What can you say? The MCU's batting average is pretty solid

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2016)

The Marvel films have come a long way now. First they started with movies establishing the characters. Then they all crossed over to fight threats. Now the only sensible thing to do is to start having them come into serious conflict with each other.
The MCU films have so far been solid. You have had great ones like Iron Man, The Avengers and Winter Soldier. And you've had meh ones like Iron Man 2, Thor the Dark World. For me personally, the worst of the bunch is Iron Man 3 but even that is somewhat well made.
I will say Civil War is the more appropriate Avengers sequel. Ultron somewhat gave me a headache as it was all over the place. And its no surprise Joss Whedon just quit after that. This film is surprisingly contained despite being based off of Mark Millar's very extensive storyline. Having removed Hulk and Thor really helped contain the story.
The action set-pieces, while not as all over the place as Ultron was, were still sometimes difficult to watch. I like that the Russo brothers introduced some grit in the Winter Soldier, but they introduced a mild form a shaky cam in Civil War. Yes the camera jolted up and down at times during a frenetic action sequence with some quick cuts.
The best set-piece though had to be the airport throwdown. And unlike Batman v Superman earlier this year, there was a proper build-up to the throwdown between the two disagreeing factions. Not only that, the airport was empty so you can watch the fight with maximum comfort and not worry about civilians or wanton destruction.
And with the build-up to the fight, you can definitely see the characters really develop, not only in this film but the preceding ones as well. Tony Stark started off as basically a neo-con in the first film, then to a guy who opposes the government to now believing in accountability therefore being surprisingly in favour of the superhero registration accord. Steve Rogers a guy who is a relic from a different time is basically someone who always wants to do the right thing and working for the government that looks out for its own self interests may not be the right thing. Both have equally valid points.
There are two new additions. Black Panther or T'Challa is the first. And I'm so glad he finally got his big screen treatment. He is such an awesome character and adds to the diversity sorely lacking in superhero films. His costume is amazing as well. With the director of Creed making his film, it will kick a lot of ass.
The second addition is Spider-Man. And this is one of the better adaptations of the character as they really embellished on his youth. We keep forgetting that Spidey is in his teens. Although I am concerned now that the Marvel films have an over-abundance of quippy characters: Iron Man, Starlord, Ant-Man and now him.
As usual in an MCU film, the villain is forgettable. In this case however, you can excuse that because the main conflict is between the heroes. The revelation in the third act really helps to reinforce that.
So yes this film was really enjoyable. More focused than Ultron and better story telling than the DC films. The only gripe is just with the filming and editing of the action sequences. Marvel, you done it again.