Appropriately Action-Heavy and Vibrant; Overstuffed and Unfocused at Times

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2016)

An impassioned disagreement breaks Earth's greatest superteam in half and ultimately drives them to fight with more than just words. It's basically The Avengers 2.5, but you already knew that. And like the preceding two star-studded chapters, most of what makes it work is the thrill of seeing all the big names geared up together, slinging zingers and blowing dollars through the VFX budget like t-shirts from a cannon. It's a more serious take for the series, sober and steely outside of a few great jabs from the new guys (Ant-Man and Spider-Man steal the show on this front). Which is fine, it adds a necessary level of gravitas to the subject and it wouldn't seem proper for Iron Man to be going all tongue-in-cheek while he's trying to punch his buddy's eyebrows off. That heavy-duty weight can make the film feel long and overstuffed, though, and all told I was feeling a bit weary by the time it got around to wrapping itself up. There's a whole lot of action, as you'd have to expect, but this time it feels less grounded than in the past. It's as comic book as the MCU has ever been, really, with loads of Kool Aid-colored lights shining around the room, bodies flying through walls and one ridiculous chase scene in which our heroes sprint through traffic at highway speeds. And that's the focus, no doubt about it: action with a side of Bucky, whose quest for answers and redemption seems far more important than the moral dilemmas and personality clashes that split the Avengers. Personally, I was more interested in that lesser-explored gray area, but at the end of the day it's Cap on the marquee so I can understand the emphasis on his pet plot threads. It's a strong, solid entry and a fine continuation of this cornerstone franchise, but at times it tries to pull off too much. Could've easily been broken into two films, and I'm almost never one to recommend trying something like that.