Captain America- Brave New World review

 

The Captain America films have been my favourite of the individual Marvel movies and this fourth offering definitely contains enough to earn its place on that list. It’s a lively affair with some excellent set pieces and a strong cast. Yet it falls a bit short simply because of the way it has been marketed. I hate spoilers and do my best to avoid them but when the studio itself gives away a crucial moment to which the whole film is leading to it rather deflates the overall product.  

 

Spoilers follow in this review

 

Anthony Mackie proves to be a commanding figure proving that both fictionally and in real life he is the perfect candidate to take on the Captain America mantle. Sam Wilson is both bold and incisive and yet is a more human type of superhero without any actual superpowers. He does however still have the wings and plenty of gizmos that service some pumping scenes, notably in the film's best sequence involving ships and planes.  There’s plenty of acrobatic sequences throughout which highlight both sharp editing and skilful stunt people. 

Sam and new Falcon in training Joaquin Torres have a great on screen rapport, Danny Ramirez bringing a likeable, irreverence to what is otherwise a serious minded movie. As recently elected US President Thaddeus Ross, Harrison Ford gets a lot of screen time which he uses well to portray a President in conflict essentially with himself. It’s an assured performance from a veteran actor. Rumours that this would offer some coded comment on a certain real life President prove to be unfounded. Both Giancarlo Esposito and Tim Blake Nelson manage to make an impact as villains despite fairly limited screen time and in Nelson’s case some bizarre prosthetics that unfortunately resemble broccoli. 

The film follows the trajectory of the previous Captain America outings with its focus on the political, the plot centring on international ownership of a new indestructible metal Adamantium that has been discovered in that large frozen monument we’d all forgotten about at the end of Eternals. We know this metal of course as being part of the X Men story so it looks as if the Marvel universe is going to be a little more crowded in the future though it is no more than a coveted resource in this story. Various countries want to acquire it and have difficulty coming to an accord, something that is rather familiar in the real world. However another antagonist is manipulating both the United States and other nations towards war as claims and counter claims are made though for him it’s not so much about the Adamantium as it is about a personal grudge.  Meanwhile there is something Ross is not telling anyone.

Therein lies the main issue with the film which is not so much the fault of the writer or director but the marketing people. The red Hulk has been front and centre of a lot of the promotion for the movie meaning we go into it not only knowing it will appear but who it is. When the whole momentum of the narrative is designed to build up to what should be a shock for the viewer it just isn’t. We’ve all been watching thinking “when is he going to turn into the red Hulk then”? and that’s not the best way to view. This robs the final section of much of the impact it would otherwise have had and that is further compounded by a somewhat generic final smackdown of the kind we’ve seen probably too many times in other Marvel movies.

Not that the narrative is as good as it might be. The course of events seems quite predictable especially given the big surprise is out of the bag before we see it. For example Isiah Bradley’s behaviour at the White House isn’t a mystery to anyone who knows the character. Some may not of course; for this movie the viewer is required to remember a ton of back story that would only have been gleaned by a good memory of that Hulk film starring Edward Norton that came out seventeen years ago! It helps also to have seen the tv series The Falcon ad the Winter Soldier. It’s a great series actually, regardless of this film, you really should see it.  

I don't feel there's quite enough focus on Sam Wilson the person as opposed to Captain America, if you haven’t seen the tv series you may feel like you hardly know him. An actual surprise cameo from Bucky Barnes ends with him just going back to the campaign trail (he’s standing for the Senate) rather than stopping to help out in a critical situation. Why would he just do that? Then near the end the main villain gives himself up for what seems like no reason. Its odd moments like this which make Brave New World feel like it was rushed perhaps because the planned Kang story arc has been dropped due to circumstances outside the studio’s control? It often feels like a script that needed another draft to wrinkle theses things out.

Many people watching probably won't notice things like that and to be fair the film gallops along enough remain entertaining throughout. On balance this is still a film worth seeing- there are enough highlights and some strong moments to justify its entry into the Captain America canon. You will find yourself carried along by the brio with which it is presented- director Julius Ohnah manages the constituent parts he is given well enough. Is it as good as the previous Captain America films? Probably not but it's still got a lot going for it.