STARRING: ANTHONY MACKIE, HARRISON FORD, SHIRA HAAS, GIANCARLO ESPOSITO, TIM BLAKE, CARL LUMBLY AND LIV TYLER
DIRECTED BY: JULIUS ONAH
RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 14, 2025
Captain America: Brave New World is the fourth movie to be released in the Captain America franchise and a continuation of the television series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but instead of Chris Evans playing the titular character it is Anthony Mackie. Marvel Studios produced the film and it was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The budget was $180 million and to date the film has earned $400.8 million globally.
The film has Sam/Captain America (Anthony Mackie) investigating an international plot that could prove devastating to the world if not stopped in time. There are twists that you would expect in an espionage led plot and the viewer won’t really know who ‘The Big Bad’ is until halfway through the movie which was intentionally done in the trailers. Don’t come in expecting Sam’s character to be fighting cosmic entities such as Galactus or The Silver Surfer but more believable characters such as evil soldiers or less imposing super villains. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross (Harrison Ford), who is the current President of the United States in 2026 within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is not even a Captain America foe but he’s placed in the film for ambiance to get the masses to watch. Thunderbolt is the Red Hulk and even with Sam’s updated uniform from Wakanda there’s no feasible way that he could stand toe to toe with him. Although I must say the fight scene between the two was somewhat interesting.
One thing that the film did get right was representation. Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) who is of Colombian Mexican descent, played Falcon who is a tech genius and helps Sam throughout his mission. Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), who was the first black Captain America, was the voice of reason and a sympathetic ear to listen to throughout the film for Sam.
Captain America: Brave New World definitely had many holes throughout it and if you’re a true comic aficionado it left you scratching your head about certain decisions that were made. Was it the best Marvel film? Absolutely not. Was it the worst? Absolute not. It falls somewhere in between. The next films need to be crisper in their plot structure and believability. I enjoyed Mackie’s interpretation of Cap but if he’s going to continue to carry the mantle of this iconic character the writing is going to have to get a lot better.
