Anthony Mackie finally gets his chance to be at the front of an MCU film, as Captain America, with wings.

I’m at a point where it’s either been too long since I’ve seen some of these characters, or their importance is no longer a factor. If you haven’t caught up on the dozen Disney+ series, you might not know who any of these people are. Even if they weren’t in something before, introducing a bunch of new “important” characters into the fold this late in the game is a problem Marvel cannot seem to get away from.

Brave New World is smaller in scale in many ways, which makes it stick out in a franchise that has constantly been building towards something. They are going backwards with this one unfortunately and characters are brought back just for the sake of showing that they still exist in canon, but are gone in a snap with poor excuses again and again.

There were multiple times I either said “ew” or “yuck” quietly to myself while watching. Character designs are disgusting and off-putting, while costumes are straight up ugly. For lack of a better word, the music sucks and tries to bring tension to scenes by swelling while watching a character walk down a hallway after having a pointless conversation. The villain is lame and a retread of what Zemo was doing in Civil War.

Mackie still has the charisma and abilities to play a character like this, but doesn’t bring the full umph Chris Evans did. Danny Ramirez wasn’t funny enough to strictly be the comic relief when hundreds of others have done more in that realm for this universe. Also, what was with the 4’7” Black Widow cosplayer?

Harrison Ford replaces William Hurt (RIP) as Thunderbolt Ross. Now president, he has the power and responsibility to bring the world together. Getting a much older Ford to play this role was a weird choice. He almost gets more screen time than Cap and it’s just so he can have one hundred conversations about a treaty. If I ever hear the words “treaty” or “buyer” ever again, I’m going to scream.

An aerial battle scene might have been the only thing worth actually writing home about. The action is subpar, the writing is basic, and nothing really feels heavy or like it will matter come the next movie. Captain America 4 should have stayed in the Tv realm, or not existed at all.

3/10