Captain America: Brave New World

Review by Mark Woodring

Reshoots, delays, and generally bad news about this one across the internet (and let’s not even mention Marvel’s recent cinematic lack-of-success rate) has made many folks a bit apprehensive about this movie.

But now it’s out, so let’s talk about it.

**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below, then listen as he and Ryan discuss the movie further. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**

Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel) - Review
Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel)

118 Minutes, Rated PG-13

Written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, Peter Glanz

Directed by Julius Onah

Synopsis:

Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.

 

First, I’m only going to say this once: there is nothing wrong with Sam Wilson being Captain America. It’s a natural extension of the character of Cap (as opposed to other so-called “mantles”), and Anthony Mackie is a fine actor, ready to embody the character.

I know the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier put some folks off, but I enjoyed it well enough, but acknowledge that both studio interference and the recent unpleasantness (COVID-19) played a big role in that series not being as good as it might have been.

In Brave New World, though, we open not with Sam, but with General Thaddeus Ross at his election victory party, having won the Presidency. This gives us our first look at Harrison Ford in the role initiated by the late, great, William Hurt.

Full disclosure, they needed a younger actor (not YOUNG, but young-ER, say early 60’s) instead of an 82 year old Ford. Heck, for fun (and for what this role required) they could have coerced Sam Elliot to play Ross again, finally bridging the Hulk mulitiverse across all 3 dimensions.

Regardless, we get Harrison Ford as President Ross, one intent on completing a treaty to unite the world around another Marvel loose thread: Celestial Island, as they’re calling the corpse left in the Indian Ocean at the end of the much-maligned Eternals before being ignored completely.

[NOTE: I’m sure some people will be more than gratified (sarc) to learn that even in the MCU, America still chose to elect an old, white man. Heck, we don’t even know who his VP is or who he beat, but sure: lose your shit about that…]

Why the fuss over ownership and control of Celestial Island? Why because that corpse (turned from a LIVING BEING into stone by Sersi, BTW) contains resources not native to our planet, including (drum-roll please) ADAMANTIUM, which is not only strong, but which also (we are told) has various powers, not unlike Vibranium does, which can revolutionize everything from energy to medicine.

[Cinematic Snake-Oil, if you will, for future films. Like the X-Men, for example.]

What follows is one part political thriller as Ross attempts to cobble together global support for his treaty in the face of an assassination attempt, one part family drama as he tries to convince his daughter that he is not the man he used to be (who tried to hunt Bruce Banner) and that he has changed for the better.

The movie is also part buddy cop, really, as Sam and Joaquin Torres (aka: New Falcon) launch an investigation into why Isaiah Bradley tried to kill the president. This leads them to the mastermind in the shadows.

I don’t want to spoil too much for you, so here’s some random points:

  • The amount of exposition in this film is massive, both to catch up people who may have skipped some movies or to nudge us into this one
  • Screen Slaver
  • Liv Tyler cameo
  • Sebastian Stan cameo (with a ridiculous character development) with some way-too-on-the-nose proselytizing
  • Ruth Bat-Seraph isn’t Sabra, but an ex-Widow, trained in the Red Room (disclosed early on)
  • The whole “redeem the villains” thing is getting old: Ross is Ross, and should be “fixed.”
  • Tim Blake Nelson is a great actor
  • Giancarlo Esposito is wasted

While I generally enjoyed a lot of Brave New World, I would be remiss not to note that it seems to confirm the multiple, extensive, reshoots that required the delayed release of the film. There are easily 3 films in this one, and the addition of the Serpent Society (headed by Giancarlo) is really a non-factor here. With the exception of Esposito’s “Sidewinder,” the group is relegated to the cinematic status of the Knights of Ren (IFKYK).

Sure, he is a great actor who brings instant menace through his villainous characters, but it certainly feels tacked on, as if all his scenes were in the reshoots, and the later reshoots, at that.

There is a single credit scene– at the very, very, VERY end of the credits, that does what all the MCU stingers do: tease a larger puzzle.

I was glad that, despite its shortcomings, Brave New World was generally self contained, not leaving too many loose ends.

It’s no Winter Soldier, but Brave New World plays best when it’s being a political thriller, not a superhero movie.

Unfortunately, those other, ragged threads of scripts-gone-by drag the film down as a whole.

Captain America: Brave New World flies into theaters on Valentine’s day and stars Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, William Mark McCullough.

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

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