'Captain America: Brave New World' review: Can Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie save the MCU from itself?

Captain America: Brave New World is a perfect example of studio math gone wrong. On paper, the 35th MCU entry should be a sure-fire winner.

First off, it's part of a long-running and successful movie and TV franchise that seems unstoppable. At its center is the dynamic Anthony Mackie, whose charmingly cocky Sam Wilson hero-lands into the role of Captain America, bringing with him some flashy upgraded gear like working wings made of Vibranium, courtesy of Wakanda. Then, to add some old-school grit to the proceedings, Star Wars and Indiana Jones icon Harrison Ford comes on board as a fiery politician destined to hulk out — as teased in promos — in the film's climax.

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For a little bit of spice, give a dash of heralded character actors Giancarlo Esposito and Tim Blake Nelson. Fold in heaps of Marvel IP and get a whiff of prestige by hiring a celebrated director, Julius Onah (Luce, The Cloverfield Paradox). This should make for — if not one of Marvel's best movies — at the very least a satisfying political thriller with bursts of super-powered action spectacle.

And yet, two plus two doesn't equal four, it equals womp womp. So what went wrong? Let's break it down.

In Captain America: Brave New World, Anthony Mackie is boxed in

Danny Ramirez and Anthony Mackie in "Captain America: Brave New World." Credit: Marvel Studios

As a sidekick, Sam Wilson delivered playful attitude and petty arguments to lighten the mood — especially when the hero's chips were down. But as the noble hero of this entrenched sequel, the spark of his character is squelched by the pressure to follow in Steve Rogers' footsteps.

Brief moments of Wilson wise-cracking are when this movie almost develops a pulse. But as Cap, he is so committed to honor, that he can't get cute. So, a fleet of screenwriters (Onah, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Peter Ganz) instead offer as comic relief Sam's protege, big-mouthed but lovable Air Force lieutenant Joaquin Torres (Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Danny Ramirez). To Ramirez's credit, he has an affable Golden Retriever energy. But his comic sensibilities aren't as sharp as Mackie's, so his jokes here rarely land.

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Together, Sam and Joaquin are on the hunt for the evil mastermind (Nelson) who's using a sneering mercenary (Esposito) and a bit of mind control to unbalance newly elected president Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Ford). Plus, Sam is on a side quest to exonerate his Falcon and the Winter Soldier mentor Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), from some serious charges. All this means Sam is given little opportunity to brandish that signature smile or even a quip as he chases down exposition dumps about characters new and old, and backstories mostly tedious. Instead, Mackie is constrained in a scowl that scuffs Sam's shine, making him fall in line with an endless supply of forgettable oh-so-serious military-thriller heroes.

What is Harrison Ford doing in Captain America: Brave New World?

Harrison Ford in "Captain America: Brave New World." Credit: Marvel Studios

Sure, Ford has reprised the roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones for subsequent sequels, but he's long shown an open boredom — or even charming hostility — about the fandoms that would confine him. So why join the MCU, cinema's biggest contemporary franchise, playing a role originated by William Hurt in The Incredible Hulk, an MCU movie even the most die-hard fans barely remember?

It can't be that the script spoke to him, not this script. Ross's dialogue is a solipsistic drivel about second chances and sacrifice. The plot relies heavily on the audience having retained plenty of details not only from Falcon and the Winter Solider, the recent TV series centered on Sam (and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes), but also the notoriously unpopular Eternals and 2008's Incredible Hulk, which featured Ed Norton as the eponymous superhero before the role was recast with Mark Ruffalo for 2012's Avengers.

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Admittedly, this sequel gives enough context that you can follow along if you don't remember those titles — or skipped them altogether. But the bigger issue is that Onah relies on the groundwork laid by other filmmakers to get us to care about his characters. Meaning on its own, this movie is practically inert. The casting of Harrison Ford should have been a major help there, as he can play a gruff bastard over and over and we only love him more for it. But here, Ford is — and I take no pleasure in saying this — astoundingly bad.

Far from his Shrinking showing, he doesn't seem like he's having fun. Nor does he appear to feel at home in the world of a swaggering president who can talk diplomacy and throw a punch, which is wild because he's done that precisely in 1997's Air Force One. Instead, under the weight of MCU demands of world-building and callbacks, Ford struggles to turn in a compelling performance. Props to the VFX team; however, that made him into a hulk. The animation of this burly red beast is outrageously lifelike down to resplendent chest hair and Ford's signature Indy grimace.

Captain America: Brave New World is a wasted opportunity.

Credit: Marvel Studios

Mackie is dazzling performer, who's proved adept at balancing a snarling intensity with a braggadocio allure. But here, wedged into the MCU machine, his once kinetic sidekick feels tamed. Ford, a living legend who inspires fans even as he eye-rolls at them, is given nothing interesting to do here, and so flounders. It's as if the filmmakers consider his star power as more IP to throw into Disney's ravenous hunger for cross-promotion, a superficial flare to add to their ad campaign.

Then, hilariously, the movies they chose to build their new Captain America's first big-screen adventure on provides little structural support, and even less fan love. Marvel is determinedly looking into its rear-view instead of ahead, where it might build a future with its current heroes that breaks new ground. So, we get the throwback futurism of Fantastic Four: First Steps and Robert Downey Jr, who retired his Tony Stark role through noble self-sacrifice, returning as Doctor Doom for Avengers: Doomsday.

The MCU could have given Sam Wilson a movie that boldly explored what it means to be a Captain America right now, especially to a Black man. A scene between Sam and Isaiah, two Black American soldiers who've seen the dark side of their government, teases the potential to delve into this Falcon and Winter Soldier territory in a grand cinematic way. But Onah won't deliver. Rather than a provocative political discussion as seen in Black Panther, Captain America: Brave New World limply pursues concepts of redemption and honor. It's safe and frankly boring. And coming in the wake of Kendrick Lamar's boldly political Super Bowl halftime show — which also delivered spectacle, Easter eggs, and sublime pettiness — Captain America: Brave New World feels all the more disappointing.

Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters and IMAX on Feb. 14.