I found Civil War to be great in many ways. It's hard to even find fault with it at the moment, it was just so well-crafted in how it handled its characters and story, as filled to the brim as it was.
Ironically, compared to Age of Ultron, which struggled to find a reason to exist (despite being really cool), Civil War felt like it had an actual story to tell. I value when a movie, even an action movie, puts characters and story first. I believe most people don't care about anything happening in a movie if they're not emotionally invested in some way first. And Marvel realizes this.
I see Captain America films as the FBI of the MCU and the Avengers as the CIA. The FBI evaluates and dispatches threats nationally, whereas the CIA focuses on global threats... And generally speaking Cap is usually on the defensive in his films, and the role relegated to the state is that of the enemy.
What's been slowly building since the first Captain America has now matured into a unified theme, which may make it my favorite subseries of Marvel films to date. That theme culminates into ideas like, "believe in yourself," "always question authority," and "do what you believe is right." I believe all these themes tie into the unifying theme of the sovereign state, and most importantly, the human being. That the rights of the individual shall not be sacrificed for the rights of the state... which is a very powerful message.
What's funny is they used a bungle like Ultron to their advantage in telling an even better story this time around. Even with missteps, Marvel figures out a way to turn those low points into gold. This is the movie where even Tony's character arc from way back in Iron Man 3 finally pays off. I didn't feel like he earned it in that movie. But this is his true dark turning point, and only now can he truly change and grow.
As for the rest of the film and not focusing so much on drama for a second, this is actually a very entertaining, and often times funny film. I laughed out loud hysterically at certain parts, and I'm surprised at the range of emotions this film could make me feel and not feel unbalanced as a result.
All I'll say is you will have a great time watching this, especially if you refresh your memory from Winter Soldier beforehand. Every character gets a moment to shine and fall, and it still feels like a Captain America film to me, which is how it should be.
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