To put it shortly, this is a film that disappointingly lacks much substance outside of entertainment value. It's even more disappointing as the setting and central conflict of the film clearly intended for a super-powered political thriller and the out of control president narrative lends itself perfectly to one. However it's not surprising that it turned out to be a standard MCU film. Sam Wilson having to become captain America and having to fill the void left by Steve Rogers could've been a great way to convey his struggles of being a black man representing his country and his country's hope but -again- I am not surprised that what was meant to be a much better film was mutilated into a bland continuation of a dying franchise intended to appeal to all and not to offend. I've heard he had a similar arc in his shoe but even if that's the case, they still could've shown some interesting social and political commentary through the character. This is made worse by the very public reshoots of this film that show Marvel's cowardly attitude towards making any sort of BRAVE or NEW statement. Isaiah Bradley could've been so much more interesting with his past and the scene of his arrest but the film just doesn't say anything. I actually don't get it. How did they mess up the easiest political commentary lay up with that scene.

Harrison ford is doing a pretty decent job yet I'm not sure why they gave the character that has been built up to be not a great dude across 35 films the emotional character arc and conclusion. He even does villain stuff in this film like keeping a dude( who also isn't a great villain) in an underground bunker for nearly 20 years. But my biggest complaint about Ross is the fact you couldn't even see a poster for this film without red hulk being spoiled for you, despite the film leaving clues that he's red hulk showing it was meant to be a twist, and it would've been a good one too. It genuinely would've been better film making of it wasn't in the marketing. I know the film would've made like no money if it didn't do this but I don't really care.

On the technical side, the VFX are mostly great -especially red hulk- despite some dodgy green screen and the sound mix is actually quite immersive. The score has since good moments like at celestial island and it did enhance the some what clunky action scenes. When cap isn't full cgi and he's doing more realistic fighting, his costume felt slightly heavy and claustrophobic for him to fight in but it's not too noticeable.

Overall, a standard marvel movie with equal amounts of good and bad that cancel each other out and lead to a bit of a mess of a film and not one that will keep you thinking about it that long after seeing it.