Marvel has dropped their first film of the year, officially introducing Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as Captain America in “Captain America: Brave New World.” 

The President of the United States, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), invites Captain America to the White House. There, Ross holds a summit that quickly goes wrong when Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and other members in the room start shooting at Ross. 

They discover that Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) is behind the attack, using a form of mind control to make soldiers attack. It is also revealed that Dr. Samuel Sterns and Thaddeus Ross have some prior connections to the 2008 film “The Incredible Hulk.” 

Ross turns into the Red Hulk while giving a press conference in front of the White House, leading to mass destruction in a fit of rage. Captain America gets on the scene, where he engages in a fight and manages to stop Red Hulk. 

With a 50% Rotten Tomatoes Critics score, the reception to the film has been overwhelmingly harsh. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the last few movies the Marvel Cinematic Universe has put out. 

For one, we finally get to see Sam Wilson debut as Captain America, and it goes better than expected. We’ve been used to Steve Rogers for ten years, so it will take some time to adjust to Mackie’s Captain America, but he deserves a chance to prove himself. 

He stays true to his origins, integrating his Falcon gear into his Cap suit. Rather than relying on super-serum like Steve Rogers, he can utilize other portions of his gear in a modern way that helps him in the fight scenes in the movie.

There aren’t an abundance of battle scenes, but the film is driven more by emotion than by action. Ross’ complicated relationship with his daughter and Bradley’s trauma from being imprisoned manage to evoke emotion in viewers over the action. 

It may seem these subplots take away from the film, but Captain America is and always has been a man of the people. Being empathetic isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

If we’re going to talk about action scenes, the most tense and thrilling one has to be the air-and-sea battle. That’s kind of a problem. 

The air-and-sea battle takes place in the middle of the film and is probably the most memorable part. You would think the most memorable battle is Red Hulk and Captain America toward the end, but it isn’t. 

Marvel shot themselves in the foot by introducing Red Hulk in the trailer when it could’ve been revealed in the film. He was marketed as the main villain in the movie, but Dr. Samuel Sterns overtook that spot, and he was an underwhelming villain. 

When Red Hulk is fighting Captain America in a rage, it doesn’t take much to calm him down. Rather than fighting him until he gets tired, Captain America manages to talk him down, and… that’s it. 

All it takes is a few words, not even five minutes, to get Red Hulk to return to normal as if he hadn’t just destroyed the entire White House. I would’ve preferred to have a bigger and better face-off than that. 

It also took way too long to be released. Granted, there were some issues out of Marvel’s control (like the SAG-AFTRA strikes), but it’s a problem they’ve dealt with before. 

The concept of Sam Wilson taking over as Captain America was introduced as early as “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019. He even got his own show on Disney+ two years later, “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” in 2021. Then there was nothing until four to six years later.

In “Eternals,” a Celestial by the name of Tiamut comes out of the ocean. Marvel doesn’t reveal anything about this event until “Captain America: Brave New World,” moving past Phase Four and nearly at the end of Phase Five. 

As of late, they have taken too long to address certain events that happen in the movies, only to bring them back randomly for the audience to barely remember. The Eternals haven’t been mentioned since the movie as well, essentially making their story meaningless. 

Some people are pointing to those reasons as to why they would say it’s a terrible film, but I say it’s your average superhero movie. 

If we’re going to talk about a terrible Marvel movie, look no further than “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Marvels” and “Madame Web.” The new Captain America movie may not be the best, but it wasn’t even close to being as bad as these three films. 

Phase Six features two new Avengers films, the new Fantastic Four and a new Spider-Man movie. With so much hype surrounding them, “Captain America: Brave New World” could simply be the foundation of what’s to come. 

At the end of the movie, Sterns warns Wilson of the incoming “brave new world,” most likely setting up the future films and Phase Six. I’m unsure of what kind of precedent they are trying to set, but I have faith they will execute accordingly. 

Give “Captain America: Brave New World” a chance. It’s not as bad as people are making it seem. Anthony Mackie does a great job stepping into a role so beloved by fans and he deserves more appreciation.