‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review: Anthony Mackie And Harrison Ford Try To Breathe New Life Into Marvel Reboot
This weekend the top new movies are clearly hoping four’s a charm. That’s the number of the latest installment of the Bridget Jones rom-com franchise opening theatrically internationally and on Peacock in the U.S., and that is the number of the latest stand-alone Captain America edition — but for the first time on the big screen without Chris Evans behind the shield. That has been passed to Anthony Mackie, who is no stranger to this franchise now in his eighth iteration including the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier in which he played The Falcon, aka Sam Wilson, and co-starred with Sebastian Stan.
Marvel is clearly trying to revive Cap for the movies after Evans’ emotional exit in Avengers: Endgame. The “endgame” here, as spelled out in no uncertain terms in the end credits, is that “Captain America Will Return,” and there are plenty of reasons why he should, even if this reboot is below the standards of what the Russo Brothers achieved, particularly in the high-water mark Captain America: The Winter Soldier 10 years ago.
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Still, now it is Mackie’s turn and he is up to the role physically and with style, particularly as Sam Wilson which he had plenty of time to hone opposite Stan’s Bucky Barnes in the series. This is an extension of that with a new sidekick, the good-natured Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres aiming to take on the mantle of Falcon. Fun as it is to watch this new pairing, it is Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross (taking over the role the late William Hurt played several times) who steals to show in his latest turn as a complicated U.S. President in action with action. It has been 28 years since Ford was hijacked in Air Force One, but at 80 he still has the gravitas and action chops to pull this off, even when the character in pure comic book style morphs from Commander-In-Chief to the InREDible Hulk, or Red Hulk as it were.
Any pretense that this was going to be more of a ’70s-style paranoid political thriller is tossed out the window at that point, and quite a while before as Marvel just can’t help itself. Plotwise, Sam/Cap is warming up to his new role and battling troublemakers on several fronts. He is summoned to the White House by Ross, a former General, to bring the Avengers back and make the his goal of turning a certain substance called Adamantium into a global miracle every country can relish — or so he says. Take it with a grain of salt. With world leaders and the Prime Minister of Japan gathered for the President’s summit to sell this idea of a worldwide treaty, gunfire and all hell breaks out as one of the guests invited by Sam suddenly tries to assassinate Ross. It is an odd moment as that person is Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a Korean war hero and sole survivor of African Americans who were exposed to Super Soldier serum experiments. Now sprung from prison with the help of Sam, he suddenly went ballistic and is tossed back in with threat of the death penalty. How could this happen?
Well, the duplicitous Seth Voelker/Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito) has some clues. He is leader of a group of mercenaries known as Serpent and leads Sam and Joaquin to the real villain here, the disfigured Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), whose brains are on the outside but still evil-y functional as the one- time power hopeful is out for revenge including the use of mind control in manipulating people to do what he orders. It is all a massive global plot to stop Ross, who he feels broke his promise of a pardon if he got elected.
This all of course leads to plenty of action sequences to satisfy any Marvel fan, including the key set piece of an aerial assault where Captain America gets to strut his wings and save the day — if only temporarily. The influence of Top Gun: Maverick is clear. Among the supporting cast, Nelson, who played a different iteration of Sterns in the 2008 Edward Norton-starring The Incredible Hulk, is a scene stealer with a promise for more if you stay until after the end credits. Shira Haas is lively as Ruth Bat-Seraph, security advisor to the President, as is Xosha Roquemore as the head of Ross’ secret service detail. Lumbly is perfectly cast, and so is the always watchable Esposito even though his role here had more potential and is disappointingly underwritten. Blink and you will miss Liv Tyler back in the MCU as Ross’ daughter.
Director Julius Onah (Luce) and a boatload of writers provide plenty of oppotunity for Mackie to show his strengths, although Evans’ Steve Rogers is a tough act to follow. That fact is even alluded to at one point, but watching Mackie taking Sam Wilson into the big leagues is a game effort with room to grow.
Oddly, Captain America: Brave New World has some eerie things in common with what we are witnessing in the White House right now in real life, with an actual President attempting to take over Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal, develop Gaza into a seaside resort town and even broker land in Ukraine. The Japanese leader in the film confronts Ross and his ambitions with the line, “You Americans just think you can take whatever you want with force.” Here’s hoping this doesn’t get a White House screening.
Producers are Kevin Feige and Nate Moore.
Title: Captain America: Brave New World
Distributor: Disney
Release date: February 14, 2025
Director: Julius Onah
Screenwriters: Rob Edwards and Malcolm Spellman & Dalan Musso and Julius Onah & Peter Glanz
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 1 hr and 58 mins
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