Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.
Chuck says:
Among fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” is regarded as the best of the stand-alone entries in the franchise. More grounded and smarter than those brimming with super heroics, the espionage driven feature has more in common with “Three Days of the Condor” than “Guardians of the Galaxy.” In many ways, “Soldier,” is the most accessible of the MCU movies, one even the casual fan can embrace with little background knowledge.
I suspect that those behind the 35th(!) entry in the MCU, “Captain America: Brave New World,” studied “Soldier.” It too revolves around a government conspiracy and while its actions sequences are implausible, they are earthbound. No cosmic shenanigans are in play in this relatively modest tale and while following the “Soldier” template is obviously in play, director Julius Onah and the five (yes, five!) screenwriters who toiled on “Brave” lose its thread, almost from the start.
Narratively, the story is a paradox doomed from the start, as it simultaneously has too much story, and yet, not enough. Those who haven’t been with the MCU from the start or done a deep dive into its history are likely to be at sea with its story, which is ostensibly a sequel to one of the franchise’s least loved entries, 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk.” Characters not seen since that feature play key roles here, while those who let the Disney+ series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” slip through the cracks will be wondering where Chris Evans is.
To the movie’s detriment, Onah wastes little time throwing the viewer into the deep end, as we’re greeted with the sight of the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), busting up a hostage situation. Seems the mercenary Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) has botched an operation in which he was supposed to pick up a container with classified material. Fortunately, Wilson and the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), intercept it and return it to a grateful President Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for the deceased William Hurt).
As a token of thanks, the Commander-in-Chief invites the two heroes, along with Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a veteran who was experimented on during the Super Soldier Initiative and forgotten, to the White House. The event is the announcement of an international treaty regarding the mining and ownership of materials gathered from the remains of the Celestial Tiamut, which were revealed in the forgettable “Eternals.” However, all goes off the rails when Bradley and four others try to assassinate Ross, an event that puts the entire agreement in danger.
I could likely compose another two or three paragraphs with plot details, but I’ll spare you. Long story short, Wilson realizes Bradley’s been set up, tries to find out who’s pulling the strings and uncovers a conspiracy as convoluted as it is nonsensical.
Whenever there are more than two screenwriters working on the same script that spells trouble, but when there’s five…well, you get something like this mess. Though there are numerous scribes credited, it seems as though they were all pulling from the same resources. Yes, the film is made up of plenty of incidents, but none of it is new, resulting in the feeling that nothing is really happening. This is the equivalent of left-over meatloaf, satisfying the first time, not so much the second…or third…or fourth…
As for the movie’s bad guy, that would be Dr. Samual Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), first introduced in the aforementioned “Incredible Hulk,” then abandoned, until now. Though never mentioned by name, in the comics Stearns becomes The Leader, a seminal foe to the not-so-jolly green giant. Seems everyone’s reaction to gamma radiation is different and the exposure Stearns’ endured resulted in super intelligence and a very, very big noggin’. Here, it seems his brain is bursting through the skin and it’s to Nelson’s credit that he’s able to pull this look off without eliciting laughs from the audience.
As for this film’s version of the Hulk, he is of the crimson variety and Ross is his alter-ego. How the president becomes the personification of how I feel when I stub my toe, is perhaps the cleverest thing in the script. The transformation and showdown with Wilson don’t occur until well into the third act, but it’s worth the wait. The battle that ensues is titanic and nearly worth the price of admission. However, it comes off as anti-climactic after having sat through the needless narrative convolutions that proceed it.
With his legacy firmly established, it’s a mystery why Ford would dip his toe in the MCU pool this late in his career. To his credit, he doesn’t phone it in, bringing the sort of stately strength we’ve come to expect from him, while sweating bullets as he tries to contain his character’s rage. Indications are that he’ll be back for more. As for Mackie, he’s surprisingly stiff, not comfortable delivering the quips Wilson is given, laboring in the more intimate scenes. There’s little in the way of passion or enthusiasm in anything he does in the role, making it even harder to stay engaged in the plot.
As to the politics of the film, I’m convinced that every viewer will see what they want to see from their own perspective. In production since 2022, it would perhaps be foolish to draw connections between Ross’ doctrine and actions to what’s taking place today. Yet, it’s hard to shake the image of the raging Red Hulk atop a flaming White House, indiscriminately swinging a flagpole with a tattered Stars and Stripes in an effort to protect himself, and not draw some correlation.
As with many of the MCU features, I tend to remember the quiet moments when these larger-than-life characters reveal their humanity. “Brave” contains a few. Among them is a scene in which Ross begs his estranged daughter Betty (Liv Tyler) for forgiveness, and a moment in which Wilson expresses doubt of ever being able to step out of the shadow of his predecessor, Steve Rogers. These scenes, not the bloated, numbing action sequences Onah pummels the viewer with, are what stand out in “Brave.” It’s in these moments, I connect with the characters and the film. The bombastic, been-there-done-that pyrotechnics are just so much needless filler.
1 1/2 Stars
