The wait has been worth it. The shield is in safe hands and so is the world revolving around the new Captain America. These are the feelings after watching the 35th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, inspired by the eponymous comic book hero born in 1941, whose face is no longer that of Chris Evans but, from 2019 onward, by Anthony Mackie. A cinematic work as much awaited as it is curious and for a number of reasons that, since the first announcement, had not left fans indifferent, especially the most ardent ones; apart from the classic controversies that accompanied the release and that, intelligently, were immediately dampened by both the lead actor and also the director.
Written by several hands, including those of Julius Onah himself, the film is not merely a pinwheel of video game special effects placed in the foreground to the point of overshadowing the plot; on the contrary, they are congenial and integrative to the story itself, and from the very beginning one notices the solidity of the screenplay, with a pace and editing that is neither too slow nor too frenetic but with just the right balance to allow one to internalize all the passages of the film, never tiring the viewer and keeping him glued to the seat until the end.
If the first curiosity was to see Anthony Mackie, in the first real stand-alone movie date in the costume of the iconic character, on the other hand, to keep the hype very high was the presence of the living legend Harrison Ford, who, as he has specified in recent weeks to the press, had a lot of fun playing not so much the role of General Thaddeus Ross, in the fourth episode become President of the United States of America, but his alter ego: Red Hulk.
And if the timeless ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Han Solo’ did not betray expectations, confirming in some scenes what he had previously stated, his personality is not, even this time, affected by the inexorable passing of time, threatening to overshadow anyone with him on stage.
Anthony Mackie, however, fortunately does not fall into the trap, managing to show a Sam Wilson, yes with the weight of the world on his shoulders, reflective and more human than his predecessor, Steve Rogers, i.e., less superhero image, who had the super soldier serum on his side, but still with the instincts and propensity of the values he represents and defends.
In ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ the protagonist himself, Sam Wilson, did not want to accept the idea that he was the heir or at any rate the new Captain America in this indirect sequel, since the title mentioned concerned a miniseries that came out now four long years ago, he has mere awareness of his role, still showing that slight insecurity in making some sometimes fundamental decisions, flaunting, thus, an even more human side.
That sort of antecedent for Sam Wilson did not convince much, it also left a bit bitter taste in the mouth because of the way the series itself was structured, not portending anything positive. Then again, that was the waning phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and all the energy or at any rate the ingenious gimmicks had seemed to run out after the advent of ‘Endgame.’
In fact, this fourth installment, despite some have even called it unnecessary, tends to be one of Marvel’s best sequels as we have not seen in a long time, although the publisher’s own sequels with ‘movie’ section, the ones that really convinced, were both Captain America, ‘The Winter Soldier’ and ‘Civil War,’ and the Avengers, issues 3 and 4: the others never lived up to the premise of the various inaugural chapters; perhaps the sequel to ‘Doctor Strange’ could also be pointed out, but otherwise it remains to be seen how the MCU project, now at the end of its fifth phase, will decide to continue in the coming months.
All that is missing is the next release of ‘Thunderbolts’ to complete it and follow it up, in the summer: precisely on July 23, in Italy, and July 25 in the United States of America, the sixth phase will start with the third debut of ‘The Fantastic 4,’ and we will see if these two latest upcoming cinematic works will be able to pull the Marvel Cinematic Universe out of oblivion. For now, Captain America has tentatively taken care of that, who will be busy recasting the Avengers in the next film; we shall see.
Article Captain America’s shield holds firm on legacy: Anthony Mackie convinces from TheNewyorker.
