Look, I want to root for Sam Wilson. Anthony Mackie deserves his moment. But the critics and audiences are in rare agreement here: this one just doesn't work.

With a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.6 on IMDb, we're looking at a bottom-tier MCU entry that even generous fans are calling 'fine, I guess.' The political thriller angle sounds promising on paper—Winter Soldier proved it can work—but the execution seems muddled and uninspired.

For families, it's safe enough (typical Marvel punching, no gore), but at 12+ it's asking younger viewers to care about international incidents and presidential conspiracies when the movie itself apparently can't make that interesting. The 75% audience score on RT suggests general audiences are being kinder than critics, but that 2.4/5 on Letterboxd (where superhero fans live) is brutal.

If your kid is an MCU completist, sure, they'll want to see it on Disney+. But this isn't appointment viewing, and you won't be missing cultural touchstones if you skip it. There are better Marvel movies to rewatch, and better new movies to discover.