer for Jason Bourne I was looking forward to dolly shot action sequences. Nope. They were very "Bournesque." The now famous airport battle was thankfully rather still (I'd imagine due to the heavy CGI), but the earlier fight sequences would have been far better shot if we could have seen the action.
Flaw 2: Minor Spoiler. The character motives. The motives for the fight with Civil War, especially at the end, was very personal. For all 3 of the main characters - Bucky, Stark and Rogers - it became a personal battle. I think this was a flaw of the Civil War issue. The reason Civil War was so brilliant a story arc in the comics was that it was ideological. The movie had tones and set up the reasons, but by the end it became a personal grudge match. And worse, the characters behaved in ways that seemed to contradict their own actions earlier within the movie. Stark was especially guilty of this by the end of the movie. Overall it was an "acceptable" plot, but it would have been nicer to keep closer to the ideological battle of Civil War.
Flaw 3: Major spoiler. The ending of the film. In the comic, the end of Civil War sees Captain America die. Crossbones and Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) kill Rogers. I am highly surprised this didn't happen in Civil War, and I thought it would have been a tie into the MCU to allow for Mystic / Time powers to be introduced to "resurrect" Rogers pre-Thanos. So as the movie starts with Crossbones and then Agent 13 is in place soon after, I felt the movie was building up to it. And then nothing. Why? If Captain America's death wasn't the end of Civil War (as it was in the comics), why were those scenes needed in the movie. Crossbone's battle made some plot sense, but Agent 13's place in the movie was superfluous. In fact, it would have been more interesting without her, as her only role was to return the equipment to Falcon and Rogers. They instead could have used Ant-Man to steal them, since he is a criminal. Good setup wasted.
Final Thoughts: And here then is the rub. It's not a perfect movie if you try to be critical, especially if you know the source. But it's also really good, with great action scenes, especially that airport scene. The fighting felt heavy. The punches really felt like they were hurting because the emotions were there. It wasn't just some random alien, but it was our Avengers we've spent the last few movies getting to know. I did enjoy it, I'll go back and watch it again.