If the Iron Man films are the heart of the MCU, then the Captain America series is its soul. Steve Rogers’ unshakable moral code often placed him at odds with both friends and foes, leading to some of the MCU’s most thrilling conflicts.

Losing Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America has left the MCU with a Galactus-sized void. Today, even diehard fans agree Marvel movies are hit or miss. Films like Shang-Chi and In the Multiverse of Madness were fun popcorn flicks, but they lacked that signature mix of heart, soul, and long-form storytelling that fans fell in love with.

It now falls on Captain America: Brave New World director Julius Onah to help the MCU return to glory. With the MCU launching into its next multi-film saga, this movie must signal to audiences the Marvel train is back on track. That’s easier said than done. Onah has the Herculean task of making moviegoers fall in love with Captain America all over again.

Years ago, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) stepped into the international spotlight hunting down Bruce Banner and the Avengers. In the following years, he turned his fear-mongering into political capital, running a campaign uniting Americans in the face of superpowered threats.

Brave New World opens after Ross (now played by Harrison Ford) wins the presidency. Ross asks newly-minted Captain America Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to rebuild the Avengers. Sam, still wary of Ross after the events of Civil War, needs time to consider his options. But Captain America is thrust into action after an assassination attempt on the President’s life. Now Sam and his sidekick, the new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) find themselves at the centre of a global conspiracy involving terrorists, an evil genius, and a Celestial Island made of the world’s rarest metal: adamantium.

The Captain America films always delivered some of the MCU’s finest action sequences and stunt work. The Winter Soldier’s highway chase and Civil War’s stairwell brawl’s visceral fight choreography wouldn’t be out of place in a John Wick film. Sadly, Brave New World ditches the previous films’ reliance on hard-hitting action for special effects-heavy spectacle.

This Captain America’s combat style relies on his flight suit. During fights he leaps into the air buzzing around like an angry hummingbird. The result is without a doubt inventive, but not always exciting. Watching CGI characters tumble across the screen lacks the impact of real-world stunt work. Long stretches of the film resemble video game cutscenes rather than a big-budget Captain America movie. 

Mackie steps into this franchise’s lead role as though he were born to play it. He’s believable as the Avenger’s commanding leader, and also the team’s conscience. Mackie’s at his best whenever Sam gets to cut loose and riff with his friends and allies. He captures Sam’s every-man quality while still coming across as a stone-cold badass. Most importantly, Mackie’s performance nails Captain America’s unwavering selflessness. The character only works if you believe he possesses the ability to inspire everyone he encounters.

Brave New World wrestles with a lot of big ideas but rarely slows down long enough to pay them more than lip service. Some of these ideas are quite on the nose — a volatile president whose erratic behaviour threatens the nation’s stability. It also delves into Sam’s imposter syndrome, even though this concept was already explored in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

The film’s most interesting concept is also its most underdeveloped: President Ross. For a country founded on lofty democratic ideals, America’s political system is a s#it show right now. President Ross represents a generation of populist politicians whose personal wants come before the public’s needs. They rise to power by stoking fear, when they’re in fact the greatest threat to the people they represent. This is a perfect theme to examine in a political thriller, but Brave New World never fully commits to a scathing critique.

Final Verdict

Captain America: Brave New World is a solid entry into the Marvel film canon. The issue is that MCU fans aren’t happy with perfectly fine, they’re holding out hope for the next event movie. Though this film didn’t blow me away like The Winter Soldier or Civil War, it does just enough to convince me things are back on the upswing.

Brave New World sets the stage for the MCU’s most pivotal string of films since the buildup to The Avengers. With The Fantastic Four set to debut and the X-Men waiting in the wings, the pieces are in place for a second golden age. While Brave New World may not be a cinematic feast, it’s a satisfying amuse-bouche that whet my appetite for the next phase of the MCU.