Captain America: Brave New World Review: Thin Storytelling
Theatrical Movie Review - Comic Book/Superhero
With only one new film last year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back on its more consistent pace in 2025, and it is kicking off the latest slate of films with Captain America: Brave New World from director Julius Onah.
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is coming to embrace his role as the new Captain America after Steve Rogers handed him the shield. Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) has been elected president. He invites Wilson to the White House to ask him to reassemble the Avengers and witness his plan to create a treaty with various nations to share the resources that have been found on the Celestial Island. Sam brings Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) with him, but when Isaiah attempts to assassinate the president, seemingly out of nowhere, Sam must figure out how to save his friend and mentor and thwart the plans of Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson).
Brave New World has a lot of stories happening, but unfortunately, none of them quite fit together organically, so there is a lot of telling that happens instead of showing, which leaves a lot of the characters feeling sketched rather than fully fleshed out. The film tells us about the abuses that Ross committed against Sterns, but we don’t see them. The film tells us that Ross is trying to change, but we don’t see that. The film tells us that Sam is still struggling to fully accept his role as Captain America, but we don’t see that.
The performances are largely good, but the choice to have more expository dialogue than actual acting hinders them. Makie and Ramirez have great chemistry, but unfortunately, we don’t get much of the two of them together. Ford feels stilted in his role, and Nelson’s character feels almost superfluous to the plot. The only actor who really gets a chance to shine is Lumbly as Isaiah. Even Giancarlo Esposito, as Sidewinder, feels like he is sidelined.
The action set-pieces are the film’s biggest positive. The opening fight, in particular, has a slick vibe that pulls you into the story. And while the CGI work in Marvel movies can sometimes be hit or miss, the transformation of Red Hulk looks absolutely flawless. Unfortunately, the narrative taking us from one action scene to the next felt flat. When Marvel is at its best, the action punctuates the drama of the story that is already happening. In Brave New World, it felt like the story just existed to get us to the next big fight scene. Honestly, I don’t know that I’ll remember much about this movie in a week.
The 2021 television show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier wrestled with Sam’s ascendency to the role of Captain America, especially as a black man. This film seems afraid to engage with the themes that were left unfinished from the series. That doesn’t necessarily make Captain America: Brave New World bad, but it certainly doesn’t make it brave.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on February 16, 2025.