“Captain America: Brave New World” is the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After its last few duds, this movie had the chance to help refresh the MCU’s credibility and introduce so many new important characters.
Instead, it felt like the exact same movie Marvel has been making since “Avengers: Endgame.” The choice to heavily advertise Red Hulk and then treat the reveal like a twist we should be surprised about but we knew it was coming before we walked into the theater.
The plot revolves around Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), now Captain America, attempting to uncover a nefarious global plot to take the world’s supply of the strongest Metal in the world Adamantium after being wrapped into it by President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), while guiding the new Falcon, Joaquín Torres (Danny Ramirez), on how to be a hero.
The diminishing of the third act twist doesn’t just feel weird but also has plot indications that don’t make sense. The main villain, “the Leader,” is almost completely absent from the third act because he turns himself in for no apparent reason.
The acting is good, with several moments that bring up so much more emotion than usual for a Marvel movie. The moment when Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a super soldier made to combat the USSR, finds out he is going back to jail, is so powerful and really makes you feel for him. Mackie’s acting does feel almost flat, like he’s just delivering lines. It doesn’t feel like he cared about the movie.
There isn’t anything else that’s notable or worthy of mention; this movie is boundless mediocrity and that’s somehow worse than just a plain bad movie.
Overall, “Captain America: Brave New World” just disappoints in kicking off a new era of Marvel movies. This movie was underwhelming and just sets the bar lower and lower for Marvel.
