Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Captain America: Civil War is not only some of Marvel Studios best films but one of the best trilogies in the genre. Those films told two stories – one was about a shield throwing super serum filled soldier that embodies all the thing America says it values. The other story asks the audience to examine who America truly is as a country.

Nine years after Cap’s last solo movie, the franchise is back with a new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), a new threat, and a new world. Captain America: Brave New World takes place sometime after the events of Eternals (2021). President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) is working on a global treaty to handle the adamantium (X-men fans know what this is) found in the Celestial being protruding out of the Indian Ocean.

While at the White House, President Ross asks Sam Wilson to form the Avengers again. Before Sam can process what’s being asked of him, there is an attempt on the President’s life by the first super soldier, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). Sam’s investigation into why his friend would attempt to assassinate the President leads him down a rabbit hole that involves the Serpent Society’s Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), and a Samuel Sterns aka Leader (Tim Blake Nelson).

As deep and layered as the previous Captain America films are, this feel is equally shallow and flat. That’s no fault of Anthony Mackie’s performance as Sam Wilson. His character largely stands alone in this 1hr 58 min film. That’s because audiences have a history with Sam that goes back to his introduction as Falcon in Captain America: Civil War to his Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The other characters in the film are paper thin and nothing they do carries any real weight. Their motivations are flimsy and their attachment to the larger story is weak at best. As the film takes the audience through this journey, the path gets murkier and cloudier during the first hour or so. Once the film gets to the Red Hulk, that’s when it begins to feel like true Marvel Studios film.

For all of its faults, Captain America: Brave New World is at its best during the fight scenes. There is beautiful choreography when Cap uses his wings and other parts of his costume and shield to take down his enemies. Much like Chris Evans’ Cap, the costume and shield are an extension of his body when he’s in combat.

The best fight sequence and highlight of the film is the climactic fight between Cap and the Red Hulk. They absolutely nail the Hulk and how he fights in the comics. It’s puzzling that they could get something like the Red Hulk so right and get the rest of the movie so wrong.

Unlike the previous Captain America films, this installment only tells one story. Despite the premise opening up a window to discuss America’s role in geo politics or a discussion about who we decide is a hero, or a global fight for resources, the film falls flat and is just a generic action movie. If you stripped away all the Marvelness, it’s a basic action film about a soldier fighting to nameless/faceless criminals. There is no examination of America. There is nothing underneath what audiences are seeing onscreen. They film doesn’t spend enough time on Isaiah Bradley to make that important, there isn’t nearly enough emphasis on adamantium to make that an interesting plot point. The plot feels like too much and too little at the same time.

Captain America: Brave New World may not be the installment fans are looking for. It doesn’t feel like a failure of a film, but more like a missed opportunity. They weak script made new characters feel uncertain and Anthony Mackie’s Captain America a powerless hero as a result. The post credit scene teases a disastrous future. Hopefully the next time we see Captain America onscreen he’ll be a more compelling character with a stronger story to support him.

Grade: C+