Rating: 3/10

However you may view the current presidential administration, I think everyone can agree the actions it has taken have been controversial to the general public. While there are many supporters of what President Donald Trump has done, I think there’s an equal or even greater amount of dislike as well.

Now, could the president theoretically do something that everyone disapproves of? Possibly, but it’s highly unlikely. Something of that scale would have to literally cause catastrophic damage to the American people. But anything is possible. 

Create a famine that kills over half of the population? Unleash martial law throughout the country? These certainly might cause universal hate for the president. 

But what about the president turning into the Red Hulk in the middle of a press conference? Is that something that would cause the American people to go into a state of shock and panic? These questions are apparently discussed in the new Marvel film “Captain America: Brave New World.”

Directed by Julius Onah, known for the indie film “Luce” and that one movie that premiered on Netflix the same day the trailer was released during the Super Bowl, “Captain America: Brave New World” tells the story of Sam Wilson as he continues his career as the new Captain America and a conspiracy that is set to take over the entire American government. 

After Wilson — played by Anthony Mackie — and Joaquin Torres — Danny Ramirez — retrieve a very important stolen item for the U.S. Government, they’re invited to the White House by President Ross — Harrison Ford — to celebrate their victory. 

Wilson invites Isaiah Bradley — Carl Lumbly — a former supersoldier and his trainer to the White House with him alongside Torres so they can all celebrate together. 

While at the White House in the middle of Ross’s speech, Bradley suddenly pulls out a gun and begins shooting at Ross and everyone in the room, escaping the White House before being detained by authorities. 

Wilson cannot believe that Bradley did this intentionally, which causes him to lead a private investigation into what actually happened to Bradley.

The acting in this film is actually pretty great. A cast made up of Mackie, Torres, Ford and Lumbly alongside Shira Haas, Giancarlo Esposito and Tim Blake Nelson rounds out some of the best acting in a Marvel film I’ve seen in the past couple of years. 

However, the ball of compliments stops rolling right about there. 

This might just be the worst story I’ve seen in a Marvel film before. Did a QAnon conspiracy theorist write this story? Not only was I incredibly bored and anticipated the rest of the plot within the first fifteen minutes, but it just didn’t make sense.

You’re telling me that the President of the United States was taking pills that were unknowingly turning him into the Red Hulk, and there was no one on his staff who thought to check his pills or diet? 

I just didn’t understand why anything was happening. It felt like there were three different movies happening at the same time, with no linear connection that allowed for the creation of a cohesive storyline. It’s like the writers went onto the dark web, looked up some conspiracy theories, and said, “Why the hell not?” It feels like a story someone in the mid-west known as the town crazy person has been warning folks about for years. 

I did enjoy some of the fight scenes. The first couple near the beginning of the film were pretty well done, but as the film progressed it seemed like they didn’t have enough money to fund the CGI and it just looked dry and lifeless. 

Actually, that word describes this movie best: lifeless. Directorial influence is absent from the visual image and there really isn’t anything motivating me to keep watching other than needing to write this review. 

If you want a good time at the movies, this gets my slight recommendation. It’s not good, but it isn’t quite unwatchable — it just exists.

But don’t be surprised when you see the president throwing chairs at the press. It’s the only thing from this film that could actually happen in real life. 

Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.