Out now in Irish cinemas is the latest entry in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Brave New World. Starring Anthon Mackie, Harrison Ford with Tim Blake Nelson, Shira Haas and Danny Ramirez.
Set after the events of Falcon & the Winter Soldier (I hope you watched that), Sam is fitting nicely into his role as Captain America. He’s saving the day, getting all the bonuses that come with being a national icon and he’s doing it all without a lick of super soldier serum running through his veins. Unfortunately, there are dark clouds on the horizon. With President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (Ford) looking to bring Captain America under the American Government’s control, Sam is put in an uncomfortable situation. Then to further add disaster to the mix his friend Isaiah Bradley, (Carl Lumbly) an ex-super soldier, attempts to assassinate Ross. In doing so a chain of events is set in motion that will bring about a brave new world.
Out the gate I’d like to say this is a very boring film due to multiple elements not working. First off there is the direction from Julius Osnah. Osnah is a director with no notable pieces of work to his name and so has no experience directing a film that is trying to be this grand in scope. He’s trying to desperately bring about the second coming of The Winter Soldier (arguably the best film in the MCU) with Captain America: Brave New World, because of this the film feels like a hobbled-together clone of a much better beast.
Please don’t be boring
This can be seen in several scenes in the film. One such example is early on in the film when Sam comes up against Copperhead. It plays out like a poorly choreographed version of Steve versus Bartoc in The Winter Soldier. This hastily put-together fight choreography can be seen throughout the whole film. There are several other moments that are cloned moments out of The Winter Soldier. The theme of a super soldier being brainwashed through particular words and specific lighting prompts is also utilised. There are many more scenes, but to go into them would be strenuous for you to read and too laborious for me to write.
The film also has moments of amateurish CGI dotted around it that stand out making you question what exactly did they do with all those reshoots. You can see the special effect seems trying desperately to hold scenes together. There is a particular monologue with Tim Blake Nelson in the film that looks absolutely horrendous.
If there are any positives it comes in the shape of some of the characters. Anthony Mackie’s journey from Falcon to Captain America has been fun to watch. Unfortunately, even this is cut off at the knees because audiences have to have watched Falcon & the Winter Soldier to get some key emotional moments for his character. The film clumsily handles these moments by rehashing these issues with Sam in the film and Mackie does his best to sell these emotions once again. Also, I quite enjoyed Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph. She brings an interesting dynamic to the film and Haas just had my attention with every scene she was in.
Since when were they red
One character that was a mixed bag for me was Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross. Ford plays the character like many of his others, with an aloofness that doesn’t quite fit the character that William Hurt had brought for all those previous appearances. Then there’s the Red Hulk in the room. Honestly, it was nice just to see an angry Hulk on screen again. The best CGI in the film is saved for his appearance and it is just that, an appearance. My biggest complaint with Red Hulk is that he’s just a red Hulk, he’s not the Red Hulk. He may as well be a skin you buy in a video game. There is no sinister nature to this character, there is no intelligence, there is simply another beast.
One other positive element is Tim Blake Nelson’s return as Samuel Stern. There’s a sinister edge to him since his last appearance. Even this however is not played to its biggest strengths as Stern is barely in the film, popping up sporadically to remind us of his plan. This has to do with the cast being bloated, one such character that was unnecessary was Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Sidewinder. He is simply a piece in this film to push the characters from A to B. He’s not a character, he’s simply a plot device and a weak one at that.
Captain America: Brave New World promised so much, answers to long-standing MCU questions, a step into a new status quo and so much more. We got nothing but the same old, same old.
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