Captain America: Civil War is a fun, action-packed movie, but it doesn't charter new territory or transcend its superhero genre

Rating: 8/10 (10 June 2016)

Captain America: Civil War is the third directorial venture by the Russo brothers who helmed the fantastic Captain America: The Winter Soldier – not only a good superhero movie but an exemplary spy thriller in its own right. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to watch this movie when it came out last month. I was particularly interested to see how the Russo brothers would balance the intimate personal connections, which they excelled at in their last movie, and how they would handle a bigger, meaner blockbuster movie with multiple superheroes and plot-lines coming together. So what is the verdict? Did Captain America: Civil War excel at juggling multiple characters, create enough tension, and still manage to be entertaining while keeping superhero fatigue at bay?
Yes, for the most part Captain America: Civil War does meet most of the expectations, but it doesn't transcend the genre. In that way, its more like the Avengers: Age of Ultron which was a fun blockbuster summer movie, but easily forgettable for non-comic book fans.
The Russo brothers manage to create intimate moments of real bonding between characters. One of my favorite scenes is when Vision cooks for the first time to alleviate Scarlet Witch's homesickness. Though not human, Vision does something very human-like for Scarlet. I also liked the dynamic between Capt. America and Black Widow. While I'm personally disappointed that Marvel chose not to pursue a romance between the two, it is endearing to see that even as they fight on opposite sides, Black Widow came to support Capt. America at a moment when he was emotionally compromised. It just shows how well these two understand each other.
Although this film deals with weighty topics, I was surprised to see how the directors incorporated humor into the film, and created lighter moments to punctuate the moral, ethical dilemmas its characters face. You know what was fun? All the scenes with Spider Man, it felt right to not have a long origin story for Spider Man (yeah, how many Spider Man movies do we have already?), and just let the scene surprise you when you realize it's just a normal, scrawny kid who is concerned with school and getting good grades. In a fictional world where the adults are pondering on weighty matters, the way Peter Parker cuts through the thick air and brings some lightness and humor into the proceedings is a breath of fresh air. Spider man is there for a short time, but he and Ant-Man brings some much-needed humor to Civil War.
Ultimately, Civil War is bogged down with multiple characters that constantly fight for screen time. There are too many big action sequences that look good, but just don't carry a lot of emotional heft (an exception would be the fight between Capt. America, Bucky, and Iron Man near the end). I felt, as if I was running from one action sequence to another, before getting a breather to figure out: what the hell is going on? The movie could have easily cut 1 or 2 sequences, and still tell the same story. It also doesn't help that there are a dizzying number of different locations the film takes us to. What is with the strange choice of enlarged font sizes to show locations? At some points, I felt that I was watching a Mission Impossible, Bourne, or a Bond movie where the hero is constantly changing locations.
In Civil War, I rooted for Capt. America as he stood for his principles and protected his dear friend Bucky Barns, alternatively, I also felt bad for Iron Man at some parts, when it seemed like he had lost half his adopted family in this moral debate on security vs. civil liberty. But the conflict, what is really at stake never feels fully realized. I kept waiting to find out if the international coalition of countries wanting to curb the powers of the Avengers at the beginning was part of an evil, self-interested group, but that storyline never appeared. Instead we get a weak, preposterous antagonist. The villain's motivations as explained at the end of the movie did not seem very convincing. All this stealth and mayhem caused by the antagonist, played by an understated Daniel Bruhl seems pointless; the length to which he goes, in order to acquire the red book and animate the Winter Soldier, and for what? Is this a parable of misguided suicide bombers who cause mass destruction as a way to cope with loss?
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