Please do not read any further if you haven't seen the movie, not that there is too much to spoil.
It seems like I may get a lot of opposition for my opinion on this movie, but that's exactly what it is, my opinion. You are free to disagree.
So, I saw Captain America Civil War opening night with a group of my friends. I am not a huge nerd, I don't read the comics, and I don't usually have too much to say about Marvel movies, but there is a first for everything. With the amount of hype this movie got, you would think it was even better than what people were saying over and over again; Which is "This is the greatest Marvel movie ever made!" To me, this may not even be the best Captain America movie ever made. So, here is a list of the issues I had with the movie:
- THE TEAMS WERE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO FAIR: on paper Team Iron Man should have easily beat team Cap. Team Iron Man includes: Stark, War Machine, Black Widow, The Vision, Black Panther, and SPIDER-MAN. Team Cap: Rogers, Bucky, Hawkeye, Falcon, Ant-Man, and Scarlet Witch. Starting with Team Iron Man, their weakest link to me was, Black Panther, which isn't a bad weak link to have. To be fair to Black Panther, he was just introduced in this movie, so we have little knowledge of what he can fully do. He does seem to be a great warrior, with extensive training and skills, but what avenger doesn't. What sets him apart though is his suit, which is made from the material Vibranium (like Captain America's shield) and seems to be indestructible. Unfortunately, the coolest thing Black panther will ever be able to do with his suit is scratch somebody to death. Now, lets talk about Vision. He is J.A.R.V.I.S combined with an infinity stone, the most powerful object introduced in the Marvel universe. He is basically a God. He can fly, use the power of his infinity stone to shoot lasers, and he can distort matter, passing through or creating whatever he damn well pleases. He is so powerful I would take him alone, against the entire Captain America team. The problem is I'm not sure Marvel knows how to use him or that they couldn't use him to his full potential during this movie, for he would probably be able to kill/stop everyone. We shall continue though. The Black Widow, who may not have super powers, but is one of the most badass Avengers out of all of them. Powers aside she would kick anyones ass she went up against. She's a deadly assassin that is well trained, smart, and tactical. Team Iron Man also recruited my personal favorite, Spider-Man. I don't know if I was just excited to see Marvel introduce Spider-Man for the first time or fangirling over his awesome fighting style and personality. We all know what Spider-man is capable of, even being a kid. He is no joke. Finally, War Machine and Iron Man. What can't Iron Man do. He is a genius inside a bullet proof suit, with AI assistance from J.A.R.V.I.S that can fly, shoot lasers, repulsor rays, bullets, rockets, heat seeking missiles, basically anything. Then War Machine, who is all that, but with huge cannon added on the back of his suit. Now for Team Cap. A team of three soldiers: two physically enhanced, one with a shield, the other with a metal arm and the last with metal wings. I guess if you were to combine all three of them you could ALMOST make one metal suit that can fly..... sounds familiar. Ant-Man, who I was impressed with, but they used him for about all he was worth, becoming really small, or really big. Team Cap also had Hawkeye, the most worthless avenger, no offense to people who shoot arrows Stephen Amell. I don't think shooting arrows is lame, but when that is basically the only thing you bring to the table and you are going against: two iron suits, a vibranium suit, a god, and your best friend you would never shoot, you are useless in this fight. The only threat on their team is Scarlet Witch. Clearly she is powerful, but even she has limitations and weaknesses that Team Iron Man could expose. RIP Team Cap.
- Character Flaws: Any movie with this many characters will have a difficult time properly utilizing all of them, but Marvel usually does a pretty good job like they did in this movie. I do question the direction many of the characters went though. Starting with the team captains, they should have been on the opposite side they were actually on. Tony Stark the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist who loves his freedom and not answering to anybody, wants to be regulated by government and do whatever they ask. Captain AMERICA, who has his own country in his name, if you didn't notice, chooses to oppose his and other countries wishes. Wishes that hope to prevent future catastrophic damages and loss of innocent lives left behind after the Avengers are done. Black Panther- I was looking forward to seeing what the Black Panther was going to be like in this movie. Sadly, nothing "wowed" me about him. He was very average, wasn't very interesting and quite boring. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he did just lose his father, so maybe a great personality or sense of humor weren't appropriate at the time, but hopefully that changes in the future. Thor and Hulk- The two most powerful and entertaining superheros were not even in the civil war, which could have made it a lot more interesting. Ant-Man who decided to be Ant-Man to prove to his daughter he is not just a criminal decides to join Team Cap and turn into a criminal? The Black Widow- goes against her two BFFs Captain America and Hawkeye to do what she thinks is right, then later changes her mind mid battle to let Cap and Bucky escape? Bucky- just sucks. I will get to it later. Also, how did Stark know Peter was Spider-Man? and why'd he recruit a kid with a bright future, right after being told about the similar bright kid that died, because the Avengers, that he was upset about?
- Lame Ending: All the character issues I have previously discussed I could live with and still thoroughly enjoy the movie, what really influenced my opinion on the movie was the storyline. I don't know exactly how the Civil War went it the comics, but it was a little different I am hearing. The "Sokovia Accords" is a international legal document, agreed upon by hundreds of countries, to basically determine when the Avengers would or wouldn't be needed to LEGALLY protect the world. The idea that the avengers have too much power and need to be regulated is actually a realistic and legitimate concern. I see the good arguments for both sides of this. So, after a lot of talking they couldn't come to a unanimous agreement on what to do. Things became more intense as Cap refuses to turn on his buddy Bucky, who forced to do against his will, has done some terrible things. Cap also finds out there may be other enhanced soldiers, like Bucky, that are able to be controlled for dangerous purposes. Stark then takes it on himself to bring in Bucky and whoever else doesn't wish to follow the new superhero law. Of course, the disagreements must come down to beating the hell out of each other. Im not going to lie, the fight scene turned out to be pretty awesome. My one concern was it being anticlimatical. There were no serious consequences, no one died. War Machine did get injured, but an Iron Man knockout injury, was the worse thing that happened after that huge fight. Some members did get arrested for a couple days before Cap later freed them. The war resulted in Cap technically winning because him and Bucky ran away while Black Widow turned on her team and LET them escape. What's ironic is this battle over the Sokovia Accords, ignores everything the Accords were about. It takes place in what seemed like an empty airport and although, no innocent lives were lost, was all the damage done to the area still necessary? Later, Stark also discovers the potentially dangerous enhanced soldiers and decides to screw the government and go help Cap and Bucky. Right as you think Cap, Bucky, and Stark might come together for an epic showdown with these soldiers, the mastermind "villain" in the movie had already killed them all. Instead he shows them a video of Bucky killing Starks parents, against his will again, leading to another brawl between the three. Stark loses. Bucky chooses to go in hypersleep. Cap wants to be buds with Stark still. The end. My problem: THE CIVIL WAR WAS OVER SAVING BUCKY AND THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS. Marvel has now made two huge movies focusing on "Bucky" a character literally no one gives a shit about. Still, the Avengers went to Civil War to save Bucky, then when it is all over he decides to go to hypersleep and become irrelevant again?! What! The rumor was he becomes the new Captain America, which I could have been okay with eventually. Instead, he just goes to sleep till Marvel ruins the Black Panther movie to focus on him again. There was no unexpected twists, no surprises, not even a single build up to future movies, like Infinity Wars, no hints as to what is to come next like they usually do. Nothing significant happened, you could easily not watch this and feel like you didn't miss anything in the next Marvel movies you watch. Also, Captain America acts like nothing happened and wants to work with Stark again. The Sokovia Accords, the other reason they went to war, the biggest supporter Stark, ended up going against anyway. Where does he stand on that now? The best part besides a couple sweet fight scenes was Spider-Man and Hot Aunt May.
