Captain America: Brave New World Review

Captain America enters a brave new world with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) taking on the mantle of the shield-wielding hero.

Sam Wilson operates as Captain America for the American government, partaking in clandestine missions. Sam stops a black market deal in Oaxaca, Mexico, which results in him saving an international treaty and the hero getting an invitation to the White House. However, there’s an assassination attempt by Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) on President Ross (Harrison Ford), forcing Sam to go rogue to his friend’s innocence, just as a shadowy figure tries to manipulate America and Japan into a war.

Since Avengers: Endgame the MCU’s fortunes have declined. There had been an increase in its output so Disney had ‘content’ for Disney+, but this increase in quantity resulted in declining quality. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion were met with negative reviews and The Marvels flopped at the box office. Marvel’s bad fortunes were exasperated by Jonathan Majors’ conviction for domestic violence, and forcing the MCU to change their plans with Kang the Conqueror. In desperation, Marvel has rehired the Russo Brothers and Robert Downey Jr. for Avengers: Doomsday.

Captain America: Brave New World also had production issues. It had been reported that the film was received poorly by test critics, underwent extensive reshoots, and even faced controversy for casting an Israeli actress. The choice of director didn’t inspire much confidence, since Julius Onah is best known for making The Cloverfield Paradox. Even Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals attracted critically acclaimed directors. Captain America: Brave New World has received a mixed critical reception, but I’m more likely to watch it again before Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Captain America: Brave New World aimed to be a more strait-laced offering from the MCU. The humour was toned down and the action and setting were scaled back. Most of the film took place in and around Washington D.C. Marvel was trying to recapture the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier which aimed to be a superhero version of a spy-thriller. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was about Steve Rogers and his allies who uncovered a HYDRA that had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. The Winter Soldier was the Marvel equivalent to a James Bond or Jason Bourne film, whilst Captain America: Brave New World was more like a Tom Clancy novel.

Captain America: Brave New World showed the impact of previous events in the MCU on the world stage. This film mixed international relations, politics, military affairs, and espionage, which happens in many of Clancy’s books. Captain America: Brave New World even used two ideas from Clancy’s bibliography, The Sum of All Fears where terrorists try to manipulate America and the Soviet Union into war, and Debt of Honor where America and Japan went to war with each other. Although the story of evil forces trying to manipulate rival nations into war is nothing new since it was done in You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, Tomorrow Never Dies, and X-Men: First Class.

Although Brave New World was a Captain America film, it owed more to The Incredible Hulk. This film was following up on plot points that were left lingering from the second MCU film. The villains, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) have normally been associated with The Hulk, and certain plot developments would have fitted more in a Hulk movie. Brave New World was trying to mash up a Captain America thriller with a Hulk villain plot. Many people would like Marvel to make a standalone Hulk film, but this is unlikely to happen due to complex rights issues.

Brave New World also follows up a plot development from Eternals, one of the most maligned entries in the MCU. This was setting up something that will play an important role in future MCU films.

The villains were the most interesting aspect of the film. They were the most well-written since they had a disturbing dynamic. Ross did horrific things in actions in his pursuit of power, but he was haunted by his estrangement from his daughter and he was trying to do what he thought was the right thing for his nation and the world. It was humorous that Ford played the President of the United States for a second time. However, some of his character development would have been more impactful if this film featured the Hulk since it was based on his hatred of the green anger monster. The Leader’s motivations were understandable which made him more sympathetic. He finally got a payoff after being introduced in The Incredible Hulk.

The rest of the cast was lumbered with exposition-heavy dialogue. The actors were doing their best, but there was so much they could do with reciting information and the plot. The first half of the film featured a lot of scenes of people talking in rooms. There were still some decent relationships, such as between Sam and Isaiah due to their previous encounter in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Giancarlo Esposito oozes charisma no matter what he does.

Captain America: Brave New World had a budget of $180 million. That would be a lot of money for most films, but modest for an MCU film considering many of their films have cost more than $200 million. The film was a follow-up to the Disney+ series Falcon and the Winter Soldier. These factors meant the action in the film’s first half felt more fitting for a TV series. Most of the action was smaller since it occurred in buildings and corridors. The scale only increased during the second half where there were aerial battles, giant monsters, and a lot of CGI effects. The action was perfectly fine, and the special effects were better than some recent MCU projects, i.e. Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Captain America: Brave New World was a perfectly functional but unremarkable offering from the MCU. There was some entertainment value, but it will likely become a forgotten film in the series.