Any fans who go to comic book movies for escape from the real world and the comfort of familiar godlike characters achieving something resembling justice and just deserts for evil-doers is going to lament the experience that “Captain America: Brave New World” offers.

Set in a diminished-and-shrinking America, with a somewhat distracted hero facing a dangerous, unstable, ill-tempered president controlled by an evil entity, it’s a little too “real” to pass for “escape.”

And having the “president” devolve into a raging Red Hulk is entirely too on-the-nose.

A fine cast struggles with a patchwork script that never adds up to much more than a big bummer. Some aerial scenes impress, and “Captain” Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez (as Joaquin Torres, the next Falcon) handle the CGI-assisted fight choreography well enough.

Giancarlo Esposito makes what he can with an under-written, quick-to-“explain” heavy. Harrison Ford reaches for gravitas as a general turned president of a Thanos-depopulated Earth and America. And Tim Blake Nelson hopefully paid off his house playing Samuel Sterns, the uninteresting, shadowy supervillain in this outing.

This whole enterprise could be a real come-to-Jesus bummer moment for the heavily-invested Marvel faithful.

In this timeline, this thread of the post-Avengers universe, the depopulated, realigned world is struggling over a new “miracle” element found in the rocky remains of the dead “Celestial” Tiamut, jutting out of the Indian Ocean. Mining Adamantium will “save” the world, the future or what have you.

And the Japanese (Takehiro Hira plays the prime minister) and everybody else want their share, which President Ross (Ford) has negotiated with the cherry blossoms in full bloom.

But Ross still isn’t over the fact that Captain America is “no Steve Rogers.” Sam Wilson (Mackie) and he have things to work out.

When Sam’s old mentor and boxing coach, the former Super Soldier Isaah (Carl Lumbly) attempts to kill Ross, everything positive is off the table.

Sam, his flight-suited sidekick Joaquin and the president’s crack Israeli-born head of security (Shira Haas) have to sort out who is controlling whom and is who about to throw what’s left of the world into chaos.

The president? He’s got to break free of his puppetmaster and control his temper as he does.

There isn’t a laugh or light moment in this unwieldy beast of a movie. As a political allegory, it doesn’t play. As Marvel action pic, it’s sorely lacking. At least they spared no expense in the cherry blossoms dept.

Lectures about “If we can’t see the good in each other, we’ve already lost the fight” ring hollow. A divisive president who ran on the slogan “Together” hardly seems fictional.

And a Captain America reluctant to crush evil without first first chirping “This is the last time I’m going to ask you to stop it” seems as ineffectual and diminished as literally every thing else about this dull, dispiriting dog of a popcorn picture.

Rating: PG-13, violence, profanity

Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly and Takehiro Hira.

Credits: Directed by Julius Onah, scripted by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah and Peter Glanz, based on the Marvel comics. A Marvel Studios/Disney release.

Running time: 1:58