So having seen it earlier last week (live outside the US) I can safely say that Civil War is in no way worthy of the 94% that it's currently sitting at on Rotten Tomatoes. There are plenty of individual moments within the movie that are incredibly well put together and incredibly enjoyable, but when put together as a whole the movie just doesn't come together in a great way. The film feels terribly unfinished, and as a Captain America movie it focuses very little on the titular character in service of having the rest of the major players in the MCU play a role in some way.
Myself and my friends all left the cinema wondering where the third act went to, because it absolutely feels like you have a beginning and middle with no end. I get of course that it's trying to set up the whole Marvel phase 3, but unlike Winter Soldier where Phase 2 was being introduced yet you had a cohesive and complete movie, Civil War seems to forget that it's got to be a complete story.
Pros:
- Some great action sequences.
- Black Panther is pretty well put together.
- Great character chemistry.
- Individual moments which are well constructed and told.
- A very easy to follow movie, the storytelling is very straightforward.
- We're introduced a bit to the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and he's good!
- It often feels amazing to see the lives of characters play out whose stories we have been following for years, especially for those who may be reaching the end of their specific stories. Sometimes you really feel committing to the MCU paying off.
Cons:
- Far too many characters.
- Cannot focus on one character's story, is too interested in setting up future movies and characters.
- Feels terribly unfinished.
- I really cannot stress how much the overabundance of characters hurts the movie.
- A really poor antagonist, possibly the weakest we've ever had in an MCU movie.
- Plays things far too safe, the stakes never seem very high.
- Some of the character special effects (in particular those of Spider-Man) just look very weird.
Now for the obligatory Civil War vs. Batman v Superman comparison. I personally feel they're pretty much a dead heat when it comes to how good they are. CW does some things better than BvS, and BvS others better than CW, I absolutely do not agree that there is a 70 point difference between BvS and CW and there's something _really_ wrong with how Rotten Tomatoes works if that's the statement it's trying to make.
- CW tells its story in a better more cohesive way, but both films feel very incomplete.
- Despite the complaints from critics and the like, BvS is far less "overstuffed" with characters than CW is, and quite frankly it does BvS a service having the ability to focus a bit more on the few characters it does.
- I personally actually prefer the look of BvS because of its grittiness, I've always found MCU films a bit too clean and bright and CW doesn't change my mind on it (it still looks good though).
- The special effects in particular are far better in BvS than they are in CW and everything feels like it has a lot more weight/impact.
- CW is absolutely a film designed for a broader audience, it's a lot more happy go lucky and not as dark as something like BvS, and depending on your preference you may like that.
I would put CW at maybe 75% and BvS in a 70-75% range.
