You think Eternals or The Marvels was rock bottom? (The Marvels was fun. Get over yourself.)

I’m not sure there’s anything about this that works. The plot might work for people who've never seen a political thriller before, but for everyone else it's pretty clear what's going after the first twenty minutes. The only twist is who is pulling the strings and lets just say I had to stifle a large laugh when it's revealed because my theater was dead silent when it was revealed. The whole political thriller thing might've seemed unique with Winter Soldier (I guess? I never really got the praise of it being like a "70's political thriller" despite liking the movie quite a bit. And it definitely doesn’t work this time. I feel like Marvel knows it doesn't work too. It feels like they took a page out of the Warner Brothers playbook when it came to marketing Batman v Superman (the only reason this doesn’t have the reception of that movie is because this doesn’t have a character that comes close to matching the iconic status of those characters). Show all the “cool shit” even if it’s the ending and hope to get as many people in on opening weekend. When you reveal the “twist” in the marketing it kind of leaves you nowhere to go. The plot only has one twist left, as I mentioned earlier is fucking hilarious and probably should've stayed in the comic books. Then again, this is the 35th entry in the MCU so I don't mind the batshit swing they took here.

That alone would be bad enough, but the cast doesn't do the film any favors. Harrison Ford is the only one who worked for me and it's not because he gives a particularly memorable performance, he's just Harrison Fucking Ford. He's sleepwalking through this yet manages to have more charisma than the rest of the cast combined. And the less said about Joaquin and fake Natasha the better.

I kind of admire the attempt at the political intrigue, mixed with Cap’s earnestness, and the weirdness that is the other part of the plot they’re keeping from everybody, but there’s no Marvel magic this time.

D

If gamma radiation can make your grey hair go away, I wonder if it does anything for balding.

The last scene with Red Ross also looks like it’s been reshot ten times and the last time was maybe last week.

Every time they introduced a new character I was just thinking "we already have one of these at home." Probably doesn't help that the new versions of Falcon, Widow, Winter Soldier and Zemo are just super generic actors. Why couldn't Bucky and Yelena be in this? Oh yeah, they are busy being in another movie that nobody really wants.

Curious if the original version of this film was better... lol. I thought it was watchable but sucks the Russos didn't do this movie. A movie similar to the Winter Soldier in terms of pace, story and action could've made this good.

Two things I forgot to mention.

I said it years ago on here and I think my prediction is unfortunately coming true: Disney+ is the worst thing to happen to Star Wars and Marvel. Funny enough I think it’s kept Star Wars going (for better or worse) but Marvel has been spread thin. If the promise of mutants weren’t on the horizon I think they’d be truly fucked right now. They have to nail FF4 and Avengers. They have Downey coming back going for them, but who the fuck are the new Avengers? Doctor Strange, Chi, the Eternals, Cap and his squad here, and the Thunderbolts? Probably the FF4? Doctor Strange and FF4? Cool. Everyone else…

2. I’ll take Madame Web and even Morbius over this. They’re at least entertainingly bad. If this was produced by Sony it’d be having its shit kicked in right now. Marvel Studios still has the benefit of the doubt somehow, but for how much longer?

I definitely laughed every time they summed up a major plotline on the tv show with a single sentence.

This movie is such a turd but I still kind of enjoyed it anyway. More so so than Venom 3, Red One or Gladiator2. About the same as Sonic 3. I'll give it a somewhat decent all things considered 5/10. Will be the first MCU movie I do not rewatch though.

I had such low expectations for this that I mildly enjoyed it. Ford really was the only thing that saved this for nostalgia of 1997 and because he can make anything mildly entertaining. The 82 year old had more energy and enthusiasm than all the younger cast members. I'm sure Marvel paid him well.

B-

I honestly thought this was really enjoyable on first watch. The Leader’s plot is a bit convoluted but I thought the performances of Mackie and Ford were good, it was cool to see some plot threads from the Incredible Hulk get some payoff, and the battle at the end I didn’t find disappointing.

I feel like every Marvel movie that comes out now gets nitpicked to death.

Captain America: Brave New World was better than I expected. Not top tier MCU but good nonetheless. Anthony Mackie is charismatic and really owns the role, making it fun to watch. I like the new Falcon as well. The action is solid, the special effects look great, and the fight scenes are awesome. Plus, Harrison Ford is, as always, fantastic.

The only downside is that some of the backstory comes from less popular MCU movies —so a few things might not click right away. But overall, it still works really well on its own. On top of that, there are some great Easter eggs that hint at where the MCU is headed next. Definitely a pleasant surprise!

B+