8 Changes That Would Have Improved Captain America: Civil War

I understand that this is blasphemous since action set pieces are what Marvel movies are based around. And I also would like to point out that I think the Russo’s deserve enormous praise for how they construct their fight scenes. Their use of practical effects, gifted stunt people, and bonkers choreography provide a refreshing change from what we have seen in so many other blockbusters.

But in Civil War, the relentless battles can get very grinding. The film is a very heavy 2 hours and 30 minutes, and in that time the character development is seriously lacking, and the addition of new characters can feel very shoehorned. That shouldn’t be the case when you have that much film to work with. The beauty of the Civil War story (both in the comics and this movie) is that it’s intellectually challenging. It should have provided Marvel with the opportunity to really break the mould on how to combine ideas with action. This could have been achieved with a little less focus on such draining battle sequences.

Removing a bit of the relentless fighting would also help tackle the Deja Vu problem that seems to occur at the end of all Marvel movies. By the time Captain America and Bucky battle Iron Man it feels like something we have seen already – not just in this movie, but in every other Marvel movie produced. If some of those other sequences were a bit more efficient, the final battle would have a lot more impact, rather than the sense of inevitable check listing that it winds up having.