Captain America: Brave New World hit the scene this past Valentine’s Day, and crowds and critics alike are not pleased.
While not offensive by any means, to MCU fans hanging onto the long standing franchise, Brave New World played things very safe in some aspects, and very underwhelmingly in others. The plot is as follows; as usual a spoiler warning is in order.
The plot follows Sam Wilson’s Captain America, who is, to a degree, training a new Falcon by the name of Joachin Torres. The story’s opening conflict is between Falcon and Captain America and the Serpent Society over some drug related crimes happening in Mexico. The Serpent Society, headed by Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder, plays a mostly backseat role within the greater aspect of the story, and the main villain of the film is Samuel Sterns from the 2008 Incredible Hulk, also known as The Leader. The Leader has been kept in The Raft prison under lock and key by order of Thaddeus Ross, who by this point has been president for five months. Ross himself spends most of the film pressing for legislatures over the celestial island now taking up most of the Pacific Ocean, as it is composed of Adimantium, a metal sought by America and the Japanese. In the midst of a speech he’s giving about said legislature he is attacked by mind controlled CIA operatives who are eventually confirmed to be controlled by The Leader.
The film’s climax sees the reveal that Ross is now Red Hulk, through Gamma radiation affecting him through pills being given to him by The Leader which we are led to believe have been fixing Ross’ heart condition. Ross hulks out, the military open fire on him. When this proves futile, he and Sam Wilson square off in a cherry blossom garden before Ross sees said cherry blossom trees, and thinks of his daughter, calming him down enough to be retrained. In a similar fashion to his tv show, Sam tells government officials to “Do better”, Ross and Leader both turn themselves in, the new Falcon is called upon to help build a new Avengers team, and Leader sets up a sequel in a post-credits scene.
To start off, the plot is poor, and acting talent is truly wasted in the case of Giancarlo Esposito. Giancarlo is a well-known actor with much to offer, and he was a complete sideshow within the film, with his only drawing point to his character is the man playing it, though even in this case even he couldn’t make it interesting. In the case of the plot it doesn’t feel like a Captain America film, or even a film really about Sam Wilson as a character. Brave New World is clearly out to tie up plot holes of other now 20 year old movies that people had mostly forgotten about. Samuel Sterns is a forgettable villain who many modern MCU fans wouldn’t see as a credible threat, especially considering he was still within MCU canon for the past, and once again I emphasize, 20 YEARS, and has done nothing substantial in said time.
A film that desperately wants to be a Hulk sequel but must not have had the budget or contract for Ruffalo, it was a weak attempt at bringing life back to the MCU in the way many fans thought it might. The climax of the film ending with President Ross essentially being put back into place by being lulled into a state of calm by cherry blossoms adds to the beautiful irony of people in the audience coming to see a Red Hulk rampage and losing any semblance of energy or investment by the time said rampage comes.
All in all, Captain America: Brave New World, was a very safe and simple attempt at a Marvel film, but it won’t be the movie that brings cinema cynics back to the Marvel brand. Ultimately, from a former MCU fanboy, you will need to wait a little longer to find the film to bring your investment in the franchise back.
