Should've been called: "Avengers: The Argument"

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2016)

After the entertaining second Captain America installment "Winter Soldier", three other Marvel Universe movies (Age of Ultron, Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy) we kick off the third phase of the Marvel flicks with Captain America: Civil War. Starring almost the complete cast of the previous marvel movies and introducing new members, will it still be a Captain America centered movie?
The movie opens in Lagos, Nigeria, where four members of the remaining Avengers (Scarlett Witch, Black Widow, Falcon and Captain America) are trying to stop Hydra from stealing dangerous bio weapons form a medical research center. While they are successful, they cause huge damage and hundreds of civilian causalities. This is the final nail in the coffin for the United Nations who come with a set of rules that should prevent the Avengers from acting on their own, but form now on will fall under supervision. Tony Stark (Iron Man) and half of the Avengers agree that hey should sign the Accords but Captain America and the other half do not. When Captain America's old friend, Bucky, is accused of bombing the UN, he rushes into action (supported by half of the Avengers) to keep Bucky from falling into government hands, while the other Avengers (led by Iron Man) tries to stop him.
Civil War is certainly entertaining. The action looks great, the special effects are off the charts (apart from some cgi effects looking less impressive) and there are hardly dull moments in the movie. I enjoyed the story, but it feels a bit forced and only act as a device to let the Avengers face off against each other. Why did the UN take four years to come with this action? I mean they destroyed half of Manhattan but when they cause damage in Africa they suddenly come into action? That feels a bit strange. The villain in this movie also didn't feel menacing at all and I hardly noticed that there was a villain in the first place.
My main issue with this movie is that there are way to many characters in this movie. It would have worked way better if they just focused on the conflict between Captain America (it's his movie right?) and Iron Man, with Bucky, Black Widow and War Machine as supporting characters. It's all so bloated now that it doesn't feel like a Captain America movie at all. It is just another Avengers movie used to show as many superheroes as possible. In the middle of the movie there is a big fight between (almost) all the Avengers which is highly praised by many people. For me that fight looked like a boring commercial which advertises super hero action figures. The fight did nothing to bring the story forward, nothing to develop the characters and you know that they all survive so what's the bloody point? And yes I know it's not a realistic movie but if I remember correctly, most of the Avengers are just human right? So how do they all shake off massive damage like falling 5 stories and getting punched in the face by a man dressed in Iron or with super human strength?
While the final act of the movie was entertaining and brought back the focus to Captain America, I must say that this was not a Captain America movie. If you love the Avengers movie and can't get enough of all the superheroes, you will certainly like this movie. For the rest of us it is an entertaining movie but not without flaws.