GoCorral

Captain America: Brave New World feels like Marvel movies returning to what they’re best at. The Phase 4 and 5 movies have felt hit or miss in quality. A part of that has to do with the giant build up and execution of Infinity War and Endgame. It’s fair to say those two movies were the biggest cinematic event of the decade (2010’s). What’s followed has felt unfocused compared to the joint nature of the previous films and too angular in appeal compared to the big tent blockbusters of the previous Marvel films. Notably Eternals, Antman 3, and The Marvels have felt bad compared to the others. I’m sure there’s an audience that loved those movies, but it wasn’t me.

But the new Captain America is bringing it back! Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is the new Captain America, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) is the new Falcon, Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) is the new Black Widow, and Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) is the new Hulk. Not the whole team, but we’ve got new people for the roles to tell new stories in the same shared mythology. And connections to the other MCU releases are everywhere. The events of Infinity War and Endgame cast a large shadow, but Eternals, The Incredible Hulk, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series also get included. I also got a sense that the events of Brave New World would carry over into Thunderbolts and beyond. I also suspect that the new Black Widow will be appearing as a minor role in future movies as a tie in between the different superheroes. Similar to the original Black Widow or Agent Coulson.

It’s difficult to describe the plot without giving too much away, but I’ll do my best.  Sam and Joaquin team up to investigate a conspiracy to discredit the newly elected President Ross. The eventual end of the conspiracy is fairly obvious from the trailers for the movie (and anyone who’s read the comics), President Ross is the Red Hulk now. The overall structure felt very similar to the plot for Winter Soldier, but with slight variations, obviously. There’s a subplot about Isaiah Bradley, the original black Captain America, having his reputation restored. Throughout the whole movie, there is an undercurrent of race relations. Is Sam a fitting replacement for Steve? Is he good enough without the super soldier serum?

The acting in the movie is good enough like most Marvel projects. Harrison Ford probably did best by portraying the almost debilitating anger taking hold and then pushing it back down until the final reveal of Red Hulk. Tim Blake Nelson is always great in his roles. Danny Ramirez was a fun sidekick and I’m really hoping the MCU uses Shira Haas in more projects. Anthony Mackie might be the weak point unfortunately, but that’s possibly a purposeful decision. The racial tension of black Captain America was an undercurrent in the movie but never fully confronted like it was in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Was that because Mackie couldn’t handle it or because the studio didn’t want to risk a racial movie? Given the number of rewrites, reshoots, and dropped scenes for Brave New World I think we can assume the answer is the studio. Hopefully, we get some deleted scenes that explore that angle in the future.

The action was typical for a Marvel movie. Lots of fist fights where people take multiple blows to the head before they go down. Sam routinely removes his helmet before going into battle so the audience can see his face and because every superhero is immune to head trauma. Brave New World takes advantage of having two winged superheroes by including a dogfight action scene. It felt out of place to me personally. Plenty of other good beat-em-up scenes though with the typical Marvel adventure genre snappy dialog. That’s why most people go to these movies and Brave New World delivers.

A unusual strong point for the movie was the soundtrack. The music during fight scenes accented the action well. Transition music between scenes was chosen and edited with excellence. I can only think of one improvement in the musical application which might be my personal taste coming through. I think modern movies are afraid of silence. When Ross is struggling against his internal Hulk it would be nice if the music dropped away and all we can hear is an amplified version of his heart beat, his breathing, and his fingers gripping the objects around him. The rest of the music was great though.

Captain America: Brave New World is a great movie for anyone who’s enjoyed the previous Marvel movies. It feels like a movie from the Infinity Saga but still has plenty of relevance to the Multiverse Saga stories. The movie has all the standard bubblegum nonsense that Marvel is known for. In particular if Captain America: The Winter Soldier was your favorite movie then Brave New World is the sequel you were looking for. However if you’re looking for something complex and nuanced, this isn’t it. Brave New World is a fun action movie about a soldier and an easily understood conspiracy, nothing more and nothing less.