SPOILER FREE - (As long as you've watched the trailers)


(TLDR at bottom)

Going into Captain America: Civil War (I'll call it Civil War from now) I was extremely excited for the film. This was something I was really excited for, especially after the success that was Winter Soldier. I knew the Russo's knew what they were doing with Cap and were good at both progressing plot and developing characters. Something I love in film. So how does Civil War stand up? The answer, in short, is that it's good.

All I've seen said about this film is praise, 10 stars and shouts of this film being a classic. Whilst I wouldn't say this film is a classic, it's not a bad film. One of the film's main attractions comes in the promise of the Avengers being split in half and going head to head against one another, and you get that in heaps. There are plenty of fights in this film between heroes, with the exception of the very first fight every single fight in this film is between the heroes that have been developed in previous movies, and the action is stellar. Considering the vast majority of these heroes only rely on hand-to- hand combat it's really amazing that the action feels so fresh and swift, it's something to definitely be commended, and all of the fights feel swift and real.

With the action pretty much down, how does the story do? Here I have a bit of an issue. In my eyes, the plot is a bit of a mess. Literally so much drama could have been avoided if anyone just TALKED to someone on the other side of the argument, at least ATTEMPT to reason with the opposing side before going in with guns blazing. There is also a villain in this film that has an extremely convoluted plot, a plan that relies almost entirely on coincidence and luck. I think the film could have done without him. So overall, the plot is relatively weak.

But how does the character development fair? For the most part it's done pretty well. The film wisely decides to focus most of it's attention on Captain America and Bucky (aka: Winter Soldier) as it is still a Captain America film. With these two characters you can really sense both of their struggles. Bucky's done a lot of bad things that fall on his shoulders but he did them all brain washed and only now is regaining his identity whilst nearly everyone else wants him gone. Cap is determined to help his friend where no one else will, to help that one lost soul from his past, the last healthy memory of the world Cap once knew and can never get back. It's very well done stuff. Iron Man gets some decent development too. It's good to see Stark on the back foot and struggling to keep everything together when it's all falling apart, Stark trying to amend for past mistakes and being fought against. It's a side of Stark we haven't really seen before. Widow also has an interesting plot in her deciding between choosing what she knows is safe and what her guts want her to go. Other than this, however, the development is poor, ESPECIALLY for Vision and Scarlet Witch.

But overall, here's why this film can not be higher than a seven. It accomplishes nothing. It's a problem I had with Age of Ultron and it's a problem I have here. In these movies, where the universe is slowly being build upon piece by piece, I want each movie to have an impact on the universe, for the world to adapt and alter because of the events in the film. I felt Civil War could have been more. Ultimately, once the film is finished, everyone pretty much ends up where they began and it just makes me a little disappointed. What I loved so much about Winter Soldier was the pretty interesting plot, the development of characters and the companionship of Cap and Black Widow. Understandably this couldn't be focused on as much due to the cast, but it still feels lacking. Also, Winter Soldier changed a lot. It introduced a new character, new motivations, it collapsed SHIELD and the characters changed. You don't get that in Civil War. It's not that the film's bad, it's not it's actually quite good, but for me it's good in the places I care less about so I can't really give it more than a seven. I had fun and got what I wanted at the core but I felt like just a few more tweaks could have made this one of the greats.