Captain America: Brave New World

The MCU has been in a downward trend since Avengers: Endgame. There have been a few hits here and there, but there is a sense of aimlessness in their recent output and a sentiment of ambivalence felt by the general audience. Captain America: Brave New World hoped to remedy that by reintroducing a fan favorite character in a pivotal new role. Anthony Mackie returns to the MCU in his first full outing as Captain America. His mission? Helping newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford). But things quickly spiral out of control—not just for Cap, but for the movie itself. Weak audience word-of-mouth and overwhelmingly negative reviews dominated the conversation, and rightfully so. Captain America: Brave New World is dull, uninspired, and instantly forgettable. 

The primary issue with the MCU’s latest installment is its writing. The dialogue tries to sound modern and edgy, but ends up feeling awkward and forced. Conversations feel unnatural, often even cringey. Meanwhile, the main storyline is confusing, unengaging, and completely lacking in fun. Even key story beats feel bland and unnecessary, and I found myself waiting for an uptick in entertainment that never came. One of the film’s main antagonists has such a poorly written arc that left me shaking my head and praying for a swift ending to this slog of a film. The final battle is completely underwhelming and matches the rest of the movie’s lackluster tone. Surprises? Twists? None to be found.

Random transitions and poorly constructed scenes make the pacing jarring and often frustrating. The same goes for the film’s music choices, which tend to be wildly out of place and just add to the disjointed feel of the entire movie.

From a performance standpoint, the movie also fails to impress. Anthony Mackie doesn’t have the stage presence you'd expect for someone’s first MCU film as the sole lead. He’s just… serviceable. Harrison Ford and Giancarlo Esposito are fantastic actors who are utterly wasted in their roles. Harrison Ford does his best, but is limited by the weak script. Giancarlo Esposito barely gets any screen time—far too little to make any real impression. And then there’s Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon played by Danny Ramirez. Though giving the former sidekick a sidekick of his own is a cute concept, Joaquin Torres is deeply annoying and frustrating to watch on-screen.

All in all, Captain America: Brave New World is a major disappointment. There's no real reason to recommend it when it falls short in practically every regard. Worst of all, it doesn’t feel like a Captain America movie. The action is forgettable at best and irrelevant at worst. It’s just another generic, terrible action flick—so much so that I’m almost surprised Jason Statham wasn’t the lead. Every battle sequence is either unnecessary or just plain bad.

The MCU desperately needs a win, but this sure wasn’t one.

4/10