Media Dissection: Is Captain America: Civil War better than Batman v Superman?

After watching Captain America: Civil War, the only thing I would say is comparable to Batman V Superman story-wise is the lack of decent motivation by their main characters. Beyond that the movies are pretty much night and day and can't be placed in the same light like some have claimed. Between the two I would say that Civil War is the better movie for these specific reasons: 1. Since the MCU was able to establish most of the characters in their own stand alone features and made subtle connections between each of them, this allowed the conflict with the characters in this film to feel more natural, because we know of their history on screen along with the relationships they developed which is what led up to the events unfolding.

2. Compared to Batman v Superman, Civil War is better structured and far more cohesive as a story. One of the major criticisms of Civil War has been the plot centering mostly on Bucky and Steve's friendship, to be fair what the plot ended dissolving into was underwhelming compared to what many expected of it (same can be said for it's resolution), however the story itself wasn't bad considering it borrowed small elements from the comic version (lol very small), which opened an interesting debate that would be a topic of interest in the real world regarding superheroes. In contrast, BvS's story felt rushed and unorganized.

3. The movie served as a great opportunity to expand upon the universe and introduce more fan favorites who will be getting movies this year and next year. Unlike BvS, Civil War utilized these characters in a smart way rather than cramming them in extremely small cameos that felt more like padding than anything else.

4. One of the other complaints about the movie and even the MCU as a whole (minus their Netflix shows), is how it comes off as light, childish, and lacking some kind of grittiness that comes with mature storytelling; the problem with that is interpretation. Throughout the first half of the film, there were several instances of adult themes on display. Could they have gone darker? Yes they could have, but would that make it better? Not really. As much as I love the more adult themed side of comics, making everything dark and gloomy in comic based movies doesn't make up for shitty writing.

Beyond that though I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie by any means. Cap's motivation appeared bias as fuck once you throw in the plot centered on Bucky. Before that it held up better, but went downhill as it went on. Had they stuck with the angle and expanded on a better argument on Cap's side without him blindly defending Barnes it would have been better. Noticed a plot hole or continuity issue in the movie that you'll know what I mean if you have been watching Luke Cage. The resolution of Civil War was underwhelming. Not to say the fight scene before it wasn't epic, but the ending was average, nothing overly spectacular. Overall I would give this movie a B+. It was a good movie that had some incredible fight scenes, but the potency of the plot loses it's edge once you run pass midway.

Many of the problems found in Batman v Superman centered around the portrayals of Clark and Lex Luthor. Superman did not embody the symbol of hope in this film and expressed no form of a moral code and does not have any regrets on things which should matter to a person making themselves out as earths protector you should have some warmth to you that presents the hope you claim to stand for.  In fact his whole issue with Batman and his methods making no sense and serves as an incredible contradiction. The concept of Luther's character wasn't bad, but it was the delivery of his portrayal that felt off and he could have done better. Considering I have seen him do better with roles of talented geniuses, I was disappointed he didn't go deeper....

In the end, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice could have been a much greater movie than it was; it had the potential to be the greatest comic book movie of 2016 with two of the most iconic characters in the world of fiction, however the film failed to deliver and suffered from poor writing, incoherent storytelling, and an inaccurate portrayal of comic book characters.