Captain America: A Step Backwards

Picture this: Valentine's Day rolls around, and you're treated to a Marvel movie that feels like a stale, overprocessed snack. That's "Captain America: Brave New World" for you. It's the latest in Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's a bit of a letdown. Anthony Mackie takes the lead as Captain America, but the movie just doesn't live up to the hype. The story, written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, and Dalan Musson, is a mix of familiar Marvel characters and a White House conspiracy. It's set against a backdrop of international violence in the Indian Ocean. It's a plot that should be exciting, but it's just dull. The movie borrows from classics like "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Top Gun, " and even steals its title from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World. " It's a bit of a mess, really. The movie tries to be edgy, but it's just a bit too much. It's like they took bits from other Marvel movies and threw them in a blender. There's a substance called Adamantium, which is a lot like Vibranium from Wakanda. There's even a Kendrick Lamar song at the end, but it's not new—it's from 2014. Harrison Ford steps in as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, the new U. S. president. He's trying to show the world a better way forward by teaming up with Captain America. It's a risky move, and Cap is warned about it, but he agrees anyway. "Trust me, " he says to Danny Ramirez, his new sidekick. But trust is hard to come by in this movie. The villains are a bit over the top. There's Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, and Red Hulk, who's just a massive, angry slab of man-meat. They're all powerful, but they're also a bit too much. There are other characters too, like Isaiah Bradley, a Korean War veteran, and Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph, a national security agent with a murky agenda. The action scenes are good, but the quieter moments are a bit of a mess. The script is full of military jargon and grandiose sentiment. It's like they're trying too hard to be serious. There are product placements everywhere. Cap drives a GMC truck and uses Dell computers. The president of the United States uses a Peloton. It's a bit of a waste, really. There's a theme that unites Cap and Ross: they both feel the need to prove themselves. Mackie's Captain America has been ambivalent about taking on the mantle of Steve Rogers. Ross wants to secure peace across the world but really wants to reconnect with his estranged daughter. It's a bit of a stretch, but it's there. Anthony Mackie has been a good servant to Marvel, but he deserves better. He can be steely and vulnerable, but he can't outrace stilted lines like "If we can't see the good in each other, we've already lost the fight. " Marvel has lost more than the fight; they've lost the thread. "Captain America: Brave New World" is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence, action and some strong language. " It's 118 minutes long. It's a bit of a letdown, really.