The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise’s latest entry, Captain America: Brave New World, was released on Feb. 14 this year, which only spread public indifference. However, is it justified? Could this film supersede all expectations and become a genuine film of merit, like the old Captain America films from way back when?
The plot of Captain America: Brave New World follows the story of Sam Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, who is trying to accept the mantle of Captain America, a mythical hero in MCU’s history. In doing so, Wilson gets entangled in government lies and hides a litany of secrets involving political espionage and mental reprogramming.
During the course of the film, we see many older MCU characters, such as Thaddeus Ross and Samuel Sterns (from The Incredible Hulk and Civil War, respectively).
Additionally, Captain America ventures into an underground base to discover the nature of the film’s mystery (The Winter Soldier and Civil War).
If one had seen some of the older MCU movies, such as The Winter Soldier, Civil War, and Iron Man 3, this film would seem familiar, which is by its nature.
Brave New World is a movie that lives on the back of history, relying on the nostalgia and plot elements from older, more successful films. In doing so, it rehashes them in a far less promising manner, not understanding what made those movies great.
According to public consensus, what made films like The Winter Soldier (which this movie borrows from the most) so beloved was how daring they were for their time.
In a series of digestible genre films, along comes a spy thriller filled with themes of government manipulation, modern American lies, and symbols of true freedom. Brave New World relies on many of these elements, but it doesn’t have the guts to truly embody them as its predecessor did.
Captain America responds to these hard-hitting issues, such as racism and police brutality, by vaguely stating that they need to “use the system.” This film intends to be seen as a political film; however, it fails to say anything of substance.
Stepping away from politics, the editing of this film is bizarre. Many scenes that require dramatic weight are edited down to less than half a minute while some throwaway action scenes—without any real setup—go on, and on and on, making every potentially interesting moment fall flat.
Despite the lambasting in this article, this is not the worst movie ever. For one, the casting is not horrible. Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford are monumentally talented actors in their own right, and every other character plays their part well according to script.
Ultimately, this is a franchise that needs something fresh and new. Audiences are tired of the endless stream of mediocre content from the MCU. Whether it is a random Disney Plus show or a half-baked movie relying on knowledge of past movies for understanding, a spark of innovation is needed to maintain attention in a world once held to high standards.
That, truly, is the real shame of this film: the MCU has become a joke. For better or for worse, this was once the juggernaut of the entertainment industry that would provide a healthy stream of good to sufficient films, compelling audiences to rush to theatres. Unfortunately, the reality falls extremely short of the expectations.
There are other projects that are known to be coming out, such as Thunderbolts and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and while we can hope for those to hold merit, hope alone cannot assure what truly transpires.