That was my first thought coming out of Civil War. It's not a criticism as much as it's an observation. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) began in 2008 with Iron Man. That was the same year The Dark Knight came out and it was clear how Marvel was differentiating itself. Marvel had jokes. They also didn't play for endings. There's always going to be a next part. No story is done. Those things don't make for bad movies, but it caps their potential.
Civil War is one of the best movies to come out of the MCU if not the best (I'll need some distance before finalizing any rankings). It is a deliriously fun movie and damn near the Platonic ideal of what Marvel have been trying to do. It incrementally expands the universe with the introduction of Black Panther (done smoothly and efficiently) and the new Spider-Man (more efficient, less smooth), then brings in an army of already well-established characters. The much-advertised airport fight is a delight. Each character has something to do. The fight plays to everyone's strength, mixes the matchups repeatedly without getting confusing to follow, and injects a ton a humor. That part in particular is worth the price of the ticket. There's several other battles which the Russo brothers (their second time directing a Captain America movie) handle as well as anyone. As I said earlier, the popcorn part is done right.
There's a lot of characters to juggle. Civil War does a better job of that than Age of Ultron but with even more characters. It helps that Civil War is actually about something other than moving chess pieces, which what hurt Age of Ultron. There's the headlining feud between Cap. (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is torn between both sides. The Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) is trying to find and kill the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) is in "retirement". Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is dealing with the public's fear of her powers. Vision (Paul Bettany) is, I guess, playing Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and War Machine (Don Cheadle) being the good sidekicks they are, back who you would expect. Falcon and the Winter Soldier have a cute feud throughout the movie that's worth mentioning. I'll fully admit that Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) are there completely to increase the numbers. And that's not even mentioning the non-heroes like Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp - de facto Cap. love interest), Zemo (Daniel Bruhl - rather modest central villain), Crossbones (Frank Grillo - back as the opening villain yet again), Aunt May (Marisa Tomei - making me very excited to see more of her in the upcoming Spider-Man movie), and many others. This is an ensemble movie. If you go in expecting a great deal of character depth and story-arching for everyone, I'm not sure what movie you think you are seeing. Given the time and depth of the roster, Civil War is an impressive management of talent and resources.
The story of the movie is actually pretty simple. After an accident caused by the new Avengers on a mission, world leaders decide that the Avengers should have some oversight (i.e. let the world decide when they need the Avengers to help). Tony Stark/Iron Man likes the idea. Steve Rogers/Captain America doesn't. The heroes start taking sides. A terrorist attack and a manhunt for Cap's old pal Bucky/The Winter Soldiers escalates things until the two sides are brought into direct conflict. There's other nuances to it, but that's about it. Both sides of the argument are well defended and you can see why everyone lands on their conclusion or alliance. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that there isn't time for a real villain in the movie. Having see how Doomsday was thrown into Batman vs. Superman a month ago, I'm convinced that that was a smart movie to not use Bruhl for too much.
The only drawback to this movie (other than a couple clunky bits of plotting like Spider-Man's introduction, Ant-Man's almost arbitrary inclusion, and the "romance" between Steve and Sharon), is that it can't commit to being as deep as it wants. The topics Civil War deals with have some weight to them, and they are things that go all the way back to the first Iron Man movie. Despite all the good our heroes are doing, innocent people are getting hurt. If you played a Sokovia drinking game watching this movie, you'd be drunk in an hour. And, remember, Ultron is Tony Stark's fault. That blood is on his hands. The same goes for all of the Avengers though. I respect that Marvel wants to address all this. But Civil War inevitably turns into a superhero movie and undoes many of the concerns. If they're afraid of lives lost, why are they also afraid of livelihoods lost? The big airport fight in Berlin caused countless dollars in damage, for instance. And that's just one example. Now, I'm not saying I want to see the version of this that does worry about all that. But, that's the kind of thing I mean when I say that there's a ceiling for how good the Marvel movies can be. Any attempts to add real-world stakes inevitably get nerfed because this is entertainment first.
Civil War is a satisfying conclusion to the Captain America Trilogy* while also serving as an excellent start to Marvel's Phase Three. It isn't a flawless film, but it has an excellent balance of action and comic relief, with just the right amount of stakes to move it forward. If you've ever enjoyed a Marvel movie, you're certain to enjoy this one too. In many ways, it's the Avengers sequel we wish we got the first time.
*I don't know if Marvel's going to get enough credit for this. Wrapped into a larger universe with characters shared between several movies, Captain America managed to get a legit trilogy that feels of a piece without shorting the other movies in the universe. While Marvel will never make a Dark Knight, it's pretty incredible how intricately they've tied this many movies without losing broad appeal.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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