Flawed, but still a great superhero film

Rating: 9/10 (22 June 2016)

(SPOILERS)
Captain America: Civil War is one of the best Marvel movies and superhero movies to date. It's not particularly groundbreaking story-wise and, at times, falls prey to formulaic nature of the previous films in the MCU. If you're not a fan of the Marvel universe, this film won't change you're mind. However, if you are a fan, I don't see any flaw strong enough to incite dislike of the film as a whole. It boasts every element that fans love about these movies: the action, the humor, the interesting and entertaining character interactions, etc. Despite the title marketing Civil War as another Captain America movie, it's much more reminiscent of the Avengers films. The focus is spread evenly among both Cap and Iron Man. Both sides of the ideological warfare are shown, with no clear- cut "these are the 'good-guys' and these are the 'bad guys'" element. Both sides are attempting to do what they believe is right. Even the character of Zemo, who is more or less the villain, has a clear and understandable motivation for tearing the Avengers apart. Each character is given just enough time to shine and, more importantly, each character is feels relevant to the main story. The action is entertaining and filled to the brim with wit and creativity. The airport scene is easily the best superhero brawl ever on-screen. I loved the dramatic tonal shift during the third act. The battle at the airport was largely a big comedic skit, with each character seeming to have a fun time fighting each other for the most part. However, a series of events including Rody being injured and Iron Man finding out that Bucky was responsible for his parent's death lead to the final fight between Cap, Bucky, and Tony to be an epic, intense, and almost dead-serious climactic clash. Despite all these great aspects of Civil War, the movie has it's downsides too. I have two major gripes:
1. The lack of character death takes away from any palpable tension and feeling of possible consequences. This isn't so much a problem specifically with Civil War, but for entire superhero genre. Major characters don't die and, if they do, they won't stay "dead". I ranted about this in detail in my Batman V. Superman review, so I'll keep it brief here. For a movie that is supposed to be a game changer for the franchise, I would think that at least ONE major character would die. Just ONE. Is that really too much to ask? On the bright side, they didn't pull a "Batman V. Superman", by pretending to kill off a character, only to bring them back in the cheapest way possible. Characters simply don't die. War Machine, who I think we can all agree isn't super important in the franchise, is wounded, but, of course, doesn't die. Don't worry; he will be back in the next movie. Even though I am strictly against judging movies based on loyalty to source material, I can't help wondering why they decided not to kill of Captain America like in the comic books. As awesome as the final fight scene was, there was very little palpable tension for me as I know that neither Iron Man nor Cap would bite the dust in the end. Even if Rody/War Machine had actually died, that would have at least created some sense that there are actually stakes. Nope. Everybody survives and everybody is friends again in the end. Yay.
2. The cinematography is, for the most part, bland and unmemorable. Both Avengers movies had "the one" long shot amidst the action that stood out, showing all of the Avengers kicking ass together. Civil War doesn't have this. They missed a golden opportunity to have a long shot of all the heroes fighting at once. As the fight is about to begin, we get a nice, long shot of all everybody running at each other, but just as they are about to clash, the camera cuts away and begins showing brief tidbits of two individuals fighting, followed by another shot of another two fighting, and so on. There is never "that one shot" that stands out. Don't get me wrong; that entire sequence was great; I just wish there was more to cinematography.
Obviously, there are plenty more Marvel films to come. Heck, "Phase 3" is only just beginning. However, thus far, Civil War is the best of the bunch. In my opinion, it's the best Marvel film we've had yet, and the best superhero film since The Dark Knight.