Good superhero movie doesn't necessarily mean good movie

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2016)

OK so the consensus regarding this movie is that it is spectacular. I had heard many reviews beforehand plus I was also excited on my own because I would finally get to see the latest incarnation of Spidey, this time by Marvel. (I am a big Spider-man fan). But...is it?
Overall the movie flows well and features enough action to justify its ticket price. Definitely a good superhero movie. Well staged choreography with good shots for the most part (e.g I didn't appreciate the "shaky cam" in the beginning) and many characters- heroes whose existence in the movie made sense, or at least they didn't feel "forced". CGI could have been better at times. As far as plot is concerned it was great to explore the moral aspect of the Avengers, did they have the authority to protect, who would supervise them, who is held responsible for all the casualties etc. The scene where they all sit in the living room, talk to each other and offer arguments is one of my favorites.
Black Panther was very interesting (the accent was clichÃ© though) and the chase sequence with him, Captain America and Bucky was a charm, although I would have preferred Black Panther to flee the scene. Spider-man set me off quite a bit, mostly due to the fact that he looked too CGI-ish, as if he walked out of a video game. (I like the suit design though). Hawk-eye making an appearance to help Scarlet Witch escape was also a highlight for me. Ant-man was very refreshing and fun to see.
Let's get to the problems of this movie. Was it a civil war? Was there hatred? Did they want to kill each other? (Black Panther excluded, he wanted Bucky dead for sure). No is the answer. In truth, Captain America and his team wanted to keep doing what they do and team Iron Man wanted to stop them and bring them to custody. What's the point when you know they don't really want to hurt each other? It's like when Rocky and Apollo Creed decided to fight each other at a private match just for fun. We should have felt awkward to see our favorite superheroes come to that (to say the least). I don't think anybody feared the possibility that someone might get hurt at any point. And Rhodi was merely an accident! Point is, it was just shallow showcasing of everyone's abilities.
Then they wanted to finally create the feeling of vengeance to Tony against Bucky (and Cap). And what did they do? They used footage of Bucky killing Tony's parents, I mean come on! (Also how could a security cam capture so many details is beyond me, it even zoomed in Maria's face...). I hate it when they make everything relate to everything. Would it be bad for once to see a sequence that doesn't serve a purpose later on? (I am referring to the great virtual reality scene in the beginning with young Tony and his parents).
Furthermore, the villain not only wastes too much screen time, he also has a sincerely stupid plan. How the heck could he know that Captain would get to that Hydra fortress? And that Iron Man would go there too! That stupid villain could sit and wait there for months and months and nobody arrive! Besides, he had nothing to do with the Sokovia accords, which "divided" the Avengers in the first place. He only managed to blame Bucky for that conference explosion.
Acting-wise, the trailers promised more than the movie actually delivered. For instance, Tony Stark seemed as if he would be very expressive, but really it wasn't that big a deal. Not much emotion, not even from the scene at the end where he is lying down on the floor with blood on his face. Why? Because just as the audience starts to feel for him, seeing him in this pathetic and humiliating situation, he soon starts talking childish to Cap: "You don't deserve this shield, my father made this shield". For the love of God! Shhh! Just have him stare at nothing for a while with a sad bloody face, or even cry a tear.
Which brings me to my final argument. I know Marvel loves to throw a funny line here and there, but isn't it time this stops at some point? So that we know it's a more serious situation here? Every now and then it was a constant pattern, e.g somebody falls, he says something funny. Oh and Spider-man was not funny, he just talked all the time as if exploring the world for the first time, very naive. I know he is supposed to be 15 but even he himself could have freaked or panicked at something during the airport fight. Was everything so charming to him? Is he so accustomed to fighting superheroes?
"Civil War" is very entertaining and a pleaser for every superhero fan. It is money well spent and a 2 and half hour spectacular show of visual effects and stunts. But a good movie it is not, sadly. Eventually you will neither come out of the cinema any wiser from seeing this nor feel you experienced anything groundbreaking or highly artistic. To me it doesn't seem to surpass films such as the first "Avengers" or the "Winter Soldier". So for all of you seeing reviews praising the film, know that they are exaggerated.