Anthony Mackie takes up the mantle of Captain America in this uneven sequel. Here’s our Captain America: Brave New World review.
After a quiet year – Deadpool & Wolverine was the only Marvel film to be released in 2024 – Marvel is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the screen in 2025 with three releases. The year starts off with Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World, which is the first outing for Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the titular hero.
Brave New World couldn’t be more timely. It arrives less than a week after Kendrick Lamar created the American flag on the backs of Black men in his Superbowl half-time show that also included Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam. More egregiously, it arrives a month after Donald Trump was sworn into office as the President of the United States. It’s impossible not to watch Brave New World without this lens, but it’s a shame the film pretends its starting point isn’t as groundbreaking as it is.
Putting a Black superhero on the screen still feels quietly revolutionary, but making him Captain America? That’s going to ruffle some feathers, but Brave New World plays things disappointingly safe. Sure, superhero films don’t need to be political, but if your premise is inherently so, you might as well use it. The title might promise a new, braver world, but it’s nowhere to be seen in the film.
The plot gets off to a promising start as Sam Wilson rubs elbows with President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over from The Incredible Hulk's William Hurt), who asks him to recreate the Avengers. However, an assassination attempt against Ross lands Wilson and his new sidekick Joaquin Torres (Top Gun: Maverick’s Danny Ramirez) in the middle of an international conflict about adamantium – a metal even stronger than Wakanda’s vibranium.
Brave New World aims for a tone similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Onah’s film desperately wants to be a political thriller with ace action sequences, but it ends up being a bland, limp film that doesn’t satisfy action-hungry superhero fans nor those who want Marvel to offer something with a bit more meat on its bones. The action scenes have little rhythm; Onah chops each fight into a million pieces in an effort to create some sense of danger and urgency, but it only results in a headache.
Much of the film’s advertising, including the official poster, has focused on the appearance of the Red Hulk. I must admit, the CGI here looks great, but it seems that’s where the entire visual effects budget went. Much has already been said about the extensive reshoots for the film and unfortunately, you can see which scenes were redone. Brave New World includes some downright ugly green screen work, and it’s unclear why Marvel would allow the film into cinemas looking like that.
It’s not all bad though. Mackie proves to be a charismatic lead and Ramirez is a spirited companion. Ford is clearly having a blast in a role that doesn’t demand much from him, but the actor’s charm works well for a character that’s otherwise thin. It’s also lovely to see Carl Lumbly back as Isaiah Bradley, whom we first met in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier. Tim Blake Nelson, returning as Samuel Sterns from The Incredible Hulk, is sadly wasted in a part that’s never given the centre stage it deserves.
Brave New World hints at more compelling themes, such as Sam’s doubts about himself as a Captain America without any superpowers. He voices those concerns to a friend, and it’s here that the film is closest to something real and affecting. There’s a really great superhero film in Brave New World, but it’s buried underneath a lot of underwhelming, messy action scenes and a tedious plot that doesn’t amount to much.
Captain America: Brave New World is in cinemas 14th February
