![Captain America: Brave New World – Marvel Brings Back Paranoia And Pressure [Review]](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/57c4fff5-3f92-45db-881b-c6501765dd67-1280x640.jpg)
Many people’s favorite Marvel movie is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The vibes of the film give off something similar to The Empire Strikes Back. It’s paranoid and political, and it provides plenty of intrigue into the lives of superhuman characters. That’s really what makes Marvel the juggernaut that it is. It’s not that there are plenty of stars running around in costumes. It’s that these characters are so infinitely relatable, even with superpowers. So what happens when you take one of the remaining characters that doesn’t have superpowers and put him front and center to a worldwide conflict breaking out and a conspiracy unfolding? Well, you get Captain America: Brave New World.
At the heart of this film is the question, and it’s a big one, does Sam Wilson deserve the mantle of Captain America? It’s one that even he wrestles with. He’s constantly reminded that he is not Steve Rogers. His friends remind him, his foes remind him, low level henchmen remind him. So throughout Captain America: Brave New World, that’s something to keep in mind. The film stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, who’s now taken up the mantle of Captain America, with some resistance from the outside world. It also stars Harrison Ford (taking over for the late William Hurt) as President Thaddeus Ross, who is in the first 100 days of his presidency and trying to get a treaty ratified over the finding of adamantium in the Indian Ocean. The new element answers the question of “What are they going to do about that giant celestial from Eternals?”
They’re joined by Danny Ramirez, who plays Joaquin Torres; Sam’s right-hand man, and the new Falcon. It also brings back Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, who once again lays on the emotion and cultural resonance to his role as the “forgotten” Captain America. Finally, there’s Shira Haas, who plays Ross’ security advisor Ruth Bat-Seraph, Tim Blake Nelson, who makes his MCU return after appearing in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder, a member of the Serpent Society, deadset on killing Captain America.
All these characters go into the melting pot that is Captain America: Brave New World. The film features plenty of fascinating threads that combine for the paranoid intrigue of the film. Director Julius Onah reels in that paranoid feeling at times, but it’s something that stays under the surface for most of the film. The conspiratorial escapades of the film never overshadow that main question, they work to enforce what Sam Wilson is feeling. This is his greatest test and one that’ll show his weaknesses. It also highlights his strengths as a man, a leader, and a character.
With the political environment we’re in right now, seeing a likely conservative President turn into a big red monster is a bit on the nose. It also highlights the racial relations we see in today’s world. It’s why Isaiah Bradley’s character works so well and is so heartbreaking. Sam Wilson seeing skepticism from the beginning and even Anthony Mackie facing brushback for comments about what Captain America should mean to people only adds fuel to this fire.
Each act of Captain America: Brave New World features sort of a different villain. The first is Sidewinder, the second is The Leader, and the third is the Red Hulk. That might turn some people off who are looking for a more cohesive person to push back against, but remember that vital question at the heart of everything. The real antagonist of this film is doubt. Sam Wilson’s abilities are doubted. He’s not a supersoldier, he didn’t take the same serum that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes took. That doubt comes to a head in the third act and the pressure of being Captain America leads to an impassioned scene at the very end of the film, that is one of Anthony Mackie’s best as an actor.
The action of Captain America: Brave New World is hard-hitting and fast-paced. For a character that is built around speed and cunning, it has to be. It would be awkward if Sam was hitting people as hard as someone like the Incredible Hulk or a similarly powered character. When Sam and Joaquin are in the air, it feels a lot like Top Gun. There are some breathtaking visuals on display with those two flying around trying to stop what would amount to WW3 from breaking out.
Now for the bad. The CGI in Marvel movies gets talked about way too much. Those that hate it, will hate this movie. Those who don’t really notice it, will still notice some pretty shoddy work in the third act of the film with what looks like a clearly reshot scene. We have people out there who work on stagecraft for a living, it shouldn’t be that hard to make up a broken street with actual materials that actors can stand on. There are also some emotional moments that don’t quite resonate and characters that feel like they could have been fleshed out a bit more. I would have liked some more scenes with Ruth to bridge the gap from her seeming like a crony to someone who assists Sam and Joaquin.
The narrative does weaken a bit in the middle of the film as well. That trio of villains does some heavy lifting, but the third act gets a bit messy. It feels like a big Saturday morning cartoon. The political aspect of the film is also dumbed down a bit focusing on broad ideas like vague treaties; when it might have benefitted from getting a bit down and dirty into just what is going on with the mining of the adamantium.
As for the great, the trio of Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Harrison Ford absolutely slay in their roles. Starting with Nelson, he’s downright creepy as The Leader. Gamma radiation to his brain has made him in insanely smart, basically acting as a human supercomputer, but that same radiation has warped his appearance, twisted him into a monster. The way he’s lit and presented is just like a Universal Monster and it’s perfect.
Esposito’s Sidewinder isn’t in the film as long as I would have liked, but the short time he is on screen, he’s just devilish. Esposito looks like he’s having the time of his life trying to kick the crap out of Sam Wilson and I really want to see more from this character in the future.
Harrison Ford’s Thunderbolt Ross steals the show though. Outside of the heavyweight performance from Anthony Mackie, Ford just jumps right into the material, immediately adding legitimacy to the proceedings. Any other actor might feel hokey or fake talking about gamma radiation, adamantium, Steve Rogers, or the events of the 2008 Incredible Hulk film, but Ford knocks it out of the park.
Disconnected from the MCU at large, or at least keeping the previous stories of Sam Wilson intact, Captain America: Brave New World is a riveting story of pressure and what it means for people to have expectations of you. The mantle of Captain America is not one to be taken lightly. Captain America: Brave New World answers the question of whether or not Sam Wilson is worthy of it, at least it did for me. That is a resounding yes. For a film that’s designed to bridge the gap to an even bigger, more cosmic, multiversal side of Marvel, it does the job. It also does the job of providing plenty for audiences to chew on concerning politics, race, and other issues we all face in our daily lives.
Captain America: Brave New World is triumphant and provides audiences with enough to think about, while also giving them some excellent popcorn action.
Captain America: Brave New World releases in theaters on February 14th, 2025.
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