It seems like the unstoppable tide of Marvel or any comic book film adaptation has been met with praise which leads to outreach from fans to make yet another adaptation of their favorite comic book heroes and villains to the big screen. That system that has been used for eight years and 13 films across the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to be creating a stale kind of movie going experience with nothing new coming to the table.

Captain America: Civil War is an example of that formula with all the markings of a stereotypical Marvel film including, but not limited to: a genital joke, a few snips at each other right before a fight is about to commence, and even a spark of romance that by the end of the film is never spoken about again, and the list goes on and on.

The film itself it is a mess of location changes which creates an incoherently structured story. The film’s location and setting changes very quickly. The film quickly shifts from the past to the present and moves swiftly from the U.S. to Siberia and then Vienna.

It starts innocently enough with a backstory on Bucky Barnes / the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and how he was made into the unstoppable killer and delves into his past with Captain America (Chris Evans). Then we flash forward to present day to Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) as he is convinced that we are doing more harm than good. He is trying to get the Sokovia Accords passed to where enhanced individuals are to be registered with the government and threatened with severe repercussions. Meanwhile a terrorist attack sets new hero, Black Panther’s (Chadwick Boseman),  sights onto the Winter Soldier. Chases and fights ensue which leads them to find out who really is the bad person in this situation: Daniel Bruhl’s Helmut Zemo who was at the events of Sokovia.

The worst part is that all of these esteemed Marvel characters are grossly underused or shoehorned. Spider-Man (Tom Holland) the newest, most hyped character for the film since the release of the second trailer was a joy on screen and was well representative of the history of his character, but his introduction amounted to little more than a tease. It was nice to see Spider-Man in action, which we do, but more character development, more emotion, and more depth to this new incarnation would have made it great. 

Really, nearly every other character is under-represented except for Downey Jr.’s eccentric Tony Stark / Iron Man and Evan’s old-timey Steve Rogers / Captain America, respectively. Unfortunately, as what tends to happen in Marvel films that include the presence of Iron Man, Downey Jr’s Tony Stark ultimately overshadows Captain America in his own movie.

The action sequences of this movie are solid, but compared to previous entries in the MCU, it would rank somewhere towards the middle of the Marvel filmography. While still being entertaining, the shaky cam was was extremely distracting and often allowed the viewer to notice the “choreography” in the fight choreography (i.e. one could tell the actors were not making contact with each other). The apex of the film’s emotional core is a showdown with Bucky and Captain America as they tag team Iron Man. Not only is it emotionally satisfying,  it was the best fight in the entire movie. Unfortunately, the amount of time the fisticuffs is projected onscreen is the equivalent of time it takes to make a Hot Pocket.

The acting in this movie was well performed as usual since Marvel has managed to include some of the crème de la crème of actors in Hollywood.  Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, and Paul Bettany were all fantastic, but the two who stole the show were Sebastian Stan and Tom Holland, respectively, as the Winter Soldier and Spider-Man. As per the usual, Marvel has given us some very convincing portrayals of our favorite comic book heroes and villains. 

This film is about as fresh as a bag of potato chips that has been left open for the length it took to produce the film. Captain America: Civil War doesn’t introduce anything interesting into the MCU. It’s just the same comfortable style with the same comfortable tone that we’ve grown accustomed to in 13 films. So if you are ready for a movie-going experience that is so predictable that if you have seen any other Marvel movie you will be able to predict the plot for this, take a seat and watch this 147 minute behemoth.

The Madisonian grade: D-