★★★☆☆
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) officially takes up the mantle of Captain America in Captain America: Brave New World. Going into the film, it wasn’t clear if the character previously known as Falcon had the star power and moral conscience needed to succeed Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).
Brave New World proves that Wilson is undoubtedly the “new” Captain America, but the film’s execution doesn’t feel all that new.
The new Marvel installment uses tricks very familiar to audiences, but with a needed upgrade. While the plot points of Brave New World feel recycled, the cast gives the movie a much-needed boost of heart and excitement.
Even casual Marvel fans have heard of vibranium, the strongest and most versatile metal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) which hails from Wakanda. Now, get ready for Adamantium, a metal somehow stronger and more versatile than vibranium.
Newly elected U.S. President Ross (Harrison Ford) wants to be the first to get his hands on the valuable metal, but going against his better instincts, Ross tries to negotiate a peace deal to share the metal globally.
Ross doesn’t realize that his Adamantium negotiations were doomed from the start. Someone has been pulling the strings behind Ross and the peace talks, setting them up for failure. Sound familiar? It’s reminiscent of Captain America: Civil War, where peace deals orchestrated by Ross also fall apart, resulting in global conflict.
Even the film’s use of mind control to create a sense of distrust among protagonists is a revamp of Hydra’s infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
There’s little done concerning the plot that brings anything new to the superhero genre, or even to just the MCU. This doesn’t make Captain America: Brave New World a bad movie, but it does raise the question of why it exists if the film was going to play it safe with plot devices audiences have seen before.
That’s where the characters come in to save the day. Mackie and Ford are cinema masters, who excel in playing their respective characters.
Wilson has gone from a sidekick in the original Captain America trilogy to Captain America himself. Throughout his time in the MCU, Wilson has grown from an inexperienced veteran in The Winter Soldier as he developed his morals in Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
By the time we reach Brave New World, Wilson represents everything that Captain America stands for: truth, loyalty, justice, and so much more. Accompanied by some funny moments and heartfelt monologues, it’s clear that Mackie as Wilson is a perfect fit for our next Captain America.
Ford similarly does a great job with Ross, whose character is known to be irritatingly closed-minded. Ford shows Ross’ inner conflict on whether to do the right thing for his country or for himself.
Newcomer Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres also deserves a shoutout for the funniest character in the movie. After Wilson becomes Captain America, Torres is a young soldier who steps up to become Falcon. Wilson brings the morals, Ross brings the grit, and Torres fills in the rest with some of the film’s best humor and naivety, not unlike Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in earlier Marvel films.
Brave New World delivers on most of the other promises of a Marvel film. Audiences can expect cool costumes and unique sets mixed in with mediocre special effects. The presidential aspect of the film brings in unique military and Washington, D.C., settings, which center the spy-thriller in a grounded American fashion.
Brave New World didn’t bring anything new or inventive in the form of its plot. The film instead finds strength and purpose in its heroes who still carry the heart and morals that made Marvel movies so successful in the first place.
Leave a Reply