It’s been a rough road to for the new Captain America. This fourth movie in the titular franchise, but 35th episode of the MCU was meant to release on May 3rd, 2024 and was pushed back to June 26th 2024 because of reported poor reception for early screenings. Now, with a handful of reshoots and hundreds of millions of dollars later, we’re finally getting Brave New World just in time for Valentines Day.
As shown back in Avengers: Endgame and solidified with the Disney+ show, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has accepted the mantle and shield as the new Captain America. Where he is lacking super serum, he has vibranium wings.
In the past few years, Cap has been essentially working as a glorified soldier for the US military. When the movie begins, he has an uneasy alliance with new president, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). In short time, Wilson gets stuck in the middle of a conspiracy that directly impacts the new president and could threaten his new administration.
It’s not a surprise to anyone that Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU have been less than good. Disney/Marvel achieved the highest heights with their cinematic universe initially, but have only found spotty successes since 2019. Each of their movies now just feel like attempts to shake the audience out of apathy and get them excited for a potential new direction leading to the next inevitable Avengers movie.
The newest Captain America movie may lead to shaking the audience, but it will be to wake them up. The team behind this one seemingly looked to Walmart’s $7.50 DVD bin and took notes of what typical “dads” enjoy in their simple action movies. There’s some shadows of political intrigue, there’s hand-to-hand combat, and there’s even a few fighter jets thrown in. It feels like a checklist movie, but without any connective tissue or talent that could have given it any sort of meaning or staying power.
The cast is a real mixed bag. Anthony Mackie is really trying to carry this movie, but he doesn’t quite gel with anyone. The obvious standout is Harrison Ford. He’s far better than the material given and he manages to step right into the character and shady history that William Hurt set up so well. This actually feels like a Thaddeus Ross movie, which becomes a years-later sequel to The Incredible Hulk. Everyone else in the movie is Disney+ quality at best.
Giancarlo Esposito plays a secondary villain and feels tacked on last minute. His role in the movie is essentially pointless and only serves to keep his typecast as confident bad guy going.
Brave New World suffers with Marvelitis, which requires so much homework and knowledge of previous movies. Though, they certainly cram in as much exposition into the dialogue to catch anyone else up on plots started in a 2008 Hulk movie or the best-forgotten Eternals flick. There are so many directions the script goes, that it’s so clear that someone went crazy with the four series of reshoots to put together a semi-cohesive movie. If you don’t think about the plot, you’re better off, but visually, scenes jump around sporadically, as do character arcs.
Captain America: Brave New World feels tired and will make you tired. The action is shot with a thousand cuts (ala Taken 3) and everything feels so floaty and lifeless. This could work as a background watch on streaming soon, but that implies it’s a better movie if you only glance at it occasionally. D+
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