‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Was A Good Movie
Yes, that’s kind of an overly straightforward headline, but Captain America: Brave New World actually was a good movie. That seems like a noteworthy thing to point out, as the film seems to be the target of a lot of negative hype. It has a lowly 50% approval rate among critics on Rotten Tomatoes (although it has an 80% approval rate among fans). Only two MCU films have fared worse on the “Tomatometer”: 2021’s The Eternals (47%) and 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (46%). They deserve their low ratings; Brave New World does not.
Obviously, Marvel has become such a behemoth in recent years that it is fashionable for critics to want to take it down a few notches. To be fair, as it has gotten bigger and bigger, the MCU has become a bit bloated with canon and continuity. Sometimes, it feels like you need to watch an explainer video on YouTube (or three) to catch up before stepping into the theater. With this in mind, I often give a primer on what you need to watch before seeing a MCU film: here’s the one I wrote to prepare fans for Captain America: Brave New World.
I was pleased to see that the film functions as a stand-alone movie. Anything that is connected to previous flicks is explained. There’s a lot of exposition. What you really need to know is that Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, who entered the MCU eleven years ago in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, was the partner of the previous Cap, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. At the end of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, an elderly Steve handed the shield to Sam. In 2021’s six-episode Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Solider, Sam makes peace with the loss of Steve, reckons with what it means for a Black man to become Captain America, and figures out how to return to living after vanishing for five years (after the events of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War). Falcon and the Winter Solider is also where he met his new partner, Joaquin Torres (played by Danny Ramirez).
Both Sam Wilson, the character, and Anthony Mackie, the actor, have earned this moment, and it’s been a long time coming. Sam is navigating his relationship with the government and his place as a superhero. Unlike Steve Rogers, he never took the super serum, so he doesn’t have super strength or super speed. He’s just a guy doing his best. His suit, enhanced by Wakandan technology, definitely comes in handy. But at his core, he’s still the guy we met in Captain America: Winter Soldier. He’s a veteran who became a social worker, trying his best to use empathy and listening skills (his real superpowers) to help others.
(It’s also worth mentioning that he and Steve influenced each other; that was not a one-way street. When they first met, Sam was running a support group for vets. In Endgame, we saw Steve following in Sam’s footsteps, leading a support group for people who survived the “Blip” from Infinity War.)
Brave New World also gives a mostly satisfying redemption arc to Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who we first met in 2008’s Incredible Hulk as a U.S. Army general; we later saw him as the Secretary of State. He was played by William Hurt, who died in 2022. Harrison Ford takes over the role here; Ross is now the President of the United States (and, as the commercials have revealed, he becomes the Red Hulk). But it’s not just about epic battles: a big subplot of his film is Ross and his attempt to change and heal the rift between him and his daughter, Betty. Liv Tyler returns to the role; we last saw her in 2008.
Unlike most of the other recent MCU films, Captain America: Brave New World is earthbound, other than a huge island made of the alien element Adamantium. Much of the film recalls a 1970s espionage thriller, much like Captain America: The Winter Solider did. This is both a strength and a weakness; as has been mentioned elsewhere, it’s a political thriller that doesn’t say too much about our current political climate beyond a great exchange between Sam and Joaquin about getting “a seat at the table.”
The inclusion of the character Ruth Bat-Seraph was an interesting choice; in the comic books, she is Sabra, Israel’s first superhero, and that seemed to have been the original plan for the film. She is played by Israeli actress Shira Haas, who used to serve in the IDF (as most Israelis are required to). The film was in the works before Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing destruction and devastation that has taken place since. Even before October 7, her inclusion would have been somewhat controversial; Sabra’s origin was problematic on a number of levels. There’s been speculation the story was reworked to minimize her Israeli connection. The film mentions that she is an Israeli who became a Black Widow, and they leave it at that. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, they do with the character in subsequent films and shows.
Due to the negative hype, I was bracing myself all through the movie for it to go downhill; that didn’t happen. I don’t put Captain America: Brave New World in the top tier of MCU films, but it’s certainly better than a lot of them, and is a great new beginning for Mackie’s Sam Wilson. The next time we’ll see him is likely going to be in the upcoming Avengers films which will deal with multiversal threats. But here’s hoping he survives that, and we get a fifth Cap film that takes place in our world and is more based in humanity and its problems. There’s no Marvel character better suited to deal with them than him.
