‘Captain America: Brave New World’ flies, but never soars

By Ben Konuch

“Steve gave them something to believe in. You give them something to aspire to.”

“Captain America: Brave New World” is perhaps the Marvel movie with the most to prove leading up to its release. As many fans lamented the loss of Steve Rogers as Captain America and Sam Wilson received numerous forms of backlash for picking up the mantle – some directed at his character or heroic potential and others hatefully thrown at his race and appearance – the prospect of making a fourth “Captain America” film after the mixed-reception to “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was an uncertain gamble. To make matters worse, a troubling production including multiple months of reshoots, rewrites and even a title change left many fans feeling uneasy about the new film, and I was one of them.

I’m happy to say that we’ve been proved mostly wrong.

“Brave New World” is certainly not a perfect movie. Its pacing moves at a breakneck pace and its story, while interesting, is bogged under the weight of its own abundance with any one of its numerous side plots having the potential to have the entire runtime focused on. Despite its flaws, “Brave New World” manages to be loads of fun and definitively proves that Sam Wilson is here to stay as Cap – and that is absolutely a good thing. 

“ Brave New World” takes place an undisclosed amount of time after the events of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and follows Sam as he navigates being the new Captain America in a charged political climate. . When Cap is invited to the White House along with the new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbley) as a gesture of goodwill from newly elected President Ross (recast as Harrison Ford), he is invited to work together to find common ground and rebuild the Avengers. 

Cap’s initial hesitancy and distrust of Ross’ offer have little time to marinate as a sudden and inexplicable assassination attempt on Ross from Isaiah Bradley thrusts Cap into discovering a deadly conspiracy in order to clear his friend’s name.

This plot is fairly formulaic, and it’s here the consequences of the film’s reshoots are felt most strongly. On paper, the film’s story is interesting and the experience of it is entertaining, but the pacing moves so quickly that we barely have any time to process or absorb what it’s throwing at us. 

The first half of the film aims to mirror the political-thriller genre that “The Winter Soldier” did so well, and while not a poor attempt, we simply move too quickly to be able to resonate with its dark mystery. Cap and Falcon discover things a bit too easily because “Brave New World” simply can’t afford to wait around very long. It’s not an outright bad result, but it certainly is a clunky one.

This weaker story is offset by “Brave New World’s” greatest strengths, though, which come in the form of its character writing and actor chemistry. Anthony Mackie is phenomenal here as Sam Wilson, and the writing team behind him backs him up by characterizing him as realistic and a little more rough around the edges than Steve Rogers, but an undeniably symbol of hope. 

Any angry jabs against the film for being “woke” or “forcing diversity” are completely false and hypocritical, as “Brave New World” does a great job of balancing both acknowledging the failures of the past – particularly with America’s treatment of Isaiah Bradley – without chaining the film to once again make Wilson prove anything to be Cap. He simply is our new Captain America, like it or not, and he’s here to inspire us that a brave new world where we see the good in one another isn’t beyond our reach. 

Harrison Ford is a wonderful addition to the film as President Ross, as the film asks us to consider whether or not one film’s villain can ever change to become another’s hero. He brings both presence and formidability as well as a softer, nuanced side to the character.  

However, my favorite performance of the film came from Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres / Falcon, as he brought an undeniable chemistry with Mackie and a unique dynamic as Cap’s right-hand man. While Torres’ humor felt a bit forced and out of touch in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” he here breaks the shackles of the “funny friend” archetype and represents a more realistic character. He cracks jokes to compensate for his insecurity, earnestly leaps at the chance to be a hero and finally feels like an accurate representation of a Gen-Z character that doesn’t feel insufferable. He’s got charm in a completely different way from Cap, but together, the two make a team that feels like a refreshingly new dynamic in the Marvel landscape.

The action is hit or miss, with certain moments triumphing such as the captivating aerial dogfight around the husk of a dead Celestial or the gritty hand-to-hand brawl with Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder. Other scenes, such as its opening action sequence, simply manage to be mediocre. The action is both full of spectacle and at times, surprisingly dull. 

The film’s fights are not flawless, but they do contain a sliver of a return-to-form for a more gritty take on the Marvel hero. Although held back by the weight of its earlier drafts, the reshoots have managed to give “Brave New World” a glimpse of what it could be.

By the time the credits roll, “Brave New World” doesn’t manage to solidify itself as one of the best Marvel films, but it doesn’t need to be. I still had a lot of fun with the film, and while its weaknesses were unmistakable, so were the undeniably great acting, chemistry and character writing. 

“Brave New World” may be the weakest of the “Captain America” films, but it effectively fulfills its duty to sell Sam Wilson as a new, bold and exciting take on Cap. The film still manages to give me hope for a better tomorrow and a brighter future for Marvel films, and maybe its own political call represents its own purpose for Marvel: a good first step.

I give “Captain America: Brave New World” a 6.5/10

“Captain America: Brave New World” is now showing in theaters

Ben Konuch is a senior Strategic Communication student who serves as a writer for Cedars A&E and as their social media lead. He enjoys getting sucked into good stories, playing video games and swing dancing in the rain.

Images courtesy of Marvel Studios.