Title: Captain America: Brave New World
Describe This Movie Using One Slacker Quote:
SHOULD HAVE STAYED AT BUS STATION: Just because that thought crossed my mind, there now exists this very second a whole ‘nother reality where I’m at the bus station.
Brief Plot Synopsis: Cap capers, Hulk smashes.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 2.5 Ministry singles out of 5
Tagline: “The future favors the brave.”
Better Tagline: “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something red, white, and blue.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is the new Captain America, though not everyone is thrilled about it. Newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) says he’s ready to turn over a new leaf with regard to “enhanced beings” following the Sokovia Accords, but the Commander-in-Chief has a bit of a temper, something exacerbated by the discovery of an alien metal and some pills he’s been taking, courtesy of an old nemesis. Can Cap and the new (maybe) Falcon (Danny Ramirez) get to the bottom of things before someone splits their pants again?
“Critical” Analysis: 35 movies.
That’s how many entries there are (to date) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, going back to 2008’s Iron Man (though it’s another ’08 MCU release, The Incredible Hulk, that’s relevant to the current discussion). And given the events of the latest — Captain America: Brave New World — and the rapacious need for content at Disney, we’re just getting warmed up.
This isn’t a surprise. Where some people might think the Marvel franchise should’ve called it quits after Endgame (*cough*), there’s no denying the pressure on a studio to keep cranking out superhero flicks, diminishing box office returns (Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Marvels) be damned.
CA:BNW is about as linear a connection as you can get. Many recent MCU movies have bobbed and weaved around the idea of franchise continuity (Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 and Thor: Love and Thunder basically ignored it entirely), but this puts us right back in. And finally, the MCU acknowledges that there’s a giant fucking head and hand sticking out of the Indian Ocean.
Those body parts (The Celestial Tiamat’s, to be precise) also give us the jumping off point for Marvel Phases Six and beyond, for it’s how Marvel is introducing adamantium to the MCU. Director Julias Onah (who also co-wrote, with the help of four others) doesn’t shy away from Sam’s Cap-inferiority complex and the Tuskegee Airmen parallels to the imprisonment of Isaiah Bradley (a gut-wrenching Carl Lumbly), but there’s a bigger/more profitable arc to be served here, and rebooting the X-Men is probably near the top of the list.
Onah is also trying to have it both ways: making a franchise superhero movie that also gives lip service to being introspective. Sam is keenly aware of his perceived deficiencies as the new Captain America, and let’s be honest: his lack of Super Solider enhancement means he’s gonna catch a beating here and there (he gets an assist from the Wakandans in the form of a vibranium wingsuit). Onah is also leaning heavily into the Winter Soldier vibe, with politics, mind control, former Black Widows, and secret underground military bases playing a big part.
Relax. The “former Black Widow” thing comes up in the first 20 minutes, in the form of Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), President Ross’s security advisor. Seraph is an interesting if controversial addition to the pantheon, and Haas gets a few chances to show her stuff. The bigger addition is Danny Ramirez as the potential new Falcon, Joaquin Torres. He’s the Goose to Wilson’s Maverick, with all that (mostly) implies.
Problem is, Onah can’t have it both ways. Mackie tries to find some pathos in his role, but these moments mostly disappear in the obligatory churn of VFX and a frankly weird decision (doubtless made at a higher level) to make Marvel’s triumphant return to theaters a sequel to The Incredible Hulk, a movie that’s kind of the opposite of “universally acclaimed.”
The result is a movie that doesn’t do a hell of a lot to convince us the franchise is ready to move past the Infinity Saga. Marvel spent Phases Four and Five of the MCU with movies that either pinballed around without any cohesive purpose or put all their marbles on a Big Bad played by a real life woman beater. Captain America: Brave New World is too tentative and betrays a studio hidebound by past successes.
Ford’s pretty good, though. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe that a world exists in which a U.S. President violently overreacts to negative press and turns a weird color. In all honesty, I’d take a Red Hulk in the White House over whatever it is we have now.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe isn’t going away, with the next five movies still “officially” in the pipeline (even Blade, as of this writing). There’s nothing to stop them from topping the Bowery Boys and Roy Rogers in number of films produced, since those guys aren’t exactly producing new content. It’s just too bad Brave New World doesn’t even attempt to blaze any trails.
Is There A Mid-Credits Scene? No. But there is a new Kendrick Lamar song.
Is There A Post-Credits Scene? Yes, and … it ain’t great. Still, new Kendrick Lamar song!
Captain America: Brave New World is in theaters today.
