Directed by Julius Onah | Written by Onah, Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Peter Glanz | 118 min | ▲▲
I’m starting to think that the number of screenwriters on a Marvel movie is inversely proportional to its quality — the more there are the worse it’s likely to be. But it’s clear a few things about this middling-to-poor entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe aren’t the fault of the people who made it.
They couldn’t have known that in the first month of the Trump regime an entire genre of espionage thrillers — with the possible exception of some of the broader, more comical James Bond 007 movies — would seem suddenly, hopelessly anachronistic. They couldn’t have known that a White House interested in employing a capable, qualified, and especially diverse staff would suddenly seem unlikely, if not entirely implausible. They couldn’t have known just how out of touch and ridiculous their movie would seem compared to what’s happening in the present day, what with the United States administration threatening the economies and sovereignty of its friends and allies.
But, I’m sorry, I also won’t give the filmmakers credit that a tale about a Commander In Chief turning into a Hulk is somehow an allegory for a rage-filled presence in the nation’s executive branch. No, I think in this case it’s meant to be more personal, how secrets and lies can build up in someone’s conscience until it causes damage to themselves and everyone around them, and how the responsibilities of power can be overwhelming. That’s well-considered, but too much of this movie isn’t.
The President here is General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, now played by the grizzled presence that is Harrison Ford, formerly essayed by William Hurt. He’s been an antagonist in these movies since The Incredible Hulk, a little-loved early entry in the MCU, and wouldn’t you know it another former baddie from that picture, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), aka The Leader, also returns. What he’s been up to for more than a decade is a big part of the plot here, though it should be said that baddies looking for revenge feel a bit played out as a character motivation in these movies — see also Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which otherwise is a better movie in every way to this one while also serving as a model for what they’re trying to do here.
You’ll note I have yet to mention Cap — that’s because he feels like a supporting cast member in his own movie. He’s now Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly The Falcon. Steve Rogers gave Sam his shield, and a little like Ross, heavy is the head that wears the crown… or carries the shield… as the case may be.
Since the Disney + Marvel series Captain America and The Falcon Sam’s been struggling with imposter syndrome, which is easy to understand given the legend whose boots he’s filling, but the end of that series suggested he’d come to terms with it. Not according to this movie — he’s still plenty insecure. This is representative of one of the main problems with the current state of the MCU — the guiding hand of Marvel grande fromage Kevin Feige seems a lot less present than it was, or creative teams on different shows and movies aren’t talking to each other. Consider that the Wanda Maximoff at the end of WandaVision was very different from the one who appeared next in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Sam’s taken on a sidekick who wants to be the new Falcon, a wiseacre soldier named Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), and Sam is also keen on helping out a former supersoldier, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). These three guys have a lot of chemistry and more time spent with them together would’ve been welcome, but all of that is spoiled when Bradley tries to kill the President. He’s been mind controlled, but not in the cool way that the Soviets did it with the non-sequitur code they used with the Winter Soldier, instead it has something to do with gamma radiation and flashing lights. Sam has to prove Isaiah’s innocence and find out who did this to him while at odds with his president’s geopolitical plans for a MacGuffin that will be familiar to Marvel fans. This while Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito, mostly wasted) of the Serpent Society, a rogue military squad, has his own plans for that thing.
Longtime Marvelites will find things to appreciate here, like the connection with Hulk, a loose thread from The Eternals that I know folks have been wondering about, the suggestions of what that MacGuffin means for the future of the MCU, and a brief cameo from another character — though I don’t find his career changes make a lot of sense.
The bread and butter of this franchise — characters jumping, punching, and flying — is kind of blah. Many of the action sequences look dark, while some aren’t well choreographed or edited. The thing Marvel has done so well to bring excitement to previous movies it seems to have forgotten how to do.
Finally, a movie that through two acts trades in espionage, politics, thriller and war-movie tropes, eventually reveals a Red Hulk in the homestretch. Tonally, it feels like a really weird and silly shift, and difficult to take seriously in this kind of MCU picture. The practical reasons behind the emergence of this character don’t really work, either. It’s all kind of goofy, and that, dear reader, is something this picture’s director, many writers, and producers could have avoided.
