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Movie Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025)
Plus a look back at the hero's history on film
Harrison Ford, the Force not with him.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025). Julius Onah / Writers: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, & Peter Glanz / Based on the Character Created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby / Cinematographer: Kramer Morgenthaun (2.35:1) / Editor: Madeleine Gavin & Matthew Schmidt / Production Designer: Ramsey Avery / Music: Laura Karpman / Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Hass, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Tim Blake Nelson, Sebastian Stan, and Liv Tyler / Distributor: Walt Disney / Rating: PG-13 / Length: 118 min.
A movie based on a TV show that was in turn based on a movie that doesn’t add up without first watching a Disney+ miniseries? What on God's green-screen earth has become of cinema? Forgive the rust, but the last Marvel offering I succumbed to was Ant-Man and the Wasp. The only reason I came out of my comic book movie retirement was a fondness for Captain America: The First Avenger. A rarity among Marvel movies, it’s one of three times the studio sprang for a seasoned director, Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, October Sky), rather than hiring a relative unknown who comes with a cheaper price tag attached. (Kenneth Branagh and Sam Raimi are the other exceptions.) Far and away the tightest, most coherent of the four franchise installments (and everything else in the MCU for that matter), the script remains true to its origins, only breaking period when newfangled special effects, incongruous with the World War II milieu, take control, infusing the action with a jerky video game glaze.
Video:
Trailer: Captain America: Brave New World
For those curious as to how Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) came to be Captain America, but not interested enough in subscribing to Disney+ to find out, dial Wikipedia. But here's a brief look back on the Captain's cinematic career: the plot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — two boyhood friends growing up on opposite sides of the law clash in adulthood — is as old as the movies.
The subsequent ensemble piece, Captain America: Civil War might just as well have been titled Another Avengers Movie for all the good it did to further the legend of America’s favorite costumed, shield-skipping crusader. Captain America: Brave New World is the first in the series not to be anchored by Chris Evans. (In the spirit of 007, same trademark, different Moore-ing.) Also in line with the Bond films: when all else fails, add another gadget. Hence the introduction of a birdlike drone dubbed Redwing. In the redesign from The Falcon to Captain America, only the shield remains constant.
My immersion in the world of gaming began and ended decades ago at a happening Chicago rib joint as I fed quarters into an Atari pong console coin-op while waiting for a table to open. But it doesn’t take a maven to see in this Brave New World a gamer’s guide to mixed martial arts. It plays like an ode to Ultimate Fighting Championship, borrowing the same editing rhythm and camera angles found on PlayStation.
Next in line of super-hero succession to fill The Falcon’s wings is USAF First Lieutenant/preening sycophant, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), a fanboy with a grin so large, even the Hulk couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. And speaking of Hulks, the last two chapters featured high octane leading men cast against type in the role of villain. Winter Soldier gave us Robert Redford, the only actor in the annals of Hollywood history to have held onto a hairstyle longer than Claudette Colbert. The Way We Were was set in the '40s, yet in every shot, pretty boy Bob looks like a late 60’s summer boy fresh off the Santa Monica Pier. Never known for his flair for comedy, Redford told Entertainment Weekly he "wanted to experience this new form of filmmaking that's taken over where you have kind of cartoon characters brought to life through high technology." But the actor’s pious nature lacks the light touch needed to pull it off.
Harrison Ford is a theorem, a grumbly-butt superstar who not for one fleeting moment seems to enjoy the fame. (His best performance was as the robot in Blade Runner.) Ford should spend every Christmas morning in Macy’s window kissing George Lucas’ ass for setting him up on the road to superstardom. Every line is delivered as if he’s doing the audience a favor. Never one to display much range, at best Ford functions here at two settings: pained and more pained. His breakdown and ultimate transformation into Red Hulk could be the funniest thing I’ve witnessed in a theatre since Borat. 2025. *
Here's something you might be interested in.
Movie Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025)
Plus a look back at the hero's history on film
Movie Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025)
Plus a look back at the hero's history on film
Harrison Ford, the Force not with him.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025). Julius Onah / Writers: Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, Julius Onah, & Peter Glanz / Based on the Character Created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby / Cinematographer: Kramer Morgenthaun (2.35:1) / Editor: Madeleine Gavin & Matthew Schmidt / Production Designer: Ramsey Avery / Music: Laura Karpman / Cast: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Hass, Carl Lumbly, Giancarlo Esposito, Xosha Roquemore, Tim Blake Nelson, Sebastian Stan, and Liv Tyler / Distributor: Walt Disney / Rating: PG-13 / Length: 118 min.
A movie based on a TV show that was in turn based on a movie that doesn’t add up without first watching a Disney+ miniseries? What on God's green-screen earth has become of cinema? Forgive the rust, but the last Marvel offering I succumbed to was Ant-Man and the Wasp. The only reason I came out of my comic book movie retirement was a fondness for Captain America: The First Avenger. A rarity among Marvel movies, it’s one of three times the studio sprang for a seasoned director, Joe Johnston (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, October Sky), rather than hiring a relative unknown who comes with a cheaper price tag attached. (Kenneth Branagh and Sam Raimi are the other exceptions.) Far and away the tightest, most coherent of the four franchise installments (and everything else in the MCU for that matter), the script remains true to its origins, only breaking period when newfangled special effects, incongruous with the World War II milieu, take control, infusing the action with a jerky video game glaze.
Video:
Trailer: Captain America: Brave New World
For those curious as to how Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) came to be Captain America, but not interested enough in subscribing to Disney+ to find out, dial Wikipedia. But here's a brief look back on the Captain's cinematic career: the plot of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — two boyhood friends growing up on opposite sides of the law clash in adulthood — is as old as the movies.
The subsequent ensemble piece, Captain America: Civil War might just as well have been titled Another Avengers Movie for all the good it did to further the legend of America’s favorite costumed, shield-skipping crusader. Captain America: Brave New World is the first in the series not to be anchored by Chris Evans. (In the spirit of 007, same trademark, different Moore-ing.) Also in line with the Bond films: when all else fails, add another gadget. Hence the introduction of a birdlike drone dubbed Redwing. In the redesign from The Falcon to Captain America, only the shield remains constant.
My immersion in the world of gaming began and ended decades ago at a happening Chicago rib joint as I fed quarters into an Atari pong console coin-op while waiting for a table to open. But it doesn’t take a maven to see in this Brave New World a gamer’s guide to mixed martial arts. It plays like an ode to Ultimate Fighting Championship, borrowing the same editing rhythm and camera angles found on PlayStation.
Next in line of super-hero succession to fill The Falcon’s wings is USAF First Lieutenant/preening sycophant, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), a fanboy with a grin so large, even the Hulk couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. And speaking of Hulks, the last two chapters featured high octane leading men cast against type in the role of villain. Winter Soldier gave us Robert Redford, the only actor in the annals of Hollywood history to have held onto a hairstyle longer than Claudette Colbert. The Way We Were was set in the '40s, yet in every shot, pretty boy Bob looks like a late 60’s summer boy fresh off the Santa Monica Pier. Never known for his flair for comedy, Redford told Entertainment Weekly he "wanted to experience this new form of filmmaking that's taken over where you have kind of cartoon characters brought to life through high technology." But the actor’s pious nature lacks the light touch needed to pull it off.
Harrison Ford is a theorem, a grumbly-butt superstar who not for one fleeting moment seems to enjoy the fame. (His best performance was as the robot in Blade Runner.) Ford should spend every Christmas morning in Macy’s window kissing George Lucas’ ass for setting him up on the road to superstardom. Every line is delivered as if he’s doing the audience a favor. Never one to display much range, at best Ford functions here at two settings: pained and more pained. His breakdown and ultimate transformation into Red Hulk could be the funniest thing I’ve witnessed in a theatre since Borat. 2025. *