The Captain America we know might be gone, but there’s a new kid on the block. Having been promoted in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) must step up when he finds himself caught in the middle of an international incident involving president Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford).
Outside of the Avengers films, the Captain America trilogy has been the largest and most exciting subseries within the MCU, with Civil War being a pseudo-Avengers film. Now with the absence of Steve Rogers it was clear this would be a different type of Cap film, and while I went into it with that knowledge, it still falls short of expectations. To be clear and upfront, I wouldn’t rush to calling this a bad film, but it is yet another swing and miss in a dwindling MCU. Brave New World is ironically not all too brave and not all too new. It goes for the same political thriller vibe of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, even incorporating plot points that are way too similar, only it forgets to bring across the same level of heart and emotional impact. The recycled plot beats aren’t the only story issue – it feels like a hodgepodge of ideas, where half of the time is spent retroactively setting up characters and plot points for this story, while the other half is spent hastily teasing future MCU properties. Within all of that, there’s an assortment of subplots and side characters popping in and out. Because it moves so fast and tries to do so much, you don’t get to spend enough time with certain characters to be invested in their arcs.
There are characters I won’t talk about because they’re largely or entirely left out of the marketing, so I’ll highlight those I can. Thaddeus Ross’ return and time in the spotlight is one of the film’s strengths. He’s still a great character who you love to love and love to hate. He has a strong, lengthy arc that deals with some interesting concepts now that he’s the president and all that. Unfortunately his Red Hulk counterpart is rarely featured despite being front and centre in much of the marketing. He’s not the only character with a rushed role – Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) feels like an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. For a character with a menacing demeanour and talented actor behind the role, he’s wasted. Then there’s Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), whose role is awkward and honestly not important to any singular part of the narrative. The role I won’t speak of is actually a lot more intriguing and well fleshed-out, to the point where eliminating these other floating pieces would have streamlined the story and allowed that character to thrive with even more screentime.
Despite the messy, unfocused narrative, Captain America’s arc stuck the landing. Continuing with Sam Wilson’s adjustment to life as Cap, there’s a few good moments of heart, plenty of drama and very strong character moments that depict him as worthy of the moniker. He has a good connection with both Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) and Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), leading to some of the film’s most entertaining character-centric scenes. Much of what’s going on around Sam might be a chaotic mess but I’ve really enjoyed how they’ve handled his transition into Cap so far, and I’m looking forward to his future in the MCU.
As I mentioned earlier, there’s shades of that Winter Soldier political thriller vibe, but it feels too familiar and is lacking the same tension. That leaves the action to deliver, and I hate to say it but it’s only good… not great. The large scale CGI sequences, especially those which open and close out the film are the highlights. Yes, they’re almost entirely CGI and it’s very obvious at points, but they’re exciting nonetheless. Seeing Sam utilise a combination of his Falcon and Captain America abilities through fast-paced aerial combat is a blast. The confusing thing is that the hand-to-hand combat is severely lacking. The reason for the confusion is that the combat in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier is awesome, realistic and gritty, so you’d expect more of the same from the same character. Sam’s hand-to-hand combat failed to pack a punch – his hits felt weak and the intensity just wasn’t there. It has nothing to do with him not being a Super Soldier like Rogers, because the TV series action hit the mark. I don’t know where it went wrong, but it’s disappointing.
Closing out with the performances, the two standouts are Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford. Not only do they have the most screen time, but their respective arcs demand the most from them in terms of ramping up the film’s emotional touches. With every MCU entry, Mackie has improved his leading presence and can now confidently lead a massive property like this and entertain audiences. Ford is a seasoned vet, his presence is enough to elevate almost any property and he steps effortlessly into the role. Taking over from the late William Hurt, Ford brings a new flavour to the character, while honouring the performance that made him the character he is now. This version of Ross feels a tad more vulnerable than what we’ve seen in the past, and that plays into Ford’s strengths as an actor – playing a hard-ass who also has a bit of a soft side.
All that being said, I need to give this film credit where credit is due. One issue plaguing the MCU is the lack of interconnectivity. While that connectivity isn’t quite seamless in here, there are multiple attempts to connect to other films and acknowledge those events, which I admire. Specifically, this film connects to two MCU films that are largely forgotten and not talked about, so I do really respect that.
In the end, Captain America: Brave New World does nothing to spark new excitement in the MCU’s future beyond teasing what we already know to come. Captain America’s arc and Thaddeus Ross’ arc live up to expectations, but the narrative itself lacks impact. There’s some fun to be had in the large scale action sequences, including a thrilling climax, but I wish that translated to all the grounded combat too. The general vibe upon leaving the theatre is a feeling of being lightly entertained, while also quite flat. It’s the type of experience that you’ll forget about in a week… so do with that info what you will.
5.7/10
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