Posted in: Kaitlyn Booth, Marvel Studios, Movies, Review | Tagged: captain america: brave new world

Captain America: Brave New World Review: MCU Setup Over Cap's Story

Captain America: Brave New World is a frustrating film to watch, even if it isn't entirely inept, with so many good ideas that are executed poorly.

Captain America: Brave New World seems to exist only to push forward the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is most apparent in the weird pacing and structure of the many rewrites and reshoots.

Director: Julius Onah
Summary: Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.

Captain America: Brave New World of Moving A Cinematic Universe Along

To start things off, Captain America: Brave New World isn't terrible, but it's also not very good either. It's frustrating in that you can see a lot of the potential right there in front of you, but Marvel keeps making the wrong decision, and everything falls apart. Everyone is well cast; Anthony Mackie continues to make Sam Wilson a charismatic character. Danny Ramirez skirts that line of lovable and annoying little brother about as well as you can hope, but that "little brother" thing will probably annoy people. Carl Lumbly needs to be in everything, everywhere, all the time. His portrayal of Isaiah might be the most beautiful and nuanced part of the entire film. His place in the story is clunky, and you wish you could spend more time with him because the entire concept of his character is a ton of fun. Giancarlo Esposito got the assignment and then turned it up to eleven, as he always does, and we love to see it. Harrison Ford is doing some interesting things with Ross, and he's relatively believable as an older and hardened version of the William Hurt character. Tim Blake Nelson also got the assignment, turned it up to eleven, and isn't in the movie nearly enough. If you're a fan of female characters, to say you'll find this one lacking would be an understatement, and our campaign for Justice for Betty Ross continues.

There are some decent action scenes, and the team clearly put in the work to make sure Sam's fighting style is very different from Steve's. The way he uses the shield is different, and with the added benefit of his wings, the character is distinct and excellent to watch. While the pacing and structure might be wonky, it doesn't overstay its welcome and clocks in at under two hours. The problem is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been chugging along since 2008, and once the first phase of movies ended, it became apparent that the films were beginning to fall into the same traps that the comics often fall into.

The longer these characters and stories are around, the more convoluted and complicated everything gets, and it becomes harder and harder to be approachable. When you have the budgets that these films have, you can't rely on hardcore fans alone; you need to bring in casual fans, and if your homework list is too long, they aren't going to be interested. Since Avengers: Endgame, Marvel movies have tried to skirt the line between telling stories, introducing new characters, and moving the larger cinematic universe along. However, it's becoming increasingly apparent that "moving the larger cinematic universe along" is becoming the focus of everything because Captain America: Brave New World seems to only exist to push forward future plot points and tie some other loose ends up.

The most hilarious part is that these plot points have been revealed in trailers and clips released online. Adamantium and its place in the MCU is one of the reasons this film exists, but how Captain America: Brave New World approaches it is baffling. The concept of this entire thing is something we see mirrored in the real world; we are watching the world squabble over a precious, powerful, valuable, and potentially rare natural resource and the geopolitical tensions that come with that. That is not reading too much into the film; this is literally the A plot, and this is not applying politics to something that isn't there. We have that concept in a movie with a character called Captain America, who is portrayed by a black man taking over for a white man trying to find his identity, and it is somehow completely apolitical. This will probably appeal to some, but it feels like a cop-out, taking the easy way out because looking at the complex geopolitical dynamics takes too much time; we have stuff to smash.

Rewrites And Reshoots Are Only A Problem When You Can See Them

The other has been revealed in a clip online, which we won't say because some people don't watch clips, but the fact that it's right there should say a lot. There have been a lot of reports about rewrites and reshoots on the film, and the list of credited writers, five to be specific, is worrying, to say the least. When dealing with a high-concept plot like complex geopolitics, you need to have your ducks in a row, and the problem is Captain America: Brave New World is so obviously stitched together that it's hard to ignore. If the plot was wackier or even less serious, it might not matter as much, but this is a Marvel film that is taking itself seriously.

There's nothing wrong with that, but it also means you have to work twice as hard to make all of your inherently goofy characters fit into a serious plot, and this doesn't. Sidewinder's entire existence could have been a random assassin or terrorist without much worry. The Serpent Society might be in the MCU now, but they don't do anything or have any reason to be here. Shira Haas, as Ruth Bat-Seraph, who is just an ex-Black Widow trainee, didn't need to be Ruth and could have been an original character. She floats around the story, but it never feels like she is doing much of anything. At one point, it looked like she had some sort of suit underneath her jacket, but it's just there and then never addressed. She is clearly the product of a rewrite, for obvious reasons, but it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't fit. Xosha Roquemore, as Leila Taylor, also spends a good portion of the plot being in places and seeming like she should be doing things. Sam refers to her as a "friend," but we never really see this friendship; we never learn how they met because any interaction they might have had was left on the cutting room floor, or her scenes were written out of the script.

There is a massive plot point that is key to most of the film, but you can tell the rest of the movie wasn't the same initial script because it's completely forgotten about and never addressed again. This isn't a small thing either; we're talking about something that could have massive ramifications that no one really worries or talks about again because Hulk Smash is much more important to focus on. Ross and his turn into Red Hulk has been front and center in the marketing for this, but the third act is so disconnected from the rest of the film and has no emotional payoff, not one that really matters, that it falls flat. There were a couple of different things they could have done to make everything with Red Hulk more impactful, but in the end, he feels like a big red superpowered hurdle Sam needs to clear to get over the last of his doubts that he's worthy of the shield.

Marvel Remains Focused On The Next Big Event Film

Captain America: Brave New World is a frustrating film, even if it isn't entirely inept. There are so many good ideas here that are executed poorly. In solo hero films, the MCU used to use post-credits and throwaway scenes to move the larger cinematic universe along while making sure the hero's journey and the characters were the focus. That way, you were attached and invested in these characters when the fireworks, aka team-up movies, came along. Much like comics, the MCU has gotten so distracted trying to get to the next big event that they've forgotten to tell stories about characters. They have forgotten that the Avengers and the fireworks mean nothing if we haven't gone on a journey and gotten invested beforehand. This has been an ongoing problem since Avengers: Endgame, and it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon.

Captain America: Brave New World

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Review by Kaitlyn Booth

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6/10

Captain America: Brave New World seems to exist only to push forward the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is most apparent in the weird pacing and structure of the many rewrites and reshoots.

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