Unfortunately, there really isn't anything brave or new in Captain America: Brave New World, an inert political thriller that represents another failed attempt to recreate the highs of Winter Soldier and definitely isn't at the level of quality that Anthony Mackie deserves for his first film as Captain America. As an unexpected sequel to The Incredible Hulk it finally acknowledges some of the longest running unanswered questions in the MCU and is still a generally entertaining watch in disposable fashion.
Anthony Mackie is giving it his all by being reliably charming, headstrong and making the dramatic moments work by showing the mantle he carries comes with a lot of responsibilities that he's doing his best to manage. This film has loads of issues but he's never one of them and the handful of self-deprecating moments when he's going up against Red Hulk ensure he is super likeable. Plus, he has a solid chemistry with Danny Ramirez whose constant quips never become too annoying.
Harrison Ford clearly isn't phoning it in and brings a fair amount of empathy to Ross even as his actions make it harder to do. The character has never had this much depth on screen so it's great to see Ford be given something worthwhile in his MCU debut. Tim Blake Nelson is a solid villain who exudes menace comfortably and Giancarlo Esposito does a lot with a little whilst still feeling massively underutilised which is common practice for villains in this cinematic universe.
Julius Onah's direction feels like the well documented reshoots and standard issue lazy construction of these films has removed any potential vision or craft. This looks ugly and overlit most of the time with some trademark truly dodgy CGI throughout. The hand to hand combat is weirdly stilted and almost every single throw of the shield is either too slow or weightless so the big CGI action ends up offering the best set pieces despite their shoddy assembly.
Anthony Mackie is giving it his all by being reliably charming, headstrong and making the dramatic moments work by showing the mantle he carries comes with a lot of responsibilities that he's doing his best to manage. This film has loads of issues but he's never one of them and the handful of self-deprecating moments when he's going up against Red Hulk ensure he is super likeable. Plus, he has a solid chemistry with Danny Ramirez whose constant quips never become too annoying.
Harrison Ford clearly isn't phoning it in and brings a fair amount of empathy to Ross even as his actions make it harder to do. The character has never had this much depth on screen so it's great to see Ford be given something worthwhile in his MCU debut. Tim Blake Nelson is a solid villain who exudes menace comfortably and Giancarlo Esposito does a lot with a little whilst still feeling massively underutilised which is common practice for villains in this cinematic universe.
Julius Onah's direction feels like the well documented reshoots and standard issue lazy construction of these films has removed any potential vision or craft. This looks ugly and overlit most of the time with some trademark truly dodgy CGI throughout. The hand to hand combat is weirdly stilted and almost every single throw of the shield is either too slow or weightless so the big CGI action ends up offering the best set pieces despite their shoddy assembly.