Captain America: Brave New World was released on Valentine’s Day. I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+ so I was hyped for this movie. This was supposed to be the movie that would establish Sam Wilson as the new Captain America setting the stage for the future of the MCU. Captain America Brave New World was so underwhelming and Anthony Mackie deserved a better debut movie than whatever this movie was trying to be.

Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) and Joaquin Torres (played by Danny Ramirez) are sent to Mexico to retrieve an item that’s being sold to a mercenary group. After successfully retrieving the item, Sam and Joaquin are invited to The White House. Sam asks Isaiah Bradley (played by Carl Lumbly) to accompany him even though Isaiah has mixed feelings about coming along. During a presentation, Isaiah attacks President Thaddeus Ross (played by Harrison Ford) which is uncharacteristic of Isaiah. Although stopped by Sam, Isaiah is arrested and is protesting his innocence. He doesn’t remember attacking the president and Sam is determined to uncover what’s going on and how Isaiah got looped into this.

When I think back to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that movie is centered on Captain America. He has his allies which are obviously Black Widow and eventually, Sam Wilson. In Captain America: Brave New World, I felt Sam Wilson wasn’t the star of his own movie. There’s so much build-up linking all these events together. I wish this movie focused more on Sam’s relationships with his allies. Sam being a mentor to Joaquin, how did they meet? Why did Sam feel connected to him? I would have loved to see more moments with Sam and Isaiah or Isaiah specifically teaching Joaquin a thing or two. Instead, Isaiah is in prison for the majority of the movie. It feels like a waste since Sam feels protective over Isaiah and deeply cares for him. If Captain America: Brave New World followed the pattern set in The Winter Soldier, I think this movie would have been excellent.

Another critique I had for Captain America: Brave New World is the movie was slow. This should be exciting! Sam has military training and excels at hand-to-hand combat, so why did I feel bored while watching this? I would have liked to see more from Joaquin. Aside from one hand-to-hand combat in an underground bunker and him in the air, that’s about it. He has earned the title of Falcon, so let’s see why! I think injuring him in the latter half of the movie was a mistake. He could have shown up at the end when Red Hulk started trashing The White House.

Captain America: Brave New World made some questionable choices. This movie relies on viewers to have seen The Incredible Hulk and Eternals. Why would you link to a movie that everyone pretends doesn’t exist? That was a choice. This is what I mean by the build-up. Since it’s been a bit since The Incredible Hulk’s release, there is a lot that has to be explained, so instead of giving Sam Wilson more screen time, you have to link these things together. It bogged down the movie and wasn’t satisfying. Instead, I think Captain America: Brave New World should have centered on Sidewinder (played by Giancarlo Esposito) and have Sam and all his allies go after him. This way, you can have an action-packed movie while building the relationships that Sam has.

It sounds like I hated the movie. I didn’t. It’s like the classic parent line, “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed”. That’s how I feel towards Captain America: Brave New World. The MCU is capable of making great films and this was not one of them.