Captain America: Brave New World Review: Sam Wilson's First Solo Movie Is A Safe, Forgettable Rehash

Hulk is now red. Cap's new outfit is blue. Is the Marvel Cinematic Universe back? I think I'll leave that up to you. If you're still reading this review after that horrific Valentine's Day-flavored lede, your friendly neighborhood critic — nay, your country — thanks you. It's only slightly better treatment than what Anthony Mackie's title character receives in his official passing of the torch in "Captain America: Brave New World," a movie that never seems to appreciate the magnitude of the occasion. Maybe there's good reason for that. After all, MCU acolytes know that this was already beaten to the punch by its small-screen predecessor "Falcon and the Winter Soldier," which explored what it truly means for an imperfect man (and a Black man, at that) to step into the goody two shoes of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. Adding insult to injury, the state of the overall franchise has worsened considerably in the years since our new Cap last soared through the skies in his star-spangled suit. If these elements combine to sabotage what could've and should've been a coming-out party for the ages, well, it's only business as usual for Sam Wilson. After all, he's always been the hero burdened with the most to lose and the least amount of wiggle room.

Now, as for that question I posed above: Is the MCU back? I actually wasn't kidding with that snarky punchline, since it greatly depends on what you anticipated from "Brave New World" coming in. Consider the string of critical and financial disappointments suffered by the Marvel brand recently (interrupted only by the unstoppable force of James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" finale and the immovable object known as "Deadpool & Wolverine"), those reports of extensive reshoots on this particular production, and that sinking realization of good ol' fashioned superhero fatigue setting in. With all that in mind, did anyone but the most ardent fans genuinely expect the second coming of "The Winter Soldier," or even a return to the solid-but-unspectacular shores that defined so much of Phase Four?

Fortunately, director Julius Onah and the small village of credited screenwriters were only ever tasked with bringing "Brave New World" across the finish line, rather than revitalizing the whole shebang; unfortunately for them, even this curiously small-scale affair is as safe, inoffensive, and stale as can be. The sequel practically bursts at the seams from all the franchise-management responsibilities resting on its shoulders. Though the action sequences are frequently thrilling and even pack a heavy-hitting punch or two, no amount of Cap showing off his newfangled tricks with the suit and shield can overcome the feeling of narrative gears grinding through the motions. And after opening on an evocative shot, somewhat raising my flagging expectations for a politically relevant adventure with moments of actual visual panache, the film continues to overflow with powerful imagery and iconography to spare ... yet has almost no earthly idea what to say with any of it.

In other words? Here's another run-of-the-mill MCU joint. Competently made, but lacking any emotional soul. Entertaining enough to hold our collective attention until the fantastic entrée everyone's waiting for, but otherwise completely forgettable. And, in place of a real identity, "Brave New World" settles for a rehash of the prior two "Captain America" movies that came before. What you see is exactly what you get, I'm afraid.

"Captain America is answering to the President?" Sam Wilson's prickly mentor Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), secretly the world's first super-soldier, can hardly believe what he's seeing early in "Brave New World." Despite reaching a tentative understanding with the new Cap over how he chooses to serve the country that turned its back on him in the Disney+ show "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (this sequel is technically a follow up to the previous "Captain America" trilogy, the spinoff streaming series, the "Avengers" epics, and, for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, "The Incredible Hulk" and "Eternals"), Sam has gone right back to toeing the company line. Thaddeus Ross (a thoroughly enjoyable Harrison Ford, taking over for the late William Hurt) has just been elected President of the United States and, despite the animosity he's shown towards Earth's Mightiest Heroes on multiple occasions in the past, duty demands that they work together in order to "rebuild the Avengers." To Bradley, it's like everything's reset back to the status quo. Sooner or later, audiences may end up sharing that same pervasive feeling as the rest of the story unfolds.

Needless to say, things don't work out according to plan. After a perfunctory action sequence in Mexico catches audiences up to speed on Sam, his Falcon-in-training sidekick Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), and Giancarlo Esposito's minor antagonist Sidewinder (and I do mean "minor" — the Serpent Society are a big nothing-burger here), a chilling assassination attempt on President Ross involving sleeper agents threatens to throw the world into chaos. The plot that proceeds to embroil our main trio of Sam, Joaquin, and Isaiah is, quite frankly, too convoluted to even spoil. There are world summits and critical treaties centered on the "Celestial mass" left sticking out of the Indian Ocean from "Eternals," a modern Cuban Missile Crisis-style situation threatening to erupt between America and Japan over control of precious adamantium (which, in a franchise of Macguffins, might be the Macguffin-iest of Macguffins), and, somewhere in the midst of all this, a shadowy figure pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Oh, and yes, there's another Hulk and he's red now.

That hasty plot summary leaves out several key bits of context, however. Entire conversations and characters (looking at you, Shira Haas as controversial Israeli security advisor Ruth Bat-Seraph and Xosha Roquemore as Agent Leila Taylor) exist for the sole purpose of dumping exposition onto viewers. The writing team (or should I say "teams," made up of Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman and Dalan Musson, and Julius Onah and Peter Glanz, and who knows how many other uncredited passes along the way) tries to capture that familiar MCU quip-fest and one-liner vibe, but basically falls flat on its face — especially when undermining the few emotional moments it has. Mackie and Ramirez fare the best amid all this, with the former effortlessly channeling his own unique spin on Chris Evans' oh-shucks earnestness as Captain America, while the latter actually manages to become the rare character to convey anything resembling a personality. But in case anyone's hoping for a sequel that might have anything worthwhile on its mind, either thematically or politically or otherwise, prepare to be disappointed. That may have been the case in the script as originally conceived, but all the hard edges have since been sanded off.

Unlike its title character, who barrels through hordes of goons with lethal force despite his commitment to saving lives, this is a movie that appears committed to pulling its punches at every turn.

Thankfully, "Brave New World" does have one ace up its sleeve — the barely-contained rage roiling within Harrison Ford's President Ross and the Red Hulk within just waiting to be let loose. The screenplay doesn't insult our intelligence by pretending like Thaddeus Ross is somehow a changed man, to its credit. Granted, that also means it's impossible to imagine how he actually won an election in this world ... beyond Ford's natural charisma and his presidential bona fides, of course, as anyone who's seen "Air Force One" can attest to. The closest the film comes to making any sort of statement is in the aspects that no amount of reshoots could entire erase: his vaguely Donald Trump-like arrogance, his refusal to ever admit to wrongdoing, and his estranged family ties (everyone, from news anchors to Sidewinder to the shadowy figure I'm compelled to leave unspoiled but whom you can probably guess, seem absurdly preoccupied by his strained relationship with Liv Tyler's Betty Ross). But such obvious villainy also means we're able to enjoy the impressive buildup to when he finally Hulks out, providing one of two big moments where "Brave New World" has little choice but to wake up from its low-energy coasting.

Otherwise, this fairly obligatory exercise struggles to match the heights of the criminally underrated first "Captain America" film, the paranoia-thriller pastiche of "The Winter Soldier," or even the spectacle of "Civil War." That doesn't stop "Brave New World" from rehashing and lifting large swaths of plot directly from its predecessors, however. Barely half an hour in, Cap goes rogue against government orders like Steve Rogers did before him. The idea of mind-controlled sleeper agents is noticeably reminiscent of the super-soldier program previously established in this franchise. There's even one (very obviously reshot) sequence that feels like a beat-for-beat remake of the standout highway shootout in "The Winter Soldier." The only chance this fourth film ever gets to forge its own path takes place in later scenes when things take a slight detour into horror territory, aided by director of photography Kramer Morgenthau's canted angles, bursts of vivid lighting, and composer Laura Karpman's eerie score.

It's a shame, too, because this should've been as easy a slam dunk as any in Marvel's recent output. Instead of enjoying a long-awaited victory lap for a fan-favorite hero pushing for a new future, Sam Wilson gets upstaged and outshined in his own solo film by loose ends leftover from the "The Incredible Hulk" — by far the most uninspired effort from the MCU's past. Rather than adding something fresh and new to give us a reason to reinvest in this universe, the end result is as by-the-numbers as it gets. When the most culturally relevant element here is the Kendrick Lamar needle drop that happened to be used for the end credits, well, that just about says it all. "Brave New World" is neither brave nor new. Honestly, there's very little Captain America in this movie, either.

/Film Rating: 5 out of 10

"Captain America: Brave New World" opens in theaters on February 14, 2025.