The beloved Steve Rogers is retiring his title as Captain America and hands over the responsibility to his longtime friend Sam Wilson. Does he have what it takes to fill the shoes of his predecessor?
“Captain America: Brave New World” was released in theaters on Feb. 14 and was directed by Nigerian American director Julius Onah, best known for the indie film “Luce.”
Sam Wilson, previously known as the Falcon (Anthony Mackie), returns newly suited up, ready to take on the role of Captain America. But after a meeting with the new U.S. President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) during an exclusive event in the White House, he discovers himself in the crossfires of an international incident.
As his friend and mentor Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) is falsely accused, Sam is compelled to become involved. Joined by the up-and-coming Falcon (Danny Ramirez), they set out to uncover who the real mastermind is behind the global scheme to ruin the U.S. government in the most unfathomable way imaginable.
This movie was surprisingly decent. The Marvel plot points succeeded once again, putting us watchers at the edge of our seats with exciting fight scenes. In addition, the new characters combined with a couple fan favorites made for the perfect teamwork dynamic.
Over the past few years with Marvel putting out sub-par, poorly executed films such as “Madame Web,” this Captain America revival brought back the action Marvel fans have been missing.
Though the movie is better than most of Marvel’s recent releases, it did not quite bring back the Marvel we know and love. While it did start off strong and have some redeeming qualities, it failed to remain consistently exciting.
For one, the fear of the villain was underwhelming. The writers should have created a heightened sense of terror and had a more dramatic introduction. After knowing the horror the villain is going to ensue, the audience should become considerably more scared which would allow for tension throughout the rest of the movie.
Beyond that, Sam Wilson does not make out to be the Captain America Steve Rogers was. Instead of growing into the role and reveling in the struggle of following in the path of greatness, he seems to fit too neatly into it, only outwardly dealing with hardship later in the film.
So in spite of it being better than more recent Marvel films, it still fell below the adequate line that their movies have met and previously exceeded. Captain America did not have the most smooth comeback, but it did bring back the feeling that Marvel had been lacking for a while.
Rating: 6/10