Captain America: Brave New World

Sam Wilson has his work cut out for him as the new Captain America, and unfortunately for him, this movie isn’t doing him any favors.

Acting as the next chapter in the MCU’s sprawling live-action superhero saga, Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he continues to make the role once filled by the late and great Steve Rogers his own. Helping General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) — the newly elected president of the United States — in a global conflict stemming from the recent discovery of adamantium, Sam is soon caught in the crosshairs of a mercenary group named Serpent, as well as returning The Incredible Hulk antagonist, Samuel Sterns aka The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson). Still feeling like he has something to prove in the superhero community, Sam Wilson, alongside the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), must find a way to not only solve a potentially catastrophic global crisis but as President Ross begins to lose his cool to his baser instincts, put Ross’ crimson-hued alter ego down for the count too.

With the MCU slowing heading in the right direction post-Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World had a lot to prove not only as one of the final films in the Multiverse Saga but as a showcase for why Anthony Mackie’s Captain America needs to be taken seriously as a hero. While the film most certainly doesn’t deliver on many fronts, I can say that during the times it does get things right, Brave New World shows shades of the movie I was hoping it would be. From some thrilling action scenes to some entertaining exchanges between Sam Wilson and his co-stars to some appreciative nods to the larger MCU, I wouldn’t call Brave New World a complete success, yet compared to the lesser films in recent MCU memory — namely Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — this latest Captain America adventure is at least passable.

Besides the fact that the entire Red Hulk storyline doesn’t come to fruition until the last twenty minutes of the film — the main reason I wanted to see this movie in the first place — Brave New World as a whole seems to be having an identity crisis of sorts, as it doesn’t fully commit to any of its many subplots nor does it do enough otherwise to draw attention away from its abundance of flaws. Whether it be Sam Wilson struggling (yet again) with the role of being Captain America, the inclusion of the fun but unnecessary new Falcon, the underbaked threat that is The Leader, the political nature of the global conflict Sam and President Ross find themselves in, or even the half-assed attempt at bringing Red Hulk to the MCU, Brave New World can’t seem to focus on what matters most, ensuring that this film was never going to work the way it wanted to.

I still believe that Sam Wilson deserves the job as the MCU’s new Captain America but if his solo movies continue to be as frustratingly underwhelming as this one turned out to be, Anthony Mackie may never capitalize on the potential of a legacy Marvel character who deserves better. That being said, Captain America: Brave New World does have its moments, with the eventual fight against Red Hulk and a few choice scenes sprinkled throughout, showing that had the filmmakers put a little more development and care into crafting a cohesive and effective narrative, this one wouldn’t have turned out half bad.