‘Captain America: Brave New World’ REVIEW: A rough landing with the same old formula
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ REVIEW: A rough landing with the same old formula
Official poster of Captain America: Brave New World | Walt Disney Studios
Following the events of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) fully embraces his role as Captain America. However, after meeting with the newly elected U.S. President, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford), he becomes embroiled in an international incident and must uncover the mystery behind a global plot before the world is consumed by chaos.
As Marvel Studios revs its engine on the road to multiversal wars and doomsday scenarios, Captain America: Brave New World suffers from the same old formula and a rough landing that fails to push the franchise starring the star-spangled hero forward.
Joaquin Torres / Falcon (Danny Ramirez) and Sam Wilson / Captain America (Anthony Mackie) | Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios
We were promised this film after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier placed the spotlight on the hero formerly known as Falcon, establishing him as the world’s new Captain America. Sam Wilson sets himself apart from super soldiers like Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), by taking up the shield without the super serum. This dilemma becomes a defining trait, ultimately driving the idea that anyone can be an every-man and still be a hero.
This could have been the film’s focus. Instead, it tries to juggle Celestial Island from Eternals and the introduction of adamantium as the subject of international conflict. The movie wants to mean something even though the story fits as a six-episode Disney+ miniseries. Without any sort of clear direction — something that has been apparent since the MCU’s Phase Four era — it feels as if this fourth Captain America entry struggles to have a meaning to exist other than to set up forthcoming plot elements, bring back old characters from the MCU’s past, and try to be a worthy cinematic addition to Phase Five.
Japanese Prime Minister Ozaki (Takehiro Hira), Sam Wilson, and President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) | Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios
On the bright side, we see more of President Ross’ story fleshed out after appearing in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow, played by the late William Hurt. Although the character’s motivations and reason for taking the gamma radiation allow us to care a bit more, it falls flat by just being a bit of an Air Force rehash with gamma radiation on the side. Ford did what he could with the script he was given. He feels like a fish out of water in his first outing as Ross in the MCU. But if we do see him in future MCU projects, then we hope they are much better performances. Red Hulk’s appearance doesn’t feel like a one-off, but given that Ford isn’t a fan of seeking out franchise roles, unless the money talks, it’s still up in the air.
The movie also features Samuel Sterns, a.k.a. The Leader, played by the returning The Incredible Hulk star Tim Blake Nelson. The ending of The Incredible Hulk teased Sterns’ transformation into the aforementioned villain after being exposed to gamma radiation. 17 years later, we finally get the character’s return to the MCU, which points to Captain America: Brave New World actually being a secret sequel to The Incredible Hulk. The Leader could’ve been a much bigger player in this universe, given his controlling abilities, but he is depicted as more of a pawn rather than an antagonist we can be eager to see more of in the future.
Captain America spreads his wings | Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios
Not to mention the third-act boss fight is nothing short of lackluster and more of the same old rushed CGI and VFX work. It’s as if they knew they couldn’t fix it in post-production and just rolled with the final product. There are a handful of glaring scenes that take the viewer out. Seriously, it’s as if they didn’t even try to make the action sequences and simple conversations look worthy of the big screen.
On the other hand, some of the dialogue is too on-the-nose and written during crunch time. We’re not expecting an Oscar-winning screenplay here, but almost everyone in the crew knew a fourth Captain America film starring Mackie wasn’t gonna fly high as Kevin Feige would’ve hoped. Again, it’s not Mackie’s fault — he was put into a situation where he had to carry a movie with a screenplay that could’ve had more time in the oven to fully cook.
Marvel goes back to its old ways of greenlighting a project without having a solid script in place. Mackie deserves another go around as Captain America and we are bound to see him in the next Avengers sequels.
Red Hulk emerges | Photo courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios
There’s also a particular cameo from an MCU character that we only see for a couple of seconds. While it fits another character’s purpose, it feels like a mere attempt to add some emotional weight to an already lackluster movie. Calling it a missed opportunity is an understatement. Given the movie’s reshoots and story changes, we were likely robbed of something better than what we got.
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is now showing in Philippine cinemas.
