Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War is an absolutely amazing film. There’s no denying it; we’ve seen it, and we love it. Not only has it gone on to become one of the best rated Marvel movies of all time, it’s already widely considered one of the greatest superhero movies every created. No matter what, it remains abundantly clear that the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is safe in the hands of Joe and Anthony Russo.
However, the fact that Civil War is a great and successful movie doesn’t mean that it’s without its fair share of problems. Nothing is perfect, and we cannot in good conscience claim that Civil War has escaped every problem that has ever plagued a Marvel film. With that in mind, we have compiled a list of the five common issues with MCU films that once again reared their ugly heads in Civil War. Now let’s get the ball rolling with No.1…
The Lackluster Score
It’s honestly amazing that after so many films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe still has yet to really land on any strong musical themes for any of its characters. Captain America: Civil War continues the longstanding tradition of weak soundtracks among Marvel movie with Henry Jackman’s passable but still forgettable musical score. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the soundtrack of Civil War, but there’s never a moment where the booming sound of the instruments makes us rise from our seats and cheers for the hero. Numerous DC films, and even FOX’s X-Men universe has established some great themes for the heroes, but the MCU continues to phone in its soundtracks.
Marvel’s Unwillingness to Kill Main Characters
One of the things that made Mark Millar’s Civil War story arc so monumental was the fact that he had the gumption to kill beloved Marvel characters. I understand that killing characters is a difficult decision to make, but at this point, Marvel needs to grow a pair and genuinely kill an Avenger. Although I’m no expert in physics, it’s patently obvious that the impact of War Machine slamming into the ground after Vision shot him should have liquefied his body. Civil War – like most other Marvel properties – is a largely bloodless affair that racks up minimal casualties, and as a result it becomes hard to really understand the stakes of the titular conflict. People don’t need to die in every Marvel movie, but someone has to go down soon before we start losing interest in the safety of these characters.
A Mediocre Villain
Although Zemo ultimately represents an improvement over the Malekiths and Ronans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s still a fairly underwhelming villain. His plan is convoluted, and often falls into the Lex Luthor category of ridiculousness. This isn’t necessarily actor Daniel Brühl’s fault; the film simply has a hard time giving him enough room to shine and develop properly. Aside from Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, very few Marvel films have managed to provide audiences with a villain on par with the quality of the heroes. At many points in the film, it often feels like the Russos would have been better off ditching Zemo entirely for a conflict solely between Captain America and Iron Man (though yes, it could be argued that Zemo's actions triggered the heated battle between titans by the end of the film).
Obvious Set-up For Future Films
Although it’s not quite as heavy handed as Batman sending Wonder Woman an email laying out the details of the future DC films, Captain America: Civil War still often feels like a trailer for Phase 3 more than a self contained film. This has become an issue that many Marvel Cinematic Universe films face, as the studio has become somewhat more concerned with informing future films than focusing on the current story. We’re not saying Civil War isn’t a great film, but it’s hard not to feel like we’re watching a two-hour trailer for other films that haven’t been released yet. Are we excited for Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming? Yes. Would we have still been excited if they weren’t in Civil War? Definitely.
The Big Showdown Is Just Like All Of The Other Climactic MCU Battles
Civil War is a movie about the consequences of big action sequences and collateral damage; with that in mind, it’s something of a shame that the big set piece of the movie is still a bombastic action sequence. I know, they’re superheroes and that’s what they do, but at times it’s still difficult to escape the feeling that the airport sequence feels somewhat antithetical to the message of the movie overall. When all is said and done, it’s hard to feel like any real progress has been made by the events of the film because The Avengers still get into a majorly destructive battle with one another – even if the movie tells us that the airport was empty.
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