Captain America Brave New World review: Red Hulk can't smash away Marvel's dullness; wake me up when this MCU phase ends
Captain America Brave New World review: Anthony Mackie tries and Harrison Ford almost succeeds, but neither can save this dull MCU actioner.
Captain America Brave New World review: Right before the screening of Captain America: Brave New World begins, viewers are treated to the Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer. In it, Thing says he wants to add garlic to some recipe to add that 'zip'. If you are wondering why I am talking about an unreleased film in a Captain America review, that should be a clue of how uninteresting the latter was. But also because that garlic metaphor sums up Brave New World. As a recipe, it has everything - spectacular action, VFX, big mean villains, and Marvel dialoguebaazi. Yet, it lacks the zip, the pinch of garlic, and the emotion that would have made it something more than just a yawn-worthy snoozefest. (Also read: Captain America Brave New World first reactions: New Marvel entry draws mixed reviews, fails to meet high expectations)
What is Captain America: Brave New World about
Captain America: Brave New World sees Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson officially take over the mantle of Captain America from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). And just like his character, Mackie, too, seems to be grappling with a serious impostor syndrome. The urge to prove yourself as the right Captain America is a meta theme connecting the actor and character. It could have played out well. But the way Marvel and director Julius Onah handle it, Captain America turns into an over-eager schoolboy out to please the headmaster.
Brave New World sees the newly-elected President Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross (Harrison Ford) finally address the Celestial emerging from the Earth's surface. The scientists have mined a new metal called Adamantium (hello, X-Men reference), and Ross wants the world governments to unite and extract more of it. This treaty is to be his legacy, but a shadowy villain is out to destroy it even if it means a global war. Captain America and the new Falcon (Danny Ramirez) must put their differences with Ross aside to save the day.
Where the film flounders
On paper, Brave New World is a solid Captain America thriller where the soldier-investigator must put together clues and reach the bad guy. The template worked wonderfully in The Winter Soldier and Civil War. Yet, here, it falls flat, largely because of the predictable writing. The screenplay from Rob Edwards and the work from the writing teams of Malcolm Spellman & Dalan Musson and Onah & Peter Glanz have made a mess of what made Marvel of old engaging. There are twists and turns that you can see from a mile away and red herrings that are not even pale orange. Everything is dumbed down so much that it stops being engaging.
The film follows a meandering path where only a few moments jump out at you, such as the cameo from a crowd-favourite antihero, the scenes featuring the tragic Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumby), and whenever Harrison Ford is on screen. But beyond that, the film fails to make you feel anything. During the Infinity Saga, theMCU had this innate ability to make you connect even in its worst outings (remember Thor: The Dark World?). That is lacking here.
The dialogue and banter are cringe-worthy, to say the least. Marvel movies have made a name for themselves with their quips and memorable lines. None of that here, though. It seems an AI—with a minimal understanding of human interaction—churned out this script, and the director went with it, hoping nobody would notice amid the VFX spectacle and superheroes punching each other.
The only phase of the film that made me somewhat sit up and notice was the Red Hulk's appearance. The 15-minute sequence of the carnage the supervillain wreaked on Washington DC is the film's highlight, even reminiscent of Norton's The Incredible Hulk. As CGI Harrison Ford turned into Red Ross (non-Friends fans can ignore the wordplay), Captain America finally has a worthy opponent. Because in The Leader - the film's actual antagonist - we get a dime store Zemo, orchestrating everything from the shadows, except so opaquely and non-threateningly.
Is this the future of MCU?
Captain America: Brave New World is a boring, unmemorable film. And yet, it is better than most things Marvel has dished out of late. That this film sets up the future Avengers and X-Men films should set alarm bells ringing in Marvel Studios' office. Because if this is the tone and quality MCU wants to take into the future, time may be running out for the world's biggest franchise.
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