Captain America: Brave New World
It’s time for a reset. For Captain America, for Sam Wilson, for Marvel, for everyone. After the story and character conclusion of Avengers: Endgame the continued joint story structure of Marvel has looked around for a new focus to push itself into the future and in the process spread itself progressively thinner through ever more films and television series. What did it all mean? Where was it all going? No one seemed to know and nothing seemed to be sticking. Looking back over the last several years of choices and directions, director Julius Onah (The Cloverfield Paradox) and a very game Anthony Mackie have picked up the ball and attempted to start making some headway.
They've got a big hill in front of them to push that boulder. Nearly four years since Mackie’s Sam Wilson decided to take on the mantle of Captain America from a retired Steve Rogers the world is more complex than ever, particularly after a giant stone alien appeared from Pacific Ocean and was frozen in place as a new island full of unique materials. With the world feuding over the newest traumatic change to global status quo, and the opportunities stemming from it – and no Avengers around to do anything about it – Sam must make a deal with old political adversary ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over from the sadly passed William Hurt) to bring everyone peacefully to the table. An old foe from the past, however, has decided all the chaos is the perfect opportunity for revenge.
From the beginning Marvel has bounced back and forth between big, world-shaking adventures with cosmic ideas and whole civilizations being at risk and smaller problems at home and never quite figured out how to balance those. It’s also, now beyond the 15-year mark and heading towards the big two-oh, built up a significant past for itself which it can dip into but which also risks weighing it down. Rather than ignoring those perils, Onah attempts to take them head on with mixed results. Surrounding Sam with mystery and treachery Onah hides the true stakes for as long as possible in a mystery which is hard to invest in. On the one hand it’s refreshingly character based, on the other the character work keeps taking a back seat to the larger global issues, leaving the emotional impact to rest on the laurels of older Marvel projects and hope everyone remembers them. Sam’s concern is proving the innocence of his friend Isiah (Lumbly) after he attempts to assassinate Ross, but the film is as much about Ross as Sam, explaining his concerns over legacy and the island and his willingness to do whatever he has to. Somewhere in there is a film about Sam’s approach to the legacy of the Captain America name and how to handle it in his own manner but it, and he, frequently has to be pushed to the side to remind us of important story beats from ten plus years ago.
It's actually good to lean on history, that’s the benefit of having it, but the balance is tough. Mackie handles it well with a script which does him and the rest of the cast no favors, particularly when it tries to leaven out the sincerity with humor. He and Danny Ramirez’s new Falcon have no chemistry and Brave New World slows to a crawl when they try to have bonding moments. There’s some trepidation in the set pieces which lack the kineticism of new Marvel’s finest tries like Shang Chi and Black Panther until the end. It feels like a lot of firepower was held back for the moment a new rampaging Hulk demolishes the White House, which does put a real spotlight on the climax of the film but weakens what comes before it.
Other than that, it’s a Marvel film, no more, no less. Mackie proves he can carry the legacy but hasn’t yet been able to show he can grow it into something new. Nor has Marvel itself, though there are several hints at real direction coming. As ever, it will depend not on anything here but on what comes next.
6.5 out of 10
Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly and Xosha Roquemore. Directed by Julius Onah.