James Berardinelli review - ** out of ****

https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/captain-america-brave-new-world

Was it only six years ago that every Marvel movie was greeted with unbridled anticipation and around-the-clock showings that delivered box office records? Although Disney executives have been quick to blame the pandemic for the decline of the MCU, the rot extends deeper. Its roots are not in the disease that closed down theaters in 2020 but in an inability of the cross-franchise goliath to recover from the seismic impact of the climactic duology of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Although some will claim that the final confrontation with Thanos couldn’t have been further delayed, there was a sense among casual viewers that Endgame represented finality and Kevin Feige’s uneven handling of the post-Infinity War productions has validated that perspective. Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth title to co-opt the “Captain America” name and the first to star Anthony Mackie in the role, is another example of how badly unmoored the MCU has become in an era of unfamiliar heroes and stalled storylines.

Brave New World doesn’t feel like a blockbuster movie. It feels like something smaller and less significant – perhaps a giant-sized made-for-Disney+ creation. Despite mentioning several A-list figures, none makes an appearance, forcing Brave New World to settle for a bunch of second-rate Marvel personalities (outside Sam Wilson, who was around for a while before being gifted Cap’s shield). The plot is poorly constructed (with five credited writers), expecting viewers to have knowledge they may not have accumulated (including a recall back to 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and experience with the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). This is the worst kind of fan service since it effectively shuts out anyone without the level of dedication a die-hard viewer might possess. No one wants to have to do homework to watch a movie. Despite name-dropping a Marvel mainstay in the title, this is pure filler.

The story drops us into the middle of some kind of international confrontation related to Celestial Island (thereby making Eternals recommended viewing, if only for background), with American and Japanese interests squaring off for the rights of a new element found on it. Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), a former antagonist who has been around since The Incredible Hulk when he was played by the late William Hurt, is now President. He brings in the current Captain America, Sam Wilson, with the idea of reforming the Avengers but his plans are curtailed by a failed assassination attempt. Sam, along with a couple of cohorts – the newly-branded Falcon, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), and an Israeli Black Widow, Ruth Bat-Seraph (Sira Haas) – seek to track down the shadowy enemy behind the attempt on Ross’ life. After battling the deadly Seth Voelker (Giancarlo Esposito), the leader of the “Serpent Society,” Sam learns that the ultimate architect of the chaos is Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who has an ax to grind with Ross and has concocted a complicated scheme to enact his revenge.

The movie offers a couple of highlights – not enough to keep it from feeling like a slog but sufficient to avoid “unwatchable” territory – amidst all the unexciting action. (A few spoilers follow, especially for those who haven’t seen any trailers.) The Red Hulk, despite only being on-screen for about 15 minutes, is one of those. Watching him mimic King Kong and go on a rampage toward the movie’s end is fun, but the resolution (like most of the movie) is anticlimactic. Then there’s Giancarlo Esposito’s Voelker, who’s more venomous than Sterns, and more deserving of an encore in a (hopefully) better future movie. As henchmen go, he’s top-of-the-line. (Voelker, a.k.a. Sidewinder, was allegedly added as part of the re-shoots and was not in the original script.)

Brave New World desperately needed at least one more rewrite to tighten things up and bring coherence to the narrative. And, while fans may enjoy seeing Liv Tyler (reprising her role as Betty Ross – a character who hasn’t been seen in 17 years) and Sebastian Stan, their inclusions add little (in Tyler’s case) to nothing (in Stan’s) to the proceedings. Attempts to make Ross more of a complex character don’t really work – he’s too well-established as a bad-ass – and just muddy the waters.

As is his wont, producer Kevin Feige has tapped a relative unknown for directorial duties. This approach has at times served him well, but is hasn’t been kind to him of late, with Chloe Zhao (Eternals) and Nia DaCosta (The Marvels) in particular proving incapable of handling the demands of big-budget franchise productions. Add Julius Onah to the group. His style is amateurish, with a simplistic shot selection and basic fight scene choreography. Although the undercooked screenplay is more to blame for Brave New World’s failure, Onah’s lack of experience doesn’t help matters.