Captain America: Brave New World is moving the MCU’s Phase Five forward while serving as the first solo big-screen adventure for Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) since accepting the shield and mantle of Captain America following the events of Avengers: Endgame and the Disney+ series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Despite some interesting world-building and solid performances from the cast, the erratic tonal shifts and meandering storytelling hamper the overall attempt to right the Phase Five ship.
First off, Captain America: Brave New World is not in the business of MCU “hand-holding” – quite the opposite. The film is essentially used as catch-all of dangling plot threads from a few primarily side-lined installments, namely the Ed Norton starring The Incredible Hulk and the super-powered gods of The Eternals. A bold choice that will likely excite MCU obsessives and render much of the film incomprehensible to the casual viewer. Audiences are given laughably little to go on about things like the massive celestial body in the Indian Ocean from The Eternals or Tim Blake Nelson’s return as Samuel Sterns from The Incredible Hulk. But it’s Marvel, so just go with it, right?
To make matters more confusing, Harrison Ford replaces the late William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, a character he had portrayed throughout the MCU since his debut in The Incredible Hulk. The good news is the Ford is terrific in the role, bringing his own multi-faceted take on Ross that’s vulnerable, guilt-ridden, and most importantly: still very angry. Fans finally get to see Ross transform into the pissed off, Red Hulk behemoth in the climax of the film within a enjoyably destructive sequence in Washington, DC. Ford’s motion capture expressions are wildly entertaining as he smashes through the White House and smacks around Sam’s Captain America, whom has no super-soldier serum or powers of any kind beyond his Wakandan upgraded flight suit.
The story seems more focused in the early, grounded stages when Sam is dealing with a presidential assassination attempt involving Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a character introduced in the Falcon Disney+ series as the “forgotten” Captain America. Some strong emotional moments between Sam and Isaiah anchor much of the early proceedings, launching a mystery, political thriller plot with vibes similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Isaiah’s introduction also injects some early humor and comradery with Sam and the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), a first lieutenant in U.S. Air Force that Sam mentors on assignments. Also, it’s clear during these moments that Mackie deserves this role and the spotlight it brings in this film/franchise as he elevates the chemistry of the cast in every scene.
But as the film expands, it starts to dabble in many different genre directions. Segments like the Captain America: The Winter Soldier inspired portions involving new villain Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) become interspersed with horror film style scenes as Samuel Sterns starts to play a factor in the plot, and much of the visuals and tone of the final Red Hulk sequence are like something pulled for an animated series. It all feels like three separate movies that don’t work in tandem or come together with any kind of cohesion.
Captain America: Brave New World isn’t one of the worst installments of the MCU, but unfortunately it’s not one of the best either – it’s not even one of the best Captain America films. Thankfully, Mackie is not to blame and we know he is deservedly going to be entrenched as Captain America for the upcoming Avengers projects. Still, it leaves his first solo outing in the forgettable middle tier of MCU project rankings.
Score: 3 out of 5
2 Comments
Why did you give it a fresh on RT?
As I stated in my review, it’s a middle of the road MCU film. That doesn’t warrant a rotten score in my book.