A One Mann’s Movies review of “Captain America: Brave New World” (2025).
A bright-orange deranged monster wreaking havoc in the White House while noone seems able to stand up to him. But enough of US politics, let’s review the latest Marvel film, “Captain America: Brave New World”.
As I have droned on about at length before, Marvel has seriously lost its way since “Avengers: Endgame“. Attempts to start an overriding “Thanos-style” arc (for example, in 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania“) fizzled out. “Brave New World” has (as shown in the trailer) the US President (Harrison Ford) saying that he wants The Avengers to reform. So I felt like this might represent a welcome new start for Marvel. I know others in my Flickering Dreams team have different views on this. But, for me, the film was sadly yet another damp Marvel squib.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“Captain America: Brave New World” Plot Summary:
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford) is the new US President. Despite his chequered history with superheroes, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) teams with him to help bring into being an international treaty, currently threatened by the loss of a valuable Japanese-owned mineral.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, bloody images, language”. )
Talent:
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Sebastian Stan, Liv Tyler.
Directed by: Julius Onah.
Written by: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah & Peter Glanz. (Based on a story by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman & Dalan Musson and characters created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.)
Running Time: 1h 58m.
“Captain America: Brave New World” Summary:
Positives:
- Acting-wise, Harrison Ford is pretty good in this.
- For a Marvel film, at sub-2-hours it’s pleasantly compact (but honestly felt longer!)
Negatives:
- A tedious script: one crashy-bashy scene loosely linked to the next crashy-bashy scene.
- Realy shoddy special effects in places.
- There’s an obvious Harrison Ford line missing!
Review of “Captain America: Brave New World”:
Big sigh.
I wanted to like this one. I really did. But with a convoluted script involving a McGuffin called ‘Adamantium’ (I’m not even kidding), international fisticuffs and hypnotised good guys, it felt like this was Marvel written by committee. (So it came as no surprise that the film did indeed have five writers!)
It’s not even got the lightness of touch of Marvel’s more comedic entries: aside from some light banter between Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and wannabe-Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), there is only one smile-worthy joke in the whole film: delivered by Bucky (Sebastian Stan), in a brief cameo. And that’s only a 6/10.
It comes to something when I’m making up my own jokes… on first hearing her name, I thought the President’s diminutive Israeli protection agent, played by Shira Haas, was called Ms. Bets-are-off. (She might not be all of 5’2″ but she is ‘all bets are off’.) (Her surname in the film is actually Ruth Bat-Seraph, but I really prefer my version.)
A weak family-estrangement story, between Ross and his daughter Betty (played by Liv Taylor and last seen in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk”) is sappy, lightweight and not believable.
No tension.
As I have whinged about before with these films, I find zero tension in action sequences involving superhuman indestructible beings bashing the hell out of other superhuman indestructible beings. In this case, I lose track of who is “indestructible” and who isn’t. As I understand it, Wilson has not taken the “serum” to turn him into a super-soldier. Yet he still seems to take a knife to the chest while only muttering “Ooh, that was a bit ouchy”. When it comes to a final showdown between Wilson and the red Hulk, the Hulk seems capable of ripping off the Cap’s indestructible Vibranium wings, but is incapable of crushing his head like an egg when he has the chance.
While we’re talking of inconsistencies, the film seems littered with them. In one example, the Cap and Hulk land in the middle of a street where (inexplicably) an unoccupied car is parked at 90 degrees across the road. WTF? (I thought this was just me, but the Illustrious Mrs Movies Man – and yes dear readers, I actually managed to drag her to see this Marvel film! – also brought this up.) In another, the chief baddie of the piece, Dr Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who has lots of brains but most of them on the outside of his head, claims to predict every permutation of probability with his massive intellect. But then he deliberately turns himself in. I was expecting some subsequent big “AHA!! GOTCHA!!”… but absolutely none was forthcoming.
Dodgy effects
There was a veritable army of special effects firms that scrolled past in the end-titles as I was waiting for the infamous Marvel ‘monkey‘. As such, I’d have expected the special effects to be top-notch. Not a bit of it. Some of the green-screen work is just plain shonky. And a final scene in a cherry blossom-adorned street looks about as realistic as Cherry Tree Lane in the 1964 version of “Mary Poppins”. Having just watched “Blade Runner” again, I really wonder about the quality control of some VFX companies who perhaps get the work because they bid the lowest price.
The Acting
Anthony Mackie is assured and just fine as the acrobatic, kick-boxing hero. However, I’ve always felt – mirrored in his character’s self-doubt in the film – that he lacks the gravitas of Chris Evans in the role.
But thank God for Harrison Ford. For the film would really have been a 1* squib for me without his robust presence in the film. I’ve seen comments elsewhere that he was “dialling it in” or was “doing it for his pension”. But I disagree. I think there are many scenes in here where he seems genuinely tortured and delivers a fine acting performance.
My one regret about Ford is with the scriptwriters: you’ve MADE Ford a US President; you’ve PUT him in Air Force One; SURELY there could have been some scenario created where he could have ordered somebody to “Get off my plane”!
Also credit to old Cagney and Lacey alumni Carl Lumbly who does a great job as the tortured soul Isaiah Bradley who both has… and has not… tried to kill the President.
Monkeys?
As this is Marvel, there is obviously a monkey at the end of credits (though no mid-credit scene, despite there being an obvious place where there could have been one). The monkey is of the tiresome “ooh, something really really bad is coming but we’re not going to tell you what it is” variety. Weak.
Summary Thoughts on “Captain America: Brave New World”
Sorry to all Marvel fans out there, but I really didn’t rate this one at all. Mid-way through our film a group of four seniors wandered into our screening noisily demanding to know why other people were sitting in their seats. They actually wanted Bridget Jones next door! But as they shamefully exited the screen, with their tails between their legs, a part of me was wishing to join them. For this was yet another Marvel disappointment for me. Is it a 2* film? No, probably not in absolute terms. But my low rating reflects my disappointment that this was not a fresh reboot of the Marvel magic. It was sufficiently poor that I have no desire to revisit this one again.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Captain America: Brave New World”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pHDWnXmK7Y. There’s a decent twist in this film which if you didn’t know it might have added a full point to the score for me. But this trailer chooses to spoil it all up front. (Thanks a bunch guys.)
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