“Captain America: Brave New World” throws us back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) continues to adjust to his role as the new Captain America. With shield in hand, new gear from some Wakandan allies, and a familiarly winged sidekick, Sam has to deal with newly-elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) and his questionable decisions, both current and past.
The movie opens mid operation, like other Captain America Movies, as Sam barges in on a sale between a mysterious entity and the bad guy group called Serpent, led by Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). Sidewinder manages to escape, but not before the mysterious canister he was there to sell is retrieved with some help from Sam’s sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), sporting some familiar Falcon gear. Joaquin requests more Falcon training, so Sam introduces him to his trainer, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a familiar face from “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.”
Due to the recent successful mission, Sam and Joaquin are invited to a gathering at the White House where President Thaddeus Ross reveals that the world has discovered Adamantium, a metal even more powerful than Vibranium. This was what was in the mysterious canister Sam and Joaquin retrieved. While continuing to discuss its future effects on the world, a song blares from the speakers and Isaiah steals a gun and attempts to kill Ross, along with a few other attendees. Isaiah eventually snaps out of the trance he was in and is apprehended, not having any memory of the incident.
Sam and Ross butt heads about his involvement in investigating, due to his closeness to Isaiah, and so they part ways. While Ross deals with the fallout from having an attack in the White House threatening his treaty over the Adamantium, Sam and Joaquin set off to find the mysterious buyer behind the foiled sale. This leads them to a secret prison where they encounter a familiar face from the 2008 movie “The Incredible Hulk”, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). Samuel Sterns escapes, revealing his ability to brainwash anyone into doing his bidding, as well as a past tied to Ross.
Sam and Joaquin set off to warn and confront Ross, who is dealing with the fallout of Sterns’ intricate plan of revenge to deface him, the result of which is manipulating him into possibly declaring war with Japan. After a stunning but hectic aerial battle, Sam and Joaquin stop two brainwashed fighter jet pilots from starting the war by attacking Japan’s ships. Joaquin is injured in the battle, requiring hospitalization. As Sam struggles with nearly losing another person close to him, Sterns turns himself in to Sam while trying to make him sympathize with him and revealing he is playing his final card against Ross.
Thaddeus Ross is addressing the recent events at a press conference, when suddenly Sterns’ voice cuts across the speakers. Ross struggles with his rage at hearing Stern and being overwhelmed by press and his staff trying to pull him away, causing him to finally fully hulk out, literally, as he fully transforms into Red Hulk. Sam arrives just in time to begin attempting to stop Red Hulk from hurting anyone.
After a major struggle, Sam eventually causes enough damage to get Red Hulk to actually listen to him for a moment and Sam is able to calm him enough to have him return to a normal Thaddeus Ross. After all is done, Isaiah is released, Joaquin is awake and recovering in the hospital, and Ross is imprisoned in the Raft, though his treaty is signed and named after him.
“Captain America: Brave New World” was ultimately just fine. Having a hero with wings lends itself to some very interesting fight choreography. They make full use of the range of combat that the wings can provide by taking to the skies in a tense dog fight between jets and our two winged heroes. But it wouldn’t be a Captain America movie without some shield based action and this movie certainly doesn’t disappoint on that front either, as Sam seems to have fully blended the shield into his fighting style. Even when left without the shield, as we see in an ambush fight with Sidewinder, Sam proves himself to be a skilled hero.
However, Sam continues to struggle with the opinion within himself. Mackie’s performance shines when we get some very personal struggles from Sam. His internal struggle from when we last saw him in “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” is still not resolved and everything that happens with him in this movie continues to dig away at his self doubts. It is one of the things that really grounds the film and reminds you that this is a movie about Sam Wilson.
However, that is the biggest issue with the film: it struggles to feel like only a Captain America movie rather than an ensemble.
Yes, Sam is always front and center as the hero who ultimately saves the day, but he’s ultimately forced to resolve issues left over from “The Incredible Hulk.” That spotlight on all the things piled up from that movie ends up with Ross overshadowing Sam in most of the movie. Not only is one of the “big” villains trying to specifically get revenge on Ross, but we also focus a lot on Ross’ struggle to be a better person for his own personal gain. The redemption of Ross falls flat in the end because of that selfishness.
It also feels like they pulled big names into the movie only for them to end up playing a blandly written character. Harrison Ford does a great job acting as you can really feel the tensions rising in his moments on screen struggling with his rage that will ultimately lead to his final transformation. Giancarlo Esposito is also wonderful in his role, it’s just that his role was almost pointless. Advertising really played up what his involvement would be, which is saying something since the advertising put a lot of focus on Red Hulk being the big bad of the movie.
Sidewinder got sidelined and is barely in this film other than to provide a very specific lead to Sterns. The fact that Esposito was added so late into the filming process is glaring.
Sterns is also barely a bad guy. He pulls off this big master plan that plays into the characters amazing intellect, only for him to essentially just give up, the culmination of which seems to be a lackluster post credits scene that gives off a tone of Marvel saying “Hey don’t forget, we are still doing multiverse stuff in the future!”
Ultimately, “Captain America: Brave New World” is just an okay movie: fun, enjoyable, but another filler entry to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe. It didn’t deliver on being ne or brave; they played it safe and stuck to the old formula. There was a lot of set up for what could have been an interesting dive into Sam Wilson’s struggle to be the Captain America, and what that means he thinks he needs to be, but it was unfortunately so overshadowed by everything else. This movie could have been a solid Disney+ series. I think it deserves 3 sad Red Hulks out of 7.
This, unfortunately, continues a pattern of lackluster MCU movies. It serves to fill in gaps left by other lackluster movies “Eternals” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Marvel needs to tighten up their storytelling and return to character-driven narratives rather than getting lost in the “big picture.” We’re placing our hopes for the return of good Marvel movies on “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
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