A movie so full of characters and story it can't keep up with itself.

Rating: 6/10 (8 May 2016)

Civil War has a good start. The audience is bombarded with well shot action and a new improved Team. It comes straight to the point, introducing the first conflict: collateral damage. Furthermore, the appearance of the Sokovia Accords filter out already build up tensions in the team.
The movie struggled to deliver a clear story line. Introducing big characters, but understandably refusing to give them the deserved attention. Sadly multiple important aspect were thrown into the story line only to be dissolved half. Moreover, Civil War managed to put Fanservice into a new perspective. Above all a pointless kiss between two characters without any chemistry or tension distracts of the real problems. The fast changing of location for example the jump from Bucharest to Germany and Berlin to Leipzig wasn't comprehensible. If they decide to put city names on the screen, they should do it every time a new location is introduced.
You can go on about which side is right. Freedom vs. protection and the actual meaning behind it. The Avengers are not honest with each other. Tony has his mind fanatically set without accepting new input. Steve seems to worry more about Bucky than on freedom. I have a hard time sympathizing with Tony. Though his "side" is based on a logical conclusion, well portrayed by visions equation, Tonys focus seems to be on a tragic incidence and personal difficulties. He has a hero duties. Tonys priorities are off the chart so he starts to force his opinion on other enhanced humans. This is shown in his wish to pull Spider-Man into the boat. The teenager is clearly directed by Stark, persuading him to fight in a dangerous war. He buys him with cool gadget and bosses him around. Spidey even said that he is just there to impress Mr. Stark. Steve is not really better though. The way the men fight about Wanda, labeling her like an object without a right to choose her own side, is wrong. This is no criticism. I actually enjoyed the overall dispute between the character and in them self.
One thing I missed was Bucks split state. A Bucky that needs 3 years to get a grip of himself and to embrace his past persona, without being able to cooperate with Steve, sure doesn't manage to fully work and joke with his teammates after suffering a relapse. Later on he again is not trusting himself to the point where he is ready to froze himself just to prevent damage. Funny scenes like joking around and smiles may enhance a fans liking in the character but they contradict how a former abused assassin should act after getting his life back.
Marvel went darker with Civil War and sadly the jokes that made it through the cut really didn't hit it off like in the last movies. Some funny things didn't cooperate with the story line. Once again proving my point with a strangely relaxed Winter Soldier. Furthermore, why is Tony able to chop of a vibranium arm but not to put a scratch on a vibranium shield?
Now to come to a point that bothers me a lot. A Winter-Soldier-army is introduced. Deciding to make this big new story line coexist with the already established Civil War-story is a tough decision. It pulls the focus away and overwhelms. It may give Buck and Steve the right to act the way they do, but it seems to be pulled out of nowhere simply to make actions more plausible. This is brought to a breaking point where a big excitement over said army was thrown away by killing all of them. This is weak and easy story telling. It is easy to invent big enemies for big heroes and weak to remember along the way that the actual point was that they were their own big Nemesis. The audience can expect more of a billion dollar entertainment company.
Let's see the biggest problem with Civil War. Zemos motives are more of a deal breaker to me. He seams to pull the strings behind the scenes. But in the end all this epic fighting comes down to one more collateral damage. (Really proving the point of the restriction law.) But seriously! 2 Hours of pure heartbreaking action, all just because a man lost his family. A small personal tragedy after Marvel gave us an alien army, evil gods, an artificial intelligence and a Nazi underground gang in the US. government.
This just proved that Civil War made some obscure dramaturgical mistakes. It throws around with charismatic characters and more problems to count. It felt to easy to have Tonys strong opinion changed in a second. And how where they even able to capture half a dozen Super Heroes without explanation? Finally, making a huge deal about the Winter-Soldier-army to later simply dismiss them for the sake of the parallel moving story line. In the end it comes down to a simple thing: Loosing and Family. Zemos Family, the Avengers, T'challa and his dad, Tony and his parents, Steve and his Bucky!!! This is the actual focus of the story. The last two Avengers-movies were about coming together as a team, now it is staying together as a family. The movie ENDS with that exact fact. Even though they broke each others heads, they offer help to one another. (Steves letter to Tony), After everything went downhill they realized something Black Widow knew from the start: Family is what's most important. United we stand, divided we fall.
The movie failed to really put emphasis on this message. To portray our beloved heroes as a broken family is an awesome move. But with everything happening around it, a sad widower, a revenging son, a Winter-Soldier-army, a power craving government, it just stays in the shadows of a Civil War that is wrongly belief to be caused by collateral damage.