Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

 

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

6/10

Starring

Anthony Mackie

Danny Ramirez

Shira Haas

Carl Lumbly

 

Directed by Julius Onah

 

You can tell that Marvel wants to wrap up this phase and move on. This movie had too many side characters and subplots that didn’t add much to the overall experience. It tries to tie up loose ends from other stories, making it feel more like a filler movie than its own film. It’s frustrating that Marvel thought they could sell us a movie just to clean up their loose ends and link some MCU storylines.

Brave New World is the fourth Captain America film and continues the story from TV miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, with Sam Wilson now taking on the mantle of Captain America. It’s also the 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Anthony Mackie is a great actor, and the movie boasts strong performances all around. The real problem lies in the story and pacing, which let the cast down. The pacing in-between action should help with character development, but we just get boring, not well written dialogue.

Before I dive into the plot, I need to tell you as my friend told me, watch The Incredible Hulk (2008) to refresh your memory on Ross, because this film connects that story to the MCU. Harrison Ford takes over the role of Ross (and does an amazing job), replacing the late William Hurt, and Tim Blake Nelson reprises his role as Samuel Sterns from The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Sam Wilson has now stepped up as Captain America, and he’s thrown into a high-stakes mission to recover stolen classified items tied to the discovery of adamantium. Now, unless I’m mistaken, adamantium isn’t exactly new—I've known it since I first encountered Wolverine—but I digress. Its discovery still stirs up tension across nations, and before long, Wilson finds himself caught in a global crisis brimming with political intrigue, secret experiments, and a bizarre mind-control plot (as I said earlier, too many sub-plots). Teaming up with his buddy Joaquin Torres, he must navigate a tangled web of espionage, betrayal, and dangerous enemies while figuring out what it really means to be a hero in a world without Steve Rogers.

Meanwhile, President Ross is hell-bent on seizing control of adamantium, completely unaware that his past missteps are catching up to him as he eventually transforms into the Red Hulk. With alliances on the brink and lives at stake, Wilson is forced to step up and stop the looming chaos while shouldering the heavy burden of leadership.

The Easter eggs weren’t particularly exciting, but the CGI—especially Ross’s transformation into the Red Hulk—was well done. As for the rest of the CGI, it was just okay. Another problem I have with the movie is the lack of excitement. The poster and trailer give away too much, so I already knew what to expect. Normally, that kind of setup should build anticipation as you are watching the movie, but with the film’s slow pacing, by the time the exciting moments happen, I was already bored.

Lastly, I didn’t like the new Black Widow. After seeing the movie myself—despite my friends' warnings—it's hard to recommend, honestly. But if you choose to watch it, just know it’s really not all that.