Captain America: Civil War - 10 Most Hyped Moments
6. The Balance
You'll hear the words "over-stuffed" and "too long" thrown about by most of the people seeking to throw shade at Civil War. It's inevitable, really: the film comes in at a healthy slug more than 2 hours and there's necessarily a lot going on. But at least it seems that the script is organised enough to marry all the elements together without compromising the central focus on Cap and Bucky's story:.
As Slash Film puts it:
"If it sounds like theres a lot going on, thats because there is, but the script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely handles it all in a very organized way, and they even pull the rug out from under you a couple times with some surprising moments, especially concerning the villains plan. Even though the first act feels like its all over the place, all the characters are handled in a surprisingly organized fashion, and almost all of them have a substantial arc that is inherently tied to Captain Americas pursuit to get his friend back."
That's key: this is a Captain America story after all and the end of Bucky's arc, and not pulling focus back to them, even when the agenda is to advance the narrative of the wider MCU would have been catastrophic. Empire too say the balance in the story is perfect:
"...It does what the best Marvel films do: juggling multiple characters so each is allowed its moment in a story that pushes forward the series overall continuity, while also forming and concluding its own cogent plot."