CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Harrison Ford, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Julius Onah
NICK
I don't need to tell you the MCU has lost a lot of its shine recently, although I don't think it's been as bad as others believe it to be. With Captain America: Brave New World, I'm starting to see their point. Aside from another great turn from Harrison Ford, this is a hollow sequel to The Incredible Hulk that nobody asked for. Plagued by re-shoots that led to choppy editing and shoehorned characters, all this film does is question Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as a leader while doing nothing to prove that he is one. Consider me nervous. Reed Richards, you may be our last hope.
QUENTIN
Have you ever tried to recreate your grandmother’s recipe, but it just doesn’t taste the same? That’s probably because it wasn’t “made with love.” Sadly, Brave New World is a lot like The Winter Soldier, minus the love. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine – lower tier MCU is still decently good – but there simply isn’t much soul here, exacerbated by a very shoehorned-in, post-election commentary. Otherwise, it’s a weird blend of half-sequels to Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Plus, the trailers absolutely spoil Red Hulk (Harrison Ford), which should have been an exciting “Cap catching Mjolnir” moment.
ADRIANO
I can't keep giving the MCU movies any passes. I thought Captain America: Brave New World was just awful. Harrison Ford was committed, I'll give it that. But aside from him, the visuals are repulsive, the editing is nauseating, the political aspects are void of anything, and the end credit scene is laughable. Worst of all, for a film trying to set up Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as the new leader, it's so focused on being a sequel to The Incredible Hulk that they gave us no reason to care about him beyond a shoehorned emotional beat an hour-and-a-half in.
AMARÚ
There’s a good, maybe even great movie somewhere in Captain America: Brave New World (I mean, just look at some of Carl Lumbly's, Giancarlo Esposito's, and Harrison Ford’s performances), but you can feel the fear the studio had after initial test screenings because Marvel frankensteined multiple reshoots together to make a lackluster, fangless story that is way too easy for our new Cap (Anthony Mackie) to investigate. Its biggest fault is that it wants to tell, instead of show, anything and everything it can, leaving Mackie, the cast, and the audience with nothing more than a stepping stone towards the end of this inconsistent saga.
ROBERT
Emotional resonance used to be an indelible part of my MCU watches, but that has been few and far between since Avengers: Endgame. Tears and shouts of elation have been replaced by tacit responses of “Hey, look at that” and “That’s cool.” Captain America: Brave New World lives in that middling reaction pool like it was born in it. The failures of this movie are not a reflection on Anthony Mackie or Harrison Ford, as they put forth effort, but they seem to be the only ones. The Marvel machine is smoking and needs a ten-point restoration.
PAIGE
I want to preface my review by saying this isn’t a terrible movie; however, it certainly isn’t a good one, either. Even while I enjoyed some aspects of Brave New World, such as Harrison Ford's portrayal of President Thaddeus Ross, there are a lot of issues that you can't overlook. Despite Anthony Mackie's best efforts to carry this film across the finish line, it is dragged down by its disjointed and flimsy plot. Furthermore, it’s supposed to be a political thriller, yet it lacks a political stance while being too dull to be considered a thriller.
BODE
I’ve been critical of the MCU for some time now, and it seems I’m not alone in that sentiment these days. However, as someone who used to be a fan, I still go into Marvel films with an open mind, which was no different for Brave New World. Sadly, I found it somewhat mid-tier because there are problems abound, from the messy narrative to the poor CGI. It does have its moments though, particularly with Carl Lumbly, and I admired that it was lean and snark-free. It's nothing great (or even particularly good), but the MCU has delivered worse.
BRYAN
On paper, there is a lot to admire about Brave New World. However, I can’t say the same about how it’s brought to life on screen. Aside from a good outing from Harrison Ford, everything else left me feeling nothing - no excitement, no frustration - just disappointment. For a political thriller, it lacks any sort of thrills, and for a Marvel flick, it is tonally inconsistent and visually sloppy. Will the MCU ever be great again?
