With a new year comes a new entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: Brave New World is the fourth movie in this series. Avengers: Endgame saw Steve Rogers hand off the shield and mantle to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and now we have a movie with him as Captain America. This movie sees him facing a new threat as his friend Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) is imprisoned after attempting to assassinate Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), president of the United States. Believing Isaiah was mind-controlled, Sam must clear Isaiah’s name and uncover the conspiracy growing underneath.
Captain America: Brave New World is a pretty entertaining movie that has a few missteps but works overall. The most surprising aspect of this film is that it’s a stealth sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, one of the first MCU movies that originally starred Edward Norton as Bruce Banner. It feels like that movie came out centuries ago because we’ve had an incredible number of MCU films that have come since then. Although that movie can feel quite separate from the rest due to Norton being replaced by Mark Ruffalo, we’ve gotten references to that movie since, with Tim Roth reprising his role as Abomination in She-Hulk and Shang-Chi and General Thaddeus Ross returning for a few more MCU movies.
William Hurt, the actor who previously played Ross, passed away in 2022. He’s been recast with Harrison Ford taking on the role. Ford is one of the longest-lasting icons of cinema, and he proves why time and time again. He’s an exceptional actor, and it’s surprising how well he steps into this role. He’s not doing an impression of Hurt and the two physically look quite different, but I always believed him as this character. Those who watched Air Force One are used to seeing him play the commander-in-chief, and he gets to do it again here. He’s believable and authoritative in this role, which also develops his relationship with his daughter, Betty Ross, a bit more.
However, it is strange that Ross is such a prominent figure in this film, given how, in the comics, he’s so closely tied to Hulk, not Captain America. But Universal Pictures retains the right of first refusal for any solo Hulk movies, so we haven’t gotten any more stand-alone adventures with Ruffalo. So we have a Hulk sequel disguised as a Captain America sequel.
For the most part, director Julius Onah borrows some aesthetics from the Russo Brothers in their two Captain America films. Captain America: Brave New World works best when it’s a political espionage thriller. It excels when the stakes become personal. Anyone who watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+ knows how tragic Isaiah Bradley’s story is (this film gives a little reminder as well) and for him to be locked up again is tragic. We root for Sam’s goal of exonerating his friend and finding justice.
There’s an action sequence near the beginning that once again shows Sam Wilson’s prowess as Captain America. Also back in action is Danny Ramirez, reprising his role as Joaquin Torres, who serves as a likable sidekick with just the right amount of motormouth. An early fight scene has its fair share of cheesy 80s movie bad guy lines and mediocre choreography compared to Cap vs. Batroc from The Winter Soldier, but it also introduces us to a new villain named Sidewinder, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who always excels in his antagonistic roles. He doesn’t have much screen time in this movie and he makes up for it with a compelling performance, even if there isn’t much to his character on the page.
Another new character in the mix is Ruth (Shira Haas), President Ross’s head of security. At first, she has every reason to believe Isaiah is a threat and advocates for his imprisonment, but she is not stubborn about new information when it comes to light. The only issue is that she is not very interesting beyond that. It feels as if they’re setting her up to do more in the future, but her effect on this movie is negligible. But one of the greatest assets of Captain America: Brave New World is the villain, who mainly operates from the shadows. Like the best villains, he’s almost always one step ahead of our heroes in a similar fashion to Helmut Zemo from Captain America: Civil War.
We have one standout action set piece in the middle of the film with Cap taking on fighter planes in a sequence that feels strikingly similar to the aesthetics of Top Gun. However, it’s an issue when the best action set piece occurs halfway through, as the movie falters in its final act. Much like 2013’s The Wolverine, the movie betrays its very serious tone for a silly finale. The final fight in Captain America: Brave New World is uninspired, and it feels quite small-scale compared to any of the Cap movies that came before it despite all the destruction we get. The movie is quite excellent for the first two acts, but it goes out on a whimper.
Mackie has now been playing Sam for a decade, and he’s a wonderful presence. However, he doesn’t have the strong moral compass of Steve Rogers and this movie doesn’t push him far enough. The one thing this movie has him struggle with is whether he should have taken the super soldier serum, but it doesn’t push the drama of that far enough. The movie is far more focused on President Ross. Just in case you’ve avoided the marketing and don’t know Ross’s life-changing moment in this movie, I won’t give it away. But it feels like it belongs in a different movie.
Overall, Captain America: Brave New World is fun and rewatchable. It doesn’t reach the heights of any of the previous Captain America movies or a lot of the MCU, but it has just enough going for it, particularly in the first two acts, to make it a worthy watch for any comic book movie fan.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Captain America: Brave New World review.
