Captain America: Brave New World Review

I finally saw Captain America: Brave New World, and here are my thoughts…

So I’ve been a little hesitant to see this movie just because it’s beginning to get SO MUCH negative reception, and after seeing it, I can safely say… it’s a mixed bag. 

This movie has some serious high-quality moments and some serious lows, like this thing is more scattered in quality than dropping a car engine off the Empire State Building… like everything is all over the place lol. 

Anthony Mackey is very likable as Sam Wilson. He’s funny, smart, caring, and down-to-earth; he makes a very likable hero with strong convictions that makes you root for his character… Plus, he has some pretty fun fight scenes. I should start calling him “Jumpy,” because every fight move he made when he was facing off against one, he’d find some reason to put a jump kick move in.

I like the villain… Without spoiling anything, I don’t know why he’s here of all places, and they tease some cool plot ideas that would have been very cool to see in another character’s movie, but for ridiculous reasons I can’t get those, so… I have to make do. I can certainly think of a better place he would be, but again… No spoilers; the look, ideas behind the character, and the performance were all good.

Carl Lumley can’t poop after this movie because he acts his ass off. He and Harrison Ford are the best things about this movie; Harrison Ford gives one of the most layered and emotionally complex character performances in the MCU. Even you as the audience aren’t sure where his character stands and his motivation. 

Shira Haas as Ruth was a fun and mysterious character. I wish she had more to do in the movie or at least in future projects because she’s cool. 

The movie has fun action. The special effects look incredible; they mix up fight and defense ideas so something exciting is always going on, and the cinematography looks stunning. As far as bringing comic book visuals to the big screen, this movie is one of the better examples of it liking realistic and cool. 

They work in some things from the streaming shows, and if you’ve been paying attention, it’s kind of cool… If you haven’t been keeping up, it might make some viewers feel lost, but not too bad. 

There is some cheesy dialogue and clunky exposition. The actors charisma and humor helped pull most of it off, but it could have been improved. I don’t blame the actors and writers for this; the movie just had too many cooks in the kitchen watching different things. 

The story feels like it started as one thing, then the plot changed to another, then another, then a TV show, another character came in, the story was changed to a Marvel “let’s tie up these loose ends” idea, brought back the original idea, all that other stuff, and recycled some old ideas into the plot and characters. Add this villain, add this Hulk, give it about 12 reshoots, and boom… there is your movie. 

The movie is a bit of a catch-up as far as coming back around to previous movies post-credit scenes and plots as a way to connect everything, which I appreciate the thought and creativity of, but it does make the plot a bit scattershot. 

There is one cameo I dug; it was interesting and had some fun future implications. 

The MCU has a serious problem of hiring these amazing actors who can give layered and memorable performances, and they underutilize them in small roles. Like, you got Giancarlo Esposito; he could’ve been a perfect Mr. Sinister or Norman Osborn, would’ve knocked that performance out of the park, but you give him this, and it’s like… that’s it? 

The ending was a bit anti-climactic, like they had a climax, then added another to make it more thrilling. 

I most enjoyed the spy thriller aspect, taking fantastical ideas and mixing real-world politics with time; that was very intriguing and felt fresh. 

This movie is kind of a Frankenstein of ideas, themes, influences, cooks in the kitchen, and feeling like a movie and a TV show episode at the same time… This leads to a very mixed page experience. 

The movie works better in moments than as a whole, but there are some well-done moments here. 

Brave New World isn’t as bad as people say, but there are problems here, and I get people’s frustration; maybe it will be reevaluated in 20 years… I give it 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I know Marvel has said they are course correcting, and all the things I liked seemed to have come from the reshoots, so it makes me look forward to the next two Marvel movies this year.