Great film, well-rounded plot; confusing at times

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2016)

Captain America: Civil War is the third and final film in the Captain America trilogy. But I don't think of it as the third film, rather the thirteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU. This film has a rich plot which will leave viewers entertained and thrilled, alongside the further development of the main characters that have graced the screens since the start of the MCU, including the title-character Captain America, and impressive action scenes.
Yet this film struggles to keep Captain America in the limelight, with a plot those unfamiliar to the MCU will find confusing. Once you get into the film, although not as good as The Avengers films, this is a thriller and a must-see movie for 2016.
The basis behind the movie is simple; set one year after the horrible events in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the team must sign a UN treaty which effectively denies the Avengers any rights of free movement, stripping them of their ability to fight crime around the world and create a path of destruction along their way, as has happened in the other movies.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) or Iron Man, who has had to deal with the burden of having created Ultron in Avengers 2, decides it's best if the team signs this treaty. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who is Captain America, disagrees and believes that signing the treaty is not the best thing for the Avengers.
This entire concept of two of the most powerful men in the Avengers team against each other forms the basis of the film; a Civil War, namely between the individual Avengers themselves. Perhaps a little conveniently, half the team sides with Stark, half with Rogers. And so begins the war, each side fighting for what they believe in.
What I liked about this Civil War idea was how it leaves the whole ''bad guys, good guys'' allocation to the audience for quite a portion of the film. We are aware that Tony Stark is a good guy, having seen the other MCU films, but so is Steve Rogers. Hence, while it soon becomes clear who is ''right'' and who isn't, having two ''good'' guys and two ''good'' sides opposing each other opens viewers up to a different kind of enemy, one of which is harder for viewers to pinpoint definitively.
However, in reality the entire basis of the film is not just the Civil War, but also encircles that of the Winter Soldier, James Barnes (Sebastian Stan), returning from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He plays a pivotal role in the movie, the audience's perception of him being changed from Captain America 2.
Returning from Avengers: Age of Ultron are the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), alongside other characters from the MCU including Falcon, Ant-Man and War Machine. New appearances include the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland).
All these characters star in the fight scene, featured in the trailer, which is easily one of the best fight scenes in the MCU, almost outshining those in the Avengers, simply for its ever-so simple concept; a Civil War between the Avengers.
On the downside, it is this huge line-up of characters that forms part of the problem with this film. It drowns Captain America away as the title role in the film. He isn't completely submerged, with the film still able to identify him as the main protagonist. However additions such as Tony Stark have the inherent ability to dim away Steve's voice in the film. As the film progresses so too does Captain America's role diminish slightly. While fears of the film becoming Avengers 2.5 or Iron Man 4 before its release were thankfully not realised, this movie did still struggle to keep the limelight focused on Captain America himself.
More notably is how the film struggles to find focus. It shifts between the Civil War of sorts, and the underlying protagonists of the story, attempting to give each character some attention. This was to some degree a mistake; while this will entertain those who know the MCU universe well, those purely watching for Captain America will be confused for sure.
But I must digress; if you are going to see an MCU movie, any of them, it is best to at least know some basic background information about the timeline, to help your understanding of the film. This flaw of confusion is not intrinsic with this film but the fact that the MCU flows less like a collection of movies and more like a series, with each one flowing on to some degree from the last. Watching Captain America 2 then moving straight to 3 is not a smart choice, at the very least, watching Avengers 2 is necessary.
To an extent the movie struggles to find its voice for half the film, as the building blocks are slowly put down for the film. This can be good too, though, allowing for more character development. Unlike the Avengers films, this movie is not teeming with fight scene after fight scene. Rather they are more spaced, and rightly so; any more fight scenes and this movie would have been indistinguishable from any other Avengers film.
Having watched the other Avengers films, this movie doesn't quite live up to them, though it would be disappointing if this film outshone the Avengers. Instead, this film allows for an almost side-conflict set aside from the battles the Avengers are usually fighting together, instead exploring the consequences when a series of ''enhanced humans'' turn on each other.
Captain America: Civil War is a stunning film which has helped withhold the reputation of the MCU. It is a film that has been well-developed in almost every important aspect, and certainly has helped hook viewers and set up for a dramatic conclusion in Avengers 3: Infinity War.