Going into this movie, I really wanted to like Captain America: Brave New World. We’ve heard all the reshoot stories, script overhauls, etc. But I was hopeful Julius Onah, a very talented director in his own right, could deliver a decent product. Leaving the theatre was a mercy kill for the painful and unfortunate two hours I just endured. Brave New World doesn’t know what it wants to be and only Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford seem to understand what kind of movie this is. Sam Wilson’s tenure as Captain America is off to a bumpy start, let’s hope the tide turns on this one fast.

Anthony Mackie is one of this movie’s few bright spots, as he shows time and time again to prove why he is the right choice to take on the shield from Chris Evans. Mackie’s performance as Sam Wilson is powerful, affirming, empathetic, and extremely patriotic. These are all traits you look for in Captain America and he embodies it all and takes the roll on perfectly. If this is the leader of the future Avengers, I’m all for it.

Harrison Ford is my favourite actor of all time so it’s incredibly possible I have a bias towards his performance in this movie but I also truly think he is the absolute best part of it. Ford takes the role of Thaddeus Ross from the late William Hurt and while I’m usually against recasting characters after an actor has passed, Ford is the exception. He takes on an admittedly disjointed script, says every line with meaning and power, all while having that good ol’ Harrison Ford charm sprinkled throughout. He steals every scene he’s in, keeps me somewhat invested in this movie, and had me clamouring for more Ford. I cannot wait to see him in Thunderbolts* and beyond because he looks like he’s having a blast in this universe.

Visually, this film is also, unfortunately, disjointed. From wonky CGI to middling set pieces, the film feels bland from an aesthetic standpoint and ugly from a CGI perspective. The action sequences are bland, boring and generic looking for the most part, with the Red Hulk sequence feeling like the only true memorable piece from this film. Speaking of CGI, the look of Tim Blake Nelson’s Leader is atrocious, and any practical work done in his grand return is basically unnoticeable as it’s all been patched up in post-production. Don’t even get me started on the overabundance of green screens used, which were all very noticeable reshoot additions, with Mackie barely blending into the scene naturally. Overall, this film just felt very…cheap looking in many ways, which doesn’t really help when you see it’s an extraordinarily expensive movie. Major disappointment from the MCU here.

This movie, among its many issues, feels like a hack job from dozens of writers and it shows. The movie starts off fairly strong, feeling cohesive and with messaging that feels very political albiet timely. However, this fades away after the initial opening sequences. The movie feels very cut together in the worst way possible, and this is no more clear than the introduction of Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder. As someone who adores the actor, he feels very misused and wasted in this movie, as his scenes are somewhat meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The additions and removals of characters, especially the larger Serpent Society as a whole, is very much missed here and feels like some story points are missed. However, I cannot stress enough how the political messaging is missing amongst the overall story points, it kind of disappears after the first act and makes the movie have less weight overall. This movie wants to be a paranoid thriller in the vein of The Winter Soldier but ends up being a shell of it. A much more polished script draft prior to pre-production could have saved a lot of trouble.

Captain America: Brave New World is the result of to many people trying to make this THEIR film, and the overall product suffers from it. Mackie proves why he’s worthy of the shield, and Ford makes this movie a worthwhile theatrical experience mostly, but the movie isn’t up to snuff with any of Evans’ solo outings as Captain America. Here’s to hoping the future instalments are better than this. The MCU has fallen from grace post-Endgame to many in the public eye but for the first time, I believe they truly havre hit a new low that I hope they strive to recover from ASAP.