118 min | PG-13 | February 14, 2025 | Walt Disney Pictures
Anthony Mackie officially takes up the shield and the MCU delivers its most middling entry yet. Competent, forgettable, and overstuffed with setup for movies nobody asked for.
Sam Wilson becomes Captain America and the film can’t decide if that’s enough. Instead of building a standalone story about what it means to carry that legacy without the serum, the script crams in political intrigue, red hulks, multiverse teasing, and cameos that exist only to sell future properties. Mackie deserves better. The character deserves better. The audience definitely deserves better.
Anthony Mackie brings warmth and conviction to a role that gives him almost nothing to do beyond react to CGI chaos. Harrison Ford plays Thaddeus Ross, now President, and gets to Hulk out in the third act because someone at Marvel thought that would be cool. Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, and Giancarlo Esposito are wasted in underwritten roles. Tim Blake Nelson returns as The Leader and gets one decent scene before disappearing into a climax that feels focus-tested into oblivion.
Julius Onah directs with workmanlike efficiency. The action is clear but unmemorable. The emotional beats land without resonance. The whole thing feels like a film made by committee where every note from every executive got incorporated regardless of whether it served the story. This is corporate filmmaking at its most risk-averse and creatively bankrupt.
Mackie will get another chance. Hopefully the next one trusts him enough to let him actually lead.