Review of 'Captain America: Brave New World'

Five months into his role as president the aging Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) sends Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), now “Captain America” and Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), now “Falcon” to stop the illegal sale of stollen classified items by Seth Voelker (Giancarlo Esposito) aka “Sidewinder” and his mercenary group Serpent. Though they recover the items, Sidewinder escapes and Wilson seeks help in training Torres as a superhero, engaging Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a super soldier who was imprisoned and experimented on by the US Government. In a world leader summit at the White House Ross reveals that the stolen classified items were made of a new metal “Adamantium” discovered on “Celestial Island” in the Indian Ocean. Ross wants a treaty to be signed by the nations to govern Adamantium's mining and distribution. His talk is interrupted when Bradley, a guest of Torres and Wilson, attacks the president while under mind control. Who is manipulating the events and what is their goal? As nations send their warships for control of Adamantium it is up to Wilson and Torres to find the villain and save the world, but there is a sting in the tail in the form of the “Red Hulk”…

Yes, it is a bit of a complicated plot and yes, it is a bit tedious. I found this quite a boring film with not a lot of emotion on the screen with very little of the passion that has been present in previous Marvel superhero outings. Don't get me wrong, Anthony Mackie does a good job as the new Captain America but he does not have the charisma, or, frankly, fun of Chris Evans. Even Danny Ramirez's amazement at becoming the Falcon and his enthusiasm comes across as forced. This is not charm, it is not even funny, it is cheesy. This is a film that seems to go by the numbers in terms of action and plot but fails to deliver on character. Even the older but amazing character actor Harrison Ford is unable to save this film, left playing a one dimensional dad whose only emotional attribute is his ever-present pouting over the estrangement of his daughter. She could have left to avoid boredom. Ford is seriously miscast with his days in action now behind him, but here he is forced to do exactly that. It simply does not work.

The action sequences and effects are reasonable but mostly pale in comparison to other Marvel films. When we get to see “Celestial Island” it frankly looks fake and unconvincing. Even the elaborate aerial battle sequences (it seems that Captain America and Falcon are really only good at this type of fighting…well, that and throwing the shield around in unconvincingly elaborate patterns to take down all baddies at a single throw) are just not that amazing.

It does look ok on the screen but it says something that it sank without a trace in the cinema then hit Disney+ a short time later. I really was prepared to like it but “Captain America: Brave New World” is a huge disappointment DESPITE the refreshing appearance of the “Red Hulk” towards the end as he is quickly calmed down not by a big fight sequence but by reflecting on a nice memory of cherry blossoms. No, really. Hulk has gone Zen.

Let us hope this is not the future of the Marvel superhero film franchise.

Rating: “Not great, but not the worse”

Review Date: 2025-06-07

Directed by: Julius Onah

Studio: Marvel Studios

Year: 2025

Length: 118 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14513804/