It is no secret that after “Avengers: Endgame”, Marvel has fallen into a bit of a lull regarding their movies.
Only a few projects can compare to the movies of Phase 1 and 2 of the franchise. With a star studded cast of Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford headlining, “Captain America: Brave New World” was destined for being part of that small group.
Unfortunately, it seems “Captain America: Brave New World” falls in the same trend as the majority. While it is an enjoyable watch, I just don’t find much substance in it. Brave New World does find itself forced into some elite company with the prior three Captain America movies, but sadly does not reach the high bar set by the trilogy making it the worst Captain America movie by far.
With Steve Rogers now gone from the Captain America mantle, leaving it to Sam Wilson had me excited. Although, I would’ve loved to see at least one movie with the former Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, wielding the famed shield.
Where the plot in this film fails is it does not seem like a Captain America story in the slightest. It honestly feels like a Hulk movie, but instead the protagonist is now Captain America. There are plenty of references to the Hulk movie that was released in 2008, which is fine considering how connected the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is. However, I was in the audience expecting to see Sam Wilson step into a new chapter as Captain America as a new superhero, not tying up loose ends from other movies.
I might be one of the few people to say this — but here it goes.
I do not care at all about Betty Ross, especially in a Captain America movie. While I understand the emotional attachment that her father, Thaddeus Ross, had to her, it had just been so long since having her included in any plot that I just did not care.
It fell flat because it didn’t give me anything at all to care about. With past movies in the trilogy, there were more stakes and relationship building with characters we liked. Sadly, there was not much of this in this movie at all.
Having the two main antagonists in the movie being the Leader and Red Hulk (Thaddeus Ross) is just screaming that this is a Hulk movie with Captain America as a hero. Both of these antagonists are traditionally Hulk villains and, quite frankly, neither were interesting enough as a main antagonist. While it was interesting having a villain being able to pull strings from the shadows, it seems awfully familiar to Zemo from “Captain America: Civil War”.
The reason why you choose Captain America, as the hero, is to solve problems from a Hulk movie that can now legally drive by itself, is crazy. The amount of references to the Hulk movie that dated is what lessened my appeal to this movie.
The MCU, as a whole, has always been very intertwined. Although, now there is more to watch than just the movies to be truly in the know.
It’s like homework when I have to watch a Disney Plus series and another movie to understand all the references. I now understand how Steve Rogers felt when he was just blasted with a bunch of pop culture references he did not understand when waking up in the future.
With a lot of parallels to “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and it seems they were trying to replicate that formula with Brave New World, but the execution wasn’t there.
While it took awhile for the MCU to really recognize it in another project, they finally did talk about the Celestial emerging during “Eternals”. It was a perfect plot device since this is how they introduce adamantium into the universe — which is another metal that has ties to the X-Men, who have not been introduced to the MCU yet.
They also make it abundantly clear throughout the story that Sam Wilson is not Steve Rogers.I like the direction they take his character as undergoes a new chapter as Captain America. It also shows that Captain America does not need to take the super soldier serum. During his cameo, Bucky Barnes helps Sam Wilson realize his strength comes from his humanity.
A plot point that peaked my interest was Sam Wilson being the one to assemble a new Avengers team.
The first member I would want on the squad is the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres.
His character and actor seemed to have great chemistry with almost every interaction on the screen and was a bright spot in the film.
Joaquin Torres and Isiah Bradley, are a perfect example, an unexpected heartwarming duo with dialogue interactions that consistently brought comedic relief. I would’ve loved to see the two share the screen more but it was sadly clear that Isiah Bradley was secondary in the film’s main plot.
It would’ve been great to expand on his story, especially in a Captain America movie rather than just a Disney Plus series. I would have loved to see a training montage of Isiah Bradley guiding Sam Wilson as the new Captain America, instead of the two playing capture the flag.
Isiah Bradley’s past, as someone who also held the mantle of Captain America, is a storyline I would have loved to go more in depth. It was truly a missed opportunity to have a former Captain America to help the new one step into his own. I guess I’ll have to add it to the long wish list of what this movie could have been.
The fight scenes were well-executed, displaying great choreography and cinematography. With the combination of Captain America’s shield and Sam Wilson’s new vibranium wings all wrapped-up in a single package, Marvel’s ability to innovate was revealed in these fights.
The hand-to-hand combat, which I love about Captain America movies, were still found but not as much as I would be used to with Steve Rogers. They make creative use out of the new gadgets, making up for Sam Wilson not possessing the gifts of the serum.
The fight scene over the ocean by Celestial Island, where the Falcon and Captain America work together to stop missiles from reaching the ships was very fast paced and full of creativity as well. The duo’s aerial dogfight going against a small air fleet had all eyes glued to the screen. Seeing Sam Wilson fly through the air, having his shield fly behind him to block gunfire from the pursuing aircrafts, is something I never imagined with Steve Rogers.
However, it will never compare to the highway fight with Bucky and Steve Rogers in the second installment of the trilogy.
While this movie by no means is either terrible or great, it does seem to get the wheels rolling on a few things in the MCU. Marvel definitely had a wrench thrown into their future plans with a series of truly unfortunate events, with the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman to the conviction of Johnathan Majors — who was supposed to reprise his role as Kang the Conqueror.
Even though “Captain America: Brave New World” was a let down, it puts the MCU on a more established path rather than the vast unknown of before. These future plans have me excited for the next one.
With Sam Wilson gathering a new team will be very interesting, considering who is left in the MCU or other characters they can introduce. I’d be a strong advocate for Shang Chi, one of the newer members introduced to the MCU, using his combat skills as part of the Avengers.
Now that adamantium is also in the world, it opens the door to endless opportunities including Wolverine, a mutant with adamantium bones. The post-credit scene, while it doesn’t add any new information, adds on to the inevitable conflict that will come with different universes on the way.
The focus of the story establishes a step towards expanded world building in the MCU by teasing future movies, instead of establishing a new era for Captain America.
Overall, I would compare this movie to the Seattle Mariners as a whole, you really want to love it but at the end it’s just a whole lot of mid.
