“Captain America: Brave New World” is the fourth Captain America film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but the first featuring Sam Wilson as the Captain.
Wilson received the mantle at the end of “Avengers: Endgame” and was first seen wielding the shield in the TV show, “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.”
I was optimistic about this film when it was first announced because I thoroughly enjoyed the television series.
However, due to the controversy and boycotts, the film has had many edits and reshoots. Whenever I hear that kind of news announced about a Marvel project, that usually means it will be a little muddled and unfocused.
The TV show was rumored to have reshoots, but those seem unproven. Regardless, I found the film hard to follow at some points as it had several plotlines and antagonists that didn’t go anywhere.
To prove my point, here’s a quick summary of the plot: Captain America and The Falcon, Joaquín Torres, go to the White House to witness President Ross announce a treaty to share mining rights for Adamantium in Tiamut’s statued corpse between the United States, France, India and Japan.
Tiamut is a giant celestial being turned into a statue at the end of “The Eternals,” which, for some reason, contains Adamantium, the same material that Wolverine’s skeleton is made of.
I don’t think it’s an excellent sign when I need an encyclopedia of previous film knowledge to understand a movie.
For an average viewer who hasn’t seen “The Eternals,” which not many people did because it flopped at the box office, I think the film would be terribly confusing.
Additionally, If someone hasn’t seen the TV show, then this would be their first time meeting Torres and despite having seen the show, I still don’t know anything about him besides he’s a soldier and quirky.
That’s not enough to make him compelling or make me care when he, spoiler, nearly dies later in the movie.
Plus, having seen The Incredible Hulk and Black Panther is necessary viewing as well because several references to them are made throughout the film.
Even then, with all this knowledge, the film introduces many new characters and elements out of nowhere such as the introduction of the Israeli superhero, Sabra, who is the source of some of the film’s controversy in addition to subtly mentioning that Bucky Barnes is now in Congress.
After a quick Google search, I realized that the former Winter Soldier is not a congressman in the comics so I have no clue why they added this. I will now end my tangent and continue with the review.
During the press conference, Wilson’s close friend, Isaiah Bradley, is mind-controlled by the song “Mr. Blue” by The Fleetwoods and attempts to assassinate the president.
At this point, I was not halfway through the film, and it already felt hard to take seriously.
I feel that if they choose only one or two elements to focus on, they should have chosen the treaty of the mind control plot. The whole film would have been more focused then.
However, in addition to these events, there are three main antagonists. The first is Sidewinder, a criminal played by Giancarlo Esposito, whom I find to be an impeccable actor. He’s pretty good in this.
However, he lacks that menacing presence he’s had in shows like “The Mandalorian,” and his performance here reminds me a lot more of his role on “Once Upon A Time.”
Additionally, Sidewinder’s inclusion feels like a cheap way to add extra action in the early scenes, as the main villain doesn’t appear until the second half and later, Sidewinder is just used for exposition.
The second villain and main antagonist is Samuel Sterns a.k.a Leader, a scientist from “The Incredible Hulk” who, after exposure to the Hulk serum, gained immense intelligence.
My issue with this antagonist is that, despite his brilliant mind, there is no effort made to show this in an impressive way to the audience.
The character makes many baffling choices that happen to work out, which Stern explains is because he can calculate the probability of people’s choices.
That sounds more like predicting the future than hyperintelligence. Maybe the writers sent Stern a copy of the script to make their job easier.
The last antagonist is the highly anticipated and highly advertised Red Hulk, who is a hulked-out President Ross.
Ross is a much hotter Hulk than Bruce Banner, by which I mean his skin scorches the ground he walks on.
He doesn’t appear in the film until the very end, and while destructive, his presence doesn’t add much to the film.
With all of these villains and complicated plotlines, it’s hard for Captain Wilson to stay the star of the show.
I was excited to see Wilson as Captain America after the TV show premiered, as I found the character and his actor, Anthony Mackie, really charming.
I hoped they would explore his character further in the film than in the show and try to strengthen his bond with Torres.
Many moments where the film attempts to do this, or even have an emotional moment in general, fell flat for me.
I thought this was an underwhelming showing for the character’s first film, but I will remain optimistic for the sequel.
Curtin can be reached at curtinem5864@uwec.edu.
