CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) attempts to mend bridges with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in an effort to reform the Avengers and to help secure a new, vital resource that's appeared on our planet: adamantium. However, Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) and the Serpent Society have been hired by a mysterious buyer in order to kill President Ross. I'll be fully transparent that I was not looking forward to this movie for a few reasons. The first, 4th installments within the same franchise rarely are worth any type of quality and are a studio looking to continually cash in on the property. Secondly, it's extremely lazy and obvious to take an established character like Captain America and recast him with a minority actor. Not taking anything away from Mackie as I am a fan of his work but Marvel has so many characters in their library they could have easily introduced a new character or started another franchise rather than taking this route. And yes, I'm FULLY aware Wilson becomes Cap in the comics too but for theatrical purposes, they should have left him alone. If that's the case then can we recast T'Challa in the next Black Panther movie with a white actor? As for the movie itself, Marvel still isn't able to find its old magic formula. And while I'm glad they've slowed down the number of products they're churning out, superhero fatigue is real and I for one am at least worn out from it. Many of the same faults with recent Marvel movies are still on display: Mackie doesn't have the same presence as Cap as Chris Evans did, the storyline is thin while they barely move the needle for the next film in the MCU, and there's very little to get excited about in terms of the direction for this film or the MCU as a whole. Let's hope this summer's THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS can bail them out otherwise they're really in trouble! 6/10