Marvel’s previous two Captain America films are known to be part superhero, part political thriller. Last weekend’s new entry, Captain America: Brave New World, is no different. But with a new Cap in Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), this new phase of red, white, and blue felt tonally distinct.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) saw the original hero, Steve Rogers, facing corruption internationally within Hydra and domestically within the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Sam Wilson’s new version finds political corruption in very different quarters—the White House. Now that the president is playing a major role in Marvel films for the first time, this movie felt more like White House Down than Mission Impossible.

In Brave New World, President Thunderbolt Ross (Harrison Ford) hires Captain America and the new Falcon (Danny Ramirez) to intercept an illegal sale of adamantium harvested from the giant Celestial, Tiamut, last seen petrified in the ocean from Eternals (2021). If those obscure MCU Easter eggs didn’t break your brain enough, the plot also depends on The Incredible Hulk (2008).

But since fans saw the trailer featuring Harrison Ford turn into Red Hulk, the real question on everyone’s mind is, “Will it be any good?” I didn’t walk into the film with high expectations. Sadly, it met those expectations by being entirely mediocre.

Brave New World is predictably plot-driven with little to no character development whatsoever. Ford’s president had the most backstory and “growth” (if we can call it that) of the whole cast, and even that was as shallow as the CGI budget. At multiple points, I got lost and had to lean over and ask my husband if he knew what was going on. That wasn’t because the plot was complicated, but because the film often provides vague dialogue and dropped story threads. In fact, entire characters got dropped long before the climax.

I often walk out of these kinds of films wondering if the screenwriters and directors have ever heard of a three-act story structure or a functional character arc.

(Mild spoilers ahead.) Even without quality storytelling, this film still manages to stand against the unbiblical idea that “the ends justify the means”—that is, consequentialism. Although we see corruption in the Oval Office, President Ross is not the story’s evil villain. Instead he comes to regret partnering with evil for the sake of political power. The wicked means he sowed to gain the presidency eventually blossomed into an angry beast not even he can control. In the end, Ross stands as a cautionary tale against aligning oneself with the wrong allies.

Captain America: Brave New World is definitely a rental at best, although lively action sequences and continuation of the 2008 Hulk film will interest die-hard MCU fans. One especially fun cameo also appeared near the movie’s end. Newer fans may still appreciate in Brave New World, which slowly reveals more about the potential future return of The Avengers.