Movie Review: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’

Director: Julius Onah

Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson

Plot: Sam Wilson has adopted the title of Captain America, complete with a new Falcon at his side. When an assassination attempt is carried out on Thaddeus Ross, now the President, Captain America is drawn into a political conspiracy to pit the USA and Japan against each other.

Review: The Marvel Cinematic Universe, only recently seen as the biggest game in town, is losing the trust of the audience at large. After the monumental success of Avengers: Endgame the challenge became finding a new direction that could sustain peoples interest. Mistakes have been, including releasing a massive amount of new material that only the die-hard fans could keep up with. Some reasonably well executed and interesting characters, such as Ms Marvel and Moon Knight, got lost in the mix while some of the biggest projects turned into thier biggest failures, with The Eternals and The Marvels becoming the final straw for many. Although Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy provided crowd pleasers and Shang-Chi was a new favourite, it has almost become impossible for Marvel and Disney to stop the entire franchise slipping into a bottomless pit of losses. The loss of their new big bad Kang certainly didn’t help.

With producer Kevin Feige announcing the intention to change tack, all eyes are on the screen to see if things could be salvaged. In the midst of that, the stage is taken by a new Captain America, a new Hulk and a new director. Weirdly enough, they also draw upon some of the most forgotten parts of the early MCU to function in key roles. We pick up where we last saw Sam Wilson (Mackie, still charming in the role), he has accepted the shield and altered his Falcon costume to reflect the Captain America title. He lacks the super-soldier serum Steve Rogers and others used to give them enhanced strength, instead using Wakandan technology to supplement his gear and training with the original super-soldier Isiah Bradley (Lumbly). Alongside Cap is Joaquin Torres, his tech support in training to become the next Falcon and provide quips. Although Wilson works with the US government to complete military operations, he acts as his own agent.

Following one such operation, Sam is invited to the White House along with Joaquin and Isiah to attend a summit hosted by President Ross (Ford). The summit concerns ‘Celestial Island’, the result of the stonified Celestial left sticking out of the ocean by the Eternals, within which deposits of a new and highly valuable resource have been discovered. An organised assassination attempt on Ross compels Captain America to investigate, wherein he finds an enemies from the past resurfacing. He’ll team up with former Black Widow Ruth Bat-Seraph (Haas) and tackle the calculating leader of the Serpent Society, Seth Voelker (Esposito) before uncovering the real mastermind pulling the strings of an international conflict.

We were looking for something closer in spirit to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in terms of blending espionage with superhero antics, and while the basic framework is here is doesn’t come together quite as neatly. Having a Captain America without the super abilities gives us plenty to work with, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that Sam’s a bit of dunderhead for not taking a gun on missions. He wielded duel automatic weapons while he was the Falcon, and Steve Rogers had no problem packing heat while in costume – it feels like he’s trying to make things harder on himself to prove a point. We honestly don’t think it would take away from the character…after all, what’s more American than guns? This goes a step further during an infiltration mission where he doesn’t even bring his suit and wings. It was more fun when we got creative use of his equipment, such as the Red Wing drone circling him with the shield mid-flight.

Giancarlo Esposito is also a bit of a sticking point in the plot. It’s well known that Voelker was added during a period of reshoots, and it’s very noticeable that he only appears in scenes with Anthony Mackie. The role of Bat-Seraph also feels like chunks have been carved out of it, with her seemingly being benched in the third act when her cool fight skills could have come in handy. For those not in the know, this character is derived from the mutant Seraph in the comics and we kept waiting for this reveal. Unfortunately, it never came and we’re left watching this franchise very slowly edge its way towards the introduction of the X-Men without making any commitment.

On that note, and with mild spoilers, the magical resource within the Celestial is identified as adamantium very early on the film, a clear link to mutant characters such as Wolverine. Control of this element is at the centre of the global conflict, yet we don’t learn what this material will do in the context of this film. One simple scene showing an adamantium blade being used to cut through vibranium with ease, or exploding a helicarrier, or something would go a long way to up the stakes and make it feel less like a disagreement between Captain American and President Harrison Ford. Hell, make the demonstration involve some scientist wearing claws, people would love that.

So there are missteps, but on the whole it’s a fun action movie with a dash of political intrigue. Harrison Ford is always fun to have around, and the idea of the president being compromised and turned into a Hulk is a lot of fun. Seeing his demolishing the White House makes for a grand spectacle, but the can of worms you open with the US president is an actual monster is something that does not get explored in enough detail. Perhaps its a bit close to home for the production, but between this and Alex Garland’s Civil War last year, it feels as though the entertainment industry is unwilling to take real shots at the issues shaping our world.

This isn’t the saving grace the MCU needs, but it’s not adding weight to the sinking ship like some projects. It’s closer to the MCU at its best than it is to Secret Invasion, the absolute nadir of the experience thus far. We’ve got a charismatic cast of characters, but none of them have enough of a unique selling point for use to be demanding their return. If you’re still on board the good ship MCU then this will keep you entertained. If you’re already abandoning ship, this may not change your mind.

One extra note, the classic end credits stinger was such a great opportunity to light a fire under audiences and get them excited for the future. What it amounts to is one person telling Sam that there’s a multiverse. Yeah, tell us something we don’t know.

Rating: SEVEN out of TEN