Dismal, tedious, overstuffed, and unearned crossover

Rating: 4/10 (30 December 2018)

Let me first start off by saying that my view on this film is a bit biased because I never liked the idea of a Winter Solider sequel and the Avengers Civil War being one film to begin with. I do find it very ironic that this film released the same year as Batman v. Superman because both films shared very similar if not practically identical flaws - yet one was properly negatively received whilst the other got much high praise that I still do not understand. Let's look at the flaws both films share and then I'll talk about the other reasons as to why I didn't like CW.
Unnecessary villains - Isn't the theme of BvS and CW supposed to be heroes vs. heroes, as in a conflict strictly between the heroes? If so, then why do both movies more or less ruin that premise by adding in unnecessary and ultimately worthless villains like Lex and Zemo? The latter had a good character arc and good motivations for wanting to drive the Avengers apart, but it just doesn't work when the whole theme is supposed to be heroes vs. heroes.
Spent too much time setting up other films - Much like Age of Ultron, I found that this film mostly set up events for the remaining Phase Three movies more than it actually focused on the story at hand. We have Spider-Man thrown into the mix for no reason other than setting up Homecoming, whilst BvS had Wonder Woman thrown in for no reason along with a bunch of Justice League teasers. Black Panther's arc in CW is great and feels relevant to the story, but he doesn't get enough time which is a shame because he is easily the best part of the entire film.
Tedious and depressing - I personally found both films extremely dragged-out and lacking in the entertainment factor, which is even more surprising with CW because Marvel at their worst are usually entertaining. This film, on the other hand, consists mainly of tedious and boring lectures from Ross and its atmosphere is often dismal such as Tony's visit to the Raft. There are a few scenes here and there that feel more in the spirit of your average Marvel movie, such as the airport battle - but directly after that, it's back to being boring and depressing.
Faux character development - Both films try to fool you into believing that their long running times are necessary for character development, which would work if those 2 and 1/2 hour running times consisted mainly of development - but they don't. The big difference between the two is that CW has actually convinced itself of its own lie and genuinely believes that its contributing to development. A good example of this would be the first scene with Wanda and Vision - the movie wants you to believe that this scene is developing these two characters and providing you with the reason as to why they fall in love, but in reality it is just pointless filler.
In addition to those flaws shared between BvS and CW, my main reason for not liking CW is that I feel like this film should have never been titled "Captain America" unless it was actually going to be a proper Steve Rogers standalone like Joe Johnston's underrated First Avenger and the excellent Winter Soldier. Instead this film is basically Avengers 3 but without Thor and Hulk. If it had been titled "Avengers" then maybe I would be less harsh on it, but as is I feel cheated by it. Tony Stark is at his least likable in this film; tied only with Iron Man 2 for the worst portrayal of his character in the MCU. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, we get cheated out of multiple battles. Crossbones gets killed off within the first 20 minutes or so and the other Winter Soldiers created by HYDRA are killed by Zemo, and both of these are huge middle fingers to the audience masquerading as clever plot twists.
On top of all of that, the film pretty much ends just the way it began. Yes Rhodes had a minor injury, T'Chaka was killed, and Zemo was locked up, but it ended with Steve Rogers agreeing that the Avengers would come back when they were needed - totally defeating the purpose of Civil War.
All in all this was pretty much a WWE Raw episode with superheroes and an unearned, unworthy, overstuffed sequel that couldn't decide whether or not it wanted to be a Winter Soldier follow up or the Avengers Civil War. As someone who mostly enjoys the MCU, this film is at the bottom three of my list and it is only worth watching on repeat viewings for Boseman's excellent Black Panther IMO... and Stan Lee's cameo which was admittedly hilarious.