Captain America: Brave New World

Currently in Theaters

Runtime: 2 Hours 3 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Sam Wilson (the Falcon) has taken up the mantle of Captain America and is working with the government after the events of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and, specifically, the new president, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. After a failed assassination attempt on the President, Captain America must unravel a mystery that seems to point to someone trying to start a war between the U.S.A. and other countries over a new resource known as adamantium.

Themes:

The office of the President, patriotism, illegal experimentation and good men being put in prison, vibranium, adamantium, heroes, threats, terrorism, government, hope, taking sides, the hard way, optics, anger, international diplomacy, resources, race, manipulation, probability, control, war, using people, Japan, mind control, sins of our part, Steve Rogers being different than Sam Wilson (but that is okay) , legacy, pressure, courage, integrity, second chances, anyone can change, and responsibility.

Language:

A*s - 5 B*stard - 2 B*tch - 2 D*mn - 10 Hell - 15 Sh*t - 21 (some of these are said quickly in succession and under the breath Religious Exclamations - 6

Stuff to be aware of: (Some of this could be considered spoiler territory. Most of these things are in the movie trailer, but if something isn’t I will mention it.)

Grossness - When a character turns into Red Hulk his bones snap in unnatural ways and his veins bulge. Spoiler Alert for this next sentence. The main villain has greenish glowing eyes and one looks hazy. His head is very lumpy on one side like boils and on the other side looks like a wierd brain.

Scary - There is a set piece that is a military base that doubles as a prison and lab. When it is explored by Sam and Danny, there is definitely a horror movie vibe. Possible Spoiler - During this horror movie type scene a villain is also revealed and he creepily moves around in the shadows until the villain moves into the light to revealed a deformed form.

Sexual - Harrison Ford is seen shirtless, but he is like 80 something. Surprisingly, there isn’t anything sexual in the movie. No one even kisses.

Violence - Sidewinder slashes a man’s face with a knife. Fist fights happen multiple times in the movie and there is plenty of MCU fighting and violence. Sam stabs someone with metal shards that her shoots out from his suit. A man shoots two people in the head. After seeing the two men with bullet holes in their heads, you see the killer stick the gun under his jaw. The killer then shoots himself off screen, but the audience does hear the gun fire.

Captain America almost gets a huge needle shoved into his face during a fight scene. Red Hulk gets stabbed and cut with knife like weapons. These vibranium knife like weapons continue to stick out of his body during a big fight scene.

Other - There is a scene that takes place in a bar where Captain America drinks. Later Captain America, Falcon, and Isaiah Bradley drink in a limo.

Overall:

Seeing It With Your Family

I believe this MCU movie has more cursing than any other movie, outside of Deadpool and Wolverine. It is sad to me that more and more of these movies have so much cursing. One of the villains is a bit creepy looking, but he is not really scary, just gross looking. I will praise this MCU movie for not really having anything sexual.

If you are wondering about the movie having an agenda or pushing any type of theme or message I didn’t really pick up on one. The President Ross runs on the idea of everyone moving forward together, but that was all I really caught. Ross’s character development has a theme of , “your past sins coming back to haunt you.” If the writers or director were trying to give us a message within the movie I didn’t get it.

What I Thought

With three great Captain America movies under our belt this one had a lot to live up too. Unfortunately, it is not as well written as the other three and some things that take place made me ask the question, “Where is this hero or that hero.” This movie, like some past MCU movies, tries to tie in to many threads from other movies or finish telling a story about a character from previous movies. This movie seems to be as much about Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross as it is about Sam taking up the mantle of Captain America.

One thing I want to make clear is that I am a huge Hulk fan and I enjoyed reading the original comic arch that introduced Red Hulk which had a mystery aspect of who this character was that was killing off all of Hulk’s enemies. This story is majorly different, but this movie gives Ross more of a story arch and character development than we have seen in a while from a Marvel movie. Ross was in Incredible Hulk, and then Civil War and had some brief appearances in other movies, but this movie really allows Harrison Ford (replacing the late William Hurt) to breathe new life into the character who is on a path to redemption and change. Ford does a great job being his usual grumpy self, but also does a great job showing us a man that wants to change. It’s also great seeing him try to keep his anger in check and not lose control. Also, has the world not learned by now that shooting a Hulk does nothing but make him angrier?

However, this is a Captain America movie right? Well, (spoiler alert) an old Hulk villain shows up and Betty Ross is back as part of Ross’s story arch. The writers do an okay job making both of these characters fit into the story and the villain has a good reason to have a grudge against Ross, but they could have been better served in a movie with Hulk. Sadly, there is a Bruce Banner/Hulk-shaped hole in this movie. Also, the villain introduced is a mega villain in the comics, but he thinks really small world here on what he wants to achieve. The movie also leads us to believe that the mastermind behind everything can see all outcomes and his probability skills are unparalleled, but why does he not factor in Captain America?

Is that all the extra threads in the movie though? Nope. Then you have the celestial from Eternals which, of course, there was the question of if anyone noticed a giant hand and head sticking out of the ocean. Then you have Isiah Bradley from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and (Spoiler Alert) a former Black Widow. The Sokovia Accords, rebuilding the Avengers, and some other appearances and world building takes place. It all makes the story strain under the weight of so many story threads intersecting in one movie.

This, coupled with the fact that a lot of the plot points and set pieces seems very similar to Captain America Winter Soldier made me think that the next Cap movie may need to steer clear of the political thriller genre. Maybe a new direction? Also, maybe not so much world building and tying up lose threads. It has some of the same issues Iron Man 2 suffered from, back in the day.

Some things I did like: the actors are all top notch, I love that they play up that Sam’s best attribute is his ability to bring out the best in others, and more Hulk story.

I went in with low expectations, but will admit I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Is it perfect? No, its pretty flawed. Is it as humorous as other MCU movies, no. However, they gave Ross a great story arch and the character comes full circle. While I did enjoy watching Red Hulk and some parts of the story, I did keep expecting a bit more or another cameo here or there. It could have been better, but it wasn’t the train wreck I expected.

There is a post credits scene that sets up what we have all ready been expecting.