It's More than Meets the Eye

Rating: 6/10 (22 June 2016)

It's happened: our heroes have turned against one another. Just the image above proves what the Avengers have come to: turning on one another in a state of civil war over their limit to government control. No more fun and games—it's time to really challenge what they stand for.
I'll admit that I don't care too much about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They're fun to sit through in a theater full of other excited fans, but nothing about them resonates too deeply. But now, Captain America: Civil War has become one of the better of the movies within the trope. It's packed with the excitement, twists, fun, and laughter that we all expect from Marvel at this point. While it isn't worth multiple viewings, it is worthwhile for the teens, as there's more under that shiny armor than what meets the eye.
Based on the 2007 Civil War comic books, this third addition to Captain America's misadventures turns him into a criminal that the nation has lost its hope in. It's similar to Batman v. Superman, except done right. The Avengers now find themselves in a public media predicament after a mishap in a Lagos chemical heist ends with several people dying thanks to them. Now, the government decides to let the United Nations Panel instruct the super team. Looks like Captain America now has to clear his name not only with the politicians, but his own close friends and teammates.
Minus Hulk and Thor, all the heroes you know and love are back in action: Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Mass Destruction, Hawkeye, Falcon, and Ant-Man, plus some new faces as well: the smoothly cunning Black Panther and your friendly neighborhood, Spider-Man. Now let me tell you, it's the webslinger's third reboot within a decade, and at last they got the character right! Within the first 10 seconds, you will instantly say to yourself, "Yes! Tom Holland was born to be Peter Parker! And Spider-Man!" His backstory is also smartly left out. After all, we already know it as this point, right? The rest of the heroes also have their share of some great laughs, Vision in particular, and they always seem to have tons of fun with each other on set. But I have one complaint though: it's the same old shtick we've always seen. We've got a super talented cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlet Johansson, and they're doing the same thing we've always seen them do. It's not them that's the problem, it's the two directors, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo. They just don't know how to stage actors while getting worthwhile performances.
There are some cool decision that these two make in continuing the series, and some not so cool. With the action scenes, it's impossible to tell whether if they're awesome or pathetic.
But first, the good stuff: a garbage truck breaks down the arch in front of a medical center, Johansson totally rocks in combat action, there's a tunnel chase, Captain America holds down an entire helicopter by himself, the Avengers fight one another in one of the best moments of the entire movie series, and one hero has a big surprise that I cannot mention out of fear of spoiling anything.
Now, the bad stuff: It's hard to see the action because of the sped up footage and shaky camera (you know what I'm talking about), the editing is monstrous, characters who needed backstories didn't get one, the VFX looks fake a lot of the time, Black Panther appears out of nowhere and at an unbelievably convenient time, and there is too much talking that takes away the tension.
So therefore, the action is neither awesome nor pathetic. It's awesomely pathetic. Or is that pathetically awesome? Nah, I'll go with the first option.
What I love right now about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is how every hero has his own story to tell. What makes it better is how this series makes that concept work so well, almost like it's the narrative of television marrying the narrative of film! I also like how it points out the issue of heroes creating mass destruction and putting the people in danger, possibly out of reaction towards Man of Steel. Although I probably could've done with a shorter film and a clearer plot, it's neat to see how all the subplots come together in the end.
It's always a ton of fun to anticipate and sit through these movies on a big screen with hundreds of other excited fans. But you know what else? We can learn a lot about ourselves from the Avengers. It's already clear that we're a divided nation when it comes to things like whether trans-gendered people should use public restrooms of their choosing. It's just incredible how Marvel can take these abstract conditions of our country and simplify them. The Marvel Cinematic Universe may not produce all around perfect films, but it knows how to get the youth of the country out of our state of civil war. ​ Overall Grade: C+