Shaky-cam + rapid-edits + zoomed-in-too-close tight-angle-shots = the worst style of action/fight scene. This movie is plagued with this excessively shaky camera style. Frankly, I don't know why viewers tolerate this kind of thing. It looks horrible. I prefer to actually see what's going on during a fight scene, to see the fighting moves the stunt performers are pulling off, and not feel like I'm having a seizure. Let's count the Russo Bros directed Captain America movies among the worst offenders of this style, alongside the Taken and Bourne movies.
I blame the directors, the Russo Bros, because the first Captain America movie in this series, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), which was made by another director, actually did not have this problem. That's why the action scenes in that movie are so much more watchable than in Winter Soldier or Civil War, both directed by the Russo Bros.
To be fair, the visual effects shots in this movie actually look fine. I'm convinced that different people were in charge of the effects-heavy shots vs the hand-to-hand combat shots, because whenever there are a lot of visual effects onscreen, the camera doesn't suffer from the shaky problem; for instance, when the visual effects-heavy characters (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant Man, etc.) are fighting, it looks fine. It's when the hand-to-hand fighters (Black Panther, Black Widow, Bucky, etc.) are fighting that we're subjected to excessive shaky-cam and choppy editing. Stop shaking the camera, please!
I blame the directors, the Russo Bros, because the first Captain America movie in this series, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), which was made by another director, actually did not have this problem. That's why the action scenes in that movie are so much more watchable than in Winter Soldier or Civil War, both directed by the Russo Bros.
To be fair, the visual effects shots in this movie actually look fine. I'm convinced that different people were in charge of the effects-heavy shots vs the hand-to-hand combat shots, because whenever there are a lot of visual effects onscreen, the camera doesn't suffer from the shaky problem; for instance, when the visual effects-heavy characters (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant Man, etc.) are fighting, it looks fine. It's when the hand-to-hand fighters (Black Panther, Black Widow, Bucky, etc.) are fighting that we're subjected to excessive shaky-cam and choppy editing. Stop shaking the camera, please!