By Samuel Rillstone
Marvel's latest offering sees Captain America in his fourth cinematic outing and first for Anthony Mackie after the passing of the torch from Chris Evans. But does it fly or fall?
Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) in the wake of Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) becoming President. Sam finds himself at the center of an international incident and must work to stop the true masterminds behind it.
Now I know that feels like a simple premise, and it is. The film definitely feels like it is trying to recapture the feeling of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with the espionage mystery plot. And it gives it a decent go with a fairly plain, grounded and contained story that is slightly plagued by too much revealed in the trailers and some wasted plot points.
Anthony Mackie as Sam has a decent arc as Cap, becoming less cocky and a bit more towards the earnestness of Steve but in his own way. I'm quietly optimistic about this passing of the torch and a bit excited to see this version of Cap facing bigger things and being a leader in the Avengers. Assuming he's going to stick around after the more than likely universe reset after the next couple of Avengers films.
A massive standout for me is Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley an aging super soldier. Introduced in the Falcon and Winter Soldier Disney+ show, the character is a big emotional core in the movie and Lumbly delivers a performance full of heart, intensity and endearing humour.
Danny Ramirez as the new Falcon Joaquin Torres is great, a delightful presence that has that Peter Parker-like eagerness but definitely makes it his own.
Harrison Ford replaces the late William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in a performance full of gravitas and intention. The character gets a little short-changed towards the end though and I would've liked a little more out of him in this outing.
Surprisingly I also felt there were a couple earned and tasteful cameos which is rare these days.
As for gripes, I found it obvious the lack of theme music or at least if there was it wasn't a recognisable riff. There's something about the early half of Marvel releases, particularly Captain America that had such amazing swelling themes that was really missing here.
I also thought the fights were kind of boring and the hits looked soft. I know Sam doesn't have the super soldier serum but you can at least have him put his weight behind a kick or two.
This film was also plagued by multiple reshoots and it definitely shows. Some of the most horrific green screen you'll see, and almost an entire villain plot being tossed to the side. Don't get me wrong they're certainly not why people are going to see the movie, but if you're going to include something you need to make it count.
And I did find myself sort of just waiting to see where this movie fits into the wider MCU of it all. I know that could just be a me thing but particularly with the Multiverse Saga it feels like I'm always trying to find or waiting to see the connections to the wider story rather than just letting them come at me organically. Hopefully after the next Avengers movies it'll go back to a more natural build to a big intertwined event film.
There's also one post credits scene which I reckon you can definitely skip if you want to, it's just more a reminder of what's to come.
So overall there's some enjoyable performances and characters placed into a bit of a stunted plot. A good first cinematic outing for Sam Wilson's Captain America in regard to coming into his own but little more beyond that. Though it is a recommendation, I of course encourage you to get out and make your own opinion.
Captain America: Brave New World (M) is in cinemas now.
