Captain America: Brave New World Review

Marvel Studios are back with a vengeance this year after 2024 that saw them scale back a little with just the one film released and three shows on Disney+. With three films and six shows releasing in 2025, Captain America: Brave New World is tasked with launching what they’re hoping will be a successful year for the MCU, while also testing the waters of how exactly a Captain America film is received without Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers front and centre.

It’s obvious that they’re building to something much bigger in the near future, and the MCU has had a rather bumpy ride since the days of Infinity War and Endgame. It’s taking time for them to find their footing again and planting seeds for the future is something that works both for and against this latest instalment. There’s references to stuff we’ve seen over the years that you’d think had been forgotten about – the giant celestial floating in the Indian Ocean being one of them – and they do even go as far back to link this to The Incredible Hulk. Once they get that out of the way, Brave New World is allowed to breathe and stand on its own two feet.

The obvious comparisons will be made with The Winter Soldier, a far superior film, but this film possesses an intriguing sense of paranoia that flows through its veins. Captain America putting his trust in a man who once wanted him jailed makes for an interesting dynamic, providing the film with memorable moments of character work. Sam also continuing to question where Captain America fits into today’s world may feel a bit repetitive from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier yet it’s key to this iteration of the character, the mistreatment of a former black Captain America by his own government making it hard to trust many people and keep the mantle for himself. The writing may be a bit clunky, and Sam may almost get lost in his own film, as strands from MCU history come to the fore, but by the end, you can feel the confidence they have in moving forward with Sam Wilson as Captain America.

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As always with these films, there are big action sequences littered throughout, and the results are a very mixed bag. Hand-to-hand combat isn’t given enough time to breathe, far too many cuts in the editing room making it hard at times to figure out what exactly is going on. It’s the larger scale sequences that impress more, Cap and Falcon taking flight to stop fighter jets against the backdrop of Celestial Island may have glaringly obvious uses of CGI but is thrilling nonetheless. It’s the showdown between Cap and Red Hulk that everyone is waiting for though and it doesn’t disappoint, a fair chunk of the visual effects budget clearly going into Ross’ monstrous alter-ego. It just doesn’t last very long rather, sadly.

The shoes of Chris Evans are big ones to fill in the MCU and it’s a challenge Anthony Mackie certainly seems up for. He brings a confident swagger to the lead role and leaves you assured the character is in good hands for the future of the franchise. As good as Mackie is, the real MVPs of the film are Harrison Ford as Ross and Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, the former taking the role more seriously than he seemed to take the Star Wars sequels, whilst the latter delivering such an empathic performance towards the betrayal that ruined his life.

While it might not be the home run they’d be hoping for to start a packed year off for those at Marvel Studios, Julius Onah delivers a confident, if slightly muddled, film. The direction they’re taking the MCU in is getting clearer after the closing moments here and there’s no way the excitement will ever be dampened for me.

★★★ 1/2

In UK cinemas on February 14th / Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Lumbly / Dir: Julius Onah / Walt Disney Studios / 12A