Rating: ***
Review Date: 2/22/25
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas,
Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore,
William Mark McCullough, cameos by Sebastian Stan, Liv Tyler
"Steve gave them something to believe in. You give them something to aspire to."
This movie came out at a really bad time, as it focuses on a mentally and emotionally unstable U.S. President being manipulated by a super villain with no morals or ethics. Sound familiar? So any part of the film that featured American politics made me flinch. The film also suffers from a trailer that gives too much away (Red Hulk should have been a surprise, not a selling point) as well as showing footage that's not in the film (Captain America's best line in the trailer is not actually in the movie). As a result, a lot of the enjoyment is sucked right out of the film by unfortunate external forces.
Adamantium is discovered by the Japanese and a sample is stolen by terrorists (aka the CIA). Newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) orders Captain America (Anthony Mackie) to recover the sample so that his "Adamantium Accord" peace treaty can be signed by various world leaders. An assassination attempt at The White House frames one of Cap's friends, and Ross and Wilson once again find themselves at odds with each other. Wilson and Falcon (Danny Ramirez) uncover a conspiracy to start a world war and disgrace Ross, which results in more global mayhem and another showdown at the White House.
It's a moderately entertaining action film, but it never seems to gel. Apart from Sam Wilson, none of the main characters are particularly likable, although supporting actors Xosha Roquemore and William Mark McCullough get high marks for coming across as genuine and real. The action scenes and visual effects are competent and attractive, but the fight scenes lack energy and feel sub-par for a Marvel production. There's also a lot of Marvel continuity in the film that I wasn't familiar with, especially regarding "The Incredible Hulk", "The Falcon And The Winter Soldier", and "The Eternals", so I often felt lost in the narrative.
That said, Anthony Mackie continues to be delightfully charismatic and carries the film single-handedly. Harrison Ford (and his increasingly unsettling ears) gives a tired and uninspired performance, but does have a couple of hard-hitting scenes that stand out. A cocky Danny Ramirez fills the "annoying adolescent" role, while Shira Haas's bad-ass security adviser character is undermined by regrettably bad makeup and unconvincing physicality. In the end, Captain America saves the world from war and a repentant Ross finally finds redemption. If only Captain America could save us in the real world from the aggressive coup being carried out by Donald Trump, JD Vance, and shadow President Elon Musk. But there's no happy ending to that story.