Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: anthony mackie, captain america: brave new world, harrison ford

Captain America: Brave New World Does Enough To Barely Pass {Review}

Captain America: Brave New World is a frustrating example of how sometimes Marvel Studios tries to do too much.

Captain America: Brave New World feels like it should have been titled The Incredible Hulk: Sins Of The Past. While Anthony Mackie firmly has a grasp on the shield now, it is shocking how much of the plot hinges on the viewers' experience with the second entry in a now thirty-five-part franchise instead of being his first solo outing in the MCU. That was a giant mistake. The action is fun and exciting. As the film continues, Mackie and Harrison Ford are great and play well off each other. It does just enough to remain entertaining without going over the cliff of skippable, but just barely.

Captain America No Longer In Name Only

Having them treat Sam Wilson as Captain America right from the jump was refreshing. While we did get The Falcon and The Winter Soldier show on Disney+ that saw him take up the mantle, the big fear was that a lot of this movie would be about the weight of the mantle and the shield, and thankfully, they keep that to a minimum. The parts of the film that play a lot, like The Winter Soldier, work well; anytime you mix a political thriller with the superheroes running around, it will work. What doesn't is mixing in so much of the Incredible Hulk elements. With five credited writers, you can see where the reshoots and script reworking came into play; it is very glaring. It feels like they tried to shoehorn in the Captain America parts around a Hulk sequel.

What is inexcusable is the poor dialogue and heavy, heavy exposition that they dump on you at every turn. Part of that is because they decided to rely so heavily on one of the MCU's oldest films. Many may have forgotten who that film's main players and plot were. That leads to many scenes of characters walking onscreen and another character telling us who they are, what they did, and why they are here now. It becomes a bit insulting. Other than Ford and Mackie, everyone else is entirely forgettable. Danny Ramirez is the only other person who makes any kind of mark, but sadly, his new Falcon is trapped, giving a lot of the exposition dialogue and then sidelined for the second half of the film, so we don't get much of a sense of how he will be able to handle himself going forward in the MCU.

Captain America wears its MCU building like a burden at the end of the day. Everything is so forced together, alluding to future and past events, that the kernel of a good story in the first act with Isaiah Bradley and the political chess is wholly lost. By the time we get to the Red Hulk fight at the end, it feels more tacked on than the Michael Myers Vs Laurie Strode fight at the conclusion of Halloween Ends. Even though the entertaining action set pieces are fun and exciting, there are a few spots where they need to spend more time sprucing up the CGI.

For all its faults, Captain America: Brave New World does just enough fun to warrant a trip to the theater, but barely. Sam Wilson deserved much better for his first solo outing in the MCU, and unfortunately, he has to settle for a middle-of-the-road entry into a franchise that is losing its footing a bit.

Captain America: Brave New World

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Review by Jeremy Konrad

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6/10

Marvel Studios had a hell of a time making Captain America: Brave New World, and it shows onscreen. It does just enough to be worth heading to the theater to see, but barely.

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