Review for Captain America: Civil War (Non Spoilers)

[NATASHA ROMANOFF]

Hey everyone!

I thought it would be fun for those who had watched the movie to post here your impressions of it and we can have fun discussions about it. As we did with the Age of Ultron review – wow, a year ago! – please use the spoilers tag:

[spoiler]Your Text Here... [/spoiler]

… when discussing specific things you want to write concerning the story, characters, favorite scenes, etc, so those who haven't seen it can go in and enjoy it without being spoiled. Also, everyone has their own opinions and although we encourage a cool and fun discussion of the movie, please respect everyone's views equally. But I think I don't have to say that because all of you are awesome.

Okay, first my spoiler-free review. It is going to be very short... GO WATCH IT, you'll not be disappointed! LOL. No, but seriously this movie hit every single spot I as a fan of movies in general (not only Marvel or action movies) wanted and more. It has emotions, it has comedy, it has extremely well choreographed action scenes, it has the geek factor that makes you geek-out hard, but it also has a good story and good acting. It is a perfect storm! I don't know how they did it, but they managed to take 12 characters and gave them all a moment to shine. Not only that, but they introduced two new characters and it never felt forced. It was smooth how easy they came in and showed you they belonged in this movie. No character felt as if it was left behind or push aside in favor of another character, which it is an accomplishment all in itself.

Everyone who knows me here knows I am not a blind fan of Marvel. For me, they have done some very good movies but they have also done not so good ones and I am very critical of their movies when they deserve it (cough... Age of Ultron... cough). I am, as I said, a fan of films and storytelling, period. If it is good, then it is good. If it is crap, then is crap. So I can tell you... this one is AMAZING. Curse you, Russo Brothers, because they now are forcing me to decide which movie I like more between this one and The Winter Soldier (which in my humble opinion, is by far, to me, the best Marvel movie ever up to this point). But seriously, Russo Brothers... you got me. You have shown the world that you can take a bunch of silly characters with funky powers and make an amazing, engaging, and uber fun movie without resorting to over the top comedy, over the top CGI, a talking raccoon (sorry had to get that in LOL) or over the top situations. And guys, this movie is fun... it is a lot of fun. It has a lot of serious undertones and situations, some even sad and painful, but at the same time manages to make you laugh, smile, cheer and just have a great time watching it. That is an achievement.

For those expecting a complete page by page translation from the comic books to the screen, you'll be disappointed. This is not that type of movie and thanks the heavens for that. Comic books can get away with a lot of silly things because, well, it is a comic book but that doesn't work for movies. Movies have to engage and draw in people who don't read comic books and would be put out when seeing “Android Thor” or some of the other silly things that are lovable in comics but would fail miserably in a real life movie. Even something like “Guardians of the Galaxy” could not and would not translate the comics straight into the movie. I have always argued that the best thing Marvel has done has been to take the ideas and concepts of the comics – which are good – but apply them into a more original and realistic take on it. Now, that said, if you are a comic book fan you are going to geek out something serious with this one LOL.

So, if I was to rate this movie, I'll give it a 9.7 out of 10. I don't give it a perfect 10 because first, nothing is perfect, so I don't like to give a perfect score to anything and second, there might be one or two nitpicks people might find if they look really, really, really hard into it. But they'll be just that... nitpicks. As for how I rank this movie compared to other Marvel movies, to me so far – I need to watch it again – it is tied with Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the best Marvel movie, followed by Avengers Assemble in third place.

Now I am going into spoiler territory, so do not click the “SPOILER” tag if you don't want to read about specific things that happen in the movie. Go watch it first, then come back and join the discussion. So here are some of the MANY things that stood out for me watching it:

SPOILER: Click to show

MY BABY BLACK WIDOW! - Finally she was given the proper respect and awesomeness the character deserves! This is the Black Widow we should have had since the beginning and was shown in Winter Soldier but cranked to 11 in Civil War! Gone are the typical 'love interest' crap we were subjected in Age of Ultron, where Natasha -- as the only female Avenger -- is only there to be the lovey dovey of some of the male characters (Hulktasha... ugh!). Screw that! Black Widow kicked so much ass and finally showed that she is as awesome as any other character in the Avengers! Marvel, it is time, it is damn time you make a solo Black Widow movie. Get the Russo bros to direct it, as they has said they would be interested in doing it. Start Phase Four of the MCU with her solo movie, you owe it to fans, little girls who want to look up to strong, awesome and assertive female characters and you owe it to yourself. The Russo Brothers, the writers, and Scarlet Johansson showed you that it can be done... so Marvel, make it so.

SPIDERMAN!!! - Guys, I was skeptical about yet another damn Spiderman reboot, but boy was I wrong. He was introduced perfectly and he had more screen time than I thought they would give him. Funny, witty, talked too much, was obnoxious as all hell but keeping that adorable factor we all love about him. As a big fan of Toby Maguire's Spiderman, I can say... move over Toby, there is a new Spiderman in town. Perfect Peter Parker and perfect Spiderman. Tom Holland, you're the man... or kid... or whatever! You rocked! The battle at the Airport (I'll get into that) was the best 'Homecoming' for the webslinger. So happy MCU now have Spiderman and the Russo Brothers did it right!

Scarlet Witch - Another character that finally was given some well deserved justice! This is the Wanda we lacked in Age of Ultron. She is likable, you could see the pain and the sadness but also her awesome powers. She messed up Vision something awesome! (I know Maggie is still geeking out about that one LOL). This is what I am talking about! Write the characters well and direct your actors well and they can do wonders! Scarlet Witch and Liz Olsen... you go girl!

Black Panther – Another character I was skeptical about, but boy was I wrong. Well introduced, was key to the story, had great chemistry with the veteran actors, it was a joy to watch and be invested in his motivations. Chadwick Boseman, amazing. I loved the chemistry between T'Challa and Black Widow in this movie (Jake, who writes Black Panther here, we have to get this two doing more stuff together LOL) and I think his movie is going to be very interesting.

THE AIRPORT BATTLE! - Oh my God, guys! The airport sequence is going to go down in history as the greatest thing since the invention of computers! IT IS AMAZING! I can't say enough about how awesome this sequence was. Enough CGI to make it epic but not too much that makes it stupid or a mess. A lot of stunt work (a big round of applause for the stunt team, you guys were the stars of this movie) and practical effects, well paced, well filmed, well written, well acted and well choreographed. It is clocked as an 18 minutes scene, give and take, but to me it felt as if it went by too quick... I WANTED MORE! Everyone... let me say that again... everyone shined in it. Characters were funny, were kickass, were everything. When you think one character stole the show, here came another one and stole it back. All twelve characters were amazing, each of them were given their proper respect by the directors. And they respected us the fans, by giving every fan of each character a moment to cheer and feel happy and not sidelining some just to pander to others! (cough... Joss... cough). Those who are supposed to be funny (Spiderman, Ant-Man, etc) were hilarious and we even got surprising funny moments from serious characters like Bucky or Steve or Natasha or Falcon or even Vision. Guys, I almost cried of happiness watching it. It is every kid's dream come to life! It is Avengers 2 done right and about damn time!

The Story – I found the story well paced, with action scenes but also with very good dialogue and emotion and drama thrown into it. This is not a 'Civil Argument' or a 'Civil Dispute' but a full blown Civil War. Everyone had good reasons to pick the sides they picked and there is even one who switches sides (hint, redhead LOL). The movie is 2 ½ hours long, but it doesn't feel that way. It goes very fast and leave you wanting for an hour more! The 'talky' scenes are there because they were needed and they were as good as the action scenes, in my opinion, but then again, I love dramatic moments and dialogue, sometimes more than action.

Zemo – This is the point of a lot of discussions between those who have seen the movie. Some found him this way, others that way. Let me first start by saying this is not the silly ass purple wearing character from the comics and thank you Marvel for that! He is a normal human, real, even likable and his motivations are not the typical “I am bad because I am and I want to take over the world.” Hell no... his motivations are personal, heartbreaking and you can even relate to them on a personal level. It was refreshing to see a villain with no superpowers and with a really personal reason for going against our heroes. To me, he worked. He had enough screen time to set up the plot. Maggie and I have argued about him, but to me – personal opinion – I think he was well done. There is this running thing of him listening to a voicemail message on his cellphone of his wife... it is – to me – heartbreaking. And the whole “December 16, 1991”... those who have seen the movie know what I am talking about. Damn you Russo brothers for the many plot twists! Also... he is the first 'villain' that actually won in the MCU! He actually accomplished his goals, which I found fascinating (I know Maggie, we had an argument about me using that word )

The MCU – This movie is a game changer. Phase 3 has started with a bang and everything changed after this movie. Now I cannot wait to see Infinity Wars, because the Avengers are not in a good place. There was no happy ending in this movie, although it ended with a lot of hope. We get invested with this characters, we hate seeing them fail, we love cheering for them, we want them to be good. That last fight at the end, it is an emotional rollercoaster (guys, the Airport Scene is not even the last fight... one more comes and it is... wow... too) and you want to scream: “dudes, stop this shit! Don't fight! Thanos is coming and we need you united!” but at the same time you know the fight had to happen, you cannot stop yourself from watching it, it was brewing since Avengers Assemble. Tony and Steve... too many 'feels' (I hate that word, but oddly enough applies here LOL).

There are a lot of more things to geek about, so I am looking forward to discuss them with you guys when you see the movie and post here!

[LOKI LAUFEYSON]

Heya lads!

Right, here comes my review.

This is probably one of the few Marvel movies I've ever seen multiple times in the cinema. The only others were either Spiderman 1 or Spiderman 2 way back when I was between twelve and fourteen, and it was only one of those two. For the life of me, I can't recall which one, but I haven't seen any other Marvel based movie more than once in theatres, and there's a reason I saw this one twice over.

It is an amazing movie. The Russos have done it again, and cemented their reputation as the only directors in the MCU to deliver two consistently fantastic films one after the other (both being Captain America movies). What I find particularly amazing is that both of these guys have confessed they never liked Captain America, much the same as Joss Whedon doesn't like the character, finding him 'too square', a sentiment I most certainly agreed with.

However, unlike Whedon, they manage to take a character they dislike, and make him into someone we can absolutely like - as opposed to ridiculing the character. To quote the Honest Trailer for the Winter Soldier, Cap 'kicks a lot of ass' for a second time, and he's not alone as a character either. Because of the sheer number of characters the Russos had been entrusted with, numbers I felt did a lot more harm than good in Age of Ultron, you do go into the film, nervous that they're going to screw up (much like Whedon did).

They absolutely, categorically did not. They rode a wave of twelve characters, and did an awesome job with it, even managing some great performances from some additional characters, played by William Hurt and Martin Freeman on the side. If characters with minimal screen time manage to shine, you have to wonder why directors have had such difficulties with their prominent characters to date.

I've heard loads of people say that Civil War is Age of Ultron done right, and it is. It accomplishes everything that movie failed to deliver, balancing characters amazingly well, giving each and everyone one of them their opportunity to shine, and without turning them into clones of Tony Stark. One of my main complaints about AoU was that characters failed to remain in-character, and had to resort to witty dialogue that was more reminiscent of Stark than those characters themselves.

Then there was the 'witty' factor. Everything got reduced to a joke in Age of Ultron, which hindered the serious aspect of a genocidal robot trying to... well, reduce a city to a meteor in the hope of wiping out mankind? I'm pretty sure that was the convoluted plot of that movie. Well, rest assured, there is nothing of that sort in Civil War. Civil War takes a realistic concept, and roles with it for the entirety of the movie, never veering in the direction of some silly 'world domination/ extinction' plot.

What the Russos are also very good at is making you think the movie is about one thing, with the way they label and market their movies. Just as you thought the Winter Soldier would only centre on the soldier himself, the rug is ripped right out from under your feet as you realize there is far more to it than that. Too often do I watch trailers, only to find that I've watched the movie already because everything I need to know was in that two minute snippet. Not the case here. The Russos advertise masterfully, never truly revealing their hand until you're situated in that theatre seat.

To be honest, I'd forgotten a large majority of the trailer by the time I'd come to see this movie, mostly because I started to wipe bits and pieces of it out of my mind due to the trailer containing dialogue and scenes that you perceive one way when you watch it, only to realize they've been presented in an entirely different and misleading context in the film itself when it all comes down to it.

There is humour, but only when it is necessary, and only from the characters that are known to be comedic in terms of their personality anyway, striking a great balance between serious and amusing. It's a much needed departure at times as well, particularly as the movie goes down a very dark path later on, upping the stakes, and making you actually care about what's transpiring - and wishing it wasn't. You know it's coming, but you just don't know how it's going to manifest until it does.

That being said, the movie did disappoint me in two regards: the villain was a little subpar, something I've come to expect from Marvel, and the transition into the third act was a tad jarring, which earned this movie a 9/10 from me. The Winter Soldier remains my favourite MCU movie to date, but Civil War follows directly behind it... and then the Avengers, which is probably got more to do with the phenomenal performance of Hiddleston than anything else (especially phenomenal because no one had any faith in the obscure English actor Kenneth Brannagh was trying to shove down everyone's throats. I still laugh at Whedon's attempts to hype up Ultron voiced by Spader in an effort to promote a CGI villain that's a replica of Stark over the only decent Marvel movie villain to date ).

SPOILER: Click to show

Now for spoiler territory.

Like I said before, this movie achieves everything that Age of Ultron failed at. Aside from the overuse of humour, and the convoluted plot, my other major gripes concerning AoU were the villain, and how certain female characters were depicted (*cough* Natasha *cough*).

Now, I wasn't keen on Zemo, but I don't blame the Russos for that, not in the same vein I blame Whedon for what happened to Ultron. It seems pretty clear, to me, that the Russos had introduced Strucker for a reason, and I can't help but think that Strucker was meant to fill Zemo's role in this movie. I've said this a few times, but I think Whedon gets awfully envious of other directors who take some of the same concepts that he does, only to make better use of them. In that mid credit sequence where we were first introduced to Strucker in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we were exposed to a villain within the space of four minutes that had more menace than one featured across a two hour long movie, without having to do anything other than talk! Watching Captain America: Civil War, I couldn't help but think Strucker could have filled Zemo's role.

Another issue I had with the character comes down to him being Helmut Zemo, which he seems to have been labelled with purely for comic book fans. He could have been an original villain or an obscure one similarly to Alexander Pierce, and achieved the same purpose without appealing to fanboys. I also question the reasons behind hiring a German actor to play a German character, only for the character to seemingly turn out to be Sokovian? Don't get me wrong, Daniel Bruhl is a fantastic actor. I have no interest in Formula One Racing, but boy was he amazing in the movie 'Rush'. Zemo-but-not-really is probably one of the only villains in MCU history to actually achieve what he set out to do, which was the exact same thing Ultron failed to do when he intended to tear the Avengers apart, and I would like to see more of him (because the lack of him in this did him a disservice in my eyes), which was why I was glad that he survived the climax of the third act.

The MCU has been too keen in the past on killing off their villains, without giving them a proper chance to shine, which is why Loki remains the only decent one to date, not counting the likes of Fisk and Kilgrave (series' villains have hours to leave their mark, whereas movie villains have no more than two hours), so all going well, the next director won't pull a Whedon, and kill off Zemo. I want to see more of him so that my initial view of him can be expanded upon, and because I really like Bruhl as an actor and want to develop a more positive perception of him in this particular role, especially since the villains usually shape up to be counted among my favourite characters. Lack of screen time, and a slightly wooden performance up until those last moments when he had been imprisoned (I did love the way he delivered that simple line when he was caged, with the slight hint of a smirk when Ross asked him how it felt to fail, and Zemo simply responded 'Did I?', because he definitely didn't) prevented me from being overly thrilled about the character. Better job next time.

Good villains aren't the only thing I take issue with in these movies. I'm very observant of how female characters are depicted as well, and far more often than not in these movies, they're generally reduced to nothing more than love interests. Not just in these movies. It seems to be their destiny in a lot of movies period. Now, I don't have a problem with romance when it's done right. At the very least, the previous MCU movies took time to build up Tony's relationship with Pepper, and Thor's relationship with Jane sorta, but no such development was leant to Natasha Romanoff. One of the best characters in the Winter Soldier was reduced to nothing more than your average female character in a chick flick, and in the process, one of the most awkward onscreen romances I have ever been subjected to was created, making it so I could barely even watch interactions between her and Banner.

Like I said, I have no problem with romance when it's done right, but given the previous movies took an unusual 'passing the parcel' approach to the character before, seemingly wanting to stick her with Clint initially before changing their mind and passing her to Banner instead, that wasn't the case here. They could have dropped hints way back in the Avengers that there was more there between her and Banner, but given he tried to kill her, I fail to see what kind of attraction could have manifested, which makes it a blatant case of shoehorning a romance in to appeal to the female audience Marvel thinks only watches their movies for that. We don't. Know what I got a thrill out of in Civil War? Watching Natasha Romanoff beat on Crossbones, even when he was armoured up like a damn Humvee, and then, later on, getting to see my girl (Wanda) put Vision through several floors, not just one! Then she got to rain cars down on top of Tony, so needless to say, I was in heaven And lets not forget, Clint needed her help to take down Nat later on, muahahahaha!

There were some hints of the whole Wanda and Vision pairing, which I greatly dislike, in the comics, but it was depicted very subtly. Not only that, it seemed to be a tad one sided too, with Vision more interested in Wanda than the other way around, going so far as to become distracted during the airport sequences and clipping someone's wings in the process. Wanda? She's got more important things on her mind, like the fact she just killed people, albeit accidentally, and how people might view her now as a result of that. She's more concerned that people are afraid of her, and I like that she provided that voice in the movie, the voice of an enhanced being, feeling guilty and scared for what they've done. And she was scared, until she ultimately decided, like so many of us will eventually, that we can't control how people perceive us, we can only control how we perceive ourselves, before she proceeded to kick some serious vibranium ass... saving Clint's in the process, again   

One thing the MCU lacks, which Fox actually do a wonderful job of in some of their X-Men movies, is emotion. I can count the number of times I actually welled up at an MCU movie on two fingers, once was in the first Thor movie because Hiddleston has this amazing ability to make me cry with a few well placed words, and a second time was at the Winter Soldier during the 'end of the line' bit when Bucky and Steve were fighting in the Helicarrier. Now I can add Civil War to this. There were several moments that had me welling up, and I never thought I'd say this, but one of those times was as a result of Stark. Yes, I know, Tony Stark had me welling up, good and proper. It's a testament to the Russos abilities as directors that they can take a character who's basically the comic relief character in the franchise, and have you actually feel something for him.

On a lesser note, you have some nice interactions between characters as well. Everyone works so well together, which comes to the fore in the airport fight sequence. Everyone, just everyone, was on the top of their game in that sequence, and worked so well together. Never before have I seen such a massive group of characters so well coordinated. From great comic moments between Falcon and Bucky, which were probably some of my favourite comedy moments in the movie (subtle, but brilliant), to the more serious interactions later on in the movie between Steve and Tony. There's some emotive moments between Steve and Wanda as well, where he assumes an older brotherly role, and Nat and Tony as well, oddly enough.

One surprising turnout in this movie, for me, came in the form of Spiderman. I'm one of those people who is beyond fed up of the character, and bitched that Ragnarok got pushed back so they could introduce us to this for a third time in recent memory. However, Tom Holland is the Spiderman we've been waiting for. While I always felt Tobey Maguire was good as Parker, but bad as Spiderman, and that Andrew Garfield was good as Spiderman, but bad as Parker, Tom Holland excels in both capacities, and what's even more amazing, he's only nineteen years old, and a British actor with an amazing ability to convince me he was actually American with his New York accent. The only other time I can recall being this surprised by an actor's nationality was in Daredevil, where I was convinced the guy playing Wesley was American (he was feckin' Australian, the duplicitous SOB!). And I knew Tom Holland was in Billy Elliot, and I still questioned the fact he was English! Needless to say, he was incredible.

Also, some really great comedic moments from Paul Rudd as Scott Lang in here too. There's one particular scene in the movie which will have everyone both applauding and laughing, guaranteed.

[Deleted]

So Captain America Civil War is an interesting movie and certainly the best of the 3 superhero movies that came out earlier this year. I missed seeing it in theaters and so just recently picked it up last month on bluray and as such I've watched it a few times, totally not 10+ by this point >.>, so yes I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. That doesn't mean it is without faults I'll get to some of those later on but as it stands it rates around 9/10 so far in my book which may go up or down as I analyze the movie some more. As such as well this puts it into my top 5 MCU movies now being GoTG -> Avengers -> CW -> AoU -> IM1.

So as far as non-spoilery stuff goes stuff they did right with this movie is incorporating a cast of 12 heroes yet still making them all seem relevant. Sure there were some who I personally though could of used a lot more screen time mostly because I love them in general like Rudd. As well some that seemed like they were going to get more time if the movie was longer like Hawkeye. I'll get more to those in the spoilery section. But in general they juggled the cast very well.

Now along with that the villains plan was actually believable and for once had success. I see a lot of reviews bashing his plan which I disagree with fervently but I'll get to that later. It's not some big HYDRA was everywhere plot and giant flying fortresses that would somehow hit around the world or something and what not. No it was something I could actually believe would work and something that I could believe would happen in the confines of the universe they have been building and are building.

Now onto a negative though that ties to to the villain.... It shouldn't of been Zemo. I get they wanted to bring Zemo into the MCU I truly get that. As well I'm the type of person who could care less generally if they change a character in slight ways and what not. Like Ultron I don't mind what they did to him because he still had some comic-book ultron personality to him but he replaced his cold- calculating assholery with snarkiness in turn because his creator was Stark rather than Pym. I could believe that and it made sense for the character. So what is my problem with Zemo? Well they took his character and were just like let's make a completely new character with the same name. They did exactly what Batman V Superman did with Lex Luther. They took a known name and changed the personality and character completely. Now I don't know if this is like Helmut's son or if this is supposed to be Helmut Zemo or what not but they honestly should of just used a different villain. That being said as I said before I don't mind the personality if it was on any other person other than Zemo.

Like with BvS I wanted the real Zemo the one I grew to know and enjoy from the comics and instead I got this. I'm unsure why they changed him so m uch, they basically changed him to the point of they should of just used a whole different character XD. Again this is mostly a personal gripe some people could find it more or less offensive than I do but there it's out there. Again I get they wanted to fit him into the MCU but they could of done it in so many different ways making the zemo in the movie a brand new original villain or someone else who's personality fit closer there. Just my thoughts.

Now for more positives, the fight scenes were gorgous in the movie like holy hell. I can't stop watching them especially the big one that everyone knows about yeah it was amazing. It made my inner-geek go wild. Along with that the plot was very fluid for the most part only maybe 1 or 2 big things that sprung out at me which I'll discuss in the spoiler section.

I should mention I also think the cast choice for both Spidey and Black Panther were very good. Both of those characters are also ones I love in the comics, and having read the current run of Black Panther I feel they are doing him proud within the MCU. So one final thing before I go all spoilery This wasn't a captain America movie. This was avengers 2.5 as much as the Russo brothers would like to deny it. Ithink they tried to much to turn this clearly avengers conflict movie into something Captain centric and honestly did decent on that part but here is a little comparison for you as far as screen time goes.

For Every character I will do the Time as Such Avengers/AoU/Cap3/other (Will be stated in parentheses.)
Captain America: 28:15/21:45/37:15/(TWS)59/(Cap1)56:30
Iron Man: 32:15/27:15/37:15/(IM)77/(IM2)61:15/(IM3)62:15
Natasha: 24:45/18/12
Clint: 12:45/15/4:15
Wanda: 0/12/10:45
Falcon: 0/0:45/10:15
Bucky: 0/0/22
Antman: 0/0/5:30
Vision: 0/6:15/7:15
Warmachine: 0/2:30/7:15
Spidey: 0/0/8:30
Black Panther: 0/0/11:30
(Both the next are here for reference purposes only)
Thor: 18/13:15/0/(Thor1) 43:15/(DW)35
Hulk: 22:15/20/0/(TIH)51:45

As it can be seen cap and tony get roughly the same amount of screentime which makes sense with the rest of it being split up with the rest of the cast. And as I said they tried to put emphasis on Cap for the movie but honestly I think the movie would of been better without it should be noted that before it is said that every character has less time in CW I will say yes for the reason that rather than juggling 6 characters like in avengers or 9 with AoU they tried juggling 12 with this movie and as such more time had to be taken from each character for such. In short this as much a cap movie as Avengers 1 is an Iron Man movie. Yes more emphasis is put on the character but it is still at it's heart a team movie about the Avengers. With a conflict that rather than being personal to one individual character affects basically everyone and thing.

So with that I think Imma start my spoiler section, as there is not much else for me to say without spoiling the plot, scenes, ect.

SPOILER: Click to show

Okay so where to begin I suppose I should put out some terminology I like to use when describing plots and what not. The first is the two types of of faults and problems. So there are hidden faults and upfront faults. A hidden fault can be best described as something hidden from the audience by the producer or perhaps it wasn't hidden and the audience just tends not to focus on it, but upon closer analyzing you realize that there's something funky there. An Upfront fault is the exact opposite, it is something glaring that you'll probably notice right away as will every major reviewer out there. Along with the two faults they can be broken down into major or minor. This is just a scale on if the fault is just something minor that is just a minor blip on the writer, producer, whatevers part. It generally doesn't affect the plot and if it was fixed not much would change. With major being the exact opposite. Now with that onto CW.

As a forwarning as I said previously this is like my 3rd favorite mcu movie, I'm mostly just looking at the things they could of done better when I point out faults or problems in the movie.

So first I suppose I'll go into the characters a little. As I mentioned above I thought they did a good job juggling the characters with only a few really sticking out as a little thrown in or needing more time. The two characters as I mention before are Hawkeye and Antman. As well to a small extent the falcon WS relationship. It was easy for Tony's team to get together as he outright says he's going to get his member where nat goes and gets hers. As well War Machine who has been close by for the entire movie. And Vision is explained by Wanda escaping. Whereas Cap's team seems like it wasn't as thought out how they would get together. Like there was no scene where cap or Falcon tracks down Clint to ask him or where they do the same to Antman so when Hawkeye shows up it's just sort of like, okay when did Cap contact him? Did Cap contact him? What's even going on? Same with Antman after Hawkeye gets wanda he's like there's one more we need to pick up but then that's the end of it. I would of loved to see what happened how they were convinced ect.

As well the friendly rivalry between Falcon and Bucky, I'm not sure if I missed a scene but that just kind of seemed like it was tacked on as well.

Again a minor point but something that if they had more time allotted to the movie in total it could of been done. Another problem is I feel this movie had an even worse sense of time than AoU. Like Bucky was in Bucharest when he was captured along with Panther and cap and then in the very next scene they are in Berlin which is an 18 hour drive or a 2 hour flight, so which did they choose who knows. As well how cap got there so fast who knows as from Vienna to Bucharest it's a 1 and 1/2 hour flight or 11 hour drive AS well how cap got word to clint so fast and then him coming all the way to Europe. Or IM getting to Sebia the same time as Cap and Bucky who had a head start and weren't busy bringing prisoners to the Raft and questioning them. Again it seems like they didn't have a good grasp on distance and time for the movie tbh.

Now for something in defense of the movie. I see a lot of critics complain about how fast IM turned on Cap and Bucky. This is an area I can't really blame him on given the circumstance but more so than that I have no idea why everyone is surprised Cap could beat Iron Man in a fight. For one Iron Man was outnumbered but even if he wasn't the movie has shown tiem and time again that Tony's armor isn't invulnerable and that cap is actually exceedingly strong. Along with that Cap has more fighting experience than Iron Man and actually does have something invulnerable in his possession his damn shield lol. Putting all of this together, yeah I can see why here and in the comics cap could put up a fight with IM.

Now with that final scene one last thing I'd like to touch up on and that is the them of the movie coming full circle, Vengeance. Black PAnther who started as the man with the most vengeance is the first one to realize he let it consume him. Zemo whose vengeance was sated by the avengers breaking apar was finally ready to pull the trigger and Tony whose Vengeance finally consumed him It was actually quite poetic tbh. As well unsure if anyone else noticed this but you can notice ever scene tony is in from the start to the end he slowly starts to degrade. Like he starts in a nice prim and proper suit but then some buttons come unbuttoned. then some other stuff becomes more rugged. The outer coat goes away, ect. slowly showing Tony's decent.

Now onto one final thing with the movie which is the lack of a CW lol. Now you may looked at me confused but I'm being honest. So the movie goes Big event causing the Sokovia accords to pop up -> Vienna explosion -> Search for bucky and the reveal of a greater evil (At this point the CW side of the plot goes out the window for Cap) -> Big airport fight -> Cap's side except cap and bucky get captured -> End fight. For a movie about a superhuman civil war there was surprisingly not a lot of civil waring going on. Like at the start the idea of registration was postulated but that slowly went out the window as other stuff took the forefront Like if you ever watch honest trailers they give movies funny endings at the end like for AoU it was Avengers: Roughly 1 week of Ultron. I feel a similar case could be made here Avengers 2.5: Roughly 1 battle and a debate of a civil war.

This brings me to my final point which is as much as I loved the movie it could of been more. It should of been more. I can only imagine the CW that could of come if they waited a phase or 2 more if they just shelled out all the money and made it a 2-parter. I get it why they didn't money plays a huge role here but I can only imagine. To put it into perspective ignoring tie-ins and the like the original civil involved roughly 22 individuals on Tony's side ranging from SHIELD to the thunderbolts to the F4 and with cap there was roughly 25 individuals again going from Namor to the young avengers. Now I get Marvel doesn't have the rights to a lot of the characters in the civil war like the F4 or Bishop, or even maybe Namor (Unsure if the rights are back to them yet) But even so if they waited a phase or 2 I can only imagine what they could of added to make the civil war feel bigger. As well in the CW there were multiple battles. Cases of the secret avengers busting out captured heroes so on and so forth.

Now I'm not saying the movie should be 1 for 1 like the comic but my goodness could it of been more just to list of some of the characters involved that could of had a show or movie made to incorporate them: the Young Avengers (Kate bishop, hulkling, cassie lang, patriot, wiccan), Wonder Man, Cloak & Dagger, The Thunder bolts, Hercuules, and namor if they have the rights. And they currently have some characters like DD, JJ, Luke Cage,, and night nurse that they could of used but didn't because of time and money.

That being said judging the movie from what I saw it was great it was awesome I just know it could of been more if it had the proper funding, time, and waited a bit longer.

Anyways that's my thoughts on CW I'd rate it 9/10.