Captain America: Brave New World Is Neither Brave Nor New [Review]
It’s giving reheated leftovers. Not bad, but not fresh.
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I feel like I don’t even need to warn anyone for spoilers in this article, because if you’ve watched the trailer or seen any kind of promo materials for Captain America: Brave New World, then there really isn’t anything particularly new to say about the movie.
There is nothing fresh, brave, or epic about Brave New World, nothing that makes you wanna scream “MCU IS SOO BACK!!” or tell everyone to go and watch it NOW (other than Danny Ramirez’s good looks, maybe.)
Mild spoilers ahead, I guess.
In Brave New World, newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) extends an invitation to Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), for a White House gathering.
Wilson doesn’t show up alone – he brings along his partner-in-heroics, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), now the new Falcon, and even convinces Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), the long-overlooked Captain America, to tag along despite his lingering resentment over the U.S. government’s past experiments on him.
Ross has a twofold agenda for the evening: he wants Wilson to reassemble the Avengers, and he’s looking to finalize an international agreement with Japan, centered on the recent discovery of adamantium on Celestial Island – that massive, half-emerged alien corpse from Eternals that’s been conveniently ignored.
What starts as a formal occasion quickly spirals into chaos when The Fleetwoods’ song Mr. Blue suddenly triggers a brainwashed Bradley into attempting to assassinate Ross. With Bradley now behind bars, Wilson races against time to prove his friend’s innocence before the system destroys him – both mentally and physically.
It all sounds very superhero-y and it is, but there’s really nothing to shout about throughout the entire film. It’s disappointing that the most ‘epic’ thing about the film is the Red Hulk. The fact that they tried to do a whole build up to the climax of the film being that just feels pointless, because we all already know it’s coming.
It’s also kind of a let down to the actors who are exceptional at what they do to be handed a script that gave them very little to work with.
While Wilson as Captain America is much more grounded compared to Steve Rogers (since he’s not on any super-serums that make him jacked up), I still feel like the writers could’ve fleshed out his character a bit more instead of playing it too safe.
If you’ve seen Mackie’s interviews or snippets of him on the red-carpet, you’ll know he’s actually a really funny guy. It’s a shame that they didn’t bring out that side of him in his character as Cap.
And do I even need to say anything about Harrison Ford? The man is a legend. If anything they should’ve kept Red Hulk under wraps for the big reveal – at least then it would’ve made the movie juicier and done justice to Ford playing President Thaddeus.
Do I think it’s worth the 2-hour runtime for a mindless MCU action flick?
Sure. But maybe just the one time.
Personally, if I wanted to be entertained, I’d watch Endgame again despite the extra hour.
Okay now that I’m done talking smack about it, let’s go a lil’ deeper into the film.
For starters, the MCU has always been political, because for decades it has included and represented a wide range of races, genders, sexualities, and disabilities. In 1941, Captain America punched Nazis in Marvel Comics.
In 2025, a Black Captain America stands to fight a giant red angry Hulk of a President whose pants somehow still stay on despite his sudden, massive growth.
You’d expect Bradley’s unjust imprisonment to make Wilson question his loyalty to a system that has long oppressed Black people – but nope, that’s not the case at all. There’s a forced sentiment throughout the film of ‘we all need to get along’ that ties in really well with Thaddeus’ presidential campaign of ushering a better future “Together”.
Meanwhile, Ross and Wilson’s vision of unity is thrown off course by Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson, reprising his role from The Incredible Hulk), a scientist nursing a grudge against Ross.
But as far as villains go, Sterns is about as threatening as a houseplant. He’s missing the menace, complexity, and overall presence to make an impact.
It’s pretty cool how the film was released in the same week as Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, which, unless you’ve been living under a rock, has been all over the Internet.
More than it being the most petty-slash-epic shots fired at Drake, the halftime show is full of political symbolisms that uphold marginalised communities of color, specifically Black Americans.
Throw that in the same week as a Black Captain America, and you’ve got an interesting week for pop culture.
“If we can’t see the good in each other, then we’ve already lost the fight.”
The difference between Lamar’s halftime show and Brave New World though, is that in Brave New World, Cap chooses not to beef with the people who’ve wronged him and those that he loves.
The key message that ties everything together in the movie is the importance of forgiveness without compromising on justice, and accepting the fact that everyone is human and flawed.
Classic Cap. 🫡
Captain America: Brave New World is playing in cinemas nationwide from 13 February 2024.
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