Captain America: Brave New World (2025) | REVIEW

Directed by Julius Onah — Screenplay by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, and Peter Glanz.

Despite the huge success of Deadpool & Wolverine last year, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in an unsteady moment currently due to an inundation of Disney+ series, and several rushed and poorly received films. In the post-Avengers: Endgame era, Marvel Studios still needs to get back on track, and, unfortunately, Captain America: Brave New World isn’t the film to do that. Though it’s not the worst film in the connected universe of films, I believe that it is, however, a lower-tier MCU film that feels messy, tinkered with, and sometimes even soulless. This is despite the fact that certain elements and scenes are quite satisfying. Although Marvel die-hards will probably still have a decent-enough time with it, but outside of the massive Red Hulk sequence teased in the marketing, the film arguably fails to justify its existence on the big screen. 

Set some time after the events of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America: Brave New World follows Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie), the new Captain America, as he is thrown into a difficult situation following an official visit, alongside friends Isaiah Bradley (a super soldier once imprisoned by the US, still played by Carl Lumbly) and Joaquin Torres (the new Falcon, still played by Danny Ramirez) to the White House. During a speech from President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (now played by Harrison Ford following William Hurt’s passing), Isaiah, in The Manchurian Candidate-like fashion, steps up and shoots at the President after the Fleetwoods’ “Mr. Blue” plays silently in the background. In the aftermath of this failed assassination attempt, Isaiah is locked away and could face the death penalty. To help clear his friend and mentor’s name, Sam must investigate the origins of this strange brainwashing attempt to take out the President. In the process, he runs into a wildly intelligent, but grotesque-looking cellular biologist-turned supervillain (played by Tim Blake Nelson) that is connected to President Ross’ past.

Timing is a tricky thing. Sometimes films come out with messages that feel prophetic, other times films miss their moment and feel out of date as a result of having been in production for too long. In the case of Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth Marvel Studios film about a star-spangled man with a plan, we have a would-be political superhero-thriller about America, its president (and the people that influence him), and international relations released at a moment in time when America has elected a President who, in his first month back in office, has threatened traditional allies and arguably challenged both the country’s longstanding values and the core tenets of its system of government. Watching a Captain America movie now feels very different than it once did since I am a citizen of one of the allies that has been provoked and threatened by the newly elected President. One could hope that the finished film would meet the moment with clear political messages or standpoints and, in a way, speak to the difficult geopolitical moment that the film is released into. Unfortunately, the oddly titled Brave New World has no such aims, instead, it seeks to be a political thriller without a viewpoint or commentary beyond a late, lazy, milquetoast, ill-timed, and tone-deaf platitude that borders on bothsides-ism (I believe the line they go with is “if we can’t see the good in each other, we’ve already lost the fight”). Its commentary and dialogue are so politically inert that it makes the “this isn’t freedom, this is fear” line from Captain America: The Winter Soldier (a much, much stronger film in every way imaginable) sound brave by comparison.

In addition to it, unfortunately, sometimes feeling like a political thriller with nothing to say and nothing on its mind, the film also feels messy and like it was excessively tinkered with. The structural editing makes it feel overly fast-paced at times and like it is a somewhat hollow film with only a skeletal structure. The antagonist, who makes his return after first appearing in The Incredible Hulk (a film that Brave New World is more of a sequel to than the past Captain America films), looks goofy (the character design isn’t made to look good) and feels rushed, thus wasting the capable actor playing him. There are certain scenes with noticeable green-screen, including in the climactic scene (in which Sam tries to address someone), and the film has too many endings. Finally, I also must say that the writing leaves a lot to be desired, with the first 15-to-20 minutes featuring a lot of awkward expositional dialogue.

This isn’t to say that nothing works in the film. Although the political thriller elements often let the film down, Laura Karpman’s score does its job, as it effectively evokes the genre. The film also just features perfectly capable action set pieces. There is an extended hallway fight, a brilliantly thought-out ocean-set action sequence, and, frankly, the Red Hulk fight sequence that the marketing has hyped up fully lives up to that build-up, despite meriting a stronger ending. The film also springs to life multiple times throughout the runtime with well-acted dialogue scenes, including in one scene when Sam talks to an old pal of his. Acting-wise, the standouts are Carl Lumbly, whose strong work and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier role merited a larger role in this film, and Harrison Ford, who injects the film with a much-needed gravitas, much like Robert Redford did in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Although Ford’s take on the character feels different from Hurt’s, Harrison Ford does a good job of communicating the emotional scenes (both outbursts and his vulnerability) in a way that is wholly convincing.

I think it should be said that the Sam Wilson character and what he represents, deserved a much better film than what he got here. It often feels like TV-movie with a blockbuster budget thrown onto the big screen. This is also, however, partially due to how certain MCU characters are strangely absent despite the nature of the narrative, and the characters included to take their place (the film’s Black Widow, his sidekick, etc.) are largely underwritten. On the whole, Captain America: Brave New World is, at worst, a hollow missed opportunity and, at best, merely okay. Although it has plenty of solid qualities about it (Harrison Ford’s performance, the Red Hulk action, etc.), it can’t fully escape the messiness of it all and the fact that it doesn’t really have anything to say, and, given the stances taken by the star-spangled man with a plan in the previous MCU films, you should be able to expect more from a Captain America movie at a moment in time when the world is in disrepair.

5.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.