Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Anthony Mackie settles in nicely as Captain America and is definitely a great choice to take this role over from Chris Evans.
Filmed in IMAX, benefits greatly from impressive action sequences and visual effects work.
There are a few strengths here: Mackie, the visuals, and Danny Ramirez is intriguing as the new Falcon.
NO
The most aggravating element of Captain America: Brave New World might be that the film lacks conviction and walks away from a number of themes it hints at addressing, but ultimately ignores.
So. Much. Exposition. Say it with me filmmakers: Trust. Your. Audience.
With such a divided audience established before the movie lands in theaters, this Brave New World has an almost impossible bar to reach. However, it feels unsure of itself. Scared at times to say the quiet parts out loud. And as a result, the movie results into a boring and frustrating viewing experience.
OUR REVIEW
Film #35 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Captain America: Brave New World, lands in theaters at a time when transgender people are actively being erased from history, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are being eliminated, hate speech is being normalized from the highest office in the land, and opportunities for anyone other than straight, white men are being threatened on a daily basis.
If you believe that the words above make me “woke,” and part of the “problem,” then I would love to say that Captain America: Brave New World is the movie for you. Except, the film has already angered a lot of people who think like you do. Steve Rogers, the original Captain America in the MCU and played by Chris Evans, has transferred the moniker to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Formerly known as “The Falcon,” Mackie was well-liked in the MCU - that is until a vocal contingent of MCU “fans” took to social media to express their displeasure that Mackie, a Black actor, is now representing Captain America.
Vile, deplorable social media chatter aside, Captain America: Brave New World does have the unfortunate task of having to be so great to overcome all the pre-release noise. Not only does it have to reset the Captain America cinematic story for a new character, but Julian Onah’s film has to try and please a polarized world that feels more outrageous and emboldened in spouting dangerous rhetoric than ever before.
Cutting to the chase: the film fails to meet the moment. Though to be fair, few films would be able to. Rare however is the superhero movie that feels so skittish in digging deeper among the themes and topics it brushes up against. As a movie, it assimilates, falls in line, and accepts a world far different than the realities it tries to emulate. Written by a makeshift team of five different credited screenwriters, the film fumbles around a narrative that focuses on themes of retribution, wrongful imprisonment, atonement, and the hubris of American exceptionalism, to name merely a few.
None of this resonates. Talks about forming a new Avengers occur, likely to whet the whistles of diehard Marvel fans, while newly elected President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) seeks to broker a treaty with Japan over the discovery of adamantium, an indestructible metal alloy found on the Celestial Island in the Indian Ocean.
Onah should have plenty to work with and build upon. Though when the film is not delivering thrilling action sequences and impressive visual effects, Brave New World simply lacks any voice of conviction.
With Ford now in the MCU, taking over a role formerly played by the late William Hurt, he does bring a gruff, grounded anchor to the film’s conflicts. In addition to the stress and strain of trying to secure the adamantium treaty, President Ross’ moodswings are kept at bay through little white pills that lead to a larger plot development that most will have already figured before it is revealed officially on screen. Eventually though, as the trailer reveals, an angry President Ross loses himself and transforms into the Big Red Hulk.
Big Red Hulk. Red Hulk Smash. Red Hulk Mad. Red Hulk Takes Valuable Time Away From Other Important Characters.
Among the frustrating parts of all of this is that Mackie is a pretty strong Captain America. He certainly fits the bill of an action star. Action scenes he appears in are arguably the film’s finest moments. Plus, he builds palpable chemistry with the new “Falcon” - upstart Air Force Lieutenant Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez). And Mackie slides into his newly minted super-suit with ample confidence.
We even find ourselves with a fairly decent villain this time around - returning biologist gone crazy - Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson). Reprising a role he first played nearly 20 years ago, his involvement does make this film something of a de facto sequel to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, while also making connections to the 2021 Disney+ miniseries, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
As a way of catching everybody up, this is also a film with one of these exposition-heavy screenplays. We don’t even have to really think about anything because details are simply told to us in scene after scene. The words largely run together, and often it feels as if those in charge were afraid to trust the audience and allow viewers to figure details out for themselves.
Perhaps my favorite scene comes when one character does that thing where they ask themselves a question and then verbally answer it, all within the same monologue:
“Did I make the decision to do what I did and did I really want to do that? Yes, and now I will tell you all the reasons why I made the decision to do what I did and how I really did it.”
Few films of this magnitude feel this unsteady and unsure of itself. The best Marvel films blend fantasy with reality, using superhero narratives to reflect fears and conflicts we feel and experience every day. Brave New World hints at important themes, but remains sanitized, risk free, and largely forgettable.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, William Mark McCullough, Takehiro Hira
Director: Julius Onah
Written by: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, Peter Glanz (screenplay); Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson (story)
Based on the “Captain America” character, created by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby
Release Date: February 14, 2025
Walt Disney Pictures